I lost my rama
Yesterday following Bob and Harvey at Badwater (both still chugging along toward the finish as of this post) and dhuffman's post on timed events made me make an impromptu decision to enter a 6 hour race on Saturday. I was planning on going to the cabin to tackle the jungle that's grown while on vacation, but I figure it can wait another week.
Didn't run last night. Hope for 7 tonight on trail.... still have rain storms lingering.
QOTD: I'm sure many of you have, but have you made an impromptu decision to enter a race (not talking about a 5K )? If so how did it go? And would you do it again?
3/17 - NYC Half
4/28 - Big Sur Marathon DNS
6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour
8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours
Go figure
Good morning Berto and all to come!
I knocked out an impressive 3 miles last night, post pizza dinner with the girlfriend's family. I don't think I've ever tapered this hard for a race before (100 coming on Saturday), so I'm really hoping I don't feel too stale. So far there hasn't been any of the normal taper madness, so I think I may be good to go.
Good work on the race sign up there Berto. I've signed up for plenty of things last minute, but it's always just something I'm intending to do for fun as opposed to really racing. Usually, the last minute signups are when a friend wants me to get in on a race with them, and it's a lot more likely to be something like a road half or full than a trail event.
Can we do a parallel QOTD? Does anyone have a burning desire to run Badwater? For me, I have to say yes. I think maybe because it's a race I knew about even before I was really into ultra running, it has some extra appeal. And there's something about the mythology of it all - having to run on white lines to avoid melting shoes, seeing Jurek sitting in a cooler of ice, etc etc. The weird thing is, I'm not in a rush do it it. I feel like the time will be right maybe in 10 years? Not that I'm that young anymore (36), but it just doesn't seem like you have to be a young man to do well out there.
Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn
I ran 8 last night out/back on the cinder path/rail trail outside of town. How can a flat run feel so hard? Well, not really, but I could not find any rhythm t0 my pace until the last few miles. A decade ago I was banging out tempo miles at 6:30-7:00 pace and now I shuffle about at 9:30-10:00. This aging thing and bad knees sucks! End of whine. Still tropical weather. Several little squalls of showers hit me during the hour+ long run. The first one was pretty heavy, but it stopped after a mile, and my decision to run shirtless was a wise one as I was steamy a few minutes later.
Today. I don't know. A few miles on the local trail or the lakeside trails, or maybe a slack day.
QOTD: Most of the races I jump into at the last minute are local trail 15k-25k, some organized, some more fatass style. I would typically race the organized ones with decent results and treat the fatass events treat more like a goof off run with some tempo and surges.
QOTD2: Not too interested in Badwater. That whole pavement thing and being so exposed to the sun.
SIaR - Good luck at Burning River!! I am a fellow Buckeye, grew up in Wooster OH, just southwest of Akron. One of the reasons I ran Mohican a few years ago.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Wait, what? I'm from Wooster! I moved away for 8 years (Chicago and Denver), but came back eventually.
Sounds like your run was as much a mental grind as a physical one. I think those tow path type runs are tough since you see it all in front of you for so long. They're a nice option in a pinch, but definitely not my first choice either.
Trails
Bert I'm hoping to develop a deep enough base to just jump into a run (not a 5k) at a moment's notice.
SO, I've got Cory Reese's new book Into the Fire and after reading that I wanted to do Badwater but I looked at the qualifying and I'm nowhere near any of that...yet.
Tim
Rain has temporarily stopped, so I plan on running 5-6 on the Gettysburg Battlefield at lunch. Might try the horse trails out and see how they held up to 12" of rain the past few days.
Going to see Blazing Saddles tonight at our local historic theater. They play classic movies every Wednesday in the Summer. One of my favorite movies. I'm a huge Mel Brooks fan.
Bert - Bob hasn't updated in a while. Not sure if he stopped after 20 hours. Hope he is well.
dh63 - Welcome. Corey used to post a lot in the old Runners World forums. Not sure if he ever made the jump to RA. Queen and I saw him at Trailfest in Utah 2 years ago. He's a funny guy. What area of the country are you from?
QOTD: I've jumped into a 12 hour (Labor Pains) and a 50K (Seneca Creek) on really short notice. Both worked out pretty well.
QOTD2: Don't think so. I talked to Harvey Lewis, and Kieth Straw (a local PA legend), and both of their conversations told me I would no do well in the heat. I've run in Arizona in 95° temp and didn't like that.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
SIaR - Wow, crazy small world. Please don't tell me you graduated Wooster HS in 79'. THe old brick building. I suspect you do a fair amount of running on the trails at Spangler Park, now known as Wooster Memorial Park I think. I used to hike there as a teenager, sometimes smoking funny stuff. I went back for a run there last year before Mohican. A blast from the past.
DHuffman - Welcome. That's a busy schedule you have. You definitely have a base to jump into some races!
Le professeur de trail
A short run in the rain last night. Rain felt great but jumping puddles not so much so I had no reason to push more. Today will likely be a rest day.
SIAR - GL at Burning River . Do you have a goal you are striving for?
QOTD1: Not as last minute as you Bert. I have, in my mind, signed up late for a race but really it wasn't all that late. Last year I had no plans on any races but ended up doing a 50k+ in November. But I was thinking of jumping into something in the fall so kinda calculated. A co-worker was just telling me how she jumped into a 5k at the beach this last weekend because a friend begged her too. She's been running but not specifically training and she PR'd. Go figure.
QOTD2: No way!!!! I melt in the heat. I rarely run in the middle of the day. I could not do it. I would try Barkley's before Badwater.
Have a great day!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
running under the BigSky
4.5 miles with ~ 800’ gain, warm 85-ish; Tiny E’s tongue was about 3X normal size!
will get something in this evening, supposed to be about 5 degrees cooler today
qotd: a few, have been local so I knew what to expect; not sure other places, but in Montana races sell out so fast not many opportunities for an impromptu sign up
qotd 2: uhhh no, refer to yesterday’s qotd
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
dhuffman - Glad to see you pop in here. You've made great progress throughout the year.
SIAR - Glad you're not hit with taper madness. How's the weather forecast looking for your race? Have you dialed in a pace strategy?
Dr Jamie - RE: your co-worker. Yeah, some people can jump into a race and PR. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, haha! Between Badwater and Barkley's, it'd be a tough decision for me to choose which is the least worst hell to endure.
AT - On GPS, I see Bob is at 120.9, but he hasn't checked in at 122 on the spreadsheet yet. The gap between 90 and 122 on the spreadsheet is pretty big! Looks like the top two females (Brenda and Pam) came in 5 and 6 OA and were fairly close.... impressive!
QOTD2: I'm definitely fascinated with the allure of Badwater, even though I'm terrible in the heat. To me it's "can you overcome what you know will destroy you."
AT - enjoy Blazing Saddles...I'm not that big of a fan of older movies, but it is a classic! Your comment that both your unplanned races went well didn't surprise me - I figure it's way more likely to randomly sign up for a race when we're confident in our fitness than to do it when the tank is empty.
Dhuff..the Badwater requirements are pretty intense!
Xtreme...Haha, no I did not graduate in '79. I was actually the first class to do 4 years at the new building, finishing in '00. And yes, we run a ton a Wooster Memorial Park. They've done a lot to clean it up in recent years. We put on lots of races out there, including a 50k and then a summer trail series of races too. Wooster isn't a bad place to run in general - plenty of hills and nice back country roads to enjoy too. That's awesome that you came back for Mohican...the most I've done there is the 50 mile as I just can't quite bring myself to do the 4 loops.
Dr. Jamie...Barkley? Now that really would be crazy! As for goals, my goal is 24 hours. I'll take it pretty hard if I don't make that. I actually think I'm in shape to do a decent bit better than that, but I don't know how much I want to risk going faster and the possibility of jeopardizing the 24 hour goal. My plan is to come through 50 around 10 hours (front is not too challenging) and then assess from there.
Mtnwarden...nice run last night. enjoy the cooler temps
Berto...The weather looks insanely perfect for my race. I can't even believe it. The high is like 76 and the low is 56. I've run the 50 there in 95 degree heat, so to get this forecast is a real blessing. As above...pace plan is roughly 10 hr from (12m/m), leaving me the possibility to keep that up on the back half or to slow to a 16m/m and still break 24. One thing I'm going to be aware of is just not running for too long. There's lots of stretches where you can run 9/10 minute pace for 5 miles or more at a time. I think instead of doing that, I'm going to make sure to incorporate little walk breaks.
5 miles on the tmill after weights today. Seriously considered not running but decided to do a couple miles. Was about to stop but then Thunderstruck followed by a 12 minute version of Freebird came on my iheartradio and I couldn't stop.
QOTD: I very rarely race. Never impromptu.
QOTD2: No desire for Badwater, none whatsoever.QOTD2b: Barkley is more interesting to me and reminds me of many good times my son and I spent bushwacking through the Ozark mountains finding waterfalls and caves. Don't really have the desire to stay up for days at a time, however.
Ran a couple of easy miles with a much lower level of mugginess this morning. I felt like going farther, but I did not have the time.
QOTD 1: I don't think I have jumped into anything on the spur of the moment that was of any significant distance, maybe a 10K where I won a free entry a couple of weeks prior to the start. If I had chosen the 5k, I would have actually won. I thought I was doing a top 10 in the 10K. I was counting runners on a little out and back, but there were two runners who had already made it through before I could count them. One of those ended up coming in 2nd behind Zach Bitter (I think) in the 100K championships that same year. I think it was 2013. Anyway, I think I ended up 11th, but it was a helluva a race for 11th in the last mile. It was fun, edged one guy out by a nose.
QOTD 2: I have no desire to run Badwater. I don't like running in direct sunlight. I am just now starting to think about running long again, maybe a 100K or something in February or March. I'm not training through another Louisiana summer for a fall race. And a fall race south of Kentucky could be anywhere from freezing temps (good) to a scorcher (bad).
LB2
Are we there, yet?
Badwater update: Harvey Lewis is approaching Lone Pine while bhearn has checked out of Lone Pine. It looks like Pete Kostelnick has dropped.
qotd: It depends on what you consider as impromptu. I decided to enter my first marathon two weeks before the race. I've also shown up at a race intending to volunteer and been talked into running it instead. Generally those races have gone well, in one case exceedingly well as I rate it one of the top 5 races I've ever run.
qotd2: No desire at all to run Badwater or Barkley. I occasionally think about wanting to run some of the iconic 100 mile races, but not enough to put in the training to run 100 miles, much less WS or Leadville or any of the other top 100 milers.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
AT, I currently live in NE OK but am an Army vet and my dad and DH are retired AF with my brother spending 10 years in the AF so I've lived all over except the west. I'd love to meet Cory someday. His Nowhere Near First book got me hooked on ultras.