Imminent Catastrophe
I went out for a run in frigid Boston, a few days after a 15" snowstorm. I really should invest in some YakTrax. The sidewalks are very icy and dangerous and I was about to turn back but ran across the river to MIT and--clear, dry sidewalks! I should have known a wealthy college campus would have that done. So I got in a good 8-miler. I really need better gloves though, my hands were really cold by the end. Rainy Portland, Oregon tomorrow.
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
Thursday - one hour easy on the treadmill - snow frozen into ice
Friday - missed the warm up run (stayed up way passed my bedtime with some guys after an a architecture lecture - I didn't go but I got to quiz the speaker one on one over several glasses of wine - why does my favorite pub have terrible wine?) still did a one hour circuit with the trainer
Saturday- 6 easy miles - streets were cleared of snow and ice - bright and sunny and cold - lots of chatty local runners about
Finished my tea and off to the gym for 6x400 at 5K pace, the trainer wants me to do 1 minute up/ 1 minute down but I think I'm more interested in the 5K pace for now.
A
Recalculating...
Plan for the weekend was Sat. 6 miles at 9:30 (MP'ish), Sunday easy 8. Some people I knew were running Saturday so I elected to head out with them. Wound up doing 11, mostly at 9:00-9:15 except for an iced over bridge which we had to walk both ways.
Heading out for an easy 6 with the dog, who hasn't been able to go outside for a week and is driving us crazy.
New Orleans Marathon - 2/24/2013 4:16:32
Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon - 4/27/2013 4:09:56 PR!
Honolulu Marathon - 12/8/2013
I'm just back from my weekend ski trip to 7 springs. Had a great time with just the guys. It has been 13 years since I went skiing. I expected to be sore today but I don't feel any pain at all. Can't say that for one of my friends, he ended up with a torn ligament in his shoulder from a very mild looking wipeout. No running for me this weekend just lots of cross training. I'll try to get back on track today.
I made it through the week, but didn't make my 30 mpw goal. I couldn't complete my Thursday run due to severe stomach pain that started last Tuesday. I started taking Prilosec a couple days ago and feel better today - waiting on a doctors' s appt Tuesday after work. My "google diagnosis" is most likely a gastric ulcer which sounds pretty benign, but I've felt pretty awful over the last week - as evidenced by my 12:30 pace on Saturday - aarggh!. Tonight will be my first run since starting Prilosec, and I'm hopeful that I'll get it done.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
A hard 10-mile trail run in Portland. It was cool and rainy, the trail was hard to get to and pretty muddy, but I had a blast. It's nice to know about it for if/when I'm there again. It's the Wildwood trail that runs for 30+ miles through several parks in Portland. It's pretty hilly but not very many rocks/roots, which is a nice change.
Less than 7 weeks until my 50-miler, so I'm trying to get a few hard weeks with lots of hard trail runs.
Just in from 8 TM miles done at a slow pace that felt fast - still not feeling tip-top. Doc says I have gastritis secondary to the GI bug I had a week or two ago. On the plus side, I've shed my holiday weight gain. That'll happen when you only eat bananas, saltines and tea. Have revised my Saturday plan down from 12 to 10 miles. Need to recupe some more.
6 miles this morning in a light snow - hello January! I'm hanging in there and establishing a light base before January and doing a couple of weeks of 2-3 days per week weight training to burn off some fat, definitely feeling more like my pre-holiday self.
Tomorrow 3 miles and weight training, saturday 6 miles easy...
Happy - I'm glad you're feeling slightly better, hope the gastritus hits the road.
For me a wonderful 12.88 kilometers in the sun today. Chilly but lovely day.
I'm thinking of running the Santa Claus Marathon in June. Which is six weeks after the Vancouver marathon. You guys think it's doable? I'll be vacationing for a week after Vancouver, so basically I'll have 5 weeks.
DutchieRun the day, or the day runs you.
Finally feeling good again. Gained back 2 lb which is probably a good thing. Now if I could just maintain this wt.
Felt very strong today after doing an hour or so of yoga this morning. Still I decided to stick with my plan for 10 instead of 12 miles because of some leg complaints this past week. So my goal for the 10 was to run no slower than 11 mpm. Very pleased to say my average was 10:37 and only the first mile was a few seconds over. the last mile was my fastest at 10:11.
The only trouble I had during the run was the Raynauds in both hands...my new mittens weren't warm enough...I'm sure if anyone saw me running along windmilling my arms to push the blood back into my hands, they really would have wondered about me.
Heffa - how fun for you to go skiing! I haven't skied in 10 years - since we moved here. I was just getting to be a "confident intermediate" level when we left Calif. I just loved everything about skiing though. One of these days maybe I'll have an opportunity to do a ski trip like you did. Glad you had such a great time.
I had an epic run today. I ran part of the Miwok 100k route, and it was a lot harder than I'd expected. Many seemingly endless climbs and nasty, quad-pounding downhills. I'm really going to have to do some serious hill training between now and May. I'm really worn out after that run. Anyway the GPS showed 23.5 miles at the end, and I thought that was a bit short. Looking at my GPS track, it dropped some segments and took some shortcuts, so I used the official (certified) mileages for the race and it turns out I ran 26.3 miles! Whoo-hoo! Longest non-race run ever and it means my pace was better than I'd originally thought. Still, some hard hill training is in order!
After the run I was driving back to the hotel and a bobcat--a wild bobcat--casually crossed the road in front of me. It paid no attention to the cars that pulled over to watch. Cool.
Was going to do 25km today, but it ended up being one of thse days with really heavy rain and strong winds. The sort where you feel like you are a drowning.
So ran into town where it was a bit more sheltered and did 15km instead. To make it even worse decided to have a few beers and watch the Aussie Open tennis all afternoon.
Oh well, there is always next week
“Attitude is the Difference Between an Ordeal and an Adventure”
Goals 2016
Do stuff
Perfesser - I looked at some photos of the Miwok trail and it looks really beautiful and really hard - what is the overall elevation change for the 100K?
Yesterday I had a brutal 6 miles in -10ºC and windy, lots of dodging ice in front of houses of folks who didn't shovel in time, but I feel like a superstar for sticking it out - the bright orb in the sky kept me going as I rarely see it during the week. Today - I'll hit the gym after my tea for a bit of weight training and a 30 min inside jog, skies look ominous.
Some while back (I think Happy) asked me about Brad Hudson's book Run Faster. I was leafing through it again while watching hockey last night... what I really like about it, although there are training plans in the back of the book, the whole point is to encourage the reader to make their own plan and give you the steps to get there. Other books explain the science or may be motivational but this one seems the most practical that I've read in awhile (previously my go to reference book has been an old Glover book). For folks like me who aren't beginners but aren't pros either its a good little text book. The most basic charts like "Runs per week" and "Optimal running volume..." are most helpful because you don't have to reinvent the wheel. It explains the "whys" of interval training and progression runs and when they should be done in a training cycle.
Really the book has highlighted the point of easy steady running- which I haven't always been good at, on Feb 1 I'll start the experiment!
Thanks Ayola, the book sounds worthwhile. It was previously recommended to me by someone else who thought I'd like it. I'll have to give it a looksee.
I just got a book (on the same other person's rec) called: Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel by Matt Fitzgerald. I'll let you know what I think of that one once I crack it open. I went for that one because my style of running for the past 35 years has been running according to how I feel - which may be completely different than what's in the book, but I'll find out. This past year or so is the first time I've set a weekly mileage goal or made a particular running plan OR had Rest Days (god forbid!). I've always just gone out and run 4-6 miles every day, and periodically had a long weekend run going on.
I've changed my tune on the Rest Days...I think they are really benefiting me now...especially the day after the LR.
Wrapped up a pretty good week with 8+. Let Friday's ice and snow be an excuse to skip a day, which is the first workout I've missed this year.
Finally made up my mind about a Spring race. I'd originally planned on doing Flying Pig, but just couldn't get excited about it. Instead I'm going to do the Andrew Jackson Marathon in Jackson, TN. Last year they had 50 or so marathon finishers, so I may be looking at my first top 100 and maybe a top 10 in my age group. On the other hand its 3 weeks earlier than Flying Pig so I'm now 3 weeks behind on my training plan.