I ran my two loop course this morning before daybreak. My light went haywire on me, but I still ended up with a negative split on the back loop even though I had to stop and try to fix the light. It has given me years of great service, but it may be time for a new light.
QOTD: What is the most memorable gear malfunction you have ever had in a race?
When I first started running, I really started on roads and mainly to have some alone time to listen to music more than anything else. My most memorable gear malfunction was something that happened regularly in events: My iPod would not work or it was so rainy that I didn't want to ruin it. The first trail race I did was a 50K in a downpour. I trained with music, but I left it in the truck that day. The next race was a 100K. On the second loop, I got to my drop bag and grabbed my iPod to listen to it for the last 40 miles. It was so muggy and humid that I couldn't even get the stupid thing to come on. The next race was Rocky Raccoon. I didn't even consider taking the thing out on that one because it was a total washout. I'm surprised they didn't cancel the race. Now, I don't even bring music to a race, and I think I enjoy running more without it.
LB2
9 am and it's already in the mid 80s here. Ended up walking yesterday and it came up short (3 miles) as I abandoned my route midway due to a hot spot forming on my inner heel, where the skin is very thin and babylike. This was the saucony's last try- to see if they would work short distances and/or walking. I ordered new cascadias and I'm trying to decide if I should return these 6 month old peregrine's back to REI. They have less than 50 miles on them and other than dried dirt, look brand new, except for the wear on the inside heel, now covered by duct tape.
qotd: The above saucony's are my biggest gear fail, and thankfully, minor and not involved in a race.
Tim
Hot and humid road run today. I have a lot of yard work lined up, so tried to get out early, but as DC said, it's was still pretty bad conditions.
Might have to skip some of the yard work and wait for the weekend when it cools off a bit.
QOTD: In a race, it would be a night time trail race in Redding, PA, where it started pouring down rain and my light got wet and went out. I had just put in new batteries and didn't tighten down the case enough, so water got in. The course was heavily wooded and really dark. I tried to run right behind other people to see where the rocks and roots were, but still fell 3-4 times.
In a MTB race, I was doing a 40 mile race at Seven Springs, PA, and about 3/4 of the way through I went over a small jump and when I landed a rock took out my rear derailleur. I had to walk/run my bike up any hill but I was able to coast down the hills. Luckily it was mostly downhill from where I was to the finish. MTB'ers aren't as nice as trail runners, so I had a lot of people on the uphills yell at me to get out of their way. It's one of the reasons I stopped doing MTB races.
“Paralysis-to-50k” training plan is underway!
I'm doubting that I'll run today. Feeling like I want to do some mountain biking instead. The weather here while a tad warm, actually kinda nice is nothing like southern Wi. right now or you guys out east. Nasty. I see that a new micro brew pub opened in Ironwood, Michigan so there might be a recon later today. Probably should start filing brew pub reports similar to race reports.
AT--holy crap. 40 mile mtb race. Sounds painful. I remember doing a 12.5 mile race way back in time and I felt like I had been run over by a bus. It was after that I gave up on mtb races and just ride for fun. But like we have discussed in the past bike racers are just wired a little different. Too much ego, attitude, and intensity for me. Another reason I quit triathlons back in time.
QOTD--Nothing seems to come to mind in a race. Certainly an assortment of mostly my stupidity over the years during training type efforts.
AT--holy crap. 40 mile mtb race. Sounds painful. I remember doing a 12.5 mile race way back in time and I felt like I had been run over by a bus. It was after that I gave up on mtb races and just ride for fun.
This was a long one, but the course was not hard. Lots of logging road sections to connect the single track.
The local races in Michaux Forest are usually set up as 10, 20 and 30 miles. Their 20 mile course is harder than the 40 miles I did at Seven Springs. To do the 30 miles course, you have to qualify for it. I run those trails, but don't think I could ride some of them now.
9 am and it's already in the mid 80s here. Ended up walking yesterday and it came up short (3 miles) as I abandoned my route midway due to a hot spot forming on my inner heel, where the skin is very thin and babylike. This was the saucony's last try- to see if they would work short distances and/or walking. I ordered new cascadias and I'm trying to decide if I should return these 6 month old peregrine's back to REI. They have less than 50 miles on them and other than dried dirt, look brand new, except for the wear on the inside heel, now covered by duct tape. qotd: The above saucony's are my biggest gear fail, and thankfully, minor and not involved in a race.
Despite dealing with quite a bit of anxiety and stress over the last month, your issues with the Peregrine have come to my mind on more than a couple of occasions (Those things seem to be settled and life is good again). The Saucony Peregrine is a shoe that I always found to be comfortable and never gave me the first problem at all. I do find they they "look" very narrow, but I never had any problems with them squeezing my toes or causing blisters. Anyway, it is strange how some shoes work great for one person and not another. I had the same problem with the NB 110's when they came out. I gave them one last try on a trail run, and they worked great. After that, the 110's and Peregrines were my main shoes until I discovered Altra.
Dog walk this morning around the neighborhood with the missus and the beasts. Just under a mile for the short loop the missus and the old spaniel prefer. Might do some light yard work tonight followed by swim and beer hour on the back deck. I am sort of antsy to run in my newly drained knee joint but am going to hold off until I get to Ohio on Thursday and do a trail jog around my old stomping grounds. Not that I ran there, but we use to hike at this park as high school punks swilling little kings or doing other non-government sanctioned activities.
QOTD: Socks. I think it was under armour running socks to be specific. Wore those at my first Laurel Highlands ultra where it poured and poured all day. These were not good socks, thus sort of a newbie mistake. I ended up with huge blisters, rain wrinkled feet, and led to my iconic photo here.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
running under the BigSky
first time hitting the weights last night in about three weeks (had done some body weight stuff) and it showed
was going to run this evening, but we are getting an usual amount of precip (welcomed precip) that is supposed to continue into the night, so in a holding pattern as to whether I run; if not, tomorrow
qotd: no big wrecks with gear, but twice now I've lost my bag of electrolytes- first time I kept them in a little pocket on the inside of my shorts- went to get one and the bag was gone, only to find out after the race they truly weren't gone, but safely in the lining of shorts second time was my 30k earlier this year, I had taken one and was going for a second an hour later and they were gone- this time I kept them in an elastic pocket on my water bottle- this time they were actually gone
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √
Went for a nice bike ride with DW. Broke it up into three sections. Nine miles to the Tastee Freeze where we refueled with hot fudge boats. Lots of calories but hey, we were burning them off and the banana was good for us. Then we stopped by my parents place and relaxed in the A/C for awhile until heading home in the inferno. Bike computer said 118 degrees . In reality it was only about 96. Still hot. Got in about 23 miles.
QOTD: Can't say I've ever had a gear malfunction in a race unless you consider food/fueling issues to be gear related. In that case it happens all the time because I either have a miserably weak stomach when running or I'm too much of a blithering idiot to figure it out.
On the bike I have had some really nice gear failures. For awhile I was flatting every 5-10 miles with the road bike. Learned that Michelin tires wouldn't cut it on my roads. After switching to Continentals I've had no more problems. Had a lot of wheel issues that caused me to do a lot of roadside work in the past. The biggest failure was when the rear part of my frame broke. Just glad it wasn't while I was bombing down a hill at 55 MPH.
Sue
We were unable to leave the beach yesterday because a dreary morning turned into a glorious afternoon. The husband and I committed to drinking and dancing to Creedance Clearwater since the place was empty. It was fun. Got up at 5 am and drove home, showered and work. So no run for me. I need to go home and unpack all those clean running clothes that are in the trailer. Ok I did run twice over the weekend.
QOTD: Mostly having my Garmin battery die even though it was plugged in all night. It was sensitive and had to be plugged in just right. Oh my bladder in my water pack leaked out giving me a cold wet ass. Although I am sure others just thought I pissed my pants.
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
Are we there, yet?
4.3 miles in sunny 91F temperatures.
qotd: memorable only because it's funny in light of how so many runners swear by their Garmins. It was acting odd for the first couple miles of the run with the mile split well off well established landmarks and the pace was fluctuating in weird patterns. It wasn't until I finished and uploaded the data to Garmin Connect that I could see it had me starting the run 4 miles from my house and met up with where I actually was about 2 miles into the run.
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.
I was there, the pack looked fine to me.