Still Recovering

Nothing too exciting to post. I just wanted to jot down, for my own data archive, that it's been two weeks since the NF50 miler up in DC and i'm just now getting to where the little aches and pains are subsiding enough to run on a consistent basis.

Quick notes:

• My quads recovered very quickly (took about three days). Possibly thank the Hokas?
• My calves, shoulders and low abs did not recovery quickly. Especially my upper calves, I'm still not doing any hill running because they are a little tweaky.
• My resting hr flops between 48-52 bpm and I'm feeling super fit chomping at the bit to ramp up training again.
• It takes about two microbrews for me to be drunk.

I have decided that I will not do too many more long runs (of the 30+ mile range). In fact, I may just do one more 50k about 7 weeks out of CC100. I will instead focus on the 13-18 mile training variety with more speed/hill focus and throw in a few doubles if the schedule allows. Also, I have decided to listen to my smarter half (Laura) and incorporate a Recovery and Stretch yoga class 1x per week. I'm excited to see the benefits here. Lastly, I will be adding lifting in addition to more focus on my core for the next 10 weeks leading up to the race. I realized from the 50 that my upper body is going to be what pulls me through the last few miles of the race because my core and legs are going to be shot. Plus, if I have to crawl I want to make sure my shoulders are up to the task.

I am not planning on running less mpw, just having a different focus so my body can recovery more quickly allowing me to run strong the next day. I also think that not being out running 4-5 hours at a time will allow me to find more balance in life, something that is always an uphill battle in life.

Happy Running!

NF50 Race Report

Leading up to the race

I have been dealing with a nagging adductor issue with my left leg. Three weeks ago I was on mile 28 of my last long run when my left knee just locked up and shot a horrible pain up through my groin. I thought about calling Laura to have her come pick me up but I thought this would be a good training session on how to deal with pain issues that inevitably come with ultras. So, I walked. Then I stretched a body part. Then walked some more. Then stretched a different body part. Ultimately, I was looking for a good stretch that would subside the pain and allow me to move forward at a pace fast enough to finish in under the 13 hour time limit. Unfortunately nothing worked and I hobbled the last 3 miles home and jumped in an ice both wondering if I the last 12 weeks were a waste.

           

I started thumbing through my training log as I sat in the ice bath and realized that I have enough training that I may survive an extreme taper (i.e. no running until race day). At this point, I had been averaging around 55 miles per week with three 30-mile runs and a few weeks of good speed work. So, I quit running. Hell, I didn’t even put my running shoes on but not toeing the line was not an option, nor was quitting once I started. Without running I decided to focus on my diet. The biggest change was that I started eating mostly vegetarian with a few sprinkles of chicken or salmon. In addition, I cut out beer entirely. By the time I weighed myself the Thursday before we headed up to DC I was nearing my peak running weight and feeling really good. I still didn’t know how the knee was going to hold up but we were about to find out.

Race weekend

We drove up to DC on Thursday after work and rolled into the city around 12:30 in the morning. Melissa was awesome and stayed up for us and let us crash on her couch so I could be close to packet pickup the next morning. On Friday we grabbed my packet and headed off to Alice's where I managed to get a nap between playing with the kiddos and even watching Julie play a softball game! And, the MVP award for the weekend goes to Laura. She woke up at 3:00AM to drive me to the race start which was an hour away. Then, she met me at mile 14 to crew me for my first loop at the Great Falls Aid Station.

The night before the race I had a huge helping of spaghetti that Alice made and drank a bunch of water and started to up my electrolytes before I went to bed. I managed to crash at 20:30 (it’s nice having the kiddos around because they have early bed times) so I managed to get around 6.5 hours of really solid sleep. I didn’t have any ‘night before race’ jitters and just crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow. At 03:00 my alarm went off, in addition to my backup text from Luke, and I was ready to rock. I got my gear on, ate a banana and some juice and took off for the race start. We got to the start about 45 minutes early which allowed me to have some coffee and oranges and get that last toilet break in. I was feeling really excited and still not too nervous. Kind of weird but I guess when you bust your ass for 12 weeks you shouldn’t have too many surprises ahead. My only concern was my adductor but I decided I wouldn’t even think about that so, not an issue. I didn’t stretch, I didn’t do any warmups, I just sat. Any step I took before the race could be the one that got me over the finish line. When the 2-minute warning came Dean got on the microphone and wished everybody good luck then we were off. Laura got a pre-race photo and a video (I'll throw the videos up later).

04:45 pre-picture

I had a race plan and a goal. And no, my plan/goal was not “to just finish”. I think that is a bullshit answer that newbies use. Even if you want to ‘just finish’ you need to have a plan for a 50-miler otherwise you might as well just go to the beer tent and not waste a shuttle-drivers time having to drive you back after 20 miles. My goal was to finish in nine hours. My pacing plan was to go out slow and just when I think I should run faster, slow down. This was some advice that Charlie gave me some time ago when we were chatting on a trail run in Boulder (thanks Charlie…I thought of you and your Leadville race quite a bit during this race). My food-intake plan was simple: one gel every 20 minutes, NUUN in my two hand-held water bottles, one S-cap every hour. In addition, I brought Ibuprofen and ginger pills with me as needed. I knew the aid-stations were plenty and stocked but I wanted to be self-sustaining so I loaded up all my pockets and set out.

The gun went off at 05:00 sharp and we were off. I chose to start in the middle of the pack as I knew I didn’t want to get stuck behind the walkers but also didn’t want to end up in a sprint pack. The course cruised through some nice, flat single-track in what I think was a marshy area as it was dark and I didn’t dare take the light from my headlamp off the trail. I found myself running alone most of this section with the exception of a few people that were, to my best guess, doing interval training these first four miles. I cruised through the Sugarland aid station right on target of my pace. I didn’t need anything as we’d only gone 4.8 miles. The next few miles were mostly on double track and a few people cruised by me with a bit of a ‘slowpoke’ nod. I took Charlie’s advice and slowed down a little bit. I also took mental note of their numbers and 3 of the 4 DNFd and the fourth finished 3 hours behind me. So, coach Charlie was correct. I got to Fraser aid station and topped off my water bottles in addition to loading up with some extra gels.

The singletrack between Fraser and Great Falls has some really cool sections of trail. It’s the longest on the course without aid (still only 7 miles) but it was hands down my favorite section for running. The hills were short but steep and the trail was technical but runnable. I was still feeling really solid up to mile 12 and just kept my slow-n-steady mentality. I ran nearly all of this trail except for two of the really steep sections (still runnable but I was being conservative) and used those walking breaks to eat my gels, Scaps, etc. The best part about this whole section was that I only saw one group of runners so was able to focus on how I was feeling and just take in the sunrise over the Potomac. Around mile 12 the first hints of ‘I might have to poo’ started creeping into my head. I had 2.8 miles to go and figured I’d just wait until I got to the outhouse. Then, around mile 12.5 my body decided that it was going to happen now. One small problem, this entire section is lined with fields of stinging nettles meaning I was going to go on the trail or risk a scratchy 37.5 mile run. At this point, I was not going to choose either of those options and, instead, changed my running form to more of a straight-legged hobble. It definitely slowed me down and really sucked thinking I might mess myself with any step but, luckily, the feeling went away after about 15 minutes and I was able to make it to the aid station feeling strong and just a couple minutes behind my target (see the picture of me coming in at Great Falls below).

Coming into Great Falls at mile 15

The next 20 miles consisted of three loops around the Great Falls park. It was a mix between jeep road, double track and technical singletrack all topped off with a kick ass rock garden that puts you on the edge of a 50 foot cliff down to the Potomac. This was a very cool place as I even saw some people top-roping off the cliffs. As I said earlier, this race is extremely well stocked as the halfway point on the loop had a great aid station too. I thought about ditching one of my water bottles but really wanted to stay in my self-sustaining mode mostly for mental training for the Cascade Crest.

After I got a little cameo on the video, snuck a smooch from Laura and sent her on her way (she had other errands to run and was going to meet me at the finish line instead of be bored while I ran in circles for a few hours) and made a much-deserved bathroom stop I was off for my first loop still feeling really good. At this point (15 miles in) my game plan was spot on. Again, this loop is very runnable and reminded me of my training grounds in Umstead. The first loop went very smoothly. There was one section where I stepped funny off a rock and felt that adductor tighten up for a second but I refused to acknowledge it and kept on chugging. I realized finishing up the first loop that I was a little optimistic about my time here and lost a few minutes. However, my pee was still light yellow, my stomach was feeling great and I couldn’t stop smiling so things were solid. Hell, I wasn’t even sick of gels yet.

The second loop was still really solid for me but I started to notice the adductor more and more, especially as I was going downhill. It wasn’t a constant pain but it would definitely give me a little jolt occasionally. I knew that if I was able to finish this loop that I had my ITB strap back at my drop bag that might help out (probably not logical but it made me think I had a fix waiting for me). Since the uphills felt fine and downhills made the jolt of pain I decided to cruise the uphills and adjust my running style for the downhills. This worked really well except I’d fly by people on the uphill and they would return the favor on the downs. All-in-all, I finished that loop about 10 minutes slower than the previous but was still feeling great sans the occasional adductor pain. I dug through my drop bag and found my strap. I also had some Trameel (homeopathic pain gel) so rubbed that all over the leg then cinched down the ITB strap. At first I didn’t have it tight enough and the Trameel made it really slick so the strap just slid to my knee cap. Once I cranked on it and started to run I could tell the pain was going to stay above my knee which was a big mental win. The third lap was a great lap for me and I found myself cruising with a lot of the 50k runners as they made their way to the loop after a later morning start. I finished my third loop and was 6:50 into the run, only 20 minutes behind my goal pace. Overall I was still smiling and feeling great but did think to myself “I’ve been running almost 7 hours and I still have more than a half marathon to go. 50 miles is a long ways!”

I loaded up on gels, stuffed a bunch of salted potatoes in my mouth and took off down the road through the park. By this time, the marathon and 50k folks were all on the trail so you didn’t know who was running what. I found myself in a pack of marathon folks running my pace so I tucked into the back of their group and just zoned out for a little while until we hit the first big climb and I power-hiked past them. At this stage I was feeling good but I was just tired. The steep climbs seemed a little steeper, the downhills more technical and the stinging nettles more stingy. I never bonked during this race but from miles 35-42 were by far my most difficult. I found myself running alone and concentrating on the trail markers was becoming more challenging (this is where a pacer can earn their keep in my book). At mile 38 there is a big climb followed by a really cool rolling downhill section. I usually use these downhills to slow my heart rate and catch my breath after the big climb however I couldn’t get my heart rate to slow down even though I wasn’t running very fast. At one point I stopped and took a few deep breaths that seemed to help but it was still a little concerning. It wasn’t until the next steep climb followed by an equivalent downhill that I realized I was holding my breath on the downhill sections because I was concentrating on not burning out my quads. Once I figured this out I just focused solely on breathing and never had another issue with the heart rate. At mile 40 I caught up with a couple ladies running the marathon and asked if I could tuck behind them and follow them the next couple miles to the aid station. They did one better and said I could run in between them so I couldn’t fall off pace if I felt tempted. That gesture alone lifted my spirits and took me into mile 42.1 and the homestretch.

From here there was a short lollipop loop followed by a 2.5 mile fire road to the finish party. I felt really strong on the finish and even managed to catch a 50k crew finishing up to come in at 9:45. The most exciting part of all was that I had family and friends at the finish lie to celebrate the day with me!

Post Race Party Crew....best ever! Thanks guys!!!!!

Overall this was a very successful race for me. My quads are pretty tired and my stomach had some issues last night after the race but I feel good today. Here are a few bullet points of things I learned:

• Beer is better than a massage after a race
• Sitting down to go to the bathroom has added challenges after a 50-miler
• Friends and family crewing and at the finish line is awesome
• The North Face puts on a good show
•  50 miles is a long ways!

I'll throw some more pictures and videos up as they trickle in.

Sunrise coming up on the Potomac

 A view from the Great Falls Section of the Course

Mostly Likely Ultra to Get Punched in the Face

To my one reader (Luke) and my biggest fan (Momma), my apologies for lack of blogging. I have been doing a lot more outdoor activities in lieu these days. The spring time in Raleigh has been phenominal. Average temps have been in the upper 50s with a few days in the 80s. Yes, we've had some rainy days but it reminds me of home and I find myself wanting to go outside even in this 'bad' weather. In no particular order we have been :
1. planting a small herb garden
2. Ramping up my miles now that I have my insert into my new Hoka One Bondi Bs
3. Refinishing our front yard swing
4. Tackling our Backyard and...
5. Volunteering the swing shift at the Umstead Endurance 100 mile race

I'll start with number 5. I just realized that there was a 100 mile race outside my back door. I emailed Rhonda who is in charge of the volunteers asking if they needed any pacers. She informed me that they were filled up with pacers so she forwarded my email onto Joe Lugiano who is the assistant race director and a 22 time finisher of the Vermont 100M. He asked if I could help out with the timing at from 16:00-24:00. So, I packed up my puffy coat and my head lamp and headed into the park. The race is a 12.5 mile loop that each runner completes 8 times. After 4 laps or 16:00 they can pick up a pacer. If they did not plan on having a pacer then the volunteer pacers jump in on a first come first served basis. It's actually a really cool idea as most people just want the company and what better than a complete stranger to fill you in on their life story. My job was to shuttle between aid stations every couple hours and insert the runner's times into the computer data base (how it's done without timing chips). This process only took about 30 minutes to complete which left me 1.5 hours to help out elsewhere...and this is where the fun began. First, two runners came into the aid station all bloodied because they had been jumped by a drunk guy in the park, in mid day! Seriously, one of the runners apparently got punched right in the face. As if running 100 miles isn't tough enough why not throw in a fat bloodied lip from a bar brawl. After washing up a bit the runners were off. I love ultra running!

The first half of my shift, besides the brawl, was pretty uneventful as most people were chugging away pretty well in the daylight. The first finishers even started rolling in just as the sun was going down (somewhere around 14:08 was the winning time). As you can tell, this is definitely one of the 'easier' 100 milers as it's not a lot of elevation (maybe 8000 feet over the 100 miles which is mostly rollers). However, as the sun set and the elite runners were showering up the middle to back of pack runners were starting to show their wear and tear. This was a great reminder of what I love about the 100 mile distance, it is not about having the fastest time but overcoming the mental and physical obstacles that each person encounters during such a challenging event.Each and every competitor, whether they finished one lap or all eight, left all they had on the race course. You have to admire that. I could go on and on about the great experience but just call if you want to hear more stories. Overall, the Umstead 100 is an extremely well organized race with very experienced race directors. I'm not sure if I'll ever have the desire to run the same 8 laps for 100 miles but the fact that it's right out my back door I can't say never. Lastly, if you ever have the opportunity to volunteer for any race, especially an ultra, jump at the opportunity. It is a great way to give back to the race community and experience human perseverce up close and personal.

As for life, things are going well. I'm having more and more pain free runs which means my shoe insert and/or my Bondi Bs are rocking. I've ordered a pair of the Mafate to rotate between the two shoes and I do recommend ordering a half size up from your regular shoe as they do run about a 1/4 size too small with a pretty narrow toe box. Laura's herb garden is starting to show signs of life and I'll be planting cucumbers today or tomorrow. Now if we can just figure out how to overtake the weeds in our back yard :) Below is a few pics of what's been going on in the last few weeks. I'll be posting separately about my new $7 foam roller that is indestructable..stay tuned and enjoy the pics.

These are my new(er) Bondi Bs. You can see that the shoe on the right has a 1/2" full-length lift on the sole. This takes care of my short tibia and has really smoothed out my running, along with eliminating all knee issues.  I won't be going back to my old NB 101s or 760s that I used to run with. Shoot me a holler if you have any questions about these kick ass shoes.

Laura and I playing a little cribbage at our favorite coffee shop. If you've never had a European Cappucino I highly recommend one. It's basically a tall with an extra shot....you just sound so much more sophisticated ordering as a euro :)



This is the face of sad dog listening to us Skype our Colorado friends Chris and TBone. Every time he hears their voice on the computer and doesn't get to sit in Tauna's lap he just goes to his bed and has this look on his face.



This is the JackHammer (friend/co-worker) at $5 martini night. We were having a contest on who could order the girliest martini.....he won with his glowsticked Blue Orgasm.

Happy running to all!

Musings from the Xterra half marathon

I ran the race and did not have any knee issues. That's the best result i could have asked for.

As for the weekend, what a fantastic mini-vacation. Laura and I drove down on Friday after work and made it to the campground around 22:00, just in time to set up our tent and enjoy a pre-race Coors with Alison and Jason who made the trip from Atlanta to race with me. As I mentioned before the race I was worried about my knee as it was acting up again as I was packing the car. Laura, being the sweetheart she is, offered to drive so I could stretch and get my leg feeling better. Therefore, I spent 6 hours massaging my calf and stretching my legs. By the time we arrived, I was able to relax as I knew I'd be ready to rock (thanks L!).

The morning of the race was a breeze. I'm getting used to (i.e. spoiled) staying within walking distance of the race start. However, as we went to check in for the race I was starting to get a little worried as there were A LOT of people getting ready to run 13.1 miles of singletrack. I've run enough trail races to know that if you want to race at all you need to be in the front. However, the three of us were all pretty set on just chilling and enjoying each others company so we opted to start in the middle of the pack (a respectable thought since we were planning on keeping it around a 9:00 min/mile pace). Turns out, we should have started in the front with that plan. This race turned out to be an "Introduction to trail running" type of race. People sprinted out of the gate only to slam on the brakes as soon as a root or little hill came up. This resulted in, literally, a two-mile backup at the start of the race. We spent these first two miles walking/shuffling at a brisk 12:50 min/mile. However, the company was a great and we were enjoying pondering the fate of Teach for America, planning for the Cascade Crest and discussing a common topic for all runners.....#2. If we annoyed you during this first eight miles I apologize however I'd like to think we were good entertainment.

Anyway, the run pretty much stayed congested for the first 8-9 miles until there was a good climb (for the east coast) up a powerline. At this point I decided to try to pass as many people as I could in hopes of keeping a running pace for the last part of the race. I felt really solid on the climb and remembered why I miss Colorado so much, climbing Green Mountain in the early morning sunshine of Boulder is something that will always hold a place in my heart as this is where I started my running journey. At the top of the hill I was met with more congestion and accepted defeat and cruised/shuffled in to a 2:00 hour finish. I can't complain as the singletrack was really nice and the knee held up. I'm not sure if I'll make the trip back down to that neck of the trails but if you're in the area definitely bring your mountain bike for a loop or two. Congratulations to Jason on his first half marathon!

Here's a couple picks from the weekend:

relaxing after the race.....life's not too bad

A picture from the trail. The race ran around the shoreline of this lake.

Overall I'm feeling confident as I will start to ramp up my miles in preparation for a May 50-miler. Especially since I just got my new Hoka OneOne Bondi.Bs in the mail from Boulder Running Company. I'll post a review after my  run tomorrow :) Happy Running!

Georgia on my mind

Laura and I are heading to Winder, GA for the Xterra trail half marathon followed by some mountain biking in the state park. Considering I have just started running again on a regular basis I am going into this 'race' as a training run and a gauge of where I stand in terms of my knee. Currently, I'd say I'm about 80%....the knee has felt good but I still have some sore muscles due to the heel insert I've been running on. Well, at least that's why i think their sore. Maybe I'm just really out of shape but I guess we'll find out. My legs just don't fell fresh. With that said, I'll hang my ego up at the start line and shoot for a 2:00 hr goal. If, at any time, my knee starts acting up I will pull out and take my first DNF. Either way, I'm excited to have a couple nights of camping and the ability to dust off the mountain bike before the end of February. Have a great weekend and Happy Running!

On to something?

This is not a very exciting post for anybody but me but hopefully my excitement will be enough to interest you. Below is, what I hypothesize, a solution to my reoccurring knee pain that seems to show it's ugly head as my miles start reaching the 60+/week.

1/2" heel lift for my shoes to test for a couple weeks.

After two months of 2x per week acupuncture, daily yoga, weekly massage and hours of 'balancing' weight room workouts my knee was still really bothering me. So much that I cut out running the last two weeks and focused on self massage, stretching and everything else I could think of. Finally, a running buddy of mine said "just go see my chiropractor. If he doesn't think he can help you out he'll be the first to tell you". After telling the doc everything I've been doing he said, let's just take a quick xray to see if you have a leg imbalance. At this point, I needed some hard data and an xray sounded good to me. A few minutes later I had my answer, my tibia on my right leg is 1.3 cm shorter than the tibia on my left leg. This doesn't sound like much, and probably wouldn't bother the average runner, however 5+ hours of essentially limping is probably going to cause some issues.

I am happy because we have a very good lead to my knee issue. I will give the temporary lift two weeks to see how it feels and, if things are better, will then have to put a permanent lift on all the soles of my running  and work shoes. A small price to pay to be healthy, happy and running again. In addition, even though I have a permanent problem we have found a potential solution. Something I have been struggling to do ever since I started running marathons and beyond. I plan on taking the next couple weeks to make sure my base is still strong then we'll test out the lift....hopefully at the Xterra half. Stay tuned.

Happy running!

Please be seated with your seatbelts fastened...

Just this Monday we found ourselves flying back from a fantastic vacation in the Wasatch Range in Utah. As we were taxying the runway the pilot got on the intercom and said that he would be keeping the seatbelt sign on the whole trip to Denver because of turbulence. I've traveled enough to know that this is fairly common on these short flights and attribute it to a flight attendant conspiracy to not have to sprint up and down the aisles giving out drinks and peanuts only to run back to pick up all the trash. However, before the landing gear had lifted I realized this was not a joke. We were bouncing up and down and I thought to myself, just hold on for eight seconds. The kids behind me started off by laughing and giggling which quickly turned in to whining and then all out crying. I don't blame them but I have a little trick in these situations: I close my eyes and let my mind drift off to being on a mountain bike bombing along a singletrack high in the mountains. It almost always works, except this time when I closed my eyes something else popped into my mind.

Training for an ultramarathon is not much different than this current plane flight I was on. The base building (taxying out on the runway) is never that fun, usually takes too long and is often filled with the excitement (and maybe fear) of what lies ahead. As we begin to ramp up our miles (take-off to 30,000 feet) we hope for a smooth ride with no issues but often find ourselves like the kids behind me, laughing and crying all at once. Rarely does this portion go smoothly. Eventually, after holding on tight and gritting it out, we hit a stage where running along the trails no longer feels like effort but more like flying at cruising altitude. This is probably my favorite part of high mileage training (on par with the actual races). The mileage is high, the running is easy and reaching race day in fantastic shape is becoming more and more of a reality. Finally, we begin to taper and as we descend on race day the hours and days seem to drag on as our energy and excitement build for the big event. Hell, after writing this down I guess training for races is just one big vacation! :)

I am currently in the take-off to 30,000 feet stage in the training and yes, I have hit some nasty patches of turbulence. Mostly, my right knee is acting up on me again. The good news is that I have really taken care of myself and have learned so much about my body and how I react to certain stresses. The bad news, all the acupuncture, massage, yoga and ice-baths have not seemed to overcome the problem. Initially I thought my issues were from tightness/weakness in the hips. After four weeks of intense hip-opening yoga and strength training I am confident my hips are solid and flexible. Next, I thought my issues were due to an imbalance in my quads; specifically my right leg was much weaker than my left leg. I spent roughly 3x per week targeting single-leg workouts in the gym and am stronger than ever both in leg strength and balance. However, my knee issue was still there. I finally contacted a running friend of mine here in Raleigh who recommended I go to his chiropractor. I've never been a fan of chiropractors but was willing to give it a shot since I was out of ideas for a root cause. 

Finally, today, I found out that my right leg is one full inch shorter than my left leg. The great news is that I finally might be 5'8" :) AND I now have a reason why my knee always hurts me as I start ramping up my miles, especially when I am forced to pavement pound. The repetitive 'limp' over the course of a 30-mile run is enough to piss off any ligament or muscle. My fix is going to incorporate a 1" spacer on my right running shoe to compensate for the short leg. Ultimately, I won't know if this will fix my issues but it is a very good lead and I look forward to getting the data to prove this hypothesis correct. Until then, i am tentative on running the Xterra half at the end of February but am not giving up hope as my base is very solid and if I can get back to 20-30 miles over the next couple weeks I may give it a shot. If not, I will still go and get some Karma points for volunteering. 

Happy Running!