Got No Time

Not much to say this week.  School has consumed my life.  I managed to squeeze in an hour run on Sunday night--7 miles in 59:59.  Next weekend isn't looking much better right now.  I'll have to get a lot of things done in the next few days if I'm going to have any chance for a long run.  If I do get the chance, I'd like to try for an easy 22 miles.

An Easy 20 Miles

As the temps are now steadily in the 100's, I'll be doing almost all of my runs on a treadmill.  I got a solid 7 hours of sleep last night.  I woke up and drank some water and then headed to the YMCA.  As I was walking up the steps to get inside the YMCA, my foot slipped off the step and I hit my knee on the ground.  I wondered if this was an omen.  The first couple of miles were okay.  My legs felt a little sluggish.  I decided to run for 6 miles at 10 minute pace and then I would try a run/walk style that I read about on Hal Higdon's site.  I couldn't remember if it was supposed to be run for 5 or 6 minutes and then walk for one minute.  I decided to do a 5:1 ratio.  I also tried the Powerbar strawberry banana gels because they were the only ones carried by Walmart.  They have a strong taste that some might not like, but I thought it was okay.  Unlike the Hammer gels I tried a few weeks ago, there were no noticeable effects.  Anyway, I maintained the 10 minute mile pace and felt good all the way through 15 miles.  I picked up the pace for miles 16-20 and felt good.  Overall, it was a good run and I'm happy with my progress so far.  I'm hoping to be able to build up to 30 miles for my long runs.  I guess I'm 2/3 of the way there.  The time for today's run was 3:19:48.   

16 Long miles

Last Saturday I did 8x400 meter repeats and then finished with 2x200 meter repeats.  It was a good workout.  Unfortunately, that was the last time I was able to run before today.  I had hoped to get 17 miles in.  As it turned out, I was only able to do 16 miles, and the last 4 were a grind.  I don't know if it was because I haven't been getting much sleep or not.  I woke up today and ate a piece of wheat bread with some water.  I then headed out to run.  I didn't have any gels this time and I sure missed them.  At the 9 mile mark, I was thinking that I could use a gel, and after 12 miles, I knew I should have brought some.  Miles 13-16 were such a grind.  My fingers were tingling and felt like they were going numb.  My heart rate was a steady 178.  I got through it and my legs hurt.  They really hurt--they felt like they did after the last marathon I ran.  This run was the complete opposite of the one I did 2 weeks ago when I felt like I could have run forever.  I couldn't have gone much further today.  Hopefully next weeks long run will be better.   

Hot

Well, the week isn't going as well as I had hoped.  Today was my first opportunity to get a run in.  I figured an easy 3 miles would be good, so I set out around 12:30 or 1:00.  I figured it would be warm, but didn't realize that it was really hot and a little windy at times.  The temperature was in the 90's during this run and I felt it.  It took me 27:16 and turned into a mini mental struggle to keep running near the end.  I had forgotten how much the heat takes out of you.  With this in mind, I'm now concerned over how my 200 meter repeats are going to turn out.  I'm going to try and get them in Friday or Saturday. 
 

Successful Saturday

I went to the Y on Saturday and ran 15 miles on the treadmill.  It was one of those runs where everything clicks.  I felt as fresh after 10 miles as I did when I started.  I used the Hammer Chocolate gel at mile 5.  It tasted like a thick chocolate pudding.  I enjoyed it.  I really noticed it kick in towards the end of mile 7--all of a sudden, I became really alert and felt good.  I used another Hammer Unflavored gel at mile 10.  I thought it tasted like a muted vanilla.  It was also good and took about 18 minutes to kick in.  As far as the gels go, I'll be getting more of the Hammer Chocolate ones for future runs.
This was one of those days where I felt like I could have kept running forever.  I only stopped because of time constraints.  After 15 miles, I still felt really good.  I ran the first 10 miles at 9:40 per mile.  For miles 11 and 12, I increased the pace to 9:22 per mile.  Miles 13-14 were back at 9:40 pace.  I finished the last mile in 9:30.  I ran the entire 15 miles without stopping.  I'm hoping to be able to run 30 miles without stopping.  When I can do that, I think I'll be ready for a 50 mile race.

The achilles tendon flared up a couple times in the first 8 miles, but I made adjustments and it stayed calm for most of the run.  I'm using Kinesio Tex Tape on my balky achilles.  It's too early to tell if it really works, but so far the results are good.  My achilles feels better than it has in quite a while.  It was a little tender after the run, but not the usual piano wire tautness I've been used to. 

I'm thinking about doing some 200 meter repeats during the week, but that'll depend on my schedule.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have because my Master's program begins Monday.  Like everything else, I'll adapt and figure something out. 

A Rough 10 Miles

Here's a recap of the week.  Last Tuesday, I decided to do some speed work.  I settled on a 5k.  I went to the YMCA and warmed up with 1.5 miles.  The first mile of the 5k was done in 7:38.  I felt good, but wanted to hold back so I didn't blow it in the end.  I sped up mile 2, and finished it in 7:24.  Entering mile 3, I told myself that I would go faster and then try to hammer the last 800 meters.  Mile 3 was done in 6:58.  This wasn't exactly how I had planned it.  I felt okay after 2 miles, but after 2.5 miles, I was gassed.  There was no increase in pace for the last 800 meters--I just held on and maintained.  I was pretty happy until I realized that I still had .1 miles to go to finish the 5k.  After finishing the 3 miles, I was able to lower the pace to 6:52 for the last .1 miles.  Final time for the 5k was 22:18.  Not too bad.  Actually, that was my best 5k time of the year. 

I figured I would take a few days off and then do a long run of 16 miles on Friday.  Friday came and I was really tired.  Some of my kids have been sick and I really wanted to avoid getting sick too.  I opted to sleep in and hopefully build my immune system up.  Saturday came and went.  I was still really tired.  Sunday and Monday were the same.  I knew that I had a meeting at 12:45 today, so I would have time in the morning to get in my long run.  I put the kids on the bus and headed back to the sand river.  I got there at 8:00 and the temps were already in the 60's.  I was prepared for the heat this time.  I brought my Camelbak, handheld water bottle and put two 16.9 oz. bottles in the backpack.  Another difference from the last 14 mile run was that I didn't do it on a completely empty stomach.  This time, I ate a piece of raisin bread before heading over there.  I also used sunscreen and chapstick with spf 15.  I also brought some Hammer gels.  Last time, I didn't bring any of this stuff and paid the price. 

I set out on the run and after around 400 meters, I notice the weight of the Camelbak with all the extra water bottles and stuff in there.  It was digging into my shoulders and felt really heavy.  I ignored it.  I figured the weight would lessen as I drank the fluids.  The fist 2.5 miles felt pretty fast.  I should have slowed myself down, but I was a little concerned about getting back home in time to get ready before my meeting. 

At mile 3.86, a big problem came out of nowhere.  My stomach started feeling funny, and before I knew it I was dry heaving while running.  Yes, I take some pride in the fact that I didn't stop moving to vomit.  Because there wasn't anything in my stomach, nothing came out.  My stomach contracted around 5 or 6 times in anger, but it had no success.  This got me really concerned.  I've never had this problem before.  I didn't know if I needed more water or less.  Not knowing what to do, I kept moving forward.  After another half mile or so, I began to feel slightly better.  Right around 4 miles, I was running a hill and felt my calf muscle yell at me.  Like a barking dog, I hoped it would just go away if I ignored it.  I ignored it, but it didn't go away.  I decided to turn around after 5 miles hoping that I could lighten my load back at the car and continue on.  After 6 or 7 miles, I knew I wasn't doing any more than I had to and that was 10 miles.  Today's 10 miles was done in 1:36:39.  All in all, a disappointing run.  Some days, you just don't have "it".  I don't know what to do about the calf problem.  Maybe it was due to my carrying such a heavy load.  My posture wasn't as upright as usual.  I actually noticed myself leaning forward quite often.  I'll rest a little and see if it comes back.  I'll make more adjustments to the load I carry for the next long run.  Hopefully, I can try it again on Friday or Saturday.         

Rillito River Run

It's been a while since I last wrote anything, and that's because I've been trying to figure out what direction my training should take as well as dealing with what I called the unholy trinity of pain. As far as direction goes, I have settled upon distance over speed. Once I get my long runs in the 20 mile range, I'll think about doing some speedwork. After my 13 mile run and 6 mile hill workout two weeks ago, my right hip, achilles tendon, and plantar fascia forced me to rest and seek out some kind of treatment. Last week, I logged a whopping 3 miles. The good news is that the hip and plantar fasciitis seem to be okay for now. The achilles tendon is still delicate, but the research I did says that the culprit for this pain is the hill workout that I did.

I did two short 3 mile runs on Monday and Tuesday. I rested on Wednesday and, because of a potentially busy weekend, decided to give a long run a try today. I decided to run along the Rillito river--a route that I read about from other runners here in town. I arrived at my destination at 10:00 am and stretched very lightly before setting off for what I was hoping would be a 14 mile run.  The temperature was in the low 70's, but the winds were really blowing. 

I set off alongside the tall green trees while looking at the skies reflection on the gently flowing water.  Umm, no.  This is someone else's reality.

I live in Tucson.  Here's what we call a river.  Unfortunately, and for at least another year, this is my reality.

I've been looking at ultra running sites and really feel the itch to try a 50 mile race.  One of the tips the ultra runners consistently gave was to walk the hills.  I figured I'd give it a try, but couldn't pull the trigger early on.  I was afraid that my body and mind would get used to walking and start to look for excuses to do it even when there wasn't a hill.  I waited until mile 4.5 to walk up a steep incline.  I did the same at mile 5.5.  I must say that my body felt pretty good after taking these walking breaks and so did my achilles tendon.  The problem came later when I was getting tired and saw a long steady incline ahead.  My body saw the incline and wanted to walk, but I overruled it.  You can't walk every incline and come out with any kind of decent time.  After that, I told myself that there would be no walking of inclines, but steep hills would be okay.

Not having run this route before, I had no idea how far or where it went.  When I started out, I took a right down the path only to discover that it dead ended after a mile so when I arrived back at the car, I had gone 2 miles.  I kept going and when I was coming up on 6 miles, I started wondering if I should turn back because I didn't want to outrun my water supply.  I was wearing my Camelbak which holds about 2 liters.  I figured that if I ran another mile further before turning around that when I got back to the car I would have 12 miles in the books and could decide whether or not to keep going.  That's what I did.  I turned around after 7 miles and headed back to the car.  Just as I was coming up to mile 10, I noticed the toes of my right foot were telling me that they weren't happy.  At 10 miles, there happened to be a table just off the path so I stopped to take care of the toes.  Fortunately, I was carrying a bottle of Body Glide, so I took the sock off and lathered the toes.  I also drank the last of my water.  I forgot to mention that the temps had picked up and I had been running into a ferocious headwind since turning around.  I wasn't happy with myself for running out of water.  The car, with plenty of fluids, was a mere 2 miles away, but I had been conserving the water for quite awhile, so I was pretty thirsty.

I trudged on and after around a mile, saw a snake coming out of a hole in the ground on the side of the path.  The portion that was out of the hole was around 4 feet long.  I must say that I don't like snakes.  My wife says I have an irrational fear of them.  This is exactly the kind of scenario where runners get bit.  You're tired and thirsty and your concentration level is fading.  You don't pay as much attention to your surroundings when all of a sudden, you get too close and startle a snake you never saw.  Now you've been bit and have to determine if it was a rattlesnake or not.  I made it back to the car and downed around 60 ounces of fluids.  I then got back on the path and knocked out another 2 miles to hit my goal of 14 miles for the day.  I was pretty happy with the time--2:13:05--but even happier that my hip, achilles tendon, and plantar fasciitis seemed okay.

I was pretty stiff for a while, but went outside and shot a few baskets in the backyard to loosen up.  I still have to keep on eye on the achilles, but so far so good.

The 50 mile race I'm thinking about is the Old Pueblo 50 Mile. The 2011 race hasn't been announced yet, but I think it's held in early March in Sonoita, Arizona.


Click the link below to see the map and splits for today's run.
Untitled by fkelly3d at Garmin Connect - Details