What was chasing you.

At some point during a conversation somebody will ask me how far I run. Maybe after I recount the distance of one of my long runs I get the ubiquitous “ what was chasing you” comment. Usually followed by them saying I would have to be chased by a bear, lion, mad man, etc.

Well there is someone chasing me and when I stop running he gains on me. It is me when I was in my late 30s. Staying ahead of him is what drives me to bike, swim, and run.

A picture is worth a 1000 words so here it is.

All dressed up with no place to go.

Pre-race day carb loading done. Duffel bag packed. Garmin and cell phone charged. Clothes laid out. Favorite orange toboggan and several layers of clothes packed to prepare for several temperature variations at race time. Race nutrition (Lime Sublime GU Gels) packed and post-race (Cool Mint Chocolate Cliff Bar) packed. Shoes, socks and crocs are laid out. All systems are go... well almost.

This is Friday the 11th of February and the Black Warrior25/50K race is not the 12th, but the 19th. So I am all dressed up with no place to go. How did this happen. I guess I entered the wrong date some how on my wall calendar and never re-checked the date on the website like my friend Brad. It was Brad who informed me Friday night that I was a week off. It is kind of nice to be ready a week ahead. Well not really, I am sort of unprepared physically. I lost a couple weeks to a sore knee 4 weeks back. Now I have an extra week to get back where I was.

With the setback I opted out of the 50K and changed to the 25K race. It will be good practice for McKay Hollow Madness. Saturday February 19th I should be in Bankhead forest. Being a week ahead is better than over sleeping on race day.

2010 in Review

I thought I would review my training and racing for 2010. Last year I turned 50 years old. I would like to build some empirical data that my training methods work. So far I had a really good year. I am close to a PR in 5K and 10K distances. I ran my first ultra marathons and qualified for Boston in my first marathon. 2010 has been a very good year.

2010 at a glance:
Biked 1223.6 miles at an average of 16.6 mph
Ran 1409 miles at an average pace of 8:06 min/miles
Swam 83.8 miles at 1.49 mph (56 hours and 17 min)
Logged nearly 12 hours on an infernal stationary

2010 Race Results:
McKay Hollow Madness - 2:50:30
Cotton Row 10K - 43:29
Priceville 5K - 20:26
Toray 5K - 20:16
Frosty Freeze 5K - 20:22
HiWaay Triathlon - 54:52
2010 Rocket City Marathon - 3:33:56
2010 Black Warrior 50K - 6:36:35
2010 Dizzy 50K - 5:20:32

This year I would like to run a few more sprint triathlons and improve my 5 and 10K times. I would like to run Dizzy 50 again and maybe the Mountain Mist 50K. This year I hope to keep injuries to a minimum and be able sets some PRs.

Nice Long Run

Ran 15 miles this AM. A little achy but it was not constant and I finished strong.
I was able to average an 8:16 pace and finish faster then I started. II did manage to fall when I looked back to check on my running partner. I had left the trail and as I turned back on the trail my trusty left ankle rolled.

I was a little skinned up and my knee has been a little achy from the prior injury. I think I am ready for the 25K Black Warrior race.

I also scored a spin bike today. (Bladez Spin Power)It had been brought back by someone and they sold it to me for 100.00 off the original price. Hey you can't beat a sale. I guess I will be scrapping Grendel the infernal stationary bike very soon.

Getting back to where I was.

One bad outing cost me a couple weeks of running and training for the Black Warrior 50K. The injury was a setback, but it forced me to focus on my core exercises, biking, and swimming. It also made me appreciate being able to run. I realized how much I crave it now.

I ran for the first time yesterday and had some soreness, but it got better as I ran. I was a little achy after the run, but feel really great today. Tomorrow I will try running again and see how it goes.

God gave me my birthday present 2 days early... it was great to be able to run again.

Possible MCL Sprain

I tried to run this AM before Church (.6 of a mile). Rather painful from beginning to end. I think I have a MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain) on my right leg. I am sure my BA in History and Political Science makes me fully qualified to make this diagnoses. LOL. As intense as the pain was this AM, I have conceded that I will need at least 3 to 4 weeks to let is heal. I believe running outside of my normal gate last Saturday caused this strain.

The downside is I will not be running Black Warrior 50K next month.
The upside is I can now walk without limping, ride a bike, and swim. I intend to to those activities and my normal strength and stretching exercises until I can start to try to run again. This is why I like triathlon training.

I plan to go out on Saturday mornings as usual at 5:30AM and walk the trail until I can run it again. At least I will still see my training partners on the trails. Not running is unbearable, but at least I have the other activities to stay fit and occupy my urge to train.

Done and Done In (Bonk the Sequel)

I chose to run Saturday on an ice rutted trail in Decatur. It had been packed and refrozen and rutted by 4 wheelers. I was due a long run so I chose to run. At 5:30 AM it was hard frozen (low 20s) and it was not to hard to traverse. (3 mile out and back 3 miles). As we ran several circuits it began to become slicker. The pace averaged 8:54 and it was draining. I can run 8:20 pace usually at distance and a 10:00 plus pace is OK and easy, but an 8:54 is just draining. Kind of a dead zone pace. Last time I ran that pace I bonked and that is what happened Saturday. It was draining and I settled for 17 miles instead of closer to 20.

There was a physical price for the choices I made. Bad choices have consequences and I now have a very sore knee. I think trying to run within the rutted ridges changed my gate and forced a normally slew footed runner to run with my feet turned in. Around 15 miles the right knee was starting to ache. We took the road back and I was done at 17 miles. Between the pain and the grueling pace I had to call it in and that spells "bonk" to me.

The knee has been sore ever since and the motion of walking has gotten easier with very little soreness. I tried to run this AM and was only able to run .28th of a mile. It seems that the bending motion of running is what brings on the pain. I will now have to back off and lose some valuable training time. I hope to get back to running soon. With Black Warrior and McKay Hollow coming up I cannot afford not to be running.

At least with a triathlon training routine I can swim and ride the stationary bike to keep from losing fitness. This situation would be very frustrating without the other forms of exercise.

Rocket City Recovery Week.

Laid off Sunday and was very sore. I figured I deserved a day off after the marathon.

Monday forced myself to run 4 miles (8:27 pace). Personally I found the soreness leaves as soon as I start running.

Tuesday swam a little over a mile. Really good swim and the soreness was much better.

Wednesday I ran my usually 7.3 mile tempo run (7:20 pace). Running was much easier, but the pace was still slower.

Thursday I rode the infernal stationary bike. I really do not like the stationary bike. Real bikes are much easier to ride.

Friday I was back to the pool for a swim. Had a really good swim and improved on my pace.

Saturday I ran the usual long run with friends. Trent, Dave, and Brad were there and Trent brought his girl friend who runs track in college. She set a pretty fast pace for the first 6 miles. After she left e settle into a more sustainable recovery pace. We picked up David Coon on the last 4 miles and Trent and I were able to finish with a pretty good pace.

Long run by the numbers:
8:32, 7:48, 7:50, 7:50, 7:48, 7:52, 9:31, 8:55, 8:58, 9:06, 9:09, 9:14, 9:08, 8:33, 8:31, 8:54, and Last .5 of a mile 4:35

I plan to build on my base mileage over the next few months. I will be adding some trail runs as preparation for Black Warrior 50K and McKay Hollow.