30+ Miles?!

In following last week's theme, where I set a new personal high for mileage in a week, I ended up setting a new (probably stupid) personal high for mileage in single training run: 30.56 miles. I was anticipating running for about 4 hours and covering about 25 miles...but I'm not good at math and had no choice but to get back to my car and end up running for 4:32 and covering over 30 miles. Probably not that smart, training-wise, but I actually feel pretty good at the moment sitting here drinking a coke (which I was CRAVING for the last hour of the run) and enjoying the dull muscular aches and twitches in my legs.
After last week's 63 miles, I had a severe case of dead legs this week. I ran a little (4 miles, hating every step of it) on Tuesday, and then ran again Wednesday after work. Wednesday's run was actually a pretty good one, as I ran for about an hour and actually clipped off a couple sub-6 minute miles along the way. Thursday's run was a tempo 9 miles around town followed by a hill workout that I absolutely dreaded and cut short. My legs (specifically, my soleus muscles) were not happy to experience inclines again.
Considering all of that, I decided to approach today's long run with a "must complete" attitude. I had pretty much "tapered" for it throughout the week, so I wanted to get a decent trail run in. The plan was to run steady and easy for 2 hours, then pick up the pace for about 45 minutes, and then finish up with another hour of steady running on heavy legs. My last attempt at a long trail run was cut short by the heat and humidity...and the fact I used my car as my aid station made it far too easy for me to simply quit and drive away. Footfeather's comment has been in my head ever since that run, bothering me:

This workout yesterday taught you how to give up during a race. I know this from experience. Gut through it next Thurs..

It bothered me mostly because it was so true! And knowing that I wanted to make myself finish the run, I parked my car 8 miles away from where the majority of the run would take place. This would allow me to run the first hour 8 miles up to the Greenbush Picnic Area, then the next hour on an out and back from Greenbush, giving me my 2 hours of 'easy' running. At this point I would (hopefully) speed up the pace a bit on the Greenbush trails, before being forced to run another 8 miles back to the car. On my way to Butler Lake, where I parked, I left a cooler with water, SCaps, and Gels/ShotBloks at Greenbush. There. Now my aid station was nowhere near my car and I had no choice but to run/death march/crawl 8 miles back to my car.
The plan worked pretty well!
The first 8 miles from my car to Greenbush on the Ice Age Trail were exactly what my legs wanted. I had been running a bunch more on roads recently in anticipation of the Fox Cities Marathon in late September, and the trails are just flat out BETTER. I kept the pace easy and the HR low and arrived in Greenbush in a little over an hour.
A brief re-load of my water and I continued north on the Ice Age Trail for 4.65 miles before turning around and heading home. Still, the running was really easy and enjoyable.
Once I got back to Greenbush, I again switched out water bottles and ran a 5.1 mile loop. I had run over 2 hours at "easy" pace and now wanted to pick it up. This part got a little difficult, but I'm happy with a 7:31 average pace for my "tempo" part of the run. When I finished that loop I would have quit the run had my car been available. I was pissed at myself but at the same time happy with myself for parking 8 miles away. This part of the run was going to suck...most likely really suck...but I had no choice. I took my dear time at the Picnic Table Aid Station reload, gathered my thoughts, and off I went. According the Garmin, on this last leg of my run I only had a 10 minute/mile pace. While I definitely slowed down, that number is a little high because it includes the big break sitting at the picnic table. Overall, I ran 30.56 miles in 4:32. Not sure how I thought I'd only be running 25ish miles and 4 hours. Also not sure how smart it is to do a 30 mile training run when your peak event is 31 miles.
Final thought:
I really need to get better at taking in calories. I did well with ShotBloks and Gels for the first 2 hours, but after that they are simply barf-inducing to me. For the total run, I took in 4 SCaps, 3 gels and 8 ShotBloks. And the majority of that was in the first 2:30. I'm hoping that the aid stations at the North Face 50K have stuff that will look appealing to me, because I'm finding it VERY difficult to get enough calories from Gels and ShotBloks to keep going.
Any ideas out there?

63 miles?!

Wow...I had no idea that my weekly mileage total was that high--an all-time high for me. The workload and types of runs, however, make it feel like a lot more. On Thursday I ran the local ski hill and my legs are still really sore from that--especially the soleus muscle portion of my calves. They're very stiff and aching, and I even felt a slight twinge in my left plantar fascia yesterday, making me even more aware of how much those hill repeats took out of me...and how much I suck at running hills apparently.
Yesterday I set out for a road 20 miles (I can't remember the last time I ran 20 miles on roads other than during a marathon). It felt great and the pace and HR were right in line, with the exception of two mile splits that were interrupted by unleashed, uncollarred (sp?) dogs coming after me. The first was a black lab that would run away if I faced it, but would begin following and barking at me if I continued to run. Finally, after about 2 minutes of me standing there, the owners got it back under control (PUT A COLLAR ON YOUR DOG) and off I went again. A couple miles later my "interaction" was with a German Shepherd. Definitely a bit scarier...especially when it jumped over the chicken wire fencing holding it in and started toward me. Luckily a truck was coming down the road at the same time, so I waved it down and hopped in the back and got a ride away. It'd be an understatement to say that dog scared me. A black lab I can handle. An uncollarred and barking German Shepherd able to hop the fence that is supposed to keep it in the yard will scratch that particular road off of the "Places to Run" list permanently. As I mentioned, outside of those two miles I ran the entire run at 6:52 pace or better...a big boost in confidence as I continue to work towards a sub-3 marathon at Fox Cities in a month.
This week, however, it's back to the trails. I feel like my calves are on the edge of going from "hurting" to "injured" and they need some friendly single track again.

First and Foremost...and then Back to Me...

Wow. Amazing. Wow. In the 100 meter dash, From 1983 to 2007 th eWR was dropped .19 seconds. Now, Usain Bolt has dropped the record .18 seconds in a little over a year. It's been estimated his 40 yd time would be 3.82 seconds.

Again, Wow.



As for me, I SUCK at hills. I ran our area's biggest ski hill today, appropriately named "Nutt Hill," (Glaven, I'm expecting great things in the comment section over this) in hopes of going up and down it for an hour. I made it about 35 minutes, 10 times up and down, before rain and fatigue had me walking. I really need to do more of that stuff if I want to get faster. It's as simple as that.

After getting my butt kicked in an hour long "Yoga for Athletes" class (taught by Ellie, who I swear is out to kill me) shortly after leaving Nutts@ck Hill, finished up with about an hour of trail running on the IAT. The new picture up on top is from this run. Man, could I feel those hills again. I can't wait to go back and see if I can hold it together for an hour.

This weekend I'm hoping to put in 4 hours, with the 3rd hour being a fast one. We'll see. My plans are already screwed up a bit, as Ellie and I recently purchased a new sectional couch for our new basement, and after moving I REFUSE to move anything else, so the movers are scheduled to show up "between 8 am and Noon." Great. Thanks.

Luckily, the previous owners of our new residence didn't want to haul their treadmill up the steps, so perhaps the first hour or two will be spent on that, with it at its maxed incline, until the couch arrives and I can hit the trails. Outside of that, GREAT LUCK to SteveQ and Helen at Lean Horse, and CONGRATS to Glaven for a great trail run, and
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

What's wrong with this conversation?

From Politico:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was $50 dollars richer Wednesday after he won a friendly wager with a reporter.

In a morning gaggle with the White House press corps, April Ryan, a reporter with American Urban Radio Network, and Gibbs squabbled over this question on the president's push for health care: Did Gibbs ever say Obama wouldn't personally go somewhere (like Capitol Hill) because he didn't have a home field advantage.

Gibbs instantly said, "I never insinuated the President wouldn't go somewhere because he didn't have an advantage."

But Ryan hastily pushed back: "No you did. In the briefing you said that."

Gibbs then offered to give Ryan $20 bucks if she could find that transcript.

"Make it $50," Ryan snapped back.

"I'd like three $20s and a $10 please," Gibbs said.

It's becoming more and more obvious why Cash for Clunkers is a disaster. Let's not talk about health care.

24 Hour Vacation

I managed to get in a recovery 10 miles this morning, despite spending Friday night at the local "Jazz Crawl." It was a good time that resulted in my wife wearing Vera Bradley aroun her shoulder (pretty normal), Beads around her neck (pretty normal for a Jazz Crawl), an eye patch around her wrist (Umm?), some over-your-regular-glasses-sunglasses (getting strange), and drinking Miller Lite (WTF is going on?). I'll be honest, I don't think I've ever seen her drink Miller Lite.
Quite a night.

In other news, and in honor of today's Leadville 100 Bike Race (Go Weins!), check out this great video. My favorite Line is "With my endurance, you don't stand a chance. My cardiovascular fitness level's right up there with Lance" at 1:58 :

Now, it's off to Door County for the rest of the weekend. Hope yours is a blast too!

North Face Course Run -- In Viper's Honor

On Wednesday night I wrote down the following in anticipation of my long run on Thursday. Now, I'll add in the gory details using italics:

Here's the plan...likely to be edited with big red "FAIL" markers, ala Viper, post-run:

Drive down to the North Face Course, and park at Scuppernong Trail Head. Leave from Scuppernong.

Run 5.3 Miles to Wilton Road. Consume 2 Gels and 20 oz Water during this run.

At Wilton, Pick up 25 oz Water, 2 more Gels. Run it at 8:30 Pace, arriving in 45 mins. SUCCESS!

Run 5.5 Miles to Hwy 67. Consume 2 Gels and 25 oz Water during this leg.

At Hwy 67, Pick up 25 oz Water, 2 more Gels, and Gatorade. Run it at 8:30 pace, arriving in 46 mins. (1:31 total)SUCCESS! But, WOW...this was the infamous "Prairie" section of the Kettle 100 course--known for its heat, humidity, and down right suckiness. My hat's off to you Kettle runners. I CAN'T IMAGINE running in that. It sucked and put me way behind on water. Looking ahead, though, the views of the prairies and surrounding forests will be spectacular this fall!

Run 5.3 Miles to Piper. Consume 2 Gels, 25 oz Water during this leg.

At Piper, Pick up 25 oz Water, 2 more Gels, and Gatorade. FAIL. OUCH DID THE WHEELS COME OFF. This section of the course in on horse trails, which provide some shade from the heat but also provide swarms (think horror movie swarms) of deerflies. Definitely checking Kettle off of my list of "must runs."

Run back to car (1.7 miles) and then Green Loop of Scuppernong (5 miles) for 6.7 total.FAIL. Fail Big Time. I was done. I flat out suck in the heat. And it was 90 out.

Pick up water, Gels, Gatorade. Suck it up. Run this leg at sb 8:00 pace...hopefully sub 7:45, finishing this leg in under 51 minutes. (3:04 total). FAIL-DNS. I called it quits after doing a mad dash into my car while swatting the deerflies out of my car.

Pick up water, Gels, Gatorade, finish up with 4.5 miles of horse trail, at 8:30 pace. Finish run in 38 minutes. (3:42 total). FAIL-DNS. By this time I was halfway home, still sweating like mad.

So, overall, not exactly what I wanted. I ended up running over 17 miles of the course in 2:40 and got familiar with the tough parts and the runnable parts, so that's a plus.

Afterwards, I serously considered drowning my sorrows in a huge greasy cheeseburger and a Coke. Instead, I got Subway. SUCCESS!

Momentarily ON the Grid...

Well, the intertubes are hooked up, along with DVR (!) and teh house is looking fantastic! The only problem? We don't have a lawnmower and if you look at our yard for about 15 seconds, you can actually SEE the grass growing with all the rain we've had recently. Anyone have an extra LawnBoy? Maybe just some goats?

In running news, last week was fantastic. I put in right around 55 miles with some great speed work included. And speaking of speed, some people out there feel the need to dedicate an entire summer to speed. And then complain about it. And then complain some more about it. After witnessing this, I decided to simply enjoy a Saturday of Speed. Last weekend I ran a 5K at 8:00 AM in pouring rain, through mud puddles, along the local High School Cross Country course, and then managed to out sprint a high schooler for 4th overall and finish in 18:56. It was great...besides my Glavenly-cursed Garmin once again taking a crap because its oh so precious bezel got some rain on it. I'm growing very very impatient with the 405. After resting a bit and chatting to everyone at the finish line, I hopped in my car, changed shoes and socks, and drove 10 minutes South to the next town and sprinted to the start line of a 5 mile run that began at 9 AM. Still upset with the Garmin, I left it in the car and ran the entire race on 'feel.' I kept track of my breathing rhythm and chugged away at the tough hills, and opened it up a bit on the downhills, and really felt like I could have run forever. I finished the 5 Miler in 31:xx (no online posting of finish times yet, but I think it was 31:52...) and took 3rd overall! The winner and 2nd place ran 26:xx and 28:xx, so I feel like I was 1st in human class :)
Looking back at the most recent 5 miler I ran in June, before Grandma's, I was amazed that this weekend's 5 miler was faster! That's a nice confidence booster going forward.
The reality check? I was in such a hurry getting to that 5 miler, that I apparently didn't write all that legibly (hey, I'm a doctor), resulting in my name being announced as "Nic Bibblor" at the awards ceremony. That was just awesome. Hopefully it ends up in the paper that way too.

On Thursday I'm hoping to go down to the North Face 50K course and run about 20 miles on the course. Until then, this is Nic, signing off the Grid again.

Off the Grid

We're in our house officially! There was only one mini-fight between Ellie and I regarding the move--I did NOT want to move a huge table from the basement of our office to the basement of our new house. Ellie did. We argued. We moved it. It sucked.

Plenty of stories to share about that process, and others. Let's just say that "Dr. Nic" is not much of a "Handy Man Nic."

We don't currently have the Intertubes at our house, so I'll be back at some point with the stories!