116 mile week (well sorta)

Tools of the trade during a 4 hour night run

Technically it's correct I did have a 116 mi week. There are 168 hours in a week (24x7=168) and if you started my week at the start of the Holiday Lake 50k and ended the week 165 hours later at 3 a.m. on the next Saturday, I covered a total of 116 miles.

I recovered pretty well from Holiday Lake... took a couple of easy and short recovery runs the two days after HL and resumed normal training right away. Obviously from a total weekly volume standpoint I'm in a good spot with my training and with 6 weeks to go until Umstead I'll try to keep the total miles about the same but also try to take at least one run of 35-40 miles and some more good back to backs.

I decided not to run the Pilot Mountain Marathon on 2/19. I really hated to miss it but my younger son had a big weekend of AAU basketball with an important parent/coach meeting to discuss tournaments and do some planning. I didn't want to miss the meeting so I opted out of Pilot Mtn. SO instead I decided to do a night run on Fri night-Sat morning. I did the run solo around my neighborhood. Couldn't talk anyone into joining me. I did five 5.1 mile loops covering 25.5 miles with a running time of 4:10 (which included 4 bathroom breaks, re-filling hand held bottles, a clothing change) Since I will likely be running into the night at Umstead I thought it was important to try a night run. Began the run at 11 p.m and finished up at 3:10 a.m. I really didn't get sleepy at all. With a big pasta meal around 7 p.m. I was worried about my stomach but it really wasn't a problem... guess "everything burns in the furnace"(Once a Runner quote.) Wore a headlamp just to get used to it but really only turned it on when cars went by so they could see me and I could hop up on the sidewalk or front yards. Decided I didn't really want to find out if the driver was drunk or just coming home late! Got pretty quiet between 2 and 3 and with a nice full moon shining down on me it was kinda nice.

After the night run I was pretty wasted most of the weekend. My legs were fine but took until Monday to feel normal again. I didn't run a step the rest of Saturday and Sunday. Although I did walk for over an hour each day. I did a nice 20 mile run today (Monday) thanks to an unexpected Presidents Day holiday. Averaged 8:23 per mile on an unseasonably warm day. Started the run in a thin long sleeve shirt and finished up shirtless (okay no laughing at the thought of my untanned, strapping, 5'9" 130 lb frame running barechested on a February morning)

I decided to do my training log online daily rather then do summaries in the text (Can be found on the right column of the blog)

Training Summary 1/31/11 - 2/6/11

View on the way up Pilot Mtn 2/6



I had another solid week of training this week. Nothing spectacular but feeling stronger. Did not get in back to back long (over 20 miles) because of my weekend family schedule but got a total of 84 miles which included a 4 hr. run and 3 others of approx. 90 minutes or longer. My 12 year old son had a basketball event to attend from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Saturday so met up with my friend Chuck on Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. and we did 16.5 miles before work. Then met Tom at 5 a.m. Saturday morning for 10 miles. Had planned on getting in two hours on Saurday a.m. but hard rain and 32 degrees cut it short. Friday's run was also in a "wintry mix" so can only make me stronger.

Rocky single track on the way up (good practice for "the loop")

On Sunday I headed back to Pilot Mtn for the third weekend in a row. And did nearly 4 hours alone. I did the same loop as last week and got to the summit 3 minutes faster and finished the run in 3:58, which was 4 minutes faster then last week. I tried to run more like the seasoned mtn ultra runners and ran faster then I normally would on a 4 hr. run on the downhills and flats and walked the steep uphills and while fueling. Seemed to work well and felt stronger late in the run. Another beautiful day to be running in the mountains. Very muddy and sloppy but bright and sunny.

This is what my dog was doing before and after my 4 hour run (and probably during)


I'm planning on running races the next two weekends but don't plan to taper or run them super hard. I'll just try to get solid runs in the 4-5+ hour range. Holiday Lake 50k is this upcoming weekend (will be great to see and hang out with the VA and TN folks)and that run will be actually 33.2 miles and then the following week is the Pilot Mtn marathon which I am now very familiar with.

I've gotten a bit more serious with my veganism. For me a plant based diet just makes so much sense.... I began eating this way for my health but it has become much more then that. As much as caring about myself it's about caring for others, concern for humanity, concern about the earth and its creatures. (would be nice if it helped my running as well!!)
I'm not really much of a cook but tend to fend for myself in terms of preparing the food I want to eat. One joy I have in between long weekend runs is cooking up loads of food. I was shocked yesterday when I got home from Pilot Mtn. I was half expecting my wife to complain that I was gone for six hours but she had cooked up some black beans, onions, mushrooms, tofu scramble and it was all ready to be wrapped in a tortilla with guac. Just what I needed. Then in prep for the Super Bowl we cooked up some turnip greens... added in mushrooms, onions, cabbage, celery over quinoa. Sometimes it's just hit or miss... last week after a 4 hr run outing I wasn't sure what we had to prepare but found some pinto beans and lentils and put those on to cook. And I just cut up what we had around.... onions, green onions, mushrooms, green pepper, bok choy and served that along with the legumes over Couscous (good change up from the usual brown rice)....

Training Summary 1/31 - 2/6

Monday 1/31
AM Easy 6 miles in Vibram Five Fingers

Tuesday 2/1
AM 10 miles generally easy pace

Wednesday 2/2
AM With Chuck and Tom, 13.5 miles at 8:34 pace. Knee was hurting again late in run. Iced it after, stretching IT, foam roller

Thursday 2/3
Complete rest day (concerns about knee)

Friday 2/4
4:30 AM 16.5 miles fairly easy but in light rain, sleet/freezing rain

Saturday 2/5
5:00 AM 10 miles with Tom in cold rain. 32 degrees and steady rain. Planned on longer.
PM 6 real easy miles

Sunday 2/6
AM At Pilot Mtn 3:58, same loop as last week. Improved by 4 minutes and felt fairly strong late in run.

Total = 84 miles

Ultra Plans, Weekly Summary Aug 16-Aug 22

Training and recovery from the Big Bear Trail Ultra has gone fairly well but I've decided not to enter The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in Wisconsin. Part of me still wants to jump in it, but I think a wiser way to go would be to relax a bit and put in a nice training block of long runs (4+ hours), back to back long ones, and consistent mileage over the next couple of months before I enter another 50 miler. I feel recovered from my 7/17 ultra, but experiencing some aches and pains and even a bit of left hamstring/buttocks stiffness which concerns me. I battled that problem for over a year so I don't want to revisit that. I believe based on my marathon time from Boston '09 that I can enter the JFK 50 on November 20th. So at this point that is my plan and will likely also enter the New River 50k (as a good training run) on 10/1.

Had my first 30 mile training run this week and that went well. Quite slow but running for 5 hours was the objective. Still sort of amazes me that I can run past the marathon distance slowly and bounce back really well and only have tired legs the next day. Moving forward... will try to do another 30 miler this week but with the next couple of weekends of busy schedules and travel won't worry much about my training, then will concentrate on 4+ hour weekend runs, back to backs and throwing in some faster runs when rested. Below is my log from last week.

Weekly Total 70.5 miles

Monday 8/16/10 (6.5 mi)
Noon- Generally easy 55:50 run. Ran into ultra runner Scott Douglas in the neighborhood and ran a portion of it with him. No issues, legs okay. Had planned a rest day but felt restless at lunch time.

Tuesday 8/17/10 (4.5 mi)
AM- Easy 40 minute run. Did some on the golf course, then Ewood. Recovery day.

Wednesday 8/18/10 (13.5 mi)
AM- w/ Chuck, hot humid conditions. Both struggled through a slow 2 hour run. Didn't feel like we were going so slow, but averaged 9 min/mi. Felt dehydrated after.

Thursday 8/19/10 (6 mi)
AM- In a light rain. Did a 6 mi run in 50 minutes. 8:35 pace. Middle portions of run were quite hilly. Ran out to Sweetbriar, Wicliff/Ferndale/Rockford. Feel a whole lot better. (PM core work)

Friday 8/20/10 (30 mi)
AM- Started at 5:30 a.m. with MP at Salem Lake. Did approx 30 miles in 5 hours. Started in the dark with headlamps. Stumbled along, zigzagging for the first 30 minutes in the dark. Ran the first 15 miles with Michael then went ahead and circled back for him a couple of times. Only did 3 gels but certainly needed more on a 5 hr run. Leg fatigue late but no serious issues. Slowing was more mental then physical.

Saturday 8/21/10 (10 mi)
AM- Alone @ Salem Lake, real slow out and back 10 miles. Very very slow to begin then began to feel okay.

Sunday 8/22/10 (0)
Rest day. Moved Kane into dorm in Chapel Hill so decided to rest. 30 minutes of walking and core work.

Recap 8/16/10-8/22/10
Planned on more miles and a better back to back long run but happy making it through the 30 mile run fairly easily. I hit 70 miles and decided to rest on Sunday with a busy day, would have been hard to fit in much of a long one. Plan to do 2 more weeks of 70+ before I up the mileage in preparation for November ultra.