16 miles and Tired

This hasn't been the greatest week of running and in fact it has been pretty crappy.  Well, I guess it hasn't been so bad as the running itself has been fine but my schedule has been pretty crazy.  I have been very tired (or lazy but who is counting) this week and have not been hitting any legit morning workouts.  However, I did manage to get going this morning but now the wife is sick and I am on kid duty.  Luckily we had swimming lessons this afternoon and everyone is exhausted and already in bed.

Monday - 30 min stairs

Tuesday - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 6 miles

Wednesday - Gym and 4 miles

Thursday - 6 miles

I will try to get in some decent miles over the weekend and my schedule should allow for a few big days early next week.

I am only slightly better at fishing than I am at running!

Week Ending 4.22.12

Monday - 11 miles

Tuesday - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, NB MT 101

Wednesday - 30 min stairs

Thursday - 4 miles

Friday - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 6 miles

Saturday - 7 miles speedwork, NB MT 110 (6x800 w/ 400 rec, 1 mile warmup, 1.5 mile cool down)

Sunday - 4 miles

Target - 50 miles
Actual - 36 miles plus 1.5 hours stairs

I tweaked my hamstring in the gym this week and thought that it was all good but the speedwork on Saturday seemed to aggravate it.  I got in 4 miles tonight just to warm it up for some stretching and rolling and that seemed to really help.

I had just randomly jotted down 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 miles in my training log and figured that would be a good build up before officially shifting to my 100 mile training. I also told myself that I wasn't going to push things and was just going to run whatever felt good and that resulted in 31.5, 32, and 36 miles plus some stairs.  I will try to hit 55 - 60 miles this week but won't push too hard.

Consistency and Volume

One common theme among the top runners at the 50 mile and up distances seems to be consistency and volume. That makes perfect sense and really shouldn’t be a revelation of any significance. First there was the Summer of George and now there will be the Summer of Consistency and Volume. I don’t think that this will make me a top runner but I feel like this is the path to take to try and finish closer to the front. Consistency and volume plus losing another 20ish pounds and I should be golden.

And I promptly kick off the Summer of Consistency and Volume by tweaking my hamstring while doing some goblet squats… good thing this is only the spring. I did manage to maintain consistency this week but have not been pushing the volume because of the hammy.

4.18.12 - 30 min stairs plus lifting (goblet squat day...)

4.19.12 - 4 miles (no speedwork b/c of tight hamstring)

4.20.12 - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 6 miles (hamstring feeling almost normal)

Stars

4.17.12 - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, tempo, NB MT 101

Just an awesome evening to run. Cool with a sky full of brilliant stars.

Self-loathing?

I tend to get around the ultra running blogosphere a good bit and a common theme seems to be self-loathing. Not all the time, but it seems to pop up here and there enough that I have noticed it. I've been thinking about doing an more in depth post about that but have never put it together. I'm pretty good at thinking about things to blog about but not very good at actually blogging about them.

Anyway,

4.16.12 - 11 miles

Week Ending 4.15.12

Monday - AM - Gym, PM - 4 miles

Tuesday - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 6 miles

Wednesday - AM - Gym, PM - 4 miles

Thursday - AM - 4 miles, PM - 6 miles speedwork, NB MT 110

Friday - 30 min stairs

Saturday - Sleeping late + Double kids birthday parties + family visiting = no running

Sunday - 8 miles, pushed the jogging stroller with kids for last 4 miles. I wanted to get in a longer run but it was raining in the morning.

Target - 30 miles
Actual - 32 miles plus 1 hour stairs

Another week of running whatever felt good. I am going to start bumping things up again and will aim for 50 miles this week.

Endeavour - The Beer

Wow! Endeavor by the Saint Arnold brewing company is one of the best beers that I have had in a really long time. I am not a huge fan of IPAs and this is a double IPA but it is very well done. Very nice.

4.12.12 - AM - 4 miles, PM - 6 miles speedwork (1 mile warmup, 5x800 w/ 400 rec, 1.5 cool down or 1.25 cool down, if you count the first 400 of that as the final recovery)

I am really digging speedwork and I can already tell that this will help with the mental side of running. My father in-law and son tagged along today and they had a fun time messing around. Who ever knew that a big field with a black oval in it could be so entertaining but the daughter was upset that she was not able to attend today. I did cheat a bit when I stopped for about 3 min to empty a huge turd out of the sons pants... but it was all good.

P90x? Ehhh

4.11.12 - AM - Gym, PM - 4 miles

I have been hitting the gym some here as of late and doing some P90x with a buddy of mine. I have considered doing P90x or crossfit or some variation of the two for a while now but always end up just doing whatever when I hit the gym. My buddy, The Money, has been talking up P90x and I decided to meet up with him and give it a try. I am for sure sore but I am not certain that this is something that I will continue to do. I think I might settle on meeting up with him twice a week to do the Back / Chest day and the Legs day. That will still give me 3 days a week to hit the stairs and then my evening and weekend runs.

A Return to Consistency?

4.10.12 - AM - 30 min stairs, PM - 6 miles

Week Ending 4.8.12

Monday - 11 miles, Rowlett Creek Prserve, NB MT110

Tuesday - Gym

Wednesday - 30 min stairs

Thursday - AM - 6 miles, PM - 4.5 miles speedwork (1 mile warmup, 4x800 w/ 400 rec, .5 mile cool down)

Friday - 30 mins stairs

Saturday - 6 miles

Sunday - 4 miles

Target - 30 miles
Actual - 31.5 plus 1 hour stairs

I wasn't really aiming for anything this week other than to ease back into running. I know that there will be plenty of high mileage weeks to come this summer and am just kind of enjoying some easy running right now. I will bump things up slowly over the next few weeks before starting to buckle down on Cactus Rose training.

4.9.12 - AM - Gym, PM - 4 Miles

Three Days

"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." - John 2:19

Friday / Saturday

4.6.12 - 30 min stairs

4.7.12 - 6 miles

Just easing back into things this week and will probably finish the week off with another shortish run tomorrow.

Intro to Speed

4.5.12 - 6 miles AM, 4.5 miles PM Speedwork, NB 110

I have never really done traditional speedwork. I have done intervals on the trail but have never gone out to the track and done structured speedwork. When I say that I am not a real runner, well, I mean that I am not a real runner. I am not one of those "oh, I'm not a real runner" types that ran college track and can do a sub 3:00 marathon without thinking about it.

So this afternoon the kids and I headed over to a local track (about 2 miles away and I will probably jog over when I don't have the kids with me) for a bit of running. I brought a bag full of balls for them to kick and throw around but they mostly just ran or pretended to be my crew and get my water for me and what not. I did a 1 mile warmup and then 4X800 w/ 400 recovery and then .5 mile cool down. I am going to stick with the once a week speedwork for a couple of months and see how things go.

This Really Aggravates Me to No End!

Maybe it shouldn't but it does. Maybe Anton has turned down expert medical attention. Regardless, this does really aggravate me:

Early in the afternoon I'm sitting in the hotel lobby, idly ultrasounding my gimpy shin,

How many other athletes that rank as one of the best in their sport do self treatment after fighting an injury for months? Could you imagine a star NFL WR having to self treat an injury? What about the starting shortstop for the Yankees? Maybe Anton has been offered to be flown around the country and treated by the best of the best and turned it down... but I find that hard to imagine. It is just very frustrating to see the lack of support for the top American ultra runners.

I guess the reality is that ultra running is still a fringe sport that doesn't command much attention in the way of sponsors. However, I think this is starting to slowly change with TNF Endurance Challenge and Championship and Run Rabbit Run 100 (man I really want to do that race one day! Steamboat is just about my favorite place on earth).

Anyway, here is to Anton getting over that shin injury and mad money coming to ultra running, you know, without ultra running selling out!

Itching to Double

4.4.12 - 30 min stairs - I'm itching to get out and run tonight but I have a speed workout planned for tomorrow and want fresh legs. No running yesterday because of the crazy weather. FWD now has the total at 16 tornadoes.

From the 4.4.12 AM AFD FWD

APRIL 3RD TORNADO OUTBREAK/
SURVEY TEAMS WILL BE HEADING OUT EARLY TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE THAT
OCCURRED ACROSS NORTH TEXAS YESTERDAY FROM THE TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS. APPROXIMATELY 11-13 AREAS OF DAMAGE HAVE BEEN REPORTED
AND WILL BE SURVEYED TODAY AND ON THURSDAY IF NEEDED. IT IS
UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME EXACTLY HOW MANY TORNADOES THERE WERE AND THE
SURVEY TEAMS TODAY WILL BE WORKING TO DETERMINE A MORE CONCRETE
NUMBER. INFORMATION ABOUT THE SURVEYS WILL BE DISSEMINATED
THROUGHOUT THE DAY THROUGH OUR WEBPAGE AND FACEBOOK PAGE AS THE
SURVEY TEAMS INVESTIGATE THE DAMAGE. A MORE COMPLETE WRITE-UP WILL
LIKELY NOT BE ISSUED UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING.

AT THIS TIME YESTERDAY...ALL EVIDENCE WAS SUGGESTING THE EVENT
WOULD BE A FAIRLY TYPICAL SPRING SEVERE WEATHER DAY ACROSS
NORTH TEXAS. IT WAS ANTICIPATED THAT A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS
WOULD FORM AROUND MIDDAY AND MOVE EAST ACROSS PART OF THE REGION.
THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES WAS DISCUSSED BUT IT WAS THE MESOSCALE
FEATURES THAT PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN WHAT ENDED UP BEING AN
OUTBREAK ACROSS NORTH TEXAS. IT APPEARS AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM
STORMS OVER OKLAHOMA EARLY TUESDAY MORNING ENDED UP BEING A KEY
PLAYER IN ENHANCING THE TORNADO THREAT. THIS OUTFLOW BOUNDARY PUSHED
SOUTH ACROSS THE RED RIVER YESTERDAY MORNING AND REACHED THE
INTERSTATE 20 CORRIDOR BEFORE STALLING. DISCRETE SUPERCELLS MANAGED
TO FORM AHEAD OF THE DEVELOPING LINE OF STORMS. AS THESE SUPERCELLS
MOVED NORTH AND CROSSED THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY...THEY ENTERED AN
ENVIRONMENT WITH INCREASED LOW LEVEL SHEAR DUE TO EASTERLY SURFACE
WINDS. IT WAS ALSO NOTED BY LOCAL REAL TIME MODELING THAT THE SURFACE
TO 3KM CAPE WAS VERY HIGH IN THE AREAS WHERE THE TORNADOES OCCURRED.
A LINK BETWEEN INCREASED LOW LEVEL CAPE AND TORNADOES HAS BEEN FOUND
IN PREVIOUS RESEARCH. MORE IN DEPTH STUDY AND ANALYSIS WILL LIKELY
BE DONE ON THIS DAY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS WAS A GOOD EXAMPLE
OF HOW SMALL MESOSCALE FEATURES CAN QUICKLY CHANGE THE STORM
ENVIRONMENT ON ANY GIVEN DAY WHEN SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED.
UNFORTUNATELY IT IS STILL VERY DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE
MODELS TO RESOLVE THESE SMALL MESOSCALE FEATURES...AND IT IS WHY WE
URGE EVERYONE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER ON DAYS WHEN SEVERE
WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

Rowlett Creek Preserve - 11 miles

4.2.12 - 11 miles - Rowlett Creek Preserve, NB 110

NB 110 Update

I am really enjoying my NB 110s and they are probably my all-time favorite shoe at this point. I typically run all of my road miles barefoot but I am actually not that fond of barefoot trail running. I had a pair of NB 101s that worked okay for me and I have put about 1,000 miles on them. They were on the narrow side and I had to apply a few well placed band aids on runs over 8 miles in order to keep blisters on my toes at bay.

I have only managed about 140 miles in my size 14 2E 110s but have not gotten a single blister. I know some people complain about the 4 mm drop on these but I really don’t notice it, even when I have run them out on the street. I guess I am just not that sophisticated of a barefoot runner.

My only complaint up to this point is that there are a couple of spots where the fabric is wearing through. The construction on the 101 seems to have been more solid in this area than it is on the 110.

I’ve got about 80 miles on these in muddy race conditions and they have performed great but they do tend to fill up with rocks and sand but I am guessing any shoe will when you are running through ankle deep mud.

Oh, and no blisters. But they do clean up nice.