Week Ending 12.22.13

Monday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles barefoot - finally a decently warm day after an ice storm and ridiculous cold

Tuesday - 45 min stairs

Wednesday - 8 miles barefoot, another nice day

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - Gym - squats, deadlifts, pushups and an assortment of pullups

Saturday - Nothing but cold rain

Sunday - 20 miles in freezing drizzle and brutal winds, fun times

Total - 32 miles and 2.25 hours of stairs

Not really a week that would indicate that I am aiming for a 100 miles at Rocky Raccoon in February.  However, this is the first week in December that I have actually been itching to run, so that is a good sign.  My main focus in January will be on trying to get in back-to-back 20s and maybe one 30 miler and dropping a few pounds before RR.

I am sold on open fermentation, although it seems to make people nervous

And then there was no Bang

Iced over, muddy trails, no running... that is how the '13 racing season ended.  The big news was that the Dallas Marathon was cancelled but a much smaller event was also canceled.  Isle du Bois was a no go and with that my '13 racing was over and done with.  I'll save a '13 year end type wrap up post for another day and won't reflect too much here.

I have been thinking about '14 and things won't change too much - Cactus Rose 100.  That will be my main focus again.  I'm going to do Rocky Raccoon 100 and then will take a break to celebrate the arrival of a new family member.  I'll probably try to work in a couple of prep races this year in the run up to Cactus Rose.  Probably a 60k night race and then a race in September.

Look at this homemade pasta and homebrew saison

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me....

100% Brett Hoppy Wheat

I brewed a simple wheat beer a couple of weeks ago with some Crooked Stave brett that I harvested from a bottle of Hop Savant.  So far so good...

Cactus Rose 100 - DNF

Add another DNF to the long list of DNF.  If nothing else, I have compiled a nice list of DNFs over the years.  I did grab a 50 mile finish and the associated medal, which my kids love.  My son asked me on Sunday, “Dad, how come you never win?” to which I replied, “Well, maybe someday, but look at this shinny new medal!” and he was super stoked to take it to show his sister and then run back to hang it up with the others.

The Cactus Rose course was better than advertised and I truly enjoyed running it and can’t wait to get back out there for another go at the 100.  While I didn’t finish the 100 this year, I feel like I learned a lot and will be better positioned to finish next year.  I had a great time this year but not getting any sleep the night before the race really pulled the plug on things early this year.  I feel like my training was adequate to get me through a good effort for 75 miles, so I will need to tweak the training some next summer.   

The changes that I will make for next year:

• Have a crew – I can now see that an unsupported race is a unique challenge but if you are going for your best time then you need a crew to keep you moving in and out of aid stations.  You will pass through aid stations 19 times during the 100 and even a few extra minutes in each station adds up over the length of the race.

• No Camping – I enjoy camping out but this year was such a disaster that it will be easier to just eliminate the chance of that happening again.  The lack of sleep the night before the race really sunk me this year.

• Ride Share or Fly – The drive home is a bit of a beat down. 

Thanks to Doom for letting me share his tent, picking up supplies that I forgot, and convincing me to hit up Sonic with him after I dropped.

The Final Countdown

Well, it is finally here - Cactus Rose race week.  I must say that I am not really pleased with anything associated with my prep for this race other than being healthy.  My training has slacked off, my weight has crept up, my confidence has been eroded but I can't let that get me off in the ditch at this late hour.  However, my foot finally feels like it is 100%.

I was really pleased with my training as of my last post but then a string of events really seemed to sidetrack me.  One weekend the kids were sick, then a run gets canned due to thunderstorms and flooding, then I get sick, then something comes up with work,  then I oversleep on an overly busy weekend, etc.  It just seemed like something always came up (excuses, excuses, excuses...) and what was looking to be a nice 70 - 80 mile week would get bogged down at 45 or 50 miles.  I never managed to work in back-to-back long runs and I never got in a 30+ mile long run.

I had managed to get back down to around 200 lbs and had a race day target of 190 lbs and everything was looking good.  Then as my training started to tail off so did my focus on my diet.  My thinking slowly drifted towards, "not going to be able to get in a long run in the morning because of X, so might as well have a few extra beers" and as those nights started to pile up so did the pounds.  I tipped the scales at 205 yesterday which isn't a disaster but weight loss is one thing that I could have controlled, even as other things spun out of control.  That is a mental lapse on my part and something that I hope to get in line before Rocky Raccoon or, dare I say, Bandera 100K?

Oh, and my gym has been closed do to an issue with the showers... so I had to ditch my morning ritual of climbing stairs for 45 min or so.  However, I have been hitting the stairs at lunch the last week or so and just going back to work smelling foul and dripping in sweat.

On the bright side, my right foot that has been giving me issues for a good long while now is finally 100%.  At one point, I was starting to wonder if I had stress fracture but the pain never got bad enough for me to stop running.

I obviously would like to have run more mileage, be slimmer, and be over flowing with confidence but that is not the case. However, I am going out to a wild and beautiful place to seek an inner peace that is fleeting and ever harder to grasp in a world that is becoming more and more polluted with noise and distractions.

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” - Mark 6:31

Training and Brewing Update

Training for Cactus Rose continues to roll along but certainly not at the volume that I had hoped for.  My legs were a little beat up after my week in Colorado and it has just been down right filthy hot here the past few weeks.  However, yesterday was my first off day after 20 straight days of running.  I rolled out of bed at 5:00 am on Saturday and by 7:00 am my legs were yelling, "no mas" and the streak was dead.  I took yesterday off and got in 8 miles today. 

Cactus Rose is 55 days away and that means about 41 days until it will be time to taper.  My goal will obviously be to get in some bigger runs but I will also try to run everyday until my taper. 

Homebrewing Update

I picked up at 15 gallon fermenter for $5! That was pretty rocking.  However, what would I do with 12 - 14 gallons of beer at a time? I decided to split the 1st batch with a friend and then turn the fermenter into a sour Perpetuum.  The 1st 14 gallons to go in were based on a Belgium Pale Ale with 2-row, wheat, unmalted wheat, acid malt and some oats.  I hopped it with mosaic and citra hops and then tossed in saison yeast and brett.  I'll pull 6 gallons to bottle in about a month and then top off the Perpetuum with another batch of the base ale.  I'll also toss in a starter built up from some Jester King Boxers Revenge dregs and then close it up for a good 6 months. 

I also bottled my sour wort saison and it was awesome!  It was down to 1.004 and smelled great with a nice mellow tartness.

Two Weeks (One in the Mount Evans Area) Ending 7.21.13

7/8/13 - Monday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, barefoot

Tuesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 7 miles, NB MT110, Rowlett Creek Preserve

Wednesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, barefoot

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - 45 min stairs

Saturday - Off hanging with kids while wife was away on travel

Sunday - Mt. Goliath, 1,500', NB MT110 (new pair!)

     I canned my original plan of doing Grays and Torreys after a ridiculous travel day.  In fact, I almost didn't even make the drive out to the Mt. Evans areas and only decided at the last second to head out.  After multiple flight delays, lost luggage, a trip to Target for news shoes and shorts (all I had was my jeans and flip flops b/c of no luggage), I finally made it out to the Mt. Evans area only to find that the road was closed.  I had no map, no gps watch, no cell service, no proper shoes, and no clue how much light was left in the day this far up in the mountains.  I checked the clock on my phone and told myself that by 7:00 I needed to be headed back towards the car.  I picked up the trail near the front gate in my brand new $12 boat shoes and headed, what I assumed to be up the Mt (I would later learn that this trail heads along the backside of Echo Lake) until I came to a more direct route.  I cut off the trail and headed straight up through the forest and popped out onto the road.  I tried to regain the trail but to no avail and followed the road up for a bit.  I was able to regain the trail and eventually got above tree line and then the route finding was much easier.  I continued up to what I assumed was Mt. Goliath, sat down and had a beer, and then headed back down to the car.  I would later determine that I picked up about 6 miles.

Heading back down to the car from Goliath

Monday - Echo Lake to Chicago Lakes, NB MT110

     After a long day of work, I made the trek back out to the Mt. Evans area (this would be the theme of the week).  I was thinking that, if the weather would hold, I would like to do the round trip from Echo Lake up to Mt. Evans via the Chicago Lakes and then back down to Echo Lake via the Northeast Face to Mt. Warren, Roberts, Goliath.  This would be 7,000ish feet of gain and 18 - 20 miles.  With that effort in mind, I wanted to scout as many sections of it as I could during the week.  This was a pretty boring run, outside the switch backs down to Chicago Creek, but it provided for some stunning views that the camera on my phone just couldn't do justice.  I made the round trip from Echo up to lower Chicago and back fairly quickly and actually had enough daylight left upon returning to Golden to tag Green Mt. before calling it a day.  Another solid 6 miles in the books.

Tuesday - Mt. Spalding & Mt. Evan, NB MT110

The forecast was sketchy for the whole week with afternoon storms in the forecast for each day.  When I finally got a break from work and slipped out of the office for a bit... man was I bummed when I saw the cumulonimbus exploding across the front range.  I spent the whole afternoon waffling between making the drive out to Mt. Evans or playing it safe and hitting Green Mountain in Golden for some miles.  I finally got away from the office and it was a not brainer to make the drive out to Mt. Evans.  It was already getting late when I got out there and the road was wet but I didn't notice and signs of storms, so I was feeling pretty good about the weather but was worried about it getting dark.  I drove up to Summit Lake and hit the trail up towards Mt. Spalding.  The climb up was a good bit easier than I expected even though there was a few spots that required me to actually us my hands an climb.  The views were awesome until things got socked in with clouds.  The trek over to Evans from Spalding was actually kind of a bore.  I hit Evans and had the summit to myself, which was very cool even if the view was mostly obscured by clouds.  I hung out for a bit and then descended the Northeast Ridge, which was a horrible muddy loose rocky mess.  I then cruised the road a bit taking in the views and rounding out 6 miles for the day.

 

I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated by this view before starting out!

 

 

Hey, Snow!

Wednesday - Nothing, got tied up with work and was mega bummed 

Thursday - Mt. Goliath,  Mt. Rogers, Mt. Warren, NB MT110

Parked at the Dos Chappell Nature Center and pulled on an outer shell, since it seemed a bit chiller than the past few days.  I headed out on the Walter Pesman Trail through the ancient Bristlecone Pine forest - very cool and certainly a spot you should not over look.  Made the grind up to Mt. Goliath and then cruised along the ridge line hitting Rogers and Warren.  Great views the whole time and my legs were feeling pretty nice after not doing anything the day before.  I ended up covering about 8 miles round trip but the elevation gain was pretty mellow, something like 2,400ish feet.  I could totally dig a run like this everyday but no such luck in the flat burning waste lands of Texas.

Friday -  Mt. Spalding, Mt. Warren, Mt. Rogers, Mt. Goliath, NB MT110

I need to get my film from this day developed and will then prepare a more detailed post for this outing.  I started at Echo Lake and descended down to Chicago Creek and then headed up to Summit Lake, Spalding, turned back b/c of weather and back tracked over Spalding and back to Summit Lake, then descended back to Echo Lake via Warren, Rogers and Goliath. 

Total - 60ish miles plus way more vertical than ever before.

I could totally move to the mountains and not think twice about it!

They were here First!

Homebrew Sour Saison Sample - Going to be Awesome

Magic!

Injury + Vacation = Not Much Running

Nothing is better than injuring yourself right when you are getting into the swing of training...  at least it was a non-running injury.  I followed the injury up with a couple of weeks out of town for vacation and it seemed like it rained every time I tried to head out for a run.  That was probably for the best anyway, since my foot was taking much longer to heal than expected.  Anyway, my foot is still sore but has healed to the point that I am back to regular running.  I still feel confident in my training plan for Cactus Rose but can't afford any other extended periods of down time.

Beer of the Blog Post - Homebrew Saison

My brother and I brewed a lot in college but I left all the equipment with him when I moved away for work.  I've been thinking about getting back into brewing for years but have never pulled the trigger for one reason or another.  In true minimalist fashion, I kept things as simple as possible with my return to brewing.  I used a very simple grain bill of just two-row and oats and hopped it with sorachi ace hops.  I used a saison/brett yeast blend that I harvested from a bottle of Jester King El Cedro.  Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this 1st batch and look forward to some more brewing!

Cactus Rose Training - Week 1 Ending 6.2.13

Monday - Am - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, Barefoot

Tuesday - 8 miles, barefoot

Wednesday - 45 min stairs

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - 6 miles, NB 1010 - My first run in the 1010s and really liked them.  I will only use them sparingly this summer and save them for the last 25 miles at Cactus Rose.

Saturday - 20ish miles, NB 110, North Shore Trail on Lake Grapevine with Doom.  This was a really nice run and I felt better over the last 5 miles than I did the first 5 miles.  We got lost towards the end after Doom got tired of practicing falling down.  We had to run the last mile on the road back to the trail head.

Sunday - Off

Total - 38 miles plus 2.25 hours of stairs


I guess this is as good a week as any to "officially" start training for Cactus Rose.  This race will be my singular focus for the remainder of the summer and into the fall.  I have some pretty lofty goals (for me at least) written down for Cactus Rose. 

Week Ending 5.12.13 (Why Post this on a Thursday?)

Monday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 mile, MT 101, float workout (1:00/0:30)

Tuesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, BF

Wednesday - 21 miles, MT 110 (salvaged!), Rowlett Creek Preserve - nice warm day resulting in bonking some kind of hard on this run

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - 45 min stairs

Saturday - 4 miles, BF

Sunday - 8 miles, BF

Total - 41 miles plus 3 hours of stairs

This week was a success given that I got in a nice longish run and was able to sew my MT 110s back together.  I've now managed to get in 14 straight days of running trails, roads, or stairs and my legs are feeling really fresh.  My training plan for Cactus Rose 100 is starting to come together for the summer.  I plan to do a tempo run on Monday nights, speed work at the track on Wednesday mornings, lift on Fridays, and then get in as much stair and trail running as I can on the other days.

Two Weeks Ending 5.5.13

Starting 4/29/13
Monday - 45 min stairs

Tuesday - 45 min stairs

Wednesday - 11 miles, Rowlett Creek Preserve, MT 101 - legs felt really good but not sure how many more miles that I will be able to get out of my trusty 101s.

Thursday -  AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 6 miles, BF, random creek path / community jogging trail behind our church.  I didn't want to run circles in the parking lot while my daughter was up at the church and was able to stumble across this.  Some nice views with decent elevation change.

Friday - AM - Gym - Squats and Deadlifts - kept the weight pretty low, just easing back into things.

Saturday and Sunday - Lots of beer, relaxing, family and recovery.

Monday - 2 miles, BF - crap ton of fertilizer all over the community bike path caused me to cut this run short.  They even spread it back up in the wooded sections... such a waste of money and unnecessarily  harmful for the environment. 

Tuesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, MT 101

Wednesday - 45 min stairs

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - AM - Gym - Squats and Deadlifts - at about 80% of pre-Hells Hills, will probably match my max Dead next week and then start adding weight each session to make the push to 300.

PM - 4 miles, BF

Saturday - 4 miles, BF

Sunday - 4 miles, BF

Total - 35 miles and 4.5 hours of stairs

I think that I am done with my recovery and ready to start the long hot summer grind that will eventually lead up to Cactus Rose 100.  I've been out to the course a number of times to run and know that it is a quad shredding course with lots of ups and downs.  My quads held up really well at Hells Hills but that wasn't an overly hilly course and I took it really easy.  I'll have to run a good bit out of my comfort zone at Cactus Rose to reach the goals that I have set.

On another note, I love to cook and was hoping to bring more of that to this blog but it is such a pain to take pictures while cooking and then load them to this blog.  I'm a even worse food blogger than running blogger!  Anyway, I made some killer pizza but really only have two pics to show for my efforts.

Small Batch of Dough Ready for Pizza Making!

Perfectly Crispy Crust and Amazing Sauce Full of Fresh Herb

I really think a Revival is building.

Rethinking My Lifting

I tipped the scale at 206.5 the other day and that is down from the 214ish that I carried into Hells Hills.  The problem is that I really need to be down in the 180s come Cactus Rose (I'm 6'4ish), if I want to do anything more than just shuffle to a finish.  I was around 200 last summer for El Scorcho and got down into the 190s during the summer.  I then started doing more upper body lifts and obviously eating / drinking more during football season and on into the holidays.

I noticed that I have really added some bulk across my chest and shoulders over the past 6 months or so.  Do I need bulk across my chest and shoulders? No.  In fact, I need to lose this bulk and slim down my upper body.  I'm not really sure how to do that but cutting out bench press and standing press would probably be a good start.  I'll still do daily pull ups and push ups to maintain strength but will limit my lifting to squats and deadlifts.  

I will also need to get a bit more serious about my diet and eat cleaner over the summer.  I've got a general plan in mind for my Cactus Rose training - weekly speed work plus lots of long runs - that I will hammer out in another post.

Started eating cleaner already, well except for the beer!

 

Back at It

I came out of Hells Hills feeling great but still took some time off from running.  I've been hitting the gym (deadlifts last Friday blew my legs up!) and grinding some stairs during the week but taking the weekends off.  The itch finally got too strong and I headed out to the trail for 11 miles today.  I guess that marks the official kickoff of Cactus Rose 100 training.

Hells Hills 50 Mile - Words on the Internet

Cliffs Notes:

Race/General

• A great race put on by the Tejas Trails folks that I highly recommend

• Nice course but not really flat, if that is what you are looking for

• Camping is the way to go for this one

•  Great aid stations

The Good

• No blisters again, injinji socks and proper fitting shoes do wonders

•  No chafing, I have that dialed in pretty well\

• No cramping

• My favorite running shirt is my fishing shirt

•  Ultra running is made up of mostly great people and I have met some great friends along the way

The Bad

•  Cool spring means no heat acclimation and that sucks when racing on a warm day

•  Not really anything else to add to this column

Some Narrative:

Hells Hills50 was my first 50 mile in over a year, but I did do a couple of 50ks during that time span.  I had big running plans coming out of last year’s Rocky Raccoon 50 mile but life and being over trained pulled the plug on that.  It would take me until this past December to truly recognize that I had basically spent the whole year of 2012 fatigued and worn down.  I guess going from very little mileage in my life to 2,400+ miles in 2011 was a pretty good way to wear my body down.   Because of that, I spent most of this past winter just doing whatever felt good and not really focusing on racing this spring.  I had planned to do both Grasslands and Hells Hills but eventually decided to just do Hells Hills.

I started January off with a zero mile week but eased into a pretty good rhythm this spring and was pretty happy with my mileage leading up to the race.  I didn’t ever break off any huge weeks but was hitting some 50+ mile weeks with a good bit of stair climbing and gym work thrown in the mix.  I had a number of goals heading into this race but really just wanted to finish and have a good time. 

I headed down to Austin the Friday before the race and met up with Doom at a random CVS.  We then picked up a few essentials (beer) before heading out to Rocky Hill Ranch, which is near Smithville, TX.  Doom ran the 10k last year at the ranch but still managed to get us lost on the way out there (and he wants to lead an expedition to the Grand Canyon for a R2R2R!).  We got our campsite, setup our tents, headed back to “town” to grab some food, had a few beers and called it a night. 

Nice Afternoon for a Beer

Even Less Comfortable than it Looks

I got up around 3:30 am for the 5:00 start and got ready quicker than anticipated.  This gave me plenty of time to pack up my campsite and toss everything in my ride.  Doom would inform me later that I did leave me car door wide open but luckily no one wanted to make off with an aging Mazda and its load of camping/running treasure.

This Repaired Shoe Would Survive the Race

We made our way down to the starting line around 4:30 (Doom would run the 10k later that morning) and I was major bummed to find out that there was no hot coffee!  I figured that I could grab some coke at the 1^st aid station but man did I miss my morning coffee.  The race is a loop course that is run 3 times with the 50 milers running correction section while the 50k & 25k run the basic loop.

My plan was to run the 1^st lap slow, then run the 2^nd lap even slower, and then just see what happened on the final loop.  I was betting on our abnormally cool spring to play into this plan but that was not to be and this ended up being the warmest day of the spring.  I really considered changing up my strategy and going out hard and then just hoping to hold on through the heat of the day.  However, I had tried that strategy at my last couple of races but that resulted in me blowing up over the last portion of the race. 

The 1^st loop went basically exactly to plan.  I cruised around in the dark and would slow down anytime I started passing people.  I ended the 1^st loop feeling really good and chatted with Doom for a bit about his 10k before heading off on my 2^nd loop.  Other than destroying my right shoe, the 2^nd loop went smoothly until the last couple of miles when it seemed like the temp really started to take off.  I quickly changed shoes and headed out for the 3^rd and final loop.

I was pleased that my legs felt really good at this point and I had no quad soreness at all.  However, things started to go down hill pretty quickly as I got nauseous and dizzy pretty soon after leaving the Start/Finish area.  I was pretty certain that this was heat related and that was pretty worrisome.  The two main things that worry me when running here in Texas are heat exhaustion / stroke and hyponatremia.  I essentially spent the whole 3^rd loop battling the heat and this consisted of running until getting nauseous and dizzy and then walking it off – repeat.  I kept running a check list in my head and kept coming up with heat as being the issue.  I would have forced myself to vomit and continue on, if I felt that the issue wasn’t heat related.

This Shoe Only Last 2 Loops - Can it be Saved?

Anyway, once the end of the 3^rd loop was within striking distance and I came across welcome site, Doom heading in the wrong direction to make sure that I wasn’t dropping from the race.  We jogged along and chatted until he sprinted ahead to take some pictures.  I eased into the Finish line with a PR and got a nice firm handshake from Joe Prusaitis.  

We hung around the finish line for a bit cheering on other finishers before heading back up to the campsite to get my car.  I was basically back to 100% after a sponge bath in the woods and something cold to drink.  This made the drive back to Dallas pleasant, esp. being able to stop to urinate and not having to wonder if I will be able to get out of my car and to the restroom in time.  I woke up Sunday morning with sore feet and that was it.  No trashed quads, no stumbling around the house, no wondering what I had done to myself…. this really leads me to believe that I was way too conservative with my running early in the day when it was nice and cool.

Race Week Ending 4.7.13

Monday - 45 min stairs

Tuesday - 45 min stairs

Wednesday - 30 min stairs

Thursday - Off

Friday - Off

Saturday - 50 miles - Hells Hills, (33 miles MT 110, 17 miles MT 101), PR

I'll probably write more about Hells Hills later this week but wanted to be sure to give a big "Thanks!" to Doom for coming out and crewing when he wasn't running around.

Taper Week 2 Ending 3.31.13

Monday - Bench plus an abbreviated P90x chest and back

Tuesday -  45 min stairs

Wednesday - 45 min stairs

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - off

Saturday - 8 miles, barefoot

Sunday - Easter

Nice easy taper week.  I didn't really notice how worn down I was until this week when my energy level really rebounded.  I've had a hard time going to sleep and have been itching to get out and run, grind the stairs, and/or hit the gym for some dead lifts.  I  also got some good travel news and will be in CO for about 10 days this summer, which will make for some awesome running and beer drinking!

Grilling and drinking during taper week

1,200+ Mile Review / Update: New Balance MT 101 & MT 110

I fancy myself as a barefoot runner but I do a lot of running in shoes.  I run in shoes when out on the trail, when it is cold, when it is hot, and sometimes when it is dark.  The New Balance MT 101 were my first pair of proper trail shoes and about a year later I picked up the MT 110.  I haven't bought any new shoes since then.  I haven't closely tracked the miles but both pairs are safely past 1,200 miles.  The MT 101s have held up better than the 110s but the 110s work better with my foot shape.

I didn't run in the 101s for about 6 months and they sat in a basket on our front porch.  Then one day it was too hot to run BF and my 110s were caked in mud in the back of my car.  I tossed on the 101s, after emptying out the dirt my son had filled them with,  and realized they worked pretty well for short fast runs.  I then used the 101s for shorter runs and the 110s for longer runs.

I'll have to try and salvage my 110s this week since the hole in the picture below is getting to be a bit of a nuisance.  I figure that I'll run them through the was and then try to super glue the flap back to the sole and have my wife stitch the upper mesh back together. 

A few more pictures of wear and tear.

My biggest complaint about the 101s, outside of being too narrow in the toe box, would be the separating lining on the inside of the heel.

What a great song:

Taper Week 1 Ending 3.24.13

Monday - Gym - P90x Chest and Back

Tuesday - 45 min stairs

Wednesday - Off

Thursday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 6 miles, NB MT 101

Friday - Gym - Bench, Squat, Dead - did squat and dead at about 80% of normal to avoid any chance of injury.

Saturday - 8 miles - 6 miles NB MT 101, 2 miles BF

Sunday - 6 miles, BF

I typically taper for 2 weeks and seem to get sick more often than normal in that 2nd week.  So I am going to to taper for 3 weeks this time.  Who knows if it will make any difference at all.  Typically Hells Hills is one of the 1st really warm races of the year but it looks like we might get lucky with some cool air this year.

Firestone Walker comes to Texas

Two Weeks Ending 3.17.13

I have not posted in a while and have been grinding.  I some how lost a bit of my training log when my laptop restarted itself, so this is just the last two weeks.

Starting 3.11.13:

Monday - 45 min stairs

Tuesday - 27 miles, NB MT 110

Wednesday - 45 min stairs

Thursday - AM - 45 min, PM - 4 miles, NB MT 101

Friday - Lifting - Bench, Squat and Deads - pulled my heaviest Dead to date @ 255, should be able to hit 300 in early summer

Saturday - Off - Kids soccer games in the morning and then a whole bunch of relaxing

Sunday - 20 miles, 16 NB MT 101, 4 BF

Monday - 45 min stairs

Tuesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, BF

Wednesday - AM - 45 min stairs, PM - 4 miles, BF

Thursday - 45 min stairs

Friday - 45 min stairs

Saturday - 22 miles, NB MT 110 - I was aiming for 30 miles but a late start and a busy afternoon forced me to cut the run short.  This was probably for the best with it being the warmest day of the year.

Sunday - 20 miles, 16 NB MT 101, 4 BF - nice easy run

Total - 101 miles plus 6 hours of stairs

Time to taper.  I managed to work in 9 runs of 20 or more miles in this cycle (plus an 18) and that is by far the most I have ever been able to grind out.  Now, will that produce results come race day?

The No Beer March

I love beer but I also understand than throwing back 600 - 800 calories of the magical nectar a night won't help me shed any weight.  I'm sitting at 207 right now and would like to be down to around 195 come Hells Hills.  The only way that I am dropping that and not starving myself is to cut out beer....  It will be a long month but I will endeavor to persevere.

Going Home

for a race.  I've added the Cajun Coyote 100 mile to my list of Most Probable Outcome - DNF.  You can see the full list of Most Probable Outcome - DNF on the sidebar of this blog.

Picking One of Two

My original plan was to run both Grasslands 50 and Hells Hills 50 but it looks like I will only be able to make arrangements to run one of the two.  I have a burning desire to defeat Grasslands (errr just finish) but I also want a WS qualifying time and only HH is on the list.  My desire to one day run WS out weighs my desire to finish Grasslands this year.  

101 Post!

Yesterdays post was my 100th post.  I'm not sure that is worthy of noting but I just did.

Week Ending 2.3.13

Monday - Gym - Bench, Press, 30 min stationary bike - legs feeling a little dead so skipped the planned squats.

Tuesday - 45 min stairs

Wednesday - 45 min stairs

Thursday - 24 miles, NB 110

Friday - 45 min stairs

Saturday - zero - My wife had to be out the door by 6:00 am, so that eliminated a morning run.  Then the rest of the day was spent with the kids.

Sunday - 20 miles, NB 101 - didn't make it to the trial and just did this on the bike trail around the community.  The trail is smooth so you can just veg out and grind but there is some nice elevation change, esp. for this part of the country.

Total - 44 miles and 2.25 hour stairs

It was nice to log two 20+ mile runs in the same week but those were my only runs... I guess stair climbing counts as a running like activity and gets the heart rate way up there  but the cadence is different, the tempo is different, the stride, well you see what I am saying.  However, I have fallen in love with grinding vertical and I think that has improved my running.  It will be easier to get out for some random night runs as the weather warms and the days get longer, so some doubles should start popping up again.

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