RUN 4:50 25.3 miles
Desperate times call for desperate measures?
I was running alone today, in the snow and cold, on a trail had a long lonely loop, in weather that's been knocking me down lately, and was the cause of a gotta-bail run just a few weekends ago. So why did I choose this trail? The redemption. The long loop would help with loop boredom. The shelter from wind down in the valley. And TV didn't seem excited about running LV again so soon, while I happened to like it. Or need it. One of the two or both.
It was 20F at the start, and forecasted to get to just above freezing, with snow starting in the afternoon. More snow! The snow we got a few days ago was already melting off and I wasn't sure yet what I'd find on the trail. Given that it's a biking trail too, probably a lot of packed, slick areas.
I've been fixing my nutrition lately, eating a bigger dinner of starches instead of a bigger brekkie before the run. Today's nutrition plan was oatmeal, peanut butter, and maple Friday night, then just some eggs and banana this morning. In run plans were 200 cals of maple syrup, a few gels, plantain chips, and a powerbar, not to be all eaten but rather eaten as needed. Forgot the chips when leaving, so scratch them off.
My goals: finish, don't let the camelbak freeze, stay hydrated, stay fed.
My plans: I was going to take my time, eat as needed every 45-60 mins, walk and drink every mile, check in with LC and TH, and this is where the 'desperation' comes in -- I downloaded some podcasts to listen to so that I wasn't alone in my head for 5 hours. I've never listened to these, not even on a run, and certainly not on a trail run with mountain bikers to keep aware of. I put only the right earbud in, secured it with my white nike headband, set the volume, overdressed as always, and took off.
I started on the Hamburg trail, measuring the distance to the first turn-off to LV (it was 1.5 miles). I kept going all the way out to the tunnel thinking if I could get 8 miles on the Hamburg, 10 in LV, then a finish-it-out-loop in Lewis and Clark, it would be a good day with little repetition and the push of finishing a loop.
The end of the Hamburg was 4 miles. Things were good, aside from having to blow my damned nose every mile. Still not sure if I had a head cold or not, but I'm thinking I did, just not a full-blown stuffed-up-sneezing-stuffy-head type of cold. Every mile, stop to drink and blow. Five miles in and my nose was already tired of it. And so was my head, not just the pained sinuses but my mental status. Twenty more miles?!
The podcasts were from something called Marathon Training Academy, about an hour long interviews and chat. They were good! Race cheaters, foot care, interviews with two female runners (one who discussed The Peaceful Warrior and "staying in the calm", gotta look that book up). It was somewhat distracting to have that voice in my ear, but it was super helpful to keep MY VOICE from being in my ear. It kept me from thinking, and it seemed to work.
Mile 9 I thought was mile 10. Oops. Stopped to pee, hoping the mountain bikers that passed didn't notice. Why would they care, I dunno. Kept going, feeling good, happy to see mile 10 go by. At mile 11 I texted LC and TH with an update.
The trail was pretty, oddly the remaining snow was only on the trail. The brown leaves flanked the white trail that wound through the valley. Normally you can't see the trail off to your side, but today I could look ahead and follow it. I kept looking for the road, a landmark I was looking for. Once at the road, I'd be off these packed and slick trails!
Hit the road at mile 17, did an out-n-back backwards on the short loop road with the goal of reaching the truck at 20 miles (then only a 5 mile Clark loop), I kept plugging along, kept steady, one mile at a time, sticking to plan, staying in my realm. Needed a short out-n-back on the Hamburg, then hit the truck exactly at 20 miles. Decided to skip a stop at the truck, and keep moving.
The L&C system was a MESS. Frozen snow, frozen footprints, rough, slick. The LV trails also had frozen bike tracks that pained my feet but it least I had traction. I slowed down quite a bit here. Thus far I'd only eaten the maple syrup and a gel -- 300 calories in 4 hours. I was starting to feel the need for more, but decided to test it and see how much further I could go. It didn't help that at this point I was listening to a Dr Noakes interview talking about fat adaptation in runners...I was fat adapted, so I got to thinking about how much further I could go without munching on that last powerbar.
I made it to mile 22 when I started getting clumsy. Stopped to have a third of the bar. It helped :) Feed the dragon :)
Snow started to fall in this last 5 miles, and towards the end it was a beautiful thick fall. It obscured the trail, made it harder to see the ice slicks, but it was so pretty and quiet! I always worry about reaching the end of the loop before my goal mileage and today was no different. Luckily I hit 25 before the truck, kept pushing it, and arrived at the truck at 25.3!
I felt great! No blisters, only a mild right knee pain from the uneven ground, hungry, kinda gotta pee, no stomach distress. But I had to get going -- the snow was getting heavy and I had a long drive home.
Great recovery, did my grocery shopping, started planning for tomorrow's 12-13 miler. In the snow!!
AND GOODBYE FEBRUARY!!!!!!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Really dragging today
RUN 7 miles untimed
No commute today, woke up to snow! A nice snow too, the kind with the pretty snowflakes, puffy accumulation, and swirliness as it falls. Not so nice with the wind and cold, but the good outweighs the bad.
Except the temps are dropping from 25-29 to 5-10 for tomorrow. Boo. I'm sick of February.
And speaking of being sick, still not sure if I have a head cold or not. No congestion but sore sinuses and more bloodied kleenex. I guess I'm sick. It's worse for some reason at night, the past two nights of sleep have been interrupted by waking up with terribly pained sinuses and throat. Doesn't seem as bad during the day.
Nothing at all to do at work today, tomorrow at least I have stuff! I get lots of reading done, but that's BORING.
Hoping the forecast for Saturday warms up a bit, right now it's 14 and run start. Boo!!
No commute today, woke up to snow! A nice snow too, the kind with the pretty snowflakes, puffy accumulation, and swirliness as it falls. Not so nice with the wind and cold, but the good outweighs the bad.
Except the temps are dropping from 25-29 to 5-10 for tomorrow. Boo. I'm sick of February.
And speaking of being sick, still not sure if I have a head cold or not. No congestion but sore sinuses and more bloodied kleenex. I guess I'm sick. It's worse for some reason at night, the past two nights of sleep have been interrupted by waking up with terribly pained sinuses and throat. Doesn't seem as bad during the day.
Nothing at all to do at work today, tomorrow at least I have stuff! I get lots of reading done, but that's BORING.
Hoping the forecast for Saturday warms up a bit, right now it's 14 and run start. Boo!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
10 miler in Laf and TGP
RUN 10 miles in 1:36, 9:36 m/m pace
BIKE COMMUTE 6.4 miles
My plans changed for today, I was supposed to be at work early to start an experiment but that ended up in the garbage Tuesday night. So it left the option of run commuting the distance, or running then bike commuting.
I decided on doing the 10 miler then biking in, figuring I'd be tired. I didn't sleep great this morning. When I woke up at 1:44am with a sore left sinus and blowing clotty blood (!!) I started freaking out. Not about being sick (still waiting to see if I am or not) but because I was worried about missing my long runs this weekend!!
I went out the door with low energy, which also had me thinking I might be sick, but I felt OK in the run. As usual, I felt better after the run. I headed east towards LP, did a few laps of the park and enjoyed the view of the sun rising over Park Ave. After 4 miles there I headed back towards TGP and finished out the run at 9.95 in front of the house. I took the left over 0.04 from yesterdays run (measured at 4.14 but logged as 4.1) to round out the run. :)
Wasn't terribly cold out, and you know it's been cold when you say that 26F isn't too bad. It's supposed to warm up again this afternoon (good for my commute home!) but snow again tomorrow morning (not good for tomorrow's commute!) but only an inch accumulation.
Boring day at work, since my whole day was trashed. Boo.
BIKE COMMUTE 6.4 miles
My plans changed for today, I was supposed to be at work early to start an experiment but that ended up in the garbage Tuesday night. So it left the option of run commuting the distance, or running then bike commuting.
I decided on doing the 10 miler then biking in, figuring I'd be tired. I didn't sleep great this morning. When I woke up at 1:44am with a sore left sinus and blowing clotty blood (!!) I started freaking out. Not about being sick (still waiting to see if I am or not) but because I was worried about missing my long runs this weekend!!
I went out the door with low energy, which also had me thinking I might be sick, but I felt OK in the run. As usual, I felt better after the run. I headed east towards LP, did a few laps of the park and enjoyed the view of the sun rising over Park Ave. After 4 miles there I headed back towards TGP and finished out the run at 9.95 in front of the house. I took the left over 0.04 from yesterdays run (measured at 4.14 but logged as 4.1) to round out the run. :)
Wasn't terribly cold out, and you know it's been cold when you say that 26F isn't too bad. It's supposed to warm up again this afternoon (good for my commute home!) but snow again tomorrow morning (not good for tomorrow's commute!) but only an inch accumulation.
Boring day at work, since my whole day was trashed. Boo.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
I'm ready for February to be OVER
RUN 4.1 miles in 39 mins
BIKE COMMUTE 6.4 miles
When I woke up this morning and saw the temp of 5F, my plan to run first thing went out the window. Oh, HELL NO, not if I don't have to!! But my bike commute, in the cold, with a headwind, even though it 'warmed' up to 19F...when I got to work I tore the February page off my calendar!
So instead this morning I chopped veggies, packed for tomorrow's run commute, and tried a lemon ginger tumeric tea for the first time. Yum!
I waited until it was 1pm to run, by then it was 36F!! I had a headwind out, tailwind back. My mind and stomach were turning-turning-turning, it wasn't restful until about 2 hrs after the run.
On a positive note this means my commute home will be soooooo much sweeter than the bike in, warm and tailwind.
I'm trying to plan this weekend's run. TV is out of town, then JF, CS, BS, LC, JA are all busy too most running the Castlewood Cup. Do I smell bad or something?!
BIKE COMMUTE 6.4 miles
When I woke up this morning and saw the temp of 5F, my plan to run first thing went out the window. Oh, HELL NO, not if I don't have to!! But my bike commute, in the cold, with a headwind, even though it 'warmed' up to 19F...when I got to work I tore the February page off my calendar!
So instead this morning I chopped veggies, packed for tomorrow's run commute, and tried a lemon ginger tumeric tea for the first time. Yum!
I waited until it was 1pm to run, by then it was 36F!! I had a headwind out, tailwind back. My mind and stomach were turning-turning-turning, it wasn't restful until about 2 hrs after the run.
On a positive note this means my commute home will be soooooo much sweeter than the bike in, warm and tailwind.
I'm trying to plan this weekend's run. TV is out of town, then JF, CS, BS, LC, JA are all busy too most running the Castlewood Cup. Do I smell bad or something?!
Monday, February 23, 2015
Days off are hard sometimes
Another DAY OFF
Back to the grind again tomorrow!
These days off are hard, can I say that without sounding too crazy? My nutrition just goes out the window. I feel like I could eat everything in the house, then I overeat and feel like I can't eat the rest of the day!
Still feeling good, a little fuzzed on energy but that's probably from poor fueling and lack of "go". SUPER cold this morning, only 8F so Shoogs got a super short walk of only 0.4-0.5 miles. It's really warmed up for the afternoon, all of 19F, so she'll get some more tonight. She was a good girl with company in the house. She deserves it.
Oh and TV will be out of town this weekend, leaving me to plan the long runs and make all the decisions!! LOL!!
Back to the grind again tomorrow!
These days off are hard, can I say that without sounding too crazy? My nutrition just goes out the window. I feel like I could eat everything in the house, then I overeat and feel like I can't eat the rest of the day!
Still feeling good, a little fuzzed on energy but that's probably from poor fueling and lack of "go". SUPER cold this morning, only 8F so Shoogs got a super short walk of only 0.4-0.5 miles. It's really warmed up for the afternoon, all of 19F, so she'll get some more tonight. She was a good girl with company in the house. She deserves it.
Oh and TV will be out of town this weekend, leaving me to plan the long runs and make all the decisions!! LOL!!
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Sunday at City Museum
DAY OFF
As planned, a day off. Even Shoogs didn't get much walking. In fact she didn't get much walking all week -- too damned COLD. Even she wasn't enjoying the snowy paws.
We spend the afternoon at City Museum with K. She put the miles on! And I was struggling a bit to keep up with her. I'm happy to say that I was flexy enough to squeeze through tunnels, able to climb stairs, and stay with her 95% of the time. But when she crashed on the floor, face down and lights out, I wanted to join her. She's quite the enduro-kid!
I felt good, no pains, blisters, sore spots, anything. Some lower back stiffness and very mild pain lingering from running Tues and Weds on that snow.
NUMERICS 9:55 hours
All running: 58.6 miles, the goal was 58
No bike commuting due to weather and run commuting
WALKIES 12.5 miles, again weather.
As planned, a day off. Even Shoogs didn't get much walking. In fact she didn't get much walking all week -- too damned COLD. Even she wasn't enjoying the snowy paws.
We spend the afternoon at City Museum with K. She put the miles on! And I was struggling a bit to keep up with her. I'm happy to say that I was flexy enough to squeeze through tunnels, able to climb stairs, and stay with her 95% of the time. But when she crashed on the floor, face down and lights out, I wanted to join her. She's quite the enduro-kid!
I felt good, no pains, blisters, sore spots, anything. Some lower back stiffness and very mild pain lingering from running Tues and Weds on that snow.
NUMERICS 9:55 hours
All running: 58.6 miles, the goal was 58
No bike commuting due to weather and run commuting
WALKIES 12.5 miles, again weather.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Did you know maple syrup in a flask will FOAM?!
RUN 25.1 miles in 4:20 (no autopause)
The original plan was to run trails with the group, but an overnight ice and snow storm scared us all off from driving. We ended up staying local, it sounded boring at first but in the end it worked and I'm terribly happy with the outcome.
I did most of my fueling the night prior, I don't know if I like this idea or not because within one mile of running my stomach was growling. So maybe cross that off the list. I didn't really plan it that way, it just happened that way. Either way, it didn't work.
Fuel for today: Goal is EVERY 30 MINS dammit!!! I know this works, so why do I need to "re-test" it every, single, season?! Had half a steamed potato at the start, then a serving of plantain chips, 200 cals of maple syrup in flask with 2oz water and 2 salt packs, and 1 gel. That's all I ate in-run.
The maple syrup test worked! No stomach upset, no energy up/down, and no I couldn't taste the salt. But it foamed!!! How do I fix that?!
When we started the run, the snow was done falling and I ran to the FP VC in a few inches of crunch snow. The sidewalks were in better shape than the street, drier and better traction. 4.5 miles to the VC, meet up with TV, fuel stop, then we took off. TV was excited to run the golf courses -- I've never done that so I was happy to try it. Excepting I didn't have sunglasses, was a little bright!
Within two miles we run into DT and he joins us for a loop. And he's excited after the Grafton race about ultra running and is considering a role as a pacer for Kettle :) He'd be great peppy energy, TV and I were happy to hear that.
I stuck to my schedule, even if I wasn't hungry. And I managed to drink much more than usual. It did help to have the VC stops, guaranteed "break" for each loop. We only did 2 loops ending at 18 miles before we hatched a plan to run to work (we both had stuff to do there) then meet up later for lunch! Vietnamese!! And the fact that I went for lunch! Would not have done that 'before', I would have come up with some excuse and stayed home. Great part too is that TV offered to 'pay this time', meaning I get to pay next time, meaning we're doing this again!! DAMN that noodle soup is PERFECT recovery!
This was BY FAR my best long run yet this year. I needed this confidence boost after last week's long run fail. I got last week's miles done, but not as planned. It really did help to have warm weather, and admittedly it really really helped to not be on trails. And that's the biggest flaw in being too happy about this run -- the next one needs to be on trails. I need to prove I can stick to the fueling and hydration plan on trail whether or not it's cold.
My sis came to visit this afternoon!! So my recovery had to be compressed a bit, yet I was surprised at how good it all felt. 38 miles in less than 24 hours! WHOOP!
The original plan was to run trails with the group, but an overnight ice and snow storm scared us all off from driving. We ended up staying local, it sounded boring at first but in the end it worked and I'm terribly happy with the outcome.
I did most of my fueling the night prior, I don't know if I like this idea or not because within one mile of running my stomach was growling. So maybe cross that off the list. I didn't really plan it that way, it just happened that way. Either way, it didn't work.
Fuel for today: Goal is EVERY 30 MINS dammit!!! I know this works, so why do I need to "re-test" it every, single, season?! Had half a steamed potato at the start, then a serving of plantain chips, 200 cals of maple syrup in flask with 2oz water and 2 salt packs, and 1 gel. That's all I ate in-run.
The maple syrup test worked! No stomach upset, no energy up/down, and no I couldn't taste the salt. But it foamed!!! How do I fix that?!
When we started the run, the snow was done falling and I ran to the FP VC in a few inches of crunch snow. The sidewalks were in better shape than the street, drier and better traction. 4.5 miles to the VC, meet up with TV, fuel stop, then we took off. TV was excited to run the golf courses -- I've never done that so I was happy to try it. Excepting I didn't have sunglasses, was a little bright!
Within two miles we run into DT and he joins us for a loop. And he's excited after the Grafton race about ultra running and is considering a role as a pacer for Kettle :) He'd be great peppy energy, TV and I were happy to hear that.
I stuck to my schedule, even if I wasn't hungry. And I managed to drink much more than usual. It did help to have the VC stops, guaranteed "break" for each loop. We only did 2 loops ending at 18 miles before we hatched a plan to run to work (we both had stuff to do there) then meet up later for lunch! Vietnamese!! And the fact that I went for lunch! Would not have done that 'before', I would have come up with some excuse and stayed home. Great part too is that TV offered to 'pay this time', meaning I get to pay next time, meaning we're doing this again!! DAMN that noodle soup is PERFECT recovery!
This was BY FAR my best long run yet this year. I needed this confidence boost after last week's long run fail. I got last week's miles done, but not as planned. It really did help to have warm weather, and admittedly it really really helped to not be on trails. And that's the biggest flaw in being too happy about this run -- the next one needs to be on trails. I need to prove I can stick to the fueling and hydration plan on trail whether or not it's cold.
My sis came to visit this afternoon!! So my recovery had to be compressed a bit, yet I was surprised at how good it all felt. 38 miles in less than 24 hours! WHOOP!
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