Week ending Nov 18
Mon: rest day
Tues: 81 minutes; 200 metre elevation gain; 14.76 km. Ran on the roads because I didn’t feel like dealing with the snow yet. I’m fairly impressed with how many people here actually clear the snow off their sidewalk; I had very little ice to deal with.
Wed: 104 minutes; 450 metre elevation gain; 13.44 km. Peterson creek trails with c. A little slippery in the snow in some spots but nice enough. I still need to get new winter grips though.
Thu: 48 minutes; 200 metre elevation gain; 9.35 km. Road loop. Ran to a local running store to ask about running groups, but they were closed. I’ll probably not remember to get back there for a couple weeks.
Fri: no run; but 90 minutes of hockey. I am sore in places I don’t remember having muscles. I hadn’t played in at least ten years. Played 90 minutes with only 3 subs. I hope as I go more often that I don’t hurt so much.
Sat: 264 minutes; 1000 metre elevation gain; 36.4 km. I tried to connect a few different parks together with sections of road running in between. I ended up doing a little more roads than hoped for, but that was ok because the trails I hit were either slushy snow or slick mud, I bailed once and got covered in mud, it was pretty funny.
Sun: 126 minutes; 507 metre elevation gain; 16.11 km. Running in trails near work with j. Ran to meet at the trailhead to get extra distance in, the trails were much slower going for j, but that was fine as I felt like ass. Definitely still feeling it from hockey, and probably a little bit to do with it being my longest week of running since august.
Weekly totals:
Plan: 11 hours
Actual: 10 hours 23 minutes, plus 1.5 hours hockey.
Distance: 90.06 km
Elevation gain: 2,357 metre (not sure, guessed on first four runs)
Now that I’m having to start paying back student loans it got me thinking about money. How much is it worth to spend money on entering a race and travelling to that race and hotel and all that? Are the benefits worth the cost. Am I able to reap enough benefits from just doing training without travelling, or is there extra benefit from travelling to a race.
I’m also thinking about how to get training time in. I work Monday to Friday 8 – 5, and have trouble thinking about how I could ever get more than 16 hours of training time in a week and still get in other things I need to do.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Week ending Nov 11
Week ending nov 11
Note: I’ve decided that when possible i’m going to write about each day, right after that days run. So weekly entries may read a little differently.
Mon: rest day
Tue: 11.81 km, 80 minutes, 500 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 137 bpm (15% zone 2, 60% zone 3, 25% zone 4); running Peterson creek with c, fairly easy pace run except for the start where I was running fairly fast down the Cliffside trails. I’ve run enough in the Peterson creek trails that I’m comfortable enough to run at tempo at night.
Wed: 19.13 km, 99 minutes, 450 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 153 bpm (7% zone 3, 91& zone 4); road running loop. Uphill to Aberdeen, down pacific and Columbia downtown, then home via 1st and summit. Felt like I was pushing hard once I starting going downhill, after a fairly hard warmup. A couple years ago there was no way I would have been able to do a run like this with as much constant hills without having to pansy out and walk. Now, it’s just another Wednesday run. I like.
Thur: 0 km. Intended on running for an hour. But apparently my Wednesday run was tougher on me than I thought. Took a 15 minute cat nap during lunch at work, interesting thing about changing jobs is that I don’t think I’m fully adjusted to my new schedule. When I would work at 2 pm if I had run too hard in the day before work, or too hard after work, I could just sleep as long as my body needed, and now working at 8 am if I run too hard that day, I can’t make it up by sleeping in, and it’..... seemed to have lost what I typed at the end when I saved, not sure where I was going there.
Fri: rest day
Sat: 30.3 km, 199 minutes, 864 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 142 bpm. Running in Penticton, from downtown up carmi rd to the trails and back and then a loop around the flats. Running in snow for the first time this year; I think I’m going to get a pass to the gym at home which has lots of cardio equipment, a full size indoor track and a swimming pool. Then I’ll run indoors for two or three times per week over the winter.
Sun: 15.96 km, 93 minutes, 250 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 143 bpm. In Penticton, ran the kvr to naramata, back via the road and munson mountain then the trails near the marina with mom’s dog.
Weekly totals:
Plan: 9.5 hours
Actual:
Time: 7 hours 50 minutes
Distance: 77.2 km
Elev gain: 2,068 metre.
Didn’t hit the time I wanted, that was difficult as I was away for the weekend, and was busier than I expected. And I missed a run on Thursday, due to running too hard the day before. I think with that I will make sure to run a max of 1.5 hours or 15 km on a work day, then I won’t wear myself out.
Note: I’ve decided that when possible i’m going to write about each day, right after that days run. So weekly entries may read a little differently.
Mon: rest day
Tue: 11.81 km, 80 minutes, 500 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 137 bpm (15% zone 2, 60% zone 3, 25% zone 4); running Peterson creek with c, fairly easy pace run except for the start where I was running fairly fast down the Cliffside trails. I’ve run enough in the Peterson creek trails that I’m comfortable enough to run at tempo at night.
Wed: 19.13 km, 99 minutes, 450 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 153 bpm (7% zone 3, 91& zone 4); road running loop. Uphill to Aberdeen, down pacific and Columbia downtown, then home via 1st and summit. Felt like I was pushing hard once I starting going downhill, after a fairly hard warmup. A couple years ago there was no way I would have been able to do a run like this with as much constant hills without having to pansy out and walk. Now, it’s just another Wednesday run. I like.
Thur: 0 km. Intended on running for an hour. But apparently my Wednesday run was tougher on me than I thought. Took a 15 minute cat nap during lunch at work, interesting thing about changing jobs is that I don’t think I’m fully adjusted to my new schedule. When I would work at 2 pm if I had run too hard in the day before work, or too hard after work, I could just sleep as long as my body needed, and now working at 8 am if I run too hard that day, I can’t make it up by sleeping in, and it’..... seemed to have lost what I typed at the end when I saved, not sure where I was going there.
Fri: rest day
Sat: 30.3 km, 199 minutes, 864 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 142 bpm. Running in Penticton, from downtown up carmi rd to the trails and back and then a loop around the flats. Running in snow for the first time this year; I think I’m going to get a pass to the gym at home which has lots of cardio equipment, a full size indoor track and a swimming pool. Then I’ll run indoors for two or three times per week over the winter.
Sun: 15.96 km, 93 minutes, 250 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate 143 bpm. In Penticton, ran the kvr to naramata, back via the road and munson mountain then the trails near the marina with mom’s dog.
Weekly totals:
Plan: 9.5 hours
Actual:
Time: 7 hours 50 minutes
Distance: 77.2 km
Elev gain: 2,068 metre.
Didn’t hit the time I wanted, that was difficult as I was away for the weekend, and was busier than I expected. And I missed a run on Thursday, due to running too hard the day before. I think with that I will make sure to run a max of 1.5 hours or 15 km on a work day, then I won’t wear myself out.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Week ending Nov 4
Week ending Nov 4
Mon: rest day
Tue:
-
Run to TCC: 3.44 km, 69 m up and 149 m down,
17:54
-
1 hour basketball. Can’t shoot, can’t jump,
short, good thing I can outrun everyone from work
-
Run home from TCC: 3.86 km, 162 metre up, 96
metre down, 25:18
Wed: 13.74 km, 430 metre elev gain, 90 minutes, avg heart
rate 141 with c in Peterson crk trails.
Thu: 9.19 km, 188 metre elev gain, 53 minutes. Summit/notre
dame road loop. Mixed up the tempo after warming up. From 4:00 min/km – 5:30
min/km.
Fri: off
Sat: 22.64 km, 145 minutes, 620 metre elev gain, avg hrt
rate 148 bpm (33% zone 3, 64% zone 4); ran the trails behind pacific way
school, got completely lost ended up running through some cattle pastures and
jumping a few barbed wire fences to get to the highway before I could find my
way back to where I knew I was. I realised an advantage to running in an area
where there are so few trees. When you can see a peak you want to summit, and
can’t find any trails, you can just run up the side of the mountain without
worrying about what’s between you and the peak.
Sun: 12.8 km, 89 minutes, 574 metre elev gain, avg hrt rate
146 bpm (43% zone 3, 53% zone 4); running in kenna Cartwright trails. I’ve
almost started enjoying running in massive fog. When you’re at the top of a peak,
and can’t see the city because it’s covered in fog, but can see the next peak
on the other side of the city, it almost feels like you’re not in the city.
Weekly Totals
Plan: 8 hours running
Actual:
Time: 7
hours + 1 hour hard running playing basketball
Distance:
65.67 km
Elev gain:
2,020 metres
The feeling of ‘needing to run’ has passed, glad that’s over
with.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Week ending Oct 28; A tough slog
Week ending Oct 28
Mon: 11.89 km, 65 minutes, 353 metre elev gain. Ran downtown to the back and back. Uphill on the roads on the way back. Pretty nice climb.
Tue: 8.77 km, 57 minutes, 179 metre elev gain. Running in kenna with the trail group. Good run, checked out some trails I hadn’t seen before. Almost bailed as I was staring out across the river at a bit of scenery I hadn’t seen before.
Wed: 12.55 km, 70 minutes, 270 metre elev gain. Ran down to the university, ran around there and back on roads to check out some of the neighbourhood.
Thur: 11.52 km, 71 minutes, 357 metre elev gain. Running in lac du bois with the trail group. A nice large park, could easily get lost in there doing longs. Just meadows and grasslands and hills, no trees. Very strange.
Friday: no run, cleaning
Sat: no run, moving
Sunday: Raced the Kal Park 9.5 km xc. 44 min 08 sec. 325 metre elev gain. Only a minute faster than 2 years ago. Huh.
Totals: 6 hr 15 minutes. 55.23 km. 1,484 metre elev gain.
On Saturday night I went to a presentation of some mountain adventure type videos. Long story short, it all got me thinking about why I run. And even though I have had a super enjoyable fun year of running, I was thinking about some of the reasons I do what I do. I started out running ultras in 2010, a major reason was to distract myself from other vices. It’s always been a struggle to stay away from past habits, and running has been more about replacing one addiction for another. I think I race too much because I’m chasing after a high, and keep looking for it in a race. Saturday, while driving home, I was thinking just how fun it would be after chasing the high I look for in a race to pop some pills or jam a needle in my arm and make that high better. So all of a sudden I feel like I ‘need’ to run again, and swiftly I’ve gone from having fun running, to needing a strict regimented routine of running for other reasons. Hopefully it will pass sooner than later.
Mon: 11.89 km, 65 minutes, 353 metre elev gain. Ran downtown to the back and back. Uphill on the roads on the way back. Pretty nice climb.
Tue: 8.77 km, 57 minutes, 179 metre elev gain. Running in kenna with the trail group. Good run, checked out some trails I hadn’t seen before. Almost bailed as I was staring out across the river at a bit of scenery I hadn’t seen before.
Wed: 12.55 km, 70 minutes, 270 metre elev gain. Ran down to the university, ran around there and back on roads to check out some of the neighbourhood.
Thur: 11.52 km, 71 minutes, 357 metre elev gain. Running in lac du bois with the trail group. A nice large park, could easily get lost in there doing longs. Just meadows and grasslands and hills, no trees. Very strange.
Friday: no run, cleaning
Sat: no run, moving
Sunday: Raced the Kal Park 9.5 km xc. 44 min 08 sec. 325 metre elev gain. Only a minute faster than 2 years ago. Huh.
Totals: 6 hr 15 minutes. 55.23 km. 1,484 metre elev gain.
On Saturday night I went to a presentation of some mountain adventure type videos. Long story short, it all got me thinking about why I run. And even though I have had a super enjoyable fun year of running, I was thinking about some of the reasons I do what I do. I started out running ultras in 2010, a major reason was to distract myself from other vices. It’s always been a struggle to stay away from past habits, and running has been more about replacing one addiction for another. I think I race too much because I’m chasing after a high, and keep looking for it in a race. Saturday, while driving home, I was thinking just how fun it would be after chasing the high I look for in a race to pop some pills or jam a needle in my arm and make that high better. So all of a sudden I feel like I ‘need’ to run again, and swiftly I’ve gone from having fun running, to needing a strict regimented routine of running for other reasons. Hopefully it will pass sooner than later.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Planning
I'm going to wait to sign up for the 100 mile race until january. But I've already laid out my plan. I have 22 weeks until race day. I figure on a weekly basis I will have a schedule that looks something like this.
Mon: off
Tues: 75 minutes
Wed: 75 minutes
Thurs: 90 minutes (4 hours somewhere between these three days)
Fri: rest
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long run
Starting next week I will do two three week builds, ffollowed by rest weeks, then 2 easy weeks around christmas, a rest week, a three week build, rest week, 2 weeks build, rest week, three week build, taper, then race. Before christmas I will build to weeks of 11 hours and 12 hours at the end of the three week builds. And after christmas, the builds will peak at 14, 15, and 16 hours. I seem to be able to get a fair bit og climbing in running here, which is nice. Unfortunately no real long sustained climbs or very much technical stuff. I might end up on the treadmill for some runs if it gets too cold in the winter.
2012 Training log with plan to end of year
2013 Training Log with plan
I've decided that even though I think I know what I want to do in terms of races after the 100 miler, I will wait to register until after the race. None of the races I want to do will sell out anyway.
I calculated the average hours per day of running in the plan I made up, and it comes out to 1.4 hours per day. So far this year (if you exclude the time I took off in august) I've averaged 1.3 hours per day of running. So I think this isn't too much of a step up, and very doable. I don't intend to do much speed work at all, perhaps only when certain fast runners show up on weekly local runs and I get excited. Other than that, train and get the body and mind used to the pain I will expect during race day.
Maybe I also need to do some long overnight runs after work on friday as well, get my head around the whole running while hallucinating during a race concept.
I will race Sunday in a local 10 km cross country race. After that it will be 152 days until the 100 mile race. I will not race once in between these two races, I will be singularly focused in my training with this race in mind.
Mon: off
Tues: 75 minutes
Wed: 75 minutes
Thurs: 90 minutes (4 hours somewhere between these three days)
Fri: rest
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long run
Starting next week I will do two three week builds, ffollowed by rest weeks, then 2 easy weeks around christmas, a rest week, a three week build, rest week, 2 weeks build, rest week, three week build, taper, then race. Before christmas I will build to weeks of 11 hours and 12 hours at the end of the three week builds. And after christmas, the builds will peak at 14, 15, and 16 hours. I seem to be able to get a fair bit og climbing in running here, which is nice. Unfortunately no real long sustained climbs or very much technical stuff. I might end up on the treadmill for some runs if it gets too cold in the winter.
2012 Training log with plan to end of year
2013 Training Log with plan
I've decided that even though I think I know what I want to do in terms of races after the 100 miler, I will wait to register until after the race. None of the races I want to do will sell out anyway.
I calculated the average hours per day of running in the plan I made up, and it comes out to 1.4 hours per day. So far this year (if you exclude the time I took off in august) I've averaged 1.3 hours per day of running. So I think this isn't too much of a step up, and very doable. I don't intend to do much speed work at all, perhaps only when certain fast runners show up on weekly local runs and I get excited. Other than that, train and get the body and mind used to the pain I will expect during race day.
Maybe I also need to do some long overnight runs after work on friday as well, get my head around the whole running while hallucinating during a race concept.
I will race Sunday in a local 10 km cross country race. After that it will be 152 days until the 100 mile race. I will not race once in between these two races, I will be singularly focused in my training with this race in mind.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
2013 Race plans
Been thinking about races for next year.
Brief running goals:
- finish a 100 miler
- have fun doing other stuff
- get better results in races so I feel I've reached my athletic potential
- not race too close together; allow recovery between races
Non running related considerations:
- I want to spend less money on races
- now that I'm done school and working, I have less time to travel to a race
- do mostly local races that I can get to by driving after work on friday, race saturday and be home perhaps even saturday night or sunday morning at the latest.
100 miler options.
- considering the Badger Mountain Challenge in Richland, Wa. It's late march, only 8 hours away by drive, cheaper than some other 100 milers
- fat dog 120 mile; only a 3 hour drive (it's in mid summer and I would rather do one early in the year or late in the year)
- lost soul in lethbridge. in september, a little too far away.
Possible race calendar.
- March 29: Badger Mountain Challenge 100 mile race. Richland, Wa
- May 5: Dirty Feet Kal Park 50 km. Vernon, BC
- June 29: Scorched Sole 50 mile. Kelowna, BC
- Sep 1: Walk in the Park 54 km. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 14: Frosty Mountain 50 km. Manning Park, BC
other options
- Aug 17: Fat Dog: 120 mile, 115 km, 50 mile, 50 km. Manning Park
- Sep 8: Dirty Feet Sun Peaks Ultra. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 8: Lost Soul ultra. Lethbridge, AB
- Sep 14: Steve King 100 km. Princeto to Summerland, BC
I think the 5 race calendar seems like a good plan. Easy on the budget, easy on the ambition. Gives me time to train proper for each event, and relax time in between the different races to do random adventures around home. I think this could be a good calendar. I will wait until January to register for the badger mountain race based on work/running considerations at the time. The rest are all races I could do without having to worry about taking time off.
Brief running goals:
- finish a 100 miler
- have fun doing other stuff
- get better results in races so I feel I've reached my athletic potential
- not race too close together; allow recovery between races
Non running related considerations:
- I want to spend less money on races
- now that I'm done school and working, I have less time to travel to a race
- do mostly local races that I can get to by driving after work on friday, race saturday and be home perhaps even saturday night or sunday morning at the latest.
100 miler options.
- considering the Badger Mountain Challenge in Richland, Wa. It's late march, only 8 hours away by drive, cheaper than some other 100 milers
- fat dog 120 mile; only a 3 hour drive (it's in mid summer and I would rather do one early in the year or late in the year)
- lost soul in lethbridge. in september, a little too far away.
Possible race calendar.
- March 29: Badger Mountain Challenge 100 mile race. Richland, Wa
- May 5: Dirty Feet Kal Park 50 km. Vernon, BC
- June 29: Scorched Sole 50 mile. Kelowna, BC
- Sep 1: Walk in the Park 54 km. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 14: Frosty Mountain 50 km. Manning Park, BC
other options
- Aug 17: Fat Dog: 120 mile, 115 km, 50 mile, 50 km. Manning Park
- Sep 8: Dirty Feet Sun Peaks Ultra. Kamloops, BC
- Sep 8: Lost Soul ultra. Lethbridge, AB
- Sep 14: Steve King 100 km. Princeto to Summerland, BC
I think the 5 race calendar seems like a good plan. Easy on the budget, easy on the ambition. Gives me time to train proper for each event, and relax time in between the different races to do random adventures around home. I think this could be a good calendar. I will wait until January to register for the badger mountain race based on work/running considerations at the time. The rest are all races I could do without having to worry about taking time off.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Week ending sept 23
Sept 17 - Sept 23
Monday: easy 6.6 km road bike; followed by 15 minutes of weights
tuesday: -
wednesday: 16.1 km road bike; followed by 5 minutes of weights
thursday: trail run, 14.3 km with 431 metre elev gain. First run in 14 days. My toes that are missing toenails felt so bad after, and in the two weeks since my run I had lost most of the callouses on my feet, really felt so awkward.
friday: 17.1 km road bike
saturday: -
sunday: 21.1 km trail race. Ran in the dirty feet race at kenna cartwright park. Good race, I'd yet to do a run in the dirty feet series, and it was good. Well marked trails, enough aid stations, good food after, draw prizes, good people.
My legs are still feeling a little dead, I pushed a little hard at the beginning of the race, and didn't have anything left in the end and my legs felt like lead. But in general I'm finally feeling recovered from fat dog enough to exercise five days a week.
Start a ne job on the first, moving before then. October will be erratic in terms of lifestyle/exercise. Hopefully by november I have a rythm set up.
Monday: easy 6.6 km road bike; followed by 15 minutes of weights
tuesday: -
wednesday: 16.1 km road bike; followed by 5 minutes of weights
thursday: trail run, 14.3 km with 431 metre elev gain. First run in 14 days. My toes that are missing toenails felt so bad after, and in the two weeks since my run I had lost most of the callouses on my feet, really felt so awkward.
friday: 17.1 km road bike
saturday: -
sunday: 21.1 km trail race. Ran in the dirty feet race at kenna cartwright park. Good race, I'd yet to do a run in the dirty feet series, and it was good. Well marked trails, enough aid stations, good food after, draw prizes, good people.
My legs are still feeling a little dead, I pushed a little hard at the beginning of the race, and didn't have anything left in the end and my legs felt like lead. But in general I'm finally feeling recovered from fat dog enough to exercise five days a week.
Start a ne job on the first, moving before then. October will be erratic in terms of lifestyle/exercise. Hopefully by november I have a rythm set up.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Steve King Classic
Originally I had planned on running the first ever Steve King Classic 100 km race. But my pain was still lingering from the fat dog attempt a month prior, and the witp race was too painful to make me think I had any chance of having a comfortable day.
So instead I ended up being the race day crew for two runners! It was fantastic. Being on the other side of the crew in an ultra as so much fun. Crewing for two runners who were running at different paces was a but of work, but so worth it seeing the joy in their faces after accomplishing so much in their days.
The race was very well done, and a beautiful course. I would definitely recomend the race.
So instead I ended up being the race day crew for two runners! It was fantastic. Being on the other side of the crew in an ultra as so much fun. Crewing for two runners who were running at different paces was a but of work, but so worth it seeing the joy in their faces after accomplishing so much in their days.
The race was very well done, and a beautiful course. I would definitely recomend the race.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Week ending sept 9
After the WITP in kamloops (54 km) I had to go straight to Penticton for some visiting. Spent three days, it was stressful. I came home and did a run on the 6th, which was slow and excessively painful with massive tightness in my calves. The next day I woke up with a horrible head cold which is just now starting to go away.
What a surprise, beaten up body that hasn't been allowed to recover, plus mental stress, leads to getting sick. This seems like a good time for a rest. My leg muscles still aren't healed from fat dog, they're getting better but there is still tightness behind my knees.
I was planning on doing this later in the year, and maybe not as long as I will, but I intend on not running again for the rest of september. I will bike still, probably not very many long rides though. Also, I will use this downtime to start a weights routine as well. I've been inspired to start the 100 pushup challenge, which is simply a matter of giving yourself a hundred days to be able to do 100 pushups in a row. Between that, and adding other simple freeweights I have at home should be a good start to build a habit. I want to add more depth to my athleticism, and the winter seems to be a good time to get that done.
What a surprise, beaten up body that hasn't been allowed to recover, plus mental stress, leads to getting sick. This seems like a good time for a rest. My leg muscles still aren't healed from fat dog, they're getting better but there is still tightness behind my knees.
I was planning on doing this later in the year, and maybe not as long as I will, but I intend on not running again for the rest of september. I will bike still, probably not very many long rides though. Also, I will use this downtime to start a weights routine as well. I've been inspired to start the 100 pushup challenge, which is simply a matter of giving yourself a hundred days to be able to do 100 pushups in a row. Between that, and adding other simple freeweights I have at home should be a good start to build a habit. I want to add more depth to my athleticism, and the winter seems to be a good time to get that done.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Racing while not yet recovered: so painful.
Sunday (the 2nd) I did the 54 km walk in the park ultra in kamloops. The course is an 18 km loop, 3 times, with a total elevation gain of 1,842 metres (6,043 feet). Just two weeks ago I had done 25.5 hours of running in my attempt at the fat dog.
As the title says, racing before you're recovered does not work well. This is the first time that I've done the same course in any race and not improved in the last three years, in fact it's the slowest of the three times I"ve done this race. I was in pain right from the start. At the end of the second lap I took my first ibuprofen, and the third lap was filled with ibuprofen. The drugs made me feel like I was flying, but going so slow.
But still, a super day with super people was had.
I was also quite distracted that day. Alzheimers was on my mind. I hope I die before I get it, and I hope the pattern of it being a women's disease in my genetic tree stays true for my generation. Awful disease.
As the title says, racing before you're recovered does not work well. This is the first time that I've done the same course in any race and not improved in the last three years, in fact it's the slowest of the three times I"ve done this race. I was in pain right from the start. At the end of the second lap I took my first ibuprofen, and the third lap was filled with ibuprofen. The drugs made me feel like I was flying, but going so slow.
But still, a super day with super people was had.
I was also quite distracted that day. Alzheimers was on my mind. I hope I die before I get it, and I hope the pattern of it being a women's disease in my genetic tree stays true for my generation. Awful disease.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I've come up with some long term goals
Over the last two months I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about running; why I run, how I want to run, how I feel about racing; and I've run two 50 mile races, attempted a 148 km race and attempted a 120 mile race and done some fun running at home.
I think I've come up with some answers, at least ones that are good enough to amp up my motivation. Come to some understandings of why I run, what types of running I like to do, and what types of races I want to do, and what I need from a race to be able to enjoy it.
For now until the rest of the year I have two more races that I've signed up for. A 54 km race in Kamloops that I've done the last two years. I feel like I should be good to go do that race, but definitely won't push hard, it will just be a fun day out. I should be ready to do it, I'm feeling loose in my legs and a week of camping between here and there should keep me relaxed. Two weeks after that is a 100 km road race that I'm going to do. I intend on racing this, I have a crew and it should be interesting. After that, no more ultras for the rest of the year.
So. A few major thoughts.
- I like to run, preferring epic mountains, with beautiful scenery, and amazing single track trails.
- I would prefer this first statement, and be going for harder races with only finishing as the goal as opposed to other runners I know who seem to thrive on competition and chasing after times.
- Flat courses are boring, and I never intend on running one again. Other than road races which I may do on short races. Because there are certin aspects of road racing I find fun.
- I need to research races better; sinister was boring and unstimulating to me because of its constant fire road / atv trail / quad trails and very little trees.
- I really don't feel like being a guinea pig in a races formative years as they work out the kinks.
- I am very spontaneous in my running, and enjoy random challenges.
- I want to finish a 100 mile race (i've got it, I've found the place inside to be to drive myself)
- I want to run hard 100 mile races
So how to combine all these things? I know I"m very spontaneous and don't want structure, but I do know that I will always struggle with motivation to race, but desperately want to finish super hard 100 mile races. I think if I only plan to run two maybe three ultras per year I can do all this. By racing less ultras in a year I will be better prepared, as this year I felt like too many races close to each without proper lead preperation cost me in some races. And by racing less I will be able to afford myself chunks of time during the year where I can just explore and run in my hometown; perhaps lots of little runs, perhaps epic local adventures. Also, I need to spend more time giving back to the running community and so racing less should give me this opportunity as well. Tempering my racing enthusiasm should yield rewards in many facets of running.
So where to go from all that? Long term goal, I want to finish a super hard 100 mile race, perhaps hardrock or the 120 mile fat dog. lots of little things to do to get there, and I shouldn't be trying to hit that goal in a year or two. Steps should be taken along the way. For example; other 100 mile races should be done to get ready for the hard ones, and hardrock requires certain qualifiers. One of the hardrock qualifiers is Western states, so I might as well apply every year for that, meaning another step must be taken, running qualifiers for western states. Also, I want to get faster, if I can maintain a faster speed at a comfortable pace I can finish longer races easier. So, speedowrk. Also, I want to put on muscle mass, I feel like the more muscle I have the better they last during endurance races, so, let's put on some muscle. I also need to do a better job running trails/ascents/descents to match the types of conditions in my goal races.
Main goal:
- Kick ass and finish Hardrock 100 mile and/or Fat Dog 120 mile ultra
Small goals to get there
- run qualifying races: Western states
Goals to get there
- run qualifying races for that
Little details to get there
- pick my races better: don't run races in the summer. Perhaps 50 mile WS qualifiers before June, and 100 mile ultras after August (other than if I get into certain key races).
- do more speedwork
- do more climbing
- more quality running
- with no races booked in summer there is some room for epic adventures of my own
- also, winter/spring can be used for epic/random adventures on my own
Right now: after I finish the 100 km road race September 15: I shall make sure I'm rested for a week or two, then go into a reduced volume maintenance program. With major speedwork and muscle building thrown in.
And go! :)
I think I've come up with some answers, at least ones that are good enough to amp up my motivation. Come to some understandings of why I run, what types of running I like to do, and what types of races I want to do, and what I need from a race to be able to enjoy it.
For now until the rest of the year I have two more races that I've signed up for. A 54 km race in Kamloops that I've done the last two years. I feel like I should be good to go do that race, but definitely won't push hard, it will just be a fun day out. I should be ready to do it, I'm feeling loose in my legs and a week of camping between here and there should keep me relaxed. Two weeks after that is a 100 km road race that I'm going to do. I intend on racing this, I have a crew and it should be interesting. After that, no more ultras for the rest of the year.
So. A few major thoughts.
- I like to run, preferring epic mountains, with beautiful scenery, and amazing single track trails.
- I would prefer this first statement, and be going for harder races with only finishing as the goal as opposed to other runners I know who seem to thrive on competition and chasing after times.
- Flat courses are boring, and I never intend on running one again. Other than road races which I may do on short races. Because there are certin aspects of road racing I find fun.
- I need to research races better; sinister was boring and unstimulating to me because of its constant fire road / atv trail / quad trails and very little trees.
- I really don't feel like being a guinea pig in a races formative years as they work out the kinks.
- I am very spontaneous in my running, and enjoy random challenges.
- I want to finish a 100 mile race (i've got it, I've found the place inside to be to drive myself)
- I want to run hard 100 mile races
So how to combine all these things? I know I"m very spontaneous and don't want structure, but I do know that I will always struggle with motivation to race, but desperately want to finish super hard 100 mile races. I think if I only plan to run two maybe three ultras per year I can do all this. By racing less ultras in a year I will be better prepared, as this year I felt like too many races close to each without proper lead preperation cost me in some races. And by racing less I will be able to afford myself chunks of time during the year where I can just explore and run in my hometown; perhaps lots of little runs, perhaps epic local adventures. Also, I need to spend more time giving back to the running community and so racing less should give me this opportunity as well. Tempering my racing enthusiasm should yield rewards in many facets of running.
So where to go from all that? Long term goal, I want to finish a super hard 100 mile race, perhaps hardrock or the 120 mile fat dog. lots of little things to do to get there, and I shouldn't be trying to hit that goal in a year or two. Steps should be taken along the way. For example; other 100 mile races should be done to get ready for the hard ones, and hardrock requires certain qualifiers. One of the hardrock qualifiers is Western states, so I might as well apply every year for that, meaning another step must be taken, running qualifiers for western states. Also, I want to get faster, if I can maintain a faster speed at a comfortable pace I can finish longer races easier. So, speedowrk. Also, I want to put on muscle mass, I feel like the more muscle I have the better they last during endurance races, so, let's put on some muscle. I also need to do a better job running trails/ascents/descents to match the types of conditions in my goal races.
Main goal:
- Kick ass and finish Hardrock 100 mile and/or Fat Dog 120 mile ultra
Small goals to get there
- run qualifying races: Western states
Goals to get there
- run qualifying races for that
Little details to get there
- pick my races better: don't run races in the summer. Perhaps 50 mile WS qualifiers before June, and 100 mile ultras after August (other than if I get into certain key races).
- do more speedwork
- do more climbing
- more quality running
- with no races booked in summer there is some room for epic adventures of my own
- also, winter/spring can be used for epic/random adventures on my own
Right now: after I finish the 100 km road race September 15: I shall make sure I'm rested for a week or two, then go into a reduced volume maintenance program. With major speedwork and muscle building thrown in.
And go! :)
Friday, August 24, 2012
not quite a fat dog yet
At some point during my travels I decided I wanted to come back and give the Fat Dog 120 mile race a whirl. I figured I would rather challenge myself with an epic distance and epic mountain climbs than do race I knew I could complete.
Here is the elevation profile.
100 miles and 28,000 feet elevation gain.
Well; the short story is that I couldn't quite do it. I made it to the 120 km mark. I only went up and down the first three mountains, about 22,000 feet elev gain.
The weather gods are not on my side this year. At sinister it was 39 celsius, and apparently at fat dog it was hitting 30 degrees by 9 am and hit a max of 37 celsius. But I thought I was dealing with it well. I was taking gels regularly, intaking proper amounts of water/gatorade and salts, and my stomach was dealing with the solid food that I was putting in. My sweat/pee functions was good. And I even felt like my body temperature was all that high (well until midday hit, then I started to have issues).
The race started at 4 am in Keremeos, and finishes in Manning park. There was a shuttle bus offered that took you from Manning (assuming you were staying there) to the start line in Keremeos the night before. I hadn't planned far enough in advance to book a room in keremeos, so my plan was to sleep in my car in keremeos after the pre race meeting friday night. Turns out I slept in the hall after the meeting on a pallet. Ha. It was suprisingy comfortable, other than waking up in the middle of the night with a disturbing sensatioon that a bat had landed on me.
Morning of the race we took a school bus that left the hall at 3 am to the start line, arriving there at around 3:45 for the 4 am start. At the sound of a bear clapper 30 crazies started. I should backtrack a bit. The night before I had gone to dinner with a couple experienced runners from Washington state that were volunteering, many times over dinner I got told to go slow, no slower, no slower, you must pace yourself for an epic hard race and the distance. 42 hours time limit, plan for it. And I knew there were a few very expereinced 100 milers in the field, so I figured I wasn't going to go too far away from them.
The start of the race was a rather steep climb in the dark. I attached myself to the heels of a runner that this year had finished his second hardrock. We did a goood pace, good hike pace on the uphills and decent jog on the downhills. The first mountain ascent gave us the sunrise with a perfect view of the mountains around us. At the 31 km mark (which was at the bottom of the first mountain) there was a suggested time of 5 hours. Me and Larry arrived around 4:55 hours. At this point I was feeling great, highs of being at the top of an alpine mountain condition, and running down some nice hiills, felt like my body was holding up good, not too hot yet as we had a decent amount of shade.
Well, at the 31 km aid station is where the heat started. We ran a short ways along a foretsry road in the heat, and then started the ascent up mountain #2 in a very steap open trail. This was slow going. A very hot 5-8 kms later we had gotten back into shadier trails, running along lakes. But that passed and we were back into the open, nearing the peack of the next mountain. There was an 11 hour cutoff time at km 69, which was after a river crossing after going back down the second mountain. Climbing up the second mountain near the top, I was with three other runners and we were quite aware that we would not be hitting this cutoff time. It was far too agreesive. Nonetheless as we came down the awesome singletrack that was ont the side of the mountain face coming down we had to pick up the pace. This was lost a bit as one of the aid stations was moved further along for some reason or another. We had picked up another runner just before this, of the five I was with I was the only one not run out of water (even having shared some of it) hitting the aid station about 6 km before the river crossing at the very low point of the course. At this aid station, we were informed that the race directors were aware of the cut off time being missed by many (turns out had they kept the 11 hour cut off time they would have cut all but 5 runners) the cutoff time was seemingly randomly based off of the previous winners time, plus two hours. At the river crossing we were informed the cutoff had been extended an hour, we still had to book it to make it. Myself and about four other runners came in together, having ran way too fast for the last 4 km to the next aid station, and exerting ourselves too much the 3 km before the river. Turns out 10 runners came through between 3 pm and 4 pm (the extra hour) and they even let 5 more runners in before 5 pm. I wish they hadn't been so indecisive with this, I really felt like I had to push too much to hit this cut off time. I ran 36% of the course distance and about 45% of the elevation gain in about 28% of the total 42 hour cutoff time.
At the aid station at 69 km a fair amount of time was spent getting ready to move on. Shoe change, night time equipment was picked up, and away we went up the next mountain. I was a couple minutes behind a group of 5 runners. They kept jogging the flats. But I felt a little overstretched from trying to hit the last cutoff, so was planning on just power walking for awhile, turned on the music for the first time in the day and eventually I caught up to the group ahead. However, the muscles (perhaps tendons) behind my knees were starting to get tight. About halfway up the third mountain there was a descent, the runners ahead of me started to run, and I just didn't have it in me, the pain in the knees was rough. So I just kept power walking hoping it would go away. I never caught those runners again, but that was ok. Ascending the mountain was another scenic gem just like the last two. So many switchbacks on this one, seemed eternal. But getting to the top it was a beautiful view, canyons straight down on the other side, wonderful cool winds. A couple km's of easy going until the aid station at 88 km at the top of the third mountain. Wonderful folks, had a quesadilla made for me, some nice conversation and away I went. The sunset was watched at the top, and it was a blessed moment. However, just after heading out my legs started to go to shit, specifically now both legs were overly tight behind the knees. And this coincided with the arrival of night time. My first major mental hurdle came. And the low hit hard.
In my head at this point for some reason I thought it was downhill until the next aid station at 102 km. But I was wrong, and realized this very soon. Another mental low, just kept getting lower. As I was feeling like ass of course I stumbled and slightly rolled my ankle. I swore for the first time about 18 hours into the day. When I thought I was at about 95 km, I saw a sign saying 9 km to the next lake (which was where the next aid was) I was now getting further into a mental hole, only this far? I had been passed by several runners, but somehow picked it up and was at least powerwalking the uphills and even jogging the minor downhills. I finally made it to the 102 km aid station, considering dropping. Except there was no way to drop as the guys that were running this aid station only got there by hiking the 18 km up the mountain from the spot where our mext aid station was located. So no choice but to keep going.
I thought to myself that I would at least do my best to the next aid station and see how I felt. Perhaps even feeling recuperated enough to carry on past 120 km. From 102 km it was downhill. The type of trail that has been cut into the side of the mountain, narrow, but wide enough to feel like youi can run, with a steep drop going down the one side of the mountain. Well, my new mental high lasted maybe 10 km. for a 1 km stretch I slipped and stumbled, my legs gave out a bit and I slipped down the mountainside feeling as though I barely caught myself on the way down. I felt so unsafe. THis stumbling happened ten times. FUCK! I was actually feeling scared. What to do? instant low, I felt so mentally out of it. I couldn't even feel the pain in my posterior knee muscles, all I could think of was how am I going to get safely down this trail. So I stopped and sat there. I took my good headlight off, put my junk back up on, sat down and took off my pack and belt and waited. I was mentally prepared to wait until daylight so I could get out safely. However, eventually the next runner came along and I went along with him. I figured at least with someone else I would be safe. By this time I knew there was no other option but dropping when I got to the next aid station. The runner I was with was still holding onto the idea of finishing, but he was going slow. It took us four and a alf hours to go down the 18 km to the next aid station. In the meantime I picked the brain of Jefferey about his motivation to finish, and what gets him through the lows. Some good chats. Eventually we got to the aid station, and I dropped out.
In the end I ran 120 km in 25:25, and did approximately 22,000 ft elev gain, climbing up and down three of the most difficult climbs I've done. the fellow I ran with for a fair bit who has done hardrock said the course was harder than hardrock. I was on my feet continuously for the longest time ever for me, and this is the greatest amount of elevation gain I've ever done, and 5 km shy of my longest run in distance ever. I ran up and down three mountains; watching the sunrise on the first, and the sunset on the third, with so much amazing scenery in between. I am so glad I chose to come take on this course, the greater the challenge the better.
Six days later and I am still a little tight behind my knees, but am capable of comfortably walking. I've biked the last two days for 21 km and 31 km respectively. I could barely walk for three days after the race though. For the first time in three years of trail running I had blisters at the end of a race; one one each heal, the three smallest toes on each foot had blisters, the second largest toe on my left foor had a massive blood blister underthe nail (probably oing to lose it) and my big toe on my right foot is completely black.
I defintely feel like I've come out of this adventure having found the place to tap into in terms of motivatioon to finish/race. So quite pleased with that.
All in all; I am amaxingly blessed to live a life where I have the ability to pursue these sorts of acitivities where I can challenge myself and learn through them.
Here is the elevation profile.
100 miles and 28,000 feet elevation gain.
Well; the short story is that I couldn't quite do it. I made it to the 120 km mark. I only went up and down the first three mountains, about 22,000 feet elev gain.
The weather gods are not on my side this year. At sinister it was 39 celsius, and apparently at fat dog it was hitting 30 degrees by 9 am and hit a max of 37 celsius. But I thought I was dealing with it well. I was taking gels regularly, intaking proper amounts of water/gatorade and salts, and my stomach was dealing with the solid food that I was putting in. My sweat/pee functions was good. And I even felt like my body temperature was all that high (well until midday hit, then I started to have issues).
The race started at 4 am in Keremeos, and finishes in Manning park. There was a shuttle bus offered that took you from Manning (assuming you were staying there) to the start line in Keremeos the night before. I hadn't planned far enough in advance to book a room in keremeos, so my plan was to sleep in my car in keremeos after the pre race meeting friday night. Turns out I slept in the hall after the meeting on a pallet. Ha. It was suprisingy comfortable, other than waking up in the middle of the night with a disturbing sensatioon that a bat had landed on me.
Morning of the race we took a school bus that left the hall at 3 am to the start line, arriving there at around 3:45 for the 4 am start. At the sound of a bear clapper 30 crazies started. I should backtrack a bit. The night before I had gone to dinner with a couple experienced runners from Washington state that were volunteering, many times over dinner I got told to go slow, no slower, no slower, you must pace yourself for an epic hard race and the distance. 42 hours time limit, plan for it. And I knew there were a few very expereinced 100 milers in the field, so I figured I wasn't going to go too far away from them.
The start of the race was a rather steep climb in the dark. I attached myself to the heels of a runner that this year had finished his second hardrock. We did a goood pace, good hike pace on the uphills and decent jog on the downhills. The first mountain ascent gave us the sunrise with a perfect view of the mountains around us. At the 31 km mark (which was at the bottom of the first mountain) there was a suggested time of 5 hours. Me and Larry arrived around 4:55 hours. At this point I was feeling great, highs of being at the top of an alpine mountain condition, and running down some nice hiills, felt like my body was holding up good, not too hot yet as we had a decent amount of shade.
Well, at the 31 km aid station is where the heat started. We ran a short ways along a foretsry road in the heat, and then started the ascent up mountain #2 in a very steap open trail. This was slow going. A very hot 5-8 kms later we had gotten back into shadier trails, running along lakes. But that passed and we were back into the open, nearing the peack of the next mountain. There was an 11 hour cutoff time at km 69, which was after a river crossing after going back down the second mountain. Climbing up the second mountain near the top, I was with three other runners and we were quite aware that we would not be hitting this cutoff time. It was far too agreesive. Nonetheless as we came down the awesome singletrack that was ont the side of the mountain face coming down we had to pick up the pace. This was lost a bit as one of the aid stations was moved further along for some reason or another. We had picked up another runner just before this, of the five I was with I was the only one not run out of water (even having shared some of it) hitting the aid station about 6 km before the river crossing at the very low point of the course. At this aid station, we were informed that the race directors were aware of the cut off time being missed by many (turns out had they kept the 11 hour cut off time they would have cut all but 5 runners) the cutoff time was seemingly randomly based off of the previous winners time, plus two hours. At the river crossing we were informed the cutoff had been extended an hour, we still had to book it to make it. Myself and about four other runners came in together, having ran way too fast for the last 4 km to the next aid station, and exerting ourselves too much the 3 km before the river. Turns out 10 runners came through between 3 pm and 4 pm (the extra hour) and they even let 5 more runners in before 5 pm. I wish they hadn't been so indecisive with this, I really felt like I had to push too much to hit this cut off time. I ran 36% of the course distance and about 45% of the elevation gain in about 28% of the total 42 hour cutoff time.
At the aid station at 69 km a fair amount of time was spent getting ready to move on. Shoe change, night time equipment was picked up, and away we went up the next mountain. I was a couple minutes behind a group of 5 runners. They kept jogging the flats. But I felt a little overstretched from trying to hit the last cutoff, so was planning on just power walking for awhile, turned on the music for the first time in the day and eventually I caught up to the group ahead. However, the muscles (perhaps tendons) behind my knees were starting to get tight. About halfway up the third mountain there was a descent, the runners ahead of me started to run, and I just didn't have it in me, the pain in the knees was rough. So I just kept power walking hoping it would go away. I never caught those runners again, but that was ok. Ascending the mountain was another scenic gem just like the last two. So many switchbacks on this one, seemed eternal. But getting to the top it was a beautiful view, canyons straight down on the other side, wonderful cool winds. A couple km's of easy going until the aid station at 88 km at the top of the third mountain. Wonderful folks, had a quesadilla made for me, some nice conversation and away I went. The sunset was watched at the top, and it was a blessed moment. However, just after heading out my legs started to go to shit, specifically now both legs were overly tight behind the knees. And this coincided with the arrival of night time. My first major mental hurdle came. And the low hit hard.
In my head at this point for some reason I thought it was downhill until the next aid station at 102 km. But I was wrong, and realized this very soon. Another mental low, just kept getting lower. As I was feeling like ass of course I stumbled and slightly rolled my ankle. I swore for the first time about 18 hours into the day. When I thought I was at about 95 km, I saw a sign saying 9 km to the next lake (which was where the next aid was) I was now getting further into a mental hole, only this far? I had been passed by several runners, but somehow picked it up and was at least powerwalking the uphills and even jogging the minor downhills. I finally made it to the 102 km aid station, considering dropping. Except there was no way to drop as the guys that were running this aid station only got there by hiking the 18 km up the mountain from the spot where our mext aid station was located. So no choice but to keep going.
I thought to myself that I would at least do my best to the next aid station and see how I felt. Perhaps even feeling recuperated enough to carry on past 120 km. From 102 km it was downhill. The type of trail that has been cut into the side of the mountain, narrow, but wide enough to feel like youi can run, with a steep drop going down the one side of the mountain. Well, my new mental high lasted maybe 10 km. for a 1 km stretch I slipped and stumbled, my legs gave out a bit and I slipped down the mountainside feeling as though I barely caught myself on the way down. I felt so unsafe. THis stumbling happened ten times. FUCK! I was actually feeling scared. What to do? instant low, I felt so mentally out of it. I couldn't even feel the pain in my posterior knee muscles, all I could think of was how am I going to get safely down this trail. So I stopped and sat there. I took my good headlight off, put my junk back up on, sat down and took off my pack and belt and waited. I was mentally prepared to wait until daylight so I could get out safely. However, eventually the next runner came along and I went along with him. I figured at least with someone else I would be safe. By this time I knew there was no other option but dropping when I got to the next aid station. The runner I was with was still holding onto the idea of finishing, but he was going slow. It took us four and a alf hours to go down the 18 km to the next aid station. In the meantime I picked the brain of Jefferey about his motivation to finish, and what gets him through the lows. Some good chats. Eventually we got to the aid station, and I dropped out.
In the end I ran 120 km in 25:25, and did approximately 22,000 ft elev gain, climbing up and down three of the most difficult climbs I've done. the fellow I ran with for a fair bit who has done hardrock said the course was harder than hardrock. I was on my feet continuously for the longest time ever for me, and this is the greatest amount of elevation gain I've ever done, and 5 km shy of my longest run in distance ever. I ran up and down three mountains; watching the sunrise on the first, and the sunset on the third, with so much amazing scenery in between. I am so glad I chose to come take on this course, the greater the challenge the better.
Six days later and I am still a little tight behind my knees, but am capable of comfortably walking. I've biked the last two days for 21 km and 31 km respectively. I could barely walk for three days after the race though. For the first time in three years of trail running I had blisters at the end of a race; one one each heal, the three smallest toes on each foot had blisters, the second largest toe on my left foor had a massive blood blister underthe nail (probably oing to lose it) and my big toe on my right foot is completely black.
I defintely feel like I've come out of this adventure having found the place to tap into in terms of motivatioon to finish/race. So quite pleased with that.
All in all; I am amaxingly blessed to live a life where I have the ability to pursue these sorts of acitivities where I can challenge myself and learn through them.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
running thoughts; from my travels
I would write in my phone random thoughts about stuff while travelling. Lots of time to think while you're living on a bus for a few weeks. Here are some of my thoughts. Just feel like writing them to ppnder them later.
- I need to plan less in terms of races. Reason is that because I still haven't nailed down my race motivation, I'm very apt to change my mind in terms of what races I want to do. So I should just plan less races and follow my whims for registration
- I like to run. A very simple statement, perhaps complicated meaning for more than running. I value being outside, and I value using exercise/running as a tool for personal growth more than I value the 'race' itself, although I very much enjoy the race day experiemce, I just am capable of recognizing that I have yet to find the thing to tap into that motivates me to truly race properly.
- The immenseness of the grand canyon somehow made me want to skip doing a 50 km race, and come home to do a 120 mile trail race that I knew would be in the mose scenic mountains on awesome single track trails. An interesting revelation that reveals a bit of my preferences I suppose.
no other real interesting quotes.
I found myself coming to terms with my inability to stick with a solid plan; I suppose that is more related to my increasing frustration through this years races of not feeling as though I have had a race result that reflects my athletic ability, or anywhere near it as far as I feel. I've had a fantastic year in terms of running; great people, great places, great improvements.
I spent a lot of time thinking about why race? And have even asked people several times during races something along the lines of "when you are mentally down during an ultra, what motivates you through" - no one really ever had a solid answer, usually just my desire outweighs the cost. I didnn't quite get it, so far this year I wasn't able to get to that point, that is until after I ended my day during fat dog. But more on that later.
So in the end, what are the answers I got for myself about running?
- I really like to run.
- Epic distances and epic mountains are definitely preferred over any sort of accolades, although sometimes its easier to hit those epics through racing.
- I really like to challenge myself through running. Challenges that transcend just the physicality of running.
- I am thankful to be so blessed to be able to live in a place where I have such free time and ability to pursue such lofty ambitions, and to be granted the ability to challenge myself through these sorts of crazy adventures. Always learning, and wanting to push further.
- I need to plan less in terms of races. Reason is that because I still haven't nailed down my race motivation, I'm very apt to change my mind in terms of what races I want to do. So I should just plan less races and follow my whims for registration
- I like to run. A very simple statement, perhaps complicated meaning for more than running. I value being outside, and I value using exercise/running as a tool for personal growth more than I value the 'race' itself, although I very much enjoy the race day experiemce, I just am capable of recognizing that I have yet to find the thing to tap into that motivates me to truly race properly.
- The immenseness of the grand canyon somehow made me want to skip doing a 50 km race, and come home to do a 120 mile trail race that I knew would be in the mose scenic mountains on awesome single track trails. An interesting revelation that reveals a bit of my preferences I suppose.
no other real interesting quotes.
I found myself coming to terms with my inability to stick with a solid plan; I suppose that is more related to my increasing frustration through this years races of not feeling as though I have had a race result that reflects my athletic ability, or anywhere near it as far as I feel. I've had a fantastic year in terms of running; great people, great places, great improvements.
I spent a lot of time thinking about why race? And have even asked people several times during races something along the lines of "when you are mentally down during an ultra, what motivates you through" - no one really ever had a solid answer, usually just my desire outweighs the cost. I didnn't quite get it, so far this year I wasn't able to get to that point, that is until after I ended my day during fat dog. But more on that later.
So in the end, what are the answers I got for myself about running?
- I really like to run.
- Epic distances and epic mountains are definitely preferred over any sort of accolades, although sometimes its easier to hit those epics through racing.
- I really like to challenge myself through running. Challenges that transcend just the physicality of running.
- I am thankful to be so blessed to be able to live in a place where I have such free time and ability to pursue such lofty ambitions, and to be granted the ability to challenge myself through these sorts of crazy adventures. Always learning, and wanting to push further.
White river;
It's been a while since I ran teh white river 50 race, so not much to say this late.
First, pictures for posterity.
the race is just perfect. Amazing scenery with Mt Rainier as the backdrop (as seen in the first picture). The trails were great and well marked. Aid stations were amazing with great people running them and fantastic food at them, nothing was missing. Organization was wonderful. All in all, a great race which left nothing to be desired, I would definitely recomend the race.
In terms of my race; again I struggled with motivation and didn't have the mental umph to push through the pain to dig down for a great race day performance. but maybe I also didn't really ahve ths physical strength as the week prior had 16 hours of exercise in it, as I gave in to the urge of bagging every summit in town. But, I had a nice day out on the trails, ran my fastest 50 mile race in what may be the toughest conditions. I can tell I'm improving athletically when I run faster races, even though I feel pieces are still missing, so that's nice.
At the end of this race I found myself again faced with the question of 'why' to which I spent a fair bit of time thinking about in the following weeks. Why run? What types of races? How do I even want races to fit into my running? I had a nice nine and a half hours to think during this race, I answered no questions, but I better elucidated the questions I wanted to figure out answers to.
First, pictures for posterity.
(photo credit from Glenn Tachiyama; http://www.pbase.com/gtach/wr2012 )
the race is just perfect. Amazing scenery with Mt Rainier as the backdrop (as seen in the first picture). The trails were great and well marked. Aid stations were amazing with great people running them and fantastic food at them, nothing was missing. Organization was wonderful. All in all, a great race which left nothing to be desired, I would definitely recomend the race.
In terms of my race; again I struggled with motivation and didn't have the mental umph to push through the pain to dig down for a great race day performance. but maybe I also didn't really ahve ths physical strength as the week prior had 16 hours of exercise in it, as I gave in to the urge of bagging every summit in town. But, I had a nice day out on the trails, ran my fastest 50 mile race in what may be the toughest conditions. I can tell I'm improving athletically when I run faster races, even though I feel pieces are still missing, so that's nice.
At the end of this race I found myself again faced with the question of 'why' to which I spent a fair bit of time thinking about in the following weeks. Why run? What types of races? How do I even want races to fit into my running? I had a nice nine and a half hours to think during this race, I answered no questions, but I better elucidated the questions I wanted to figure out answers to.
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