Monday, February 3, 2014
State of mind thoughts.
i intended on writing down some deep thoughts about how stain of mind affects race performance, but the thoughts seem to have left me
Sunday, October 20, 2013
durka durka durka
I felt like writing, instead I sat up reading for an hour. I've been sick for a few days. I went to a gwar concert the weekend prior. Drank too much and treated the old body so poorly I got sick... or it was just a coincidence.
Within a week of running my last race I had constructed a race plan for next year in my head that included only races 50 km or less. Well, before taking a mini vacation and getting sick I was starting to get back at running finally, and the thoughts are turning back to 100's. If I have the plan for the year outlined at the start I can do a better job of training and rolling from one event to the next? I think so.
I mostly never get bothered by my asthma until I get a cold, then as the cold fades asthma symptoms linger. Dislike. Ventolin inhaler: makes it so you can breathe normal, but makes the tremors come.
I think I will do Badger Mountain in March and Plain in September. Specifically I think the schedule is fixing up to be something like this 50 k race in early Feb, 100 mile late march, 50 km early May, 100 km late june. 50 km mid august, 100 mile mid sept. Race less other races than I did in 2013, and don't do a few less intense training runs (keep the races as the most difficult runs) and I should have the energy to roll from one race to the next.
I was thinking about getting some sort of coach situation set up, accountability and all that. We shall see.
Within a week of running my last race I had constructed a race plan for next year in my head that included only races 50 km or less. Well, before taking a mini vacation and getting sick I was starting to get back at running finally, and the thoughts are turning back to 100's. If I have the plan for the year outlined at the start I can do a better job of training and rolling from one event to the next? I think so.
I mostly never get bothered by my asthma until I get a cold, then as the cold fades asthma symptoms linger. Dislike. Ventolin inhaler: makes it so you can breathe normal, but makes the tremors come.
I think I will do Badger Mountain in March and Plain in September. Specifically I think the schedule is fixing up to be something like this 50 k race in early Feb, 100 mile late march, 50 km early May, 100 km late june. 50 km mid august, 100 mile mid sept. Race less other races than I did in 2013, and don't do a few less intense training runs (keep the races as the most difficult runs) and I should have the energy to roll from one race to the next.
I was thinking about getting some sort of coach situation set up, accountability and all that. We shall see.
Monday, September 30, 2013
What to do next year?
I really don't know what to do for race thoughts next year. I think I'd like to continue to improve my 100 mile race, but I really don't know if I want to spend the amount of time training that I think I need to in order to get there. Maybe I will just race mostly 50 km races, or even shorter. Or just race a lot less and focus on the slow progression of athletic growth.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
race thoughts
I ran the Lost Soul 100 mile race last weekend. Still not sure what to make of my thoughts about my race performance. This will be a rather scattered assortment of thoughts about my race and a few stats mostly in point form. Will be scattered because I'm not sure what I want to get out of writing this, but at some point will want to maybe learn something from the race day but not sure what I want to learn from it.
- the course was fairly hilly, pretty darn steep up and downs on the coulees. overall there was 38ish coulees we ran up and down.
- hard to get momentum going during the much of the course as there would be a steep hill followed by steep decent with no break in between, definitely easier to do extended climbs and descents
- here are a couple charts
- maybe went out a bit too fast
- the third lap was just almost the same time as my first and second combined
- either excessive amounts of boiled potatoes or excessive amount of boost gives me horrible farts
- total time was 27:45
- disappointed with my result, felt I could do better
- I spent over an hour at the pavan aid station before going out for the north loop for the last time
- not sure if I feel any sense of accomplishment about gutting out a finish on a rough day, considering I was being such a whiny bitch for much of the last lap
- my head was definitely not in the game at the race, perhaps think I would have been better not doing it
- should I just DNS a race if I don't think I'm heading into it in the right mentallity?
- my Dad was originally going to be my crew at the race, he passed away in July and I chose to not replace him and came to the race by myself. although the volunteers were fantastic and I stayed with a runner and his wife and they were fantastic I was extremely distracted during the race. I let my head drift to sad places, and was completely unfocused. If the goal was to have a great result, and not just finish, I should have either not gone or found another crew so that I would have had something else there to distract from my head space
- I knew I was going to have a horrible race in terms of mentalness (?), but it turned out worse
- they gave us this timing chip system. one chip for the wrist which we would swipe in and out of aid stations, and one for the ankle that would track us across the start and finish line.
- within 5 km of the race I felt like my lower right calf area was tight. I didn't think much of it and attributed it to the steepness of the hills, I was starting the first loop with a 1/2 size smaller shoe, and I had ended my last 100 mile race with a black big toe on my right foot. So thought that maybe it was my stride perhaps and put no more thoughts on it. Changed my shoes at start of second lap and that was that
- start of third lap I felt absolute crap in my lower right leg, pretty much had given in to walking the majority of the last lap
- fell apart mentally in the dark
- at aid station at km 132 I felt like an absolute bag of shit, I tried to sleep, was considering dropping. I kept thinking I would wait until the next runner.... oh he came in. wait until the next one... oh he came in. wait until it gets light out again.... fuck that shit, I got up and decided to stop being a whiney bitch, slam food into me and got up and started walking.
- the coulees after this it felt like my lower right calf area was screaming with every step
- walked about 6 km, and decided I was going to lie down in the early am and nap until the sun came up, left a headlamp on so I wouldn't get run over by other runners. I put my right foot up on my left knee to scratch myself
- at km 140 for the first time since I felt it bothering me I actually physically inspected the part of my leg. my lower calf was swollen to about twice its size directly above wear ankle bracelet holding the timing chip was. it would seem as though I had done the velcro up too tight and reduced blood flow or whatever. I don't usually have cankles, but I looked like I had one fat cankle. as soon as I took the strap off I felt instantly better
- I felt like such a dumbass. my leg was bothering me and I didn't look at it until 140 km into the race.
- I didn't look at my leg that was bothering me until 140 km into the race
- it took me 140 km to actually physically inspect the part of my body that was distracting me
- 140 km is how long it took me to actually address the part of my body that was hurting
- in some respects I so desperately wanted to quit this race at points in the last lap, but I didn't and that's something I guess
- not sure what to learn from this race in terms of things to do better for a possible next time
- don't tie a velcro strap around my ankle too tight? don't race unless I'm able to go in with proper mental focus?
- I'm not sure if I want to run 100 mile race again. Yes I would like to come back to LS and do better like I think I could. Yes I would like to do Fat Dog 120 mile, because I dropped out in 2012 and feel like I am capable of doing it. But the way I want to approach 100 mile training it takes so much time and I'm not sure I want to spend that much time. While in university I had tonnes of time, while working in restaurants I felt my working afternoons allowed a different work schedule that even though I didn't get in the time per week as I do now, felt like I had more energy remaining after work and run.
- the coming year I had planned on doing badger mountain again, and fat dog and also some shorter distance races. this year I had sandbagged pretty much every shorter race than 100 miles, with the goal in mind of mental training for the 100 distance. whereas this coming year I had intended on doing no more sandbagging and trying to kick ass at shorter races as well as at the 100 miles
- I don't think I'm capable of having a 100 mile race on the horizon without trying to get in excessive amounts of time on foot. it feels to add pressure. and to what purpose? a 6 month cycle starting in october of heavy running just to try and cut 1-2 hours off a time?
- very much considering not running a 100 mile race next year. I did it, i set out what I accomplished to do. In march I ran a fast 100 mile race, and this last weekend I ran a tougher race that went not so well but I still finished. Last year I would have DNF'd so fast. So I proved to myself that I can successfully run a fast 100, and that I won't give up in tough conditions. Two things I am definitely better at than last year, and I don't think those are small things, and those were definitely pretty heavy on my mind in terms of my training this year. Perhaps even I would say my training was all encompassing with these two themes in mind. Finish a 100 mile and erase the DNF curse. I did it, and the way I feel inclined to train for 100's I like to occasionally brutalise myself, and I don't think I want to do that for another year.
- I feel like I'm on the verge of being a good athlete
- I am definitely not sure right now what I want to get out of running long term.
- I want to have energy day to day
- I want to feel achievement at every race I do if I do races
- I think I want to step back from heavy distance, work on speed and run shorter races (like mostly 50 km or shorter)
- perhaps get faster first, and then much later if I get faster in races reconsider the thought of 100's
- I do not want to have to feel like I need to run up to 16 hours per week, heck I ran just under 20 hours one week, and that was a full 5 day work week, I pretty much did nothing but run, eat, sleep, and work that week
- I do not want to feel like I 'need' to do anything in regards to training
- I think I feel burnt out mentally
- maybe I am just still thinking sad thoughts and just shouldn't have gone to race
- I think I'm ok with the idea of not pushing to get to 100 mile related goals next year.
- the course was fairly hilly, pretty darn steep up and downs on the coulees. overall there was 38ish coulees we ran up and down.
- hard to get momentum going during the much of the course as there would be a steep hill followed by steep decent with no break in between, definitely easier to do extended climbs and descents
- here are a couple charts
| Aid Station | Distance | Total Time | Segment Distance | Segment Time | Segment Pace min/km |
| HQ | 7 | 42 | 7 | 42 | 6.00 |
| Peen | 14.7 | 90 | 7.7 | 48 | 6.23 |
| Pavan | 24.2 | 156 | 9.5 | 66 | 6.95 |
| Pavan | 40.7 | 267 | 16.5 | 111 | 6.73 |
| Peen | 47.7 | 321 | 7 | 54 | 7.71 |
| HQ | 53.9 | 372 | 6.2 | 51 | 8.23 |
| HQ | 60.9 | 430 | 7 | 58 | 8.29 |
| Peen | 68.6 | 504 | 7.7 | 74 | 9.61 |
| Pavan | 78.1 | 597 | 9.5 | 93 | 9.79 |
| Pavan | 94.6 | 747 | 16.5 | 150 | 9.09 |
| Peen | 101.6 | 818 | 7 | 71 | 10.14 |
| HQ | 107.8 | 881 | 6.2 | 63 | 10.16 |
| Hq | 114.8 | 956 | 7 | 75 | 10.71 |
| Peen | 122.5 | 1055 | 7.7 | 99 | 12.86 |
| Pavan | 132 | 1181 | 9.5 | 126 | 13.26 |
| Pavan | 148.5 | 1472 | 16.5 | 291 | 17.64 |
| Peen | 155.5 | 1575 | 7 | 103 | 14.71 |
| HQ | 161.7 | 1665 | 6.2 | 90 | 14.52 |
| Section | Lap 1 Time | Lap 2 Time | Lap 3 Time |
| South Loop (7 km) | 42 | 58 | 75 |
| HQ - Peen (7.7 km) | 48 | 74 | 99 |
| Peen - Pavan (9.5 km) | 66 | 93 | 126 |
| North Loop (16.5 km) | 111 | 150 | 291 |
| Pavan - Peen (7 km) | 54 | 71 | 103 |
| Peen - HQ (6.2 km) | 51 | 63 | 90 |
- maybe went out a bit too fast
- the third lap was just almost the same time as my first and second combined
- either excessive amounts of boiled potatoes or excessive amount of boost gives me horrible farts
- total time was 27:45
- disappointed with my result, felt I could do better
- I spent over an hour at the pavan aid station before going out for the north loop for the last time
- not sure if I feel any sense of accomplishment about gutting out a finish on a rough day, considering I was being such a whiny bitch for much of the last lap
- my head was definitely not in the game at the race, perhaps think I would have been better not doing it
- should I just DNS a race if I don't think I'm heading into it in the right mentallity?
- my Dad was originally going to be my crew at the race, he passed away in July and I chose to not replace him and came to the race by myself. although the volunteers were fantastic and I stayed with a runner and his wife and they were fantastic I was extremely distracted during the race. I let my head drift to sad places, and was completely unfocused. If the goal was to have a great result, and not just finish, I should have either not gone or found another crew so that I would have had something else there to distract from my head space
- I knew I was going to have a horrible race in terms of mentalness (?), but it turned out worse
- they gave us this timing chip system. one chip for the wrist which we would swipe in and out of aid stations, and one for the ankle that would track us across the start and finish line.
- within 5 km of the race I felt like my lower right calf area was tight. I didn't think much of it and attributed it to the steepness of the hills, I was starting the first loop with a 1/2 size smaller shoe, and I had ended my last 100 mile race with a black big toe on my right foot. So thought that maybe it was my stride perhaps and put no more thoughts on it. Changed my shoes at start of second lap and that was that
- start of third lap I felt absolute crap in my lower right leg, pretty much had given in to walking the majority of the last lap
- fell apart mentally in the dark
- at aid station at km 132 I felt like an absolute bag of shit, I tried to sleep, was considering dropping. I kept thinking I would wait until the next runner.... oh he came in. wait until the next one... oh he came in. wait until it gets light out again.... fuck that shit, I got up and decided to stop being a whiney bitch, slam food into me and got up and started walking.
- the coulees after this it felt like my lower right calf area was screaming with every step
- walked about 6 km, and decided I was going to lie down in the early am and nap until the sun came up, left a headlamp on so I wouldn't get run over by other runners. I put my right foot up on my left knee to scratch myself
- at km 140 for the first time since I felt it bothering me I actually physically inspected the part of my leg. my lower calf was swollen to about twice its size directly above wear ankle bracelet holding the timing chip was. it would seem as though I had done the velcro up too tight and reduced blood flow or whatever. I don't usually have cankles, but I looked like I had one fat cankle. as soon as I took the strap off I felt instantly better
- I felt like such a dumbass. my leg was bothering me and I didn't look at it until 140 km into the race.
- I didn't look at my leg that was bothering me until 140 km into the race
- it took me 140 km to actually physically inspect the part of my body that was distracting me
- 140 km is how long it took me to actually address the part of my body that was hurting
- in some respects I so desperately wanted to quit this race at points in the last lap, but I didn't and that's something I guess
- not sure what to learn from this race in terms of things to do better for a possible next time
- don't tie a velcro strap around my ankle too tight? don't race unless I'm able to go in with proper mental focus?
- I'm not sure if I want to run 100 mile race again. Yes I would like to come back to LS and do better like I think I could. Yes I would like to do Fat Dog 120 mile, because I dropped out in 2012 and feel like I am capable of doing it. But the way I want to approach 100 mile training it takes so much time and I'm not sure I want to spend that much time. While in university I had tonnes of time, while working in restaurants I felt my working afternoons allowed a different work schedule that even though I didn't get in the time per week as I do now, felt like I had more energy remaining after work and run.
- the coming year I had planned on doing badger mountain again, and fat dog and also some shorter distance races. this year I had sandbagged pretty much every shorter race than 100 miles, with the goal in mind of mental training for the 100 distance. whereas this coming year I had intended on doing no more sandbagging and trying to kick ass at shorter races as well as at the 100 miles
- I don't think I'm capable of having a 100 mile race on the horizon without trying to get in excessive amounts of time on foot. it feels to add pressure. and to what purpose? a 6 month cycle starting in october of heavy running just to try and cut 1-2 hours off a time?
- very much considering not running a 100 mile race next year. I did it, i set out what I accomplished to do. In march I ran a fast 100 mile race, and this last weekend I ran a tougher race that went not so well but I still finished. Last year I would have DNF'd so fast. So I proved to myself that I can successfully run a fast 100, and that I won't give up in tough conditions. Two things I am definitely better at than last year, and I don't think those are small things, and those were definitely pretty heavy on my mind in terms of my training this year. Perhaps even I would say my training was all encompassing with these two themes in mind. Finish a 100 mile and erase the DNF curse. I did it, and the way I feel inclined to train for 100's I like to occasionally brutalise myself, and I don't think I want to do that for another year.
- I feel like I'm on the verge of being a good athlete
- I am definitely not sure right now what I want to get out of running long term.
- I want to have energy day to day
- I want to feel achievement at every race I do if I do races
- I think I want to step back from heavy distance, work on speed and run shorter races (like mostly 50 km or shorter)
- perhaps get faster first, and then much later if I get faster in races reconsider the thought of 100's
- I do not want to have to feel like I need to run up to 16 hours per week, heck I ran just under 20 hours one week, and that was a full 5 day work week, I pretty much did nothing but run, eat, sleep, and work that week
- I do not want to feel like I 'need' to do anything in regards to training
- I think I feel burnt out mentally
- maybe I am just still thinking sad thoughts and just shouldn't have gone to race
- I think I'm ok with the idea of not pushing to get to 100 mile related goals next year.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Race on friday; strategy?
I've come up with a good strategy. Run until they tell me I don't have to run anymore.
Race is 100 miles, 3 loops of 53.3 km. Course is a loop, a double figure eight where we hit each aid station twice, I have no crew but I will have drop bag access 17 times (these include major aid stations as well) plus an unmanned water station that we hit once per lap. So 17 aid stations / drop bags, plus 3 water stations.
The course consists of coulees for the first 32ish km of the loop, then river valley flat sections for the last part of the loop. There is about 1000 metre elev gain per loop. And supposedly its all short and steep, so apparently hard to run. Lots of exposed areas (very few trees) so that part is just like running at home, and it is expected to be relatively hot, which I've done a fair bit of heat training this summer. Looking at google earth I feel like the trail conditions are all fairly easy stuff, not much in the way of rocks or roots at all, lots of trail cut into grasslands, just like I'm used to at home. And I don't assess the steepness of the climbs to be all that tough from satellite imagery, but everyone else seems to say it is.
before I did badger in march, I assessed the elev profile, the satellite images, the frequency of aid stations and all that I felt like I was comfortable with the course. The way I assess Lost Soul based on these similar things I feel like Lost Soul is only slightly harder; except as a loop course I shouldn't lose a tonne of time at the end because in theory I shouldn't get lost in the second or third loop. I feel like I can achieve a similar or better result than I did at badger mountain. Either way I will start out the first lap easier than necessary and then start to push once I have a sense of the loop. Fast walk the coulees first lap, faster second lap, hopefully run them third lap. Ramp up the effort level starting after the coulees in the second lap and then hopefully fast finish the last 10-15 km.
I am feeling a little nervous. On one hand, I feel like the way I would on my own assess the race and set out a plan I think I can achieve a result I am looking for. But on the other hand, very good runners tell me this is a harder course than I perceive it to be.
We shall see.
Race is 100 miles, 3 loops of 53.3 km. Course is a loop, a double figure eight where we hit each aid station twice, I have no crew but I will have drop bag access 17 times (these include major aid stations as well) plus an unmanned water station that we hit once per lap. So 17 aid stations / drop bags, plus 3 water stations.
The course consists of coulees for the first 32ish km of the loop, then river valley flat sections for the last part of the loop. There is about 1000 metre elev gain per loop. And supposedly its all short and steep, so apparently hard to run. Lots of exposed areas (very few trees) so that part is just like running at home, and it is expected to be relatively hot, which I've done a fair bit of heat training this summer. Looking at google earth I feel like the trail conditions are all fairly easy stuff, not much in the way of rocks or roots at all, lots of trail cut into grasslands, just like I'm used to at home. And I don't assess the steepness of the climbs to be all that tough from satellite imagery, but everyone else seems to say it is.
before I did badger in march, I assessed the elev profile, the satellite images, the frequency of aid stations and all that I felt like I was comfortable with the course. The way I assess Lost Soul based on these similar things I feel like Lost Soul is only slightly harder; except as a loop course I shouldn't lose a tonne of time at the end because in theory I shouldn't get lost in the second or third loop. I feel like I can achieve a similar or better result than I did at badger mountain. Either way I will start out the first lap easier than necessary and then start to push once I have a sense of the loop. Fast walk the coulees first lap, faster second lap, hopefully run them third lap. Ramp up the effort level starting after the coulees in the second lap and then hopefully fast finish the last 10-15 km.
I am feeling a little nervous. On one hand, I feel like the way I would on my own assess the race and set out a plan I think I can achieve a result I am looking for. But on the other hand, very good runners tell me this is a harder course than I perceive it to be.
We shall see.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Race day; in 4 weeks.
At the beginning of the year I made three primary running goals. 1) Finish my first 100 miler in march, did that. 2) kick ass at a shorter race in Kelowna in late june; fail. Race was cancelled and I decided to race hard too soon after my 100 miler and didn't achieve anything resembling that goal. 3) Finish a 100 miler in september.
I'm 25 days away from goal number three. My summer has been less than stellar in terms of training. At sun mountain on May 19 I hurt my knee racing too hard, or for some other reason. I took it easy a couple weeks and then a week after I started getting back in I managed to hurt a pectoral muscle or something, or bad enough that I stayed home from work for three days. I built back up again, even got a 100 mile week in that included a sandbagged 50 mile race. Then a week later I had some family stuff come up, and I didn't run much for a few weeks, and even when I did start running it was with the weight of stress weighing me down. As the stress slowly started to fizzle away I decided to sign up for some races to get a bare minimum of mileage in leading to the 100 miler.
Ran a local road marathon: completely disapointing effort. I ran splits of 1:32 and 2:00, not at all what I should be capable of doing. I mentally collapsed when I hit the wall. To run at your best in any race there will come a moment when you have to decide to dig deep and access something (zen, heart, willpower?) to give the effort required. On this day, I had no heart, I had no zen, all I had was stress weighing me down and I gave up.
The next week I ran a nice 45 km long run near Salmon arm inthe reinecker creek trail system. It was nice, but I could still feel the stress dragging me down, like a ball and chain attached to my legs, with extra weights tugging all the way down from my heart through my insides all the way down to my feet.
This weekend I ran the squamish 50 mile trail race. I went in tired, pulling a reverse taper. I'd already run 56 km monday to thursday. I made mistakes, I didn't even check what the elctrolyte would be at the aid stations, it was heed, I ended up with terrible stomach pains. During the really hard climb in the middle of the course I was feeling just beat up, but all the while knowing that y intentions for the day were to run with a mentality I might take into a 100 mile race, and I was going slow. It took me a few km's after the end of the massive climb to get out of the mental funk. But I started running again and got mentally jazzed up. With 8 km to go a friend from home who was running the 50 km race was running with me, and was really motivating and we starting pushing harder, and we even kicked to the finish. A very tough race, definitely not my fastest or my best, but I made it that way for a purpose, for mental practise. And I think I got what I needed out of it. There was more elevation gain in the 50 mile race than I am expecting in the 100 mile race. So I think I can reasonably plan to run the same pace, as it will be less climbing, and considerably less technical.
Next week I will be running the 50 km race at Fat Dog, which is the end of the 120 course. Part of it is to go in for a tough challenge, last tough run before the 100 mile that will be 3 weeks after. And also as a scouting mission to see the end of the course, as I'm very much leaning towards doing the 120 miler there next year, get that monkey off my back.
Then I will probably run 25-35 km for long run the next week at home. Followed by an easy weekend, while helping my sister move the next weekend. And then showtime.
edit:
I was reading my year end post from 2012 that was looking forward to 2013 in regards to goal making.
Here's the last bit with the 10 bullet points
Goals in list form:
1. Finish a 100 mile trail race;
1b. Finish in a time under 24 hours.
2. Kick ass at the 50 mile scorched sole race.
2b. Knowing the approximate route, kick ass is hoping for under 8.5 hours.
3. Volunteer at other ultras.
4. Crew for a friend at an ultra at least once.
5. Volunteer at other local races.
6. Stay at my job, be a diligent Monday to Friday automoton worker. Play the game of being a 'productive member of society"
7. Don't do drugs ever.
8. Drinking: if I drink, I shall never drink while angry. And if I drink, I shall never do anything illegal or say anything reprehensible. And I shall never get drunk more than 10 times in the year (very realistic), and I shall never put myself in an environment where I am not fully comfortable with the alcohol level.
9. Figure out something or somewhere to fit some sort of volunteering that doesn't revolve around running into my time.
10. Pray, be thankful, and always remember that if I am to hope for others to treat me well, I must always treat others well, and that if I have any hope that people will do right by me I must always unquestioningly do well of others no matter the situation. Being positive is the only way to try and live, and I shall try do so, for no other reason that I don't know why I've managed to make it to this point without self destructing, so I might as well try and be better. There must be a reason I'm still here.
Lets look at the goals so far.
1. Yes! Yes! Yes! Second one coming in four weeks.
2. Race was cancelled, messed up race schedule and bombed out hard at a race I wasn't rested for. Whoops.
3. Yes, several.
4. No
5. Yes
6. Yes, and I'm even enjoying it.
7. Yes.
8. Yes
9. Sigh, not yet.
10. Mostly, well kind of. In some ways, but I'm still too sarcastic and still am far too often easily letting myself get down a mental road I shouldn't be going down.
Also, I read my thoughts on how I wanted to train in regards to my 100 miler based plans. And I feel like mostly I'm on point.
I kind of feel like a winner right now.
I'm 25 days away from goal number three. My summer has been less than stellar in terms of training. At sun mountain on May 19 I hurt my knee racing too hard, or for some other reason. I took it easy a couple weeks and then a week after I started getting back in I managed to hurt a pectoral muscle or something, or bad enough that I stayed home from work for three days. I built back up again, even got a 100 mile week in that included a sandbagged 50 mile race. Then a week later I had some family stuff come up, and I didn't run much for a few weeks, and even when I did start running it was with the weight of stress weighing me down. As the stress slowly started to fizzle away I decided to sign up for some races to get a bare minimum of mileage in leading to the 100 miler.
Ran a local road marathon: completely disapointing effort. I ran splits of 1:32 and 2:00, not at all what I should be capable of doing. I mentally collapsed when I hit the wall. To run at your best in any race there will come a moment when you have to decide to dig deep and access something (zen, heart, willpower?) to give the effort required. On this day, I had no heart, I had no zen, all I had was stress weighing me down and I gave up.
The next week I ran a nice 45 km long run near Salmon arm inthe reinecker creek trail system. It was nice, but I could still feel the stress dragging me down, like a ball and chain attached to my legs, with extra weights tugging all the way down from my heart through my insides all the way down to my feet.
This weekend I ran the squamish 50 mile trail race. I went in tired, pulling a reverse taper. I'd already run 56 km monday to thursday. I made mistakes, I didn't even check what the elctrolyte would be at the aid stations, it was heed, I ended up with terrible stomach pains. During the really hard climb in the middle of the course I was feeling just beat up, but all the while knowing that y intentions for the day were to run with a mentality I might take into a 100 mile race, and I was going slow. It took me a few km's after the end of the massive climb to get out of the mental funk. But I started running again and got mentally jazzed up. With 8 km to go a friend from home who was running the 50 km race was running with me, and was really motivating and we starting pushing harder, and we even kicked to the finish. A very tough race, definitely not my fastest or my best, but I made it that way for a purpose, for mental practise. And I think I got what I needed out of it. There was more elevation gain in the 50 mile race than I am expecting in the 100 mile race. So I think I can reasonably plan to run the same pace, as it will be less climbing, and considerably less technical.
Next week I will be running the 50 km race at Fat Dog, which is the end of the 120 course. Part of it is to go in for a tough challenge, last tough run before the 100 mile that will be 3 weeks after. And also as a scouting mission to see the end of the course, as I'm very much leaning towards doing the 120 miler there next year, get that monkey off my back.
Then I will probably run 25-35 km for long run the next week at home. Followed by an easy weekend, while helping my sister move the next weekend. And then showtime.
edit:
I was reading my year end post from 2012 that was looking forward to 2013 in regards to goal making.
Here's the last bit with the 10 bullet points
Goals in list form:
1. Finish a 100 mile trail race;
1b. Finish in a time under 24 hours.
2. Kick ass at the 50 mile scorched sole race.
2b. Knowing the approximate route, kick ass is hoping for under 8.5 hours.
3. Volunteer at other ultras.
4. Crew for a friend at an ultra at least once.
5. Volunteer at other local races.
6. Stay at my job, be a diligent Monday to Friday automoton worker. Play the game of being a 'productive member of society"
7. Don't do drugs ever.
8. Drinking: if I drink, I shall never drink while angry. And if I drink, I shall never do anything illegal or say anything reprehensible. And I shall never get drunk more than 10 times in the year (very realistic), and I shall never put myself in an environment where I am not fully comfortable with the alcohol level.
9. Figure out something or somewhere to fit some sort of volunteering that doesn't revolve around running into my time.
10. Pray, be thankful, and always remember that if I am to hope for others to treat me well, I must always treat others well, and that if I have any hope that people will do right by me I must always unquestioningly do well of others no matter the situation. Being positive is the only way to try and live, and I shall try do so, for no other reason that I don't know why I've managed to make it to this point without self destructing, so I might as well try and be better. There must be a reason I'm still here.
Lets look at the goals so far.
1. Yes! Yes! Yes! Second one coming in four weeks.
2. Race was cancelled, messed up race schedule and bombed out hard at a race I wasn't rested for. Whoops.
3. Yes, several.
4. No
5. Yes
6. Yes, and I'm even enjoying it.
7. Yes.
8. Yes
9. Sigh, not yet.
10. Mostly, well kind of. In some ways, but I'm still too sarcastic and still am far too often easily letting myself get down a mental road I shouldn't be going down.
Also, I read my thoughts on how I wanted to train in regards to my 100 miler based plans. And I feel like mostly I'm on point.
I kind of feel like a winner right now.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Urban Art
The park that I run in for the majority of my weekday runs has a highway overpass (bridge I guess actually) running over the ravine / creek that is the focal point of the park. Like most bridge type structures it has a cement base holding up the pillars that the road is on above it. Usually there is a few urban art designs on the pillars. I like them, they aren't classic art, but they aren't distasteful at all either. When I say 'urban art' I don't mean weak ass monotone coloured tagging style graffiti; but rather pictures, scenes, concepts painted on public mediums usually using paint. The good ones have nice shading and depth of character. And I kind of enjoy the style of whoever has been arting up the pillars in my park.
Except today I ran by and noticed that some poor soul (probably a city employee) who has a narrow range of what counts as art decided to paint over everything with a boring drab grey paint.
Luckily there was already two young guys with a few bags of spray paint cans getting some new art done. I made sure to give them a high five and thanked them before continuing on with my run.
Except today I ran by and noticed that some poor soul (probably a city employee) who has a narrow range of what counts as art decided to paint over everything with a boring drab grey paint.
Luckily there was already two young guys with a few bags of spray paint cans getting some new art done. I made sure to give them a high five and thanked them before continuing on with my run.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Pin Cushion Trail
There is a trail in Peachland called the Pin Cushion Trail. It is about 3 km distance with about 1,000 feet elevation change. I took a video of me running down it. The videos not very good. I can't get past the habit of facing the camera to the right. But watch it anyway.
Pin Cushion Descent
I can't seem to get it to show the video here; so click the link.
Pin Cushion Descent
I can't seem to get it to show the video here; so click the link.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Sandbagging
Sandbagging: defined as being the process in which one intentionally runs a poor race by doing this to make the race harder than it would be had they came into the race properly prepared. If one is to be properly prepared one would do things like; proper taper, easy runs during race week, proper nutrition, proper rest and sleep, no hard activity the days before a race, analyse the race course to plan strategy, attempt some sort of proper nutrition plan. When you sandbag a race you intentionally dont do most or all of these things. Sandbagging at its best is done as part of an enjoyably hard training week.
On a completely related note I ran a 50 mile race this last weekend. I didnt feel too excited about it going in. I had messed up my summer training plan by bombing out of a 50 mile race May 19 via poor strategy and pushing too hard leading to a bit of an injury. Two weeks ago I stayed home from work for three days after hurting my left pectoral muscle (well the part of it that connects to my collarbone) after hyperextending it grabbing onto a tree stopping myself from falling down the side of a ravine. May and June were rather uninspired months and I had fallen off my training plan and was losing a bit of motivation.
Race week I ran monday to wednesday paced runs that were too fast to get leave myself fealing rested. the night before the race I decided to do a fairly hard hike up a peak leaving my quads feeling depleted. I got maybe four hours sleep before race day, ate like shit. And felt like a bag of shit about as soon as the race started; lower mainland humidity plus my asthma equals me feeling like Im carrying a heavy weight in my longs. Any delusions of making this race an actual race were quickly set aside after the group of runners I was with were continually missing turns, I quickly mentally checked further out of the race and decided to run with a group for safetys sake. Also, for nutrition for race day I took in nothing but liquids for the first 52 km, that was rough. There was several sections of the race that had us running on the shoulder of the sea to sky highway, that sucked. My heart for the race was drained pretty low and took awhile to get back into it.
I ran the 50 mile race in 10:12 which is my slowest time of that distance in the last two years. I came in feeling uninspired, still not fully recovered from my little injuries, untapered, tired, poor nutrition pre race and during race. Why do this; to try and start the race feeling like I might feel at the tough point of a longer race, and at the end of the day I can look back at this as a success in that regards. I definitely was mentally low and physically drained. So thats good. I ran the next morning 17 km (with dips in Buntzen lake) and then the next night another 18 km in the heat of home.
And the best success of the day is feeling reinvigorated to train. Which is good as Im only ten weeks out from the next 100 miler.
On a completely related note I ran a 50 mile race this last weekend. I didnt feel too excited about it going in. I had messed up my summer training plan by bombing out of a 50 mile race May 19 via poor strategy and pushing too hard leading to a bit of an injury. Two weeks ago I stayed home from work for three days after hurting my left pectoral muscle (well the part of it that connects to my collarbone) after hyperextending it grabbing onto a tree stopping myself from falling down the side of a ravine. May and June were rather uninspired months and I had fallen off my training plan and was losing a bit of motivation.
Race week I ran monday to wednesday paced runs that were too fast to get leave myself fealing rested. the night before the race I decided to do a fairly hard hike up a peak leaving my quads feeling depleted. I got maybe four hours sleep before race day, ate like shit. And felt like a bag of shit about as soon as the race started; lower mainland humidity plus my asthma equals me feeling like Im carrying a heavy weight in my longs. Any delusions of making this race an actual race were quickly set aside after the group of runners I was with were continually missing turns, I quickly mentally checked further out of the race and decided to run with a group for safetys sake. Also, for nutrition for race day I took in nothing but liquids for the first 52 km, that was rough. There was several sections of the race that had us running on the shoulder of the sea to sky highway, that sucked. My heart for the race was drained pretty low and took awhile to get back into it.
I ran the 50 mile race in 10:12 which is my slowest time of that distance in the last two years. I came in feeling uninspired, still not fully recovered from my little injuries, untapered, tired, poor nutrition pre race and during race. Why do this; to try and start the race feeling like I might feel at the tough point of a longer race, and at the end of the day I can look back at this as a success in that regards. I definitely was mentally low and physically drained. So thats good. I ran the next morning 17 km (with dips in Buntzen lake) and then the next night another 18 km in the heat of home.
And the best success of the day is feeling reinvigorated to train. Which is good as Im only ten weeks out from the next 100 miler.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
I feel like I should record some thoughts
The last few weeks at work I've been working an hour overtime, starting early an hour every day. Now that I"m not doing that anymore I think I might try and do some pre-work runs. It's gonna be tough, but I feel like it's something I want to try, I mean lots of other runners are doing two a days so it must be a good thing right? Getting up early is hard, and you gotta be organized to run before work, and I"m kind of lazy. I feel like this will be a failed attempt.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
uncreative blog post title
After a whopping 6 days of not exercising I've decided that I feel like whatever injury I incurred last weekend is fortunately not so serious to prevent me from getting back into a running schedule soon. So, I registered for a race on the same day as my summer goal race that got cancelled. The race is only a few hours drive away, so still kinda local and easy to get to. Of note, it's a race that has had flagging issues (of course I register for a race that has a bad rep for people getting lost), right now I believe there are only 3 other runners registered for the 50 mile race, which is great because then I won't feel any pressure to run fast, it will just be a casual long run.
Loose training plan through to september.
- May 19; epic fail at 50 mile race
- up to May 26: no exercise
- up to jun 1: do some biking, no running
- jun 8: start running: 3 runs, long run of 20 km
- jun 15: running 4 days, long run 30 km
- jun 22: run 5 days, long run 40 km
- jun 29: 50 mile race (but not really 'racing')
- july 6: long run 50 km easy
- july 13: long run 35 km
- july 20: easy week
- july 27: long run 40 km (might pull a dumbass move and run a road marathon)
- aug 3: holiday weekend; 3 long runs back-back-back
- aug 10: long run 50 km
- aug 17: last hard run before sept race; intense 50 km run (or the previous week depending on which race I get into)
- gradual 3 week taper to race week
- Sept 6th or 14th, race 100 mile; Lost Soul or Plain.
Oonce week of june 22 comes I'll be back up to 5 days a week running, and then after that throw in a 6th day of something else. Mix of speedwork, and hill work and I feel I should be ready. Long and gradual enough that I feel I will comfortably peak and then long enough to be properly tapered/rested for race day. Which 100 mile race I end up doing will pretty much only affect the style of my weeknight hill workouts (shorter repeats or longer sustained climbs, I have two locations in mind) and the amount of speedwork done (more or pretty much none).
yep. sounds like a good plan, so I'll prob change it to something else halfway through.
Loose training plan through to september.
- May 19; epic fail at 50 mile race
- up to May 26: no exercise
- up to jun 1: do some biking, no running
- jun 8: start running: 3 runs, long run of 20 km
- jun 15: running 4 days, long run 30 km
- jun 22: run 5 days, long run 40 km
- jun 29: 50 mile race (but not really 'racing')
- july 6: long run 50 km easy
- july 13: long run 35 km
- july 20: easy week
- july 27: long run 40 km (might pull a dumbass move and run a road marathon)
- aug 3: holiday weekend; 3 long runs back-back-back
- aug 10: long run 50 km
- aug 17: last hard run before sept race; intense 50 km run (or the previous week depending on which race I get into)
- gradual 3 week taper to race week
- Sept 6th or 14th, race 100 mile; Lost Soul or Plain.
Oonce week of june 22 comes I'll be back up to 5 days a week running, and then after that throw in a 6th day of something else. Mix of speedwork, and hill work and I feel I should be ready. Long and gradual enough that I feel I will comfortably peak and then long enough to be properly tapered/rested for race day. Which 100 mile race I end up doing will pretty much only affect the style of my weeknight hill workouts (shorter repeats or longer sustained climbs, I have two locations in mind) and the amount of speedwork done (more or pretty much none).
yep. sounds like a good plan, so I'll prob change it to something else halfway through.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Sun Mountain DNF, aka how I reaffirmed the idea of following my plan.
This past weekend I went down to winthrop to run in the Sun Mountain 50 mile trail race. I ended up dropping out. I was running good, well I thought I was. Around 20 km or so I started to feel a little odd in my lower right quad, and then a sharp stabbing pain started radiating upwards from my knee. I tried to test it out, I thought maybe I would be able to shake it. But coming down the first downhill that would have been the first spot to really turn up speed and the pain was excruciating, like my skin was being ripped off my knee. Stopped, swore at the top of my lungs, tried running, hurt something awful some more, stopped and screamed and then started hobbling. There was about two minutes of running where I thought I could get back at it, that thought quickly faded, and then I started walking. As fortune would have it, I was right near the ass end of a loop to start the course, so after walking to the next aid station told them I as DNF'ing, and walked back to the start finish the way I came. I found it rather interesting how 3rd place through about 10th place would stop and ask me what was wrong, rightly assuming that if someone ahead of them was walking something wasn't right. And then as more people passed me, less offered assistence or condolences, By the time the 40th person passed me, nothing was said, as though I was just another person walking. As the first runner back to the start I got to tap the keg. Woot! And I got to have a nice two and a half hour walk filled with suntanning on the way back.
Why? Why did I not make it through the race?
Maybe it was a random thing, landing the wrong way and something went funny. But of course I'll ask of other thoughts anyway. Waiting around after the race chatting with another runner that was running at the front of the pack with me that DNF'd we were talking about 'respecting the distance'. I don't think I respected the distance of the race. In other words I underestimated the difficulty of the race. Perhaps because I felt so good about my achievement at Badger in a longer distance I assumed I could just go out and bang out a 50 mile race like it was nothing.
Last year leading up to Badger it was seven months since my last long race attempt, fat dog in august. after that effort I rested with no running for two weeks, attempted to run, and rested for another two weeks. Then I slowly built up my running volume, peaking a month before the race, then coming to race day well rested, only having done a few really intense long runs. Compare that two going from badger to sun mountain. After badger I was running the next week, and running high volume within two weeks, and then barely tapering for sun mountain. I did not rest enough after the long 100 mile race, and then expected to be able to go back into training for the next one. Also, I never intended sun mountain to be an 'A' effort race, knowing that it was too close to the 100 miler to be ready. But after my goal race for the summer was cancelled I hastily decided to put that effort into this race.
This may not be the only reason, or may not even by part of the reason I hurt myself during the race. But I think it would be wise of me to get back to proper planning. I am not yet strong enough to be putting out A level efforts at races this close together. I got excited and stopped following my plan. I may race before September, but if I do it will be a properly calculated effort to fit into my plan to get to the next 100 mile race.
I am reminded by my body that I am only capable of so much. But I also want to kick ass at certain points. The idea of kicking ass at 100 mile races appeals to me, and even though I would love to be able to race as much as other people I look up to, I think I am limited in what I can attempt, something about slow growth.
this years plan was : 100 mile in March, 100 km in June (cancelled now), and 100 mile in September. I'll readjust my schedule once I feel recovered to run and get back to that. I'm already thinking about next year. I think a schedule like: 50 km in Dec, 100 mile in March, 50 km or 50 mi in June, 100 mile in Sept feels like it should be a good plan.
I won't run again for the rest of May. Maybe starting monday I'll go to the gym and do some sort of exercise though.
Why? Why did I not make it through the race?
Maybe it was a random thing, landing the wrong way and something went funny. But of course I'll ask of other thoughts anyway. Waiting around after the race chatting with another runner that was running at the front of the pack with me that DNF'd we were talking about 'respecting the distance'. I don't think I respected the distance of the race. In other words I underestimated the difficulty of the race. Perhaps because I felt so good about my achievement at Badger in a longer distance I assumed I could just go out and bang out a 50 mile race like it was nothing.
Last year leading up to Badger it was seven months since my last long race attempt, fat dog in august. after that effort I rested with no running for two weeks, attempted to run, and rested for another two weeks. Then I slowly built up my running volume, peaking a month before the race, then coming to race day well rested, only having done a few really intense long runs. Compare that two going from badger to sun mountain. After badger I was running the next week, and running high volume within two weeks, and then barely tapering for sun mountain. I did not rest enough after the long 100 mile race, and then expected to be able to go back into training for the next one. Also, I never intended sun mountain to be an 'A' effort race, knowing that it was too close to the 100 miler to be ready. But after my goal race for the summer was cancelled I hastily decided to put that effort into this race.
This may not be the only reason, or may not even by part of the reason I hurt myself during the race. But I think it would be wise of me to get back to proper planning. I am not yet strong enough to be putting out A level efforts at races this close together. I got excited and stopped following my plan. I may race before September, but if I do it will be a properly calculated effort to fit into my plan to get to the next 100 mile race.
I am reminded by my body that I am only capable of so much. But I also want to kick ass at certain points. The idea of kicking ass at 100 mile races appeals to me, and even though I would love to be able to race as much as other people I look up to, I think I am limited in what I can attempt, something about slow growth.
this years plan was : 100 mile in March, 100 km in June (cancelled now), and 100 mile in September. I'll readjust my schedule once I feel recovered to run and get back to that. I'm already thinking about next year. I think a schedule like: 50 km in Dec, 100 mile in March, 50 km or 50 mi in June, 100 mile in Sept feels like it should be a good plan.
I won't run again for the rest of May. Maybe starting monday I'll go to the gym and do some sort of exercise though.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
race thoughts from the weekend / goals for next race.
last weekend i ran in a local 25 km trail race in vernon. the Dirty Feet Kal Park race. There was also a 50 km race that day, but I signed upfor the shorter distance because I wanted to support local, but didn't want to get sucked into running a race style 50 km run two weeks before a race that I'm viewing as a race that I want to push hard at; that race being the Sun Mountain 50 mile race in winthrop, wa.
The race was on Sunday morning, and Thursday I was playing softball with colleagues; some silly interdepartmental bet was on the line, and of course everyone knows I run so even if it's unsaid I feel pressure to run hard. I'm put in outfield because 'you can run for the balls' little do they know my ability to focus and catch the ball seems destroyed by the holes in my brain matter, but whatever. I can run to where the ball is coming, but the ball bounces out of my glove. I get distracted staring at a pretty lady running by the field, and have to sprint extra hard to try and make a catch just to drop the ball. I can still hit a ball, but not far. So I get on base, and I'm just giving her to run the bases as fast as I can, and I feel something go wrong in my hamstring and everything feels tight. Like not super bad, but not right. Later it felt like I couldn't take a full stride extension while running.
Saturday I drove down early in the morning to run in vernon. The plan was to head out onto the High Rim Trail. It was a beautiful day, last week we had snow, and this week we're proper into spring. Hitting 30 degrees, ran without shirt, got some solid tanning (burning) in. It feels like every weekend the last month I'm running up to the snow line. Not a lot here, but there was some heavy patches, and of course the snow spots were the same spots that had heavy downed trees. At one point I was staring at a football sized patch of waist high snow, with about tonnes of downed trees in it, and of course no trail markings to be seen. Took me several attempts of plodding the wrong way to find my way back to a trail. At the end of the climb, before the High Rim Trail start to traverse its way towards kelowna, there's a radio tower, from this radio tower you can see EVERYWHERE, and your voice echoes repeatedly when you scream, its rad.I got in a nice 8 hours of running/bushwacking in for about 50 clicks. I think this trail will be very doable for a nice point to point run at some point this summer, very much looking forward to it. I tried to test out the hamstring, and it felt like it wouldn't be hurting, but didn't feel like I could get full extension of my leg, like not a full kick. Which I guess wasn't so bad because this race was never going to be a race about going all out.
I camped the night before in Kekuli bay. I don't think I can ever get tired of perfectly hot weather in the okanagan.
Race morning rolls around, the 25 k started at 9 am, but I showed up for 6 am to be able to visit and cheer on the 50 k racers at their 7 am start. Start line time; there's faces I recognize, some fast folks, some others that look fast, runners that used to beat me regularly that I now run faster than. I wanted to be able to seed myself near someone that I felt was slower than me that would be trying to run fast, thought that would be able to match my desire to not push hard that day. In a field of 60 runners I started about 15-20 runners back at the start; I do this in an attempt to force myself to start slow. It worked, and thats good (I think). Someone took video of the 25 k race after the second hill, about a km in, there was at least 10 runners in front of me, but the race started with some nice climbing, so I'm just chugging along and passing people, really trying to take it easy. The top three runners at this point were probably already at least 3-4 minutes ahead of me. This was my intent, to start easy.
The race was beautiful. The trails are very reminding of the okanagan; dusty trails with some rocky bits thrown in. Open stretches of beautiful views where the sun beats down on you, and sections of glorious shady reprieve in the mountainside. Some nice climbing, slow steady chuggable stuff, and some fun tricky but not too tricky descents. I don't like to compare myself to other races, but when examining a race retrospectuvely and the same pattern emerges it makes me wonder. I consistently overtake and pass people on the uphills, and lose ground on the downhills.
The race went well(ish) I didn't feel like it went full effort, but was able to put in a nice push. I didn't like that I felt like I couldn't kick fully, maybe that's what hindered my flat speed and my downhill today. But still, I wonder; is downhill running my weakest aspect of running. If so, why? Is it technique? Because I've been told by some folks that I'm a good downhill runner. Or is it in my head? Do I perhaps hold back while running downhill at certain points of a race in the fear that it will burn out my legs for later parts of a race?
I ended up finishing the 25 km course, which had about 1100 metres elev gain in 2 hrs 16 minutes. I'm good with that.
In two weeks I'm running sun mountain 50 mile race. I've checked out previous race results, and seems like a faster course. I've seen pictures, and the environment is quite reminiscent of home. Asthma shouldn't be an issue. And the trails look like they are nice steady climbs, and runnable downhills. So, I feel like the ups work to me, and I will be focusing on downhill and flat running that day (I'm assuming my uphill running will remain decent without thought) looking to maintain a good cadence, keep good turnover on the flats. And for downhills will be focusing on getting the knee higher, more forward lean, more leg turnover (like the road runner) letting gravity do the work to make the downhills faster/easier.
I want to run 50 miles in under 7:30. I will start relatively conservatively, but nowhere near as conservative as in this 25 km race. According to ultrasignup's really horrible bad math ranking system I'm ranked 14th for the race; so I will seed myself around top ten to start the race. And then its giver time. There's 6 aid stations, with the last 4 having drop bags so all that I'll need on me for race time is socks, shoes, shorts, sunscreen and a water bottle!
The race was on Sunday morning, and Thursday I was playing softball with colleagues; some silly interdepartmental bet was on the line, and of course everyone knows I run so even if it's unsaid I feel pressure to run hard. I'm put in outfield because 'you can run for the balls' little do they know my ability to focus and catch the ball seems destroyed by the holes in my brain matter, but whatever. I can run to where the ball is coming, but the ball bounces out of my glove. I get distracted staring at a pretty lady running by the field, and have to sprint extra hard to try and make a catch just to drop the ball. I can still hit a ball, but not far. So I get on base, and I'm just giving her to run the bases as fast as I can, and I feel something go wrong in my hamstring and everything feels tight. Like not super bad, but not right. Later it felt like I couldn't take a full stride extension while running.
Saturday I drove down early in the morning to run in vernon. The plan was to head out onto the High Rim Trail. It was a beautiful day, last week we had snow, and this week we're proper into spring. Hitting 30 degrees, ran without shirt, got some solid tanning (burning) in. It feels like every weekend the last month I'm running up to the snow line. Not a lot here, but there was some heavy patches, and of course the snow spots were the same spots that had heavy downed trees. At one point I was staring at a football sized patch of waist high snow, with about tonnes of downed trees in it, and of course no trail markings to be seen. Took me several attempts of plodding the wrong way to find my way back to a trail. At the end of the climb, before the High Rim Trail start to traverse its way towards kelowna, there's a radio tower, from this radio tower you can see EVERYWHERE, and your voice echoes repeatedly when you scream, its rad.I got in a nice 8 hours of running/bushwacking in for about 50 clicks. I think this trail will be very doable for a nice point to point run at some point this summer, very much looking forward to it. I tried to test out the hamstring, and it felt like it wouldn't be hurting, but didn't feel like I could get full extension of my leg, like not a full kick. Which I guess wasn't so bad because this race was never going to be a race about going all out.
I camped the night before in Kekuli bay. I don't think I can ever get tired of perfectly hot weather in the okanagan.
Race morning rolls around, the 25 k started at 9 am, but I showed up for 6 am to be able to visit and cheer on the 50 k racers at their 7 am start. Start line time; there's faces I recognize, some fast folks, some others that look fast, runners that used to beat me regularly that I now run faster than. I wanted to be able to seed myself near someone that I felt was slower than me that would be trying to run fast, thought that would be able to match my desire to not push hard that day. In a field of 60 runners I started about 15-20 runners back at the start; I do this in an attempt to force myself to start slow. It worked, and thats good (I think). Someone took video of the 25 k race after the second hill, about a km in, there was at least 10 runners in front of me, but the race started with some nice climbing, so I'm just chugging along and passing people, really trying to take it easy. The top three runners at this point were probably already at least 3-4 minutes ahead of me. This was my intent, to start easy.
The race was beautiful. The trails are very reminding of the okanagan; dusty trails with some rocky bits thrown in. Open stretches of beautiful views where the sun beats down on you, and sections of glorious shady reprieve in the mountainside. Some nice climbing, slow steady chuggable stuff, and some fun tricky but not too tricky descents. I don't like to compare myself to other races, but when examining a race retrospectuvely and the same pattern emerges it makes me wonder. I consistently overtake and pass people on the uphills, and lose ground on the downhills.
The race went well(ish) I didn't feel like it went full effort, but was able to put in a nice push. I didn't like that I felt like I couldn't kick fully, maybe that's what hindered my flat speed and my downhill today. But still, I wonder; is downhill running my weakest aspect of running. If so, why? Is it technique? Because I've been told by some folks that I'm a good downhill runner. Or is it in my head? Do I perhaps hold back while running downhill at certain points of a race in the fear that it will burn out my legs for later parts of a race?
I ended up finishing the 25 km course, which had about 1100 metres elev gain in 2 hrs 16 minutes. I'm good with that.
In two weeks I'm running sun mountain 50 mile race. I've checked out previous race results, and seems like a faster course. I've seen pictures, and the environment is quite reminiscent of home. Asthma shouldn't be an issue. And the trails look like they are nice steady climbs, and runnable downhills. So, I feel like the ups work to me, and I will be focusing on downhill and flat running that day (I'm assuming my uphill running will remain decent without thought) looking to maintain a good cadence, keep good turnover on the flats. And for downhills will be focusing on getting the knee higher, more forward lean, more leg turnover (like the road runner) letting gravity do the work to make the downhills faster/easier.
I want to run 50 miles in under 7:30. I will start relatively conservatively, but nowhere near as conservative as in this 25 km race. According to ultrasignup's really horrible bad math ranking system I'm ranked 14th for the race; so I will seed myself around top ten to start the race. And then its giver time. There's 6 aid stations, with the last 4 having drop bags so all that I'll need on me for race time is socks, shoes, shorts, sunscreen and a water bottle!
letting go of statistics?
My computer is slowly dieing. I think the fan is on the fritz and I probably have way too many programs running which causes it to randomly shut off and I don't really care enough to fix it. After one such shut off I couldn't restart it properly and I seem to have lost every file I had on my computer. So things like spreadsheets and pictures.... gone.
But do I really need to track my statistics of what I do? Does knowing whether I did four thousand or 300 metres elev gain in a week make a difference? Does knowing if I ran 95 or 125 km in a week make a difference?
Before every race I make out a loose training plan. This plan includes volume and distance approximations based on what I usually do for weekday runs. And the major time/distance variations come on the weekend. Also, I will not certain weeks to be more focused on hills, or speed, or resting etc. And within a week I will usually vary my effort levels and type of runs. I can just do this on a regular old calendar. I'm losing the urge to track stats; maybe I used to do it to be able to compare to the past, but I know I'm better than the past so whatever?
Also, I lost my entire itunes library which is a little inconvenient. Running related though; every race this year I've gone without music, and the last four months I have listened to music once every month or so while running. I feel like I used to need music to get through certain workouts / moments in races; now I feel like I'm just enjoying the running even more that it's not wanted.
But do I really need to track my statistics of what I do? Does knowing whether I did four thousand or 300 metres elev gain in a week make a difference? Does knowing if I ran 95 or 125 km in a week make a difference?
Before every race I make out a loose training plan. This plan includes volume and distance approximations based on what I usually do for weekday runs. And the major time/distance variations come on the weekend. Also, I will not certain weeks to be more focused on hills, or speed, or resting etc. And within a week I will usually vary my effort levels and type of runs. I can just do this on a regular old calendar. I'm losing the urge to track stats; maybe I used to do it to be able to compare to the past, but I know I'm better than the past so whatever?
Also, I lost my entire itunes library which is a little inconvenient. Running related though; every race this year I've gone without music, and the last four months I have listened to music once every month or so while running. I feel like I used to need music to get through certain workouts / moments in races; now I feel like I'm just enjoying the running even more that it's not wanted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)