Rocky Hill Ranch 50k

We got to Rocky Hill Ranch at 11:30 p.m. Friday night. The band was jammin at the saloon but we were prepared for that to be the case. We parked near the start/finish and Jason, Jakeb and I stretched our sleeping bags under a canopy we had set-up, put ear plugs in our ears and tried to get some sleep. The band played until about midnight and all was silent so that was good.

The moon was full and bright enough to where I woke up a couple of times wondering who had left the lights on. The temperature sank to the mid-forties and I woke up a couple of times wondering who forgot to turn on the heater. Then at 4 am I heard a loud voice screaming for people to line up. It was the race director giving last minute race instructions to the fifty-mile runners who opted for the four o-clock start time.

I was tired and sore from lying on the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but around five I couldn’t lay there anymore. I got up and sat with Jason and Jakeb in the car until it was time for Jason to start.

Jason lined up for the fifty-miler at 6am and Joe, the race director, gave last minute instructions. This time I was awake enough to listen. He talked about how insane the first mile was with the up-hill climbs up Fat Chuck’s Demise. The runners took off and I started getting ready for the 50k/25k start at 7am.

Jason came back a little more than 30 minutes later from the 3.5 mile out-and-back that the 50 mile course took. He said “You’re gonna love it. It is crazy fun up and downs.” I found out later that Jason is a masochist.

I lined up with the runners that were left and listened to the pre-race instructions for the third time and Joe screamed go and we went. Slowly. Climbing and walking. Staring at my feet and climbing. After a mile things flattened out a bit and I got to the meat of the course. Rocky Hill is by far the most challenging course I have ever run. My mentality was to run slow, take walk breaks and be patient. Towards the end of the first loop I was questioning my decision to run 50k and trying to figure out how to motivate myself to keep running once I hit the start/finish.

About a half a mile from the end of the first loop I saw Jakeb on his mountain bike. He asked how I was doing and said that Jason was only 5 minutes ahead. I left Jakeb and about a quarter of a mile from the turnaround saw Jason as he started out on his next loop. There was my motivation - to catch Jason and run some with him.

Jason is a much faster runner than I will ever be. He qualified for Boston by breaking 3:10 a couple of years ago at Houston but I knew he was conserving energy to run the whole 50. It was energy I didn’t need so I picked it up a bit and really pushed myself back up Fat Chuck’s for my last loop. I would pay for it at the end of the race.

I caught Jason about four miles into my second loop. It was mile 19.5 for me, mile 24 for Jason. We ran together until the next aid station and I was scared that I would either slow him down or push him to where it would mess up his race so at the next aid station I ate some tortillas stuffed with ham and cheese and took off alone.

This section was the most difficult for me because I was alone and I walked more than I had hoped for. The last aid station came and went and all I could think of was “forward motion”. The lack of training and sleep were catching up and I felt like I was plodding, not racing.

I finally hit the finish in 6:18:09 by my watch. Rock Hill is a tough course and I only ran 15.5 miles at Hog’s Hunt for my longest training run. Normally I would have run a couple of 24 milers followed by some 10’s the next day. So I am happy to have finished.

Jason came in just a couple of minutes behind me and took off for his last loop. I was amazed to watch him come in and have the strength to take off for another loop starting with the steep pain from Fat Chuck. Jason finished in 11:35 just a couple of minutes slower than his Sunmart 50 mile finish. To me that was better than a PR.

50k with wicked leathers

About a month ago I got an email from Jason. Jason ran 50 miles at Sunmart in 11 hours and something and his email stated that he wanted to run 50 miles in under 11 hours and Rocky Hill Ranch would be his last chance before the end of the summer.

I thought to myself, “Go Jason!”

Then in the next line he said he didn’t want to go to the race alone and me and the other guy he sent the email to were the only two people that he knew that were currently running enough mileage to finish one of the races. There is a 50k and a 25k race that same day.

I gave it a lot of thought … about 2 seconds worth and told Jason that if the family calendar was clear that weekend I was in. I checked and things fell into place nicely for me to run. Jakeb is going along for moral support and to ride his mountain bike.

The responsible thing to do would be to sign up for the 25k. I could run that one in my sleep. But as EQ has stated on his blog, you only live once so I did the irresponsible thing and signed up for the 50k. I am not trained for a 50k. I will not finish it well but I will finish.

Jason and I made our plans. Due to his son’s evening baseball game we will not leave until 8:30pm. We plan to drive to Rocky Hill Ranch, set-up a canopy and fall asleep in a field under the stars, wake up the next morning semi-rested and run a long way.

Two days ago the race director sent an email saying that in an attempt to book as many activities as possible Rocky Hill Ranch is having a Bike Night. A local motorcycle shop called Wicked Leathers is sponsoring an event at the Rocky Hill Ranch Saloon with a live band and music and free RV spots and camping.

Oh great. Bikers and loud music and drunk people trying to find where they put up their tent mixed with runners trying to get some sleep the night before one of the longest races of their life. Not that I have anything against bikers or loud music or those who are drunk mixing with runners. I just think the combination works out better for the former group rather than the latter.

We could go find a hotel but if you read my last post you find in my case that may not be any better. I really didn’t know that the TIR weekend with its lack of sleep would be training for future races. This should be interesting.

Hog's Hunt 25k

Andrea and I bought a car on Friday. We got rid of our gas guzzling Durango and are now proud owners of a Toyota Camry. I’m going to miss the Hemi but I’m not going to miss the gas bill. It took forever to get the paperwork done and we didn’t get back to Lake Jackson until 10:30 Friday night. That is when mine and Jakeb’s Hog’s Hunt adventure began.

I pulled into the garage from our car shopping trip and I went into ‘let’s go’ mode. I threw the last of our stuff together and went up stairs to wake Jakeb up. We drove to a hotel on the north side of Houston and were ready to fall in bed since we had to get up early and run. There was some guy in the next room talking loudly. He never paused to stop talking. It was like he was practicing the Gettysburg Address. I thought ‘Oh great we are never going to get to sleep.’ But in about 20 minutes he stopped and the world was silent.

We woke up the next morning after what seemed to me like almost no sleep at all and drove to Huntsville State Park. We got there around 6:20 and picked up our packet and went back to the truck to warm up. It was amazingly cold for April 4th. I think it is weird that Sunmart in December at Huntsville State Park was hot and Hog’s Hunt in April was cold.

Jakeb and I wandered around before the start of the 50k and saw Karen and Katy. They took off and we went back to the truck to put on our shoes, race number water bottle and belt. We stretched for a little while and then went to the starting line where we saw Adrienne and her mom. We talked some and after some race instructions took off.

Jakeb and I were pretty evenly paced as we ran the road for a mile. My legs felt a bit dead but by the time we made it to the trails they started loosening. Jakeb ran strong the whole way. When we made it to the trails we were in single file with a group of runners and the pace slowed. Jakeb and I maneuvered past a couple of people and by the time we made it to the road in the back of the park we were running at a decent pace again. A ways down the road we started seeing the leaders coming back. Adrienne passed by us in first place in the women’s race and looked strong. She went on to win.

In the middle of the race we ended up behind a group of people who were running slower than us and we stuck behind them for a couple of miles. I think it was good to run behind them because it kept us from running too fast. I asked Jakeb how he was doing more than once and he continually said ‘I’m good.’

We made it to the boardwalks and passed the group ahead of us. I asked Jakeb if he wanted to pick it up and he said ‘Let’s go’ so we up’ed the pace into the aid station.

After downing a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and having our water bottles refilled we took off. A woman that was leaving the aid station told us that there was only about 3 miles to go so we ran a bit harder. In the last four miles I would guess we passed ten people.

In the last mile there is a hill (or two) to climb and I started walking and after a couple of steps Jakeb said ‘were not walking’ so I started running again. My kid is a slave driver.

We turned the corner and ran the power line right-of-way to the pavement at the finish. Jakeb sprinted at the end and I couldn’t possibly let him go alone so I ran with him as we laughed at each other. He finished a step in front of me. I stopped my watch at 2:30:52 - a 9:44 pace. It was a good race. I am proud of how Jakeb ran.

Jakeb just got his learners permit so he drove from Huntsville to the Woodlands. We stopped at Pei Wei on the way home and refueled. I drove the rest of the way home and had a horrible time staying awake.

You can read Jakeb's report here ... link.

Tracking mileage

Katy wrote on her blog that she doesn’t track her monthly mileage. I keep up with monthly mileage, weekly mileage, yearly mileage and shoe mileage all in a spreadsheet I created myself. It is not than I am a stat geek or anything but my personality is such that I have a feeling of accomplishment by knowing I can add another mile to the week, month, year and shoe.

I am taking off today and tomorrow to rest the legs for Hog’s Hunt and it kills me not to add data to runlog2008.xls. Below is a screenshot:

I have 102.5 miles on the GTS8's and I still like them. (see earlier post)

Jakeb and I may see some of y’all this weekend … later.

Hog's Hunt taper

Jakeb and I are ready for Hog’s Hunt this weekend. He has backed off some for a mini taper going into this weekend. We ran 12 together Friday before last and Jakeb had a really good run.

I signed up for the Rocky Hill Ranch 50k, so for training Friday I ran 11.5 with Jason Culverhouse (who talked me into RHR) and Greg Jones. We ran some roads and some single track. Then on Saturday Jakeb and I ran 8 together and I ran 2 more alone. I have not put enough time on my feet to run a 50k very well at Rocky Hill but I think I will be able to finish. The competitor in me may have a hard time taking it easy but I will try.

Here is my last week and a half of running:

3/21 – 12 w/Jakeb
3/22 – 7
2/23 – 5 (3 w/Jakeb)
3/24 – 5 (4 w/Jakeb)
3/25 – 5
3/26 – 5
3/27 – rest and strength
3/28 – 11.5 w/Jason and Greg
3/29 – 10 (8 w/Jakeb)
3/30 – 5.5
3/31 – 5 (3 w/Jakeb)

Jakeb ran some on his own during the time above. His miles alone are not listed. I ran 164 miles in March with two 42 mile weeks in a row.

Complain, so much easier ...

Jakeb has been out of town for the last couple of days turkey hunting with his Grandpa (Andrea’s dad). He was planning to run in the hill country while he was gone but I asked him about it when he got home and he said he had not ran at all. He had some lame excuse about it raining or something to that effect.

Last night I told him, “Get ready because in the morning I am dragging your sleepy rear end out of bed and we’re running three.”

So as promised at 5am I went into his room and shook him and said “Jake, get up and let’s go run.”

I heard a muffled “Uhhhhh ….” from under the covers.

I said, “I don’t think so, get up and let’s go run. While you’re at it put on a long sleeve shirt because it is a little cool.”

“Uhhhhh …”

He came down stairs griping about running in the cold and moaned as he put his shoes on. He said “ooouuuch” as we started the first stretch.

We stepped out of the house and started walking to warm up. Jakeb asked, “Can we start running now? It’s cold and I want to run to warm up.” What he didn’t say was that he wanted to start running so that the running would be over sooner.

We took off at a moderate pace running what we call the Oyster Creek route. As we moved through the run the pace got progressively faster. By the time we hit the 1st mile marker we were running at a decent clip, faster than my marathon pace. I didn’t start my watch so I do not have splits but I asked Jake at a mile and a half if he was okay with the pace and he said “yeah”. And that was it.

So we ran without slowing, on the sidewalk through the moss covered trees on Oyster Creek Drive, past an old man on his morning walk. As we turned the corner onto Sycamore a third of a mile from home I picked it up a notch and Jakeb stayed with me. We still aren’t killing it but after all of the complaining I heard before the run I was impressed.

About a hundred yards from the end of the Oyster Creek route Jakeb said “That felt awesome! Good run!”

I said, “HA! Now you see why I forced you to get out of bed.”

We got home and Jakeb took and shower and went back to sleep. - My son the paradox.

I woke up this morning with a funny taste in my head

My daughter Tori and I went to a concert last night to see Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles and others I had never heard of. It was a good concert when Ingrid and Sara were singing. There are a lot of interesting stories to tell but now is not the time. We stood in the same spot for a long time and my feet and back were hurting by the time the concert was over. I fell in bed at a little after 1am.

This morning the alarm went off at 6 am and I woke up Jakeb and we ran 10 miles. We had to get out early because Andrea’s dad was picking up Jakeb this morning to take him turkey hunting. Surprisingly the ten miles turned out to be good run for me. We ran around seven miles on concrete and about 3 miles on trails. The rest of the day has been okay but if I sit still for to long my eyes want to close.

I bought a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8. I hated the 7s but I think it is because they are too narrow and hurt my feet. I bought the eights in a 2E for the additional width. I ran the 10 in them this morning and I think I am really going to like them. Ask me again what I think went I get 100 miles on them.

This week was a 40-mile week. It is good to run that many miles again.

Friday stuff

I ran 10 miles this morning at a comfortable pace. Jakeb ran the first four miles with me.

I had a root canal at 9:30. I didn't like it.

I ate Chinese food for lunch went shopping and got coffee, all with Andrea.

I went with Anna back to the dentist for her to get a cavity filled. She didn’t like it at all.

Jakeb had a birthday party tonight. He and his friends are gone now having an air-soft gun war.

Jason asked me if I wanted to run Rocky Hill on April 19th. He is running the 50-miler. I am thinking about the 50k. We would camp out Friday evening, run Saturday and come home Saturday night. I would have to take it easy but it sounds like fun to me.

More Bayou City Classic Pictures

Running

Finishing

Giving the Evil-Eye


















Walking in with my favorite woman in the world (Andrea)

Bayou City Classic Pictures

Jakeb, Tori, Peter, Mycaela

(l to r)

Mr. Evil

Andrea:
Only one number away from evil

Jakeb running

Tori and Peter
Doing something that is not running

Wilco and a 10k PR

Last night I went to see Wilco in concert. It was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Wilco is such a great band musically and Wilco’s music makes more sense after you see them live. That’s why their CD Kicking Television is the best.

I got home at 12:30am this morning from the concert and I had to wake up at 4:30am to make it in time for us to pick up a timing chip and get ready to race the Bayou City Classic.

The weather was perfect for running but a little too cold for standing around. Andrea, Jakeb, Tori, Peter, Mycaela and I got our chips and went back to sit in the warm truck until the start. Jakeb was talking trash about how he did not know what time he would finish in but that he was going to beat me.

We got out and made one more pass by the porta-potties. A couple of kids had a video camera and saw that my race number was 666 so they interviewed me and asked about my interesting number. They thought it was funny that I was wearing red and had a goatee matching the satanic persona. That was not the last comment I got about having that race number. It was fun. I really am a nice guy but like everyone else I am capable of so much evil so the number was appropriate for one race.

The race started promptly at 8:00 and I started running. I felt really good from the start and pushed myself. It wasn’t that hardest I have ever raced but I felt like I was making myself work hard enough that I would be happy with the result.

Here are my splits:
1 – 7:16
2 – 7:15
3 – 7:11
4 – 7:34
5 – 7:27
6 – 7:45 (going up the bridge over the bayou was taxing)
.2 – 1:16

My watch says 45:47. The official finishing time on the race web sight is 45:45. That is a 10k PR by over 2 minutes beating my PR at last year’s Bayou City Classic.

Here’s how everyone else did:
Jakeb – 48:26 for third in his age group but not fast enough to beat me
Andrea – 1:34:28 walking
Mycaela – didn’t wear a chip but came in around 55 minutes
Tori – 1:19:13 walking and running
Peter – 1:18:45 walking and running

I don’t understand the difference between Peter’s and Tori’s time since they stayed together.

I think I have proven to myself that I run pretty well on a lack of sleep based on last weekend’s TIR and this morning’s 10k.

I had a nap this afternoon. It has been an awesome weekend so far.

TIR Photos

The Battling Bloggers of the Texas Republic

The place we lived for 31 hours +

The finish line is in sight

203.67 miles later ...

Me and EQ

Texas Independence Relay Epilogue

I don’t know how to write this post as a narrative without it being a short novel. I know there is no way to describe the weekend adequately in this format, or at all for that matter. So here are some words and phrases that for me describe the Texas Independence Relay:

Gonzales, new friends, competition, prologue, run, hills, heat, Shiner brewery, good and bad coffee, asphalt, run, buffets, small sometimes stinky vans (blogger 1 and blogger 2), best drivers ever, run, determination, exchange points, stories, sore muscles, painkillers, run, road kills, blinkies, “Where’s Bill’s team?”, run, sleeping bags in a field, dogs, run, 2 hours sleep in a hotel, rolling hills through the park, run, ranchero kolaches, ‘finally a Starbucks’, sleepy, downtown, run, San Jacinto Monument, epilogue, medals, pizza. FUN.

If you would have asked me on Sunday morning at 12:30 am if I would do it again I may have said ‘no’, but now that it is over, looking back it was a really cool deal and I would consider toeing the starting line in Gonzales again.

It is quite a task to get fourteen people to work towards the common goal of running and supporting a run of 203 miles over two days. It was an accomplishment we can all be proud of especially Jon Walk who did a great job of getting and keeping the team together. Jokingly I told him, “Thanks Jon for organizing this agony.”

My right calf hurts a little but otherwise I feel pretty good. I went to bed early last night and I feel rested. I am going to take a couple of days off of running and let the calf recover. This weekend is the Bayou City Classic.

Thanks bloggers for including me in TIR at the “last minute”. It was good to meet you all in person.

I may post some pictures later.

Training specifically for TIR

I ran 12 this morning. The first two miles were an out and back. On the way back in from the out I remembered I told Andrea I would go to Shipley’s to get the kids some kolaches for breakfast. So when I finished my second mile I stopped at the house, got my keys and drove to Shipley’s, went through the drive-through, drove back home, dropped the koloches on the kitchen table and went back out the front door to resume my run.

Next weekend at TIR I will run for a while and ride in a car for a while and run again. So this morning I was training specifically for the relay. Run 2 miles ride for 20 minutes and run 10 more miles. Although the running distances and times riding in a car will be a bit different.

My first two miles passed in 15:36 (too fast). I hit the seven-mile mark in 58:17 cumulative time for approximately an 8:18 pace. I turned my watch off and took it easy for the last five which I ran mostly on trails.

Tomorrow Jakeb is supposed to run eight. I think I’ll run the whole thing with him depending how I feel.

Maybe not as nice as you thought

I registered the whole family for the Bayou City Classic yesterday. Jakeb and I are going to run it. Andrea and Anna are going to walk it. Tori and her boyfriend Peter are going to finish it but I am not sure if the plan is for them to run it or walk it or a combination of both. They may not be planning to finish together I do not know.

There is nothing interesting about registering for a race except for the way the race numbers fell out.

Peter – 671
Tori – 670
Jakeb – 669
Anna – 668
Andrea – 667
Tommy – 666

Yeah that’s right folks. Some people know me as a preacher; some as a generally moral guy, but according to the Bayou City Classic numbering system I am Satan.

Healing in a cabin

During my 10 mile run on Friday I had some pain on the outside of my left foot on the bone beside my toe. It was not painful enough to stop, just painful enough to be annoying. So for the weekend I decided not to run.

I had other reasons for not running. Andrea and I had reservations for a cabin at North Toledo Bend State Park in Louisiana. The cabin was a two-bedroom loft with a kitchen, fireplace and screened-in front porch. We brought a computer, DVDs, and some good food. We cooked, watched movies and sat on the front porch and watched it rain on the lake. I didn’t run a step. It was good to get away with Andrea and it was good to take two days off from running. (The picture above is the view from the front porch.)

This morning I ran five with Jakeb. We pushed it at tempo pace and my foot didn’t hurt at all.

Running with U2

I ran 10 miles Friday morning listening to my U2 playlist to get ready for U23D. Jakeb and I went to the IMAX on I-10 and the loop and saw it Friday night after his basket ballgame. If you are a fan of U2 it is well worth it. The movie was good but the sound should have been about 10 decibels louder. U2 has got to be one of the best bands ever, especially live.

On Saturday morning I ran 8 and I left the iPod at home because I ran the first 5 with Jakeb. The internal playlist in my brain was playing U2. “God – Part II” was repeating itself … “Don’t believe the devil, don’t believe his book, but the truth is not the same without the lies he made up …”

Sunday morning I ran 3 with Jakeb and stopped at home and got the iPod and ran 5 more with U2 playing for real in my head. It is so good I can’t turn it off. I will eventually move on but I always end up coming back.

Monday and this morning I ran 5 miles and I am still feeling the effects of the marathon. I don’t think I have done what it takes to sufficiently recover so it is my fault. My runs are not the most wonderful thing in my life right now but I am covering the miles and feel good about it.

If the stars and planets align in perfect harmony I will run the Surfside half-marathon this weekend.

BTW – I don’t really prescribe in that “stars and planets” stuff.

Texas Independence Relay

I am running the Texas Independence Relay the first weekend of March. It is a 203 mile relay race that starts in Gonzales Texas and finishes at the San Jacinto Monument. I will run it with a team of twelve people most of whom already know one another. I know some of them and have read most of their blogs so I really feel like I kind of know them all even though I’ve only met three of them in person.

It is interesting that the blog world allows me to read what people write on a personal level and I feel like I know some of them better than the people at the other end of the building I work in.

I attended a conference a couple of years ago and there was a blogger’s break-out session. A group of people from all over the country that had read one another’s writing and had carried on multiple conversations over the course of a couple of years met in a room and it felt like everyone knew everyone even though they were meeting for the first time. It was for me a truly strange experience.

I read all of my blogs with a feed reader. So if someone posts something I at least skim it. I read blogs from people all over the country and overseas that have various reasons for blogging – not just running. Sometimes I read something someone has written that is so intensely personal I feel like an intruder in their personal life. But then I think, “They wrote it and put it on the internet for the world to read … I guess it is okay.”

The fifteenth anniversary of my running is coming up in May. In those fifteen years I have mostly been a solitary runner. I am completely comfortable with my own company and running has always been a very personal thing. Our team members were listed on the team captain’s blog and my name was the only one without an affiliation to a running club – and I am cool with that because that is who I am.

Even though I have for the most part been a solitary runner, during the last couple of years I have started running more with others. A couple of years ago I started running with my son Jakeb. Then last year I ran a test event for the Blue Planet Run. There were four of us that ran the night shift 10 miles each. I ran from 2-3:30 am. It was good to run with three other guys and have a common goal. Then last summer I ran one of the 5k legs of the Brazosport Relay Triathlon. Again I found that running with a team towards a common goal elevated my running to a higher level. I ran with a friend occasionally on my morning runs this past summer. I have run long runs with other friends who are training for long races like I was. I still want to run most of my miles alone but I am getting used to running with others too.

All of that to say, I am excited about being a part of a team of people who will take turns running for two consecutive days in order to cover 203 miles and have a blast doing it.

That last post was gross ...

Clearing my head - mentally and physically

I ran 5 miles this morning at a relatively quick pace. The weather was just right – 66 degrees and some humidity. I have been a little bit congested lately and there is nothing like a good run and a couple of farmer’s blows to clear the head if you know what I mean.

Planning the Journey

“…half of the joy of the journey is planning it; the other half is coming home and bragging about it.”

- Mike Moe from the book A Man’s Life: Dispatches From Dangerous Places by Mark Jenkins

I plan my journeys by surfing the internet for a good race to run. I look for just the right location, distance and type of race. I read race reports from runners who have finished in years previous. I look at maps, course profiles, weather reports and pictures of the scenery.

After a race is chosen I fill out a training schedule with the appropriate mileage and training components. I adjust for holidays, vacation and family schedules. I add races that will aid in my training for the peak race. I tweak it for days maybe even weeks until it is adjusted for optimum stress, challenge and recovery. And then I run …

On some training runs my planning is mental. I think about what the race will be like. Are there hills to conquer? Will I have rough spots? Will I have to be patient or should I push hard until I almost puke?

On most days though my planning is physical and I run so that my muscles will remember how and in the process get better at it. I run further as each workout builds on the previous to cover the optimum distance for the race that is planned so that I can reach whatever goal I have.

Lately I feel like my mooring has come loose and I am floating on the ocean aimlessly; without direction. I am not currently training for anything and it feels weird. I have no training schedule meticulously filled out in excel to indicate how many miles I should run today based on a number typed into a cell, printed out and taped to the inside of the door of the laundry room cabinet. I run on any given day based on what I feel like running knowing that I need to maintain some sort of base so I can plan another “journey” in the near future.

This morning without a plan I ran nothing. I’ll have to admit it was good to stay in my warm bed next to my wife but I am also scared on mornings like this that not running will become a habit. And that cannot happen.

Bragging about the last journey is getting old. In fact it got old after I told the story more than once. It is time to start planning for the next journey.

11 miles and a realization

I ran 11 miles yesterday morning. My plan was to run 18 but mid-way through the run I knew my legs were not going to let me go that far. I have too much residual marathon junk in them apparently.

Somewhere around six miles into the run I can to a realization. I have had a really good couple of months by my standards. I ran a 50k at Sunmart (my longest run to date) and a marathon PR in Houston. Pushing it to train for a 50-mile race in just a couple of months would be too much. I am sure I could get ready for 50 miles and I could probably finish the race but I don’t want to train to just finish. I want to run my first 50 miler well. Training for it would have been a stretch always pushing just a little too hard to get a workout in. I already felt like I was behind in my training. So hopefully there is a 50-mile race in my future but it will not be in April – maybe in the fall.

My focus this spring will be to train for and run Hog’s Hunt 25k with Jakeb. In March I am running the Texas Independence Relay with a team made up mostly of runners who blog. I may post more on that subject later.

I will keep up the miles and maintain a base but I look forward to enjoying my runs for the sake of running rather than being a slave the training schedule. Don’t get me wrong my personality is bent toward running what is inked in the calendar for today but it will be good to set that aside for while and just run.

Running again

Last week on Thursday I started getting a sore throat. Immediately it ticked me off but then as I thought about it I was thankful that I did not get sick during the days leading up to or during the marathon.

I ran Friday morning and there was some soreness in my legs that was not evident when I walked. It was not bad enough to stop but it made the four mile run more difficult than it normally would have been.

On Saturday the weather was chilly, but I put on warm running clothes and turned the iPod to King’s X Dogman and ran hard. It was a good run.

Sunday Jakeb and I ran 5 miles together on a mixture of soft stuff and concrete. Afterwards I went on alone. I was supposed to run 12 but at 10 miles I was near the house so I stopped. If I could have stopped at 8 I would have. It was a miserable couple of miles. My body was drained.

This morning I ran 5 and the first 3 were solid miles … the last 2 were a bit more difficult but not as tough as Sunday’s run. My sore throat seems to be fading but I am still tired. Between being sick and marathon recovery running hasn’t been the most fun activity in my life, but I look forward to when I will enjoy it again.

On the food and weight front, Andrea has helped me work on eating in a more balanced way. I am a carb fiend. I love a huge bowl of cereal in the morning and bread all day. I also have a weakness for anything baked sweet and gooey. Andrea showed me how to add protein and eat carbohydrates in a more natural form. I have cut out dairy, refined sugar and lowered my sodium intake. I eat 5 times a day. In the last week I have lost nine pounds. Hopefully being lighter will help my running.

Marathon Finish Video

I am in the black with my race number pinned to my shorts. I finish on the right side of the video.

My finish time on the clock was 3:56:34.

Race morning picture with Andrea

2008 Chevron Houston Marathon

The weather was perfect for a good marathon. Andrea, Jakeb, Gwen, Matthew, Mike and I parked and went to the George R. Brown Convention Center to get out of the cold. We saw a few people we knew. Wes, Jenny, Jay and Laura were right inside the front door and we hung out with them most of the time before the race. We saw Brenda who was running the half and a good friend from Arkansas Ronnie who was running the full.

After some stretching and standing in porta-potty lines I left the family to go stand in the cold until the race started. I wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and no gloves. I decided I would gut it out in the cold until the start. It wouldn’t have been too bad were it not for the wind. After I started running I was comfortable.

The first mile was crowded as usual but runners spaced out pretty well in the second mile and beyond. I ran too fast through 10k and decided to slow it down to a more reasonable pace for me.

I ran at an even pace through 20 miles and then slowed a little. At mile 22 my legs started cramping and I walked some but then I thought “This is not happening to me again” and started a slow jog that I could maintain. My legs loosened up and I picked it up a bit … but not much. Most of the rest of the race was a mental battle to keep running rather than run/walk.

At mile 23 the guy next to me looked over and said, “Our goal is to beat the Super Heroes.” I ran most of the day near these two guys who wore Super Hero costumes. One dressed as Flash Gordon and the other dressed as Superman. I got sick of hearing “Look there’s Superman! Go Flash!” I guess that is why they wore the costumes.

At mile 24 I was walking through the water station and as I grabbed a cup of water my stomach seized up. It was like someone was inside of me squeezing my stomach like ringing out a wet rag. I ran to the side of the street and dry heaved three times. Then as fast as it came on it went away. I’ve never experienced any kind of nausea during a race. I hope this isn’t reoccurring. I got back out on the road and headed into downtown.

I felt much better running into downtown knowing that the race was almost over. Near the finish Jake and Andrea yelled at me but I didn’t have it in me to even look over at them. I finished in 3:55:13 and beat the Super Heroes. I found the guy at the finish who told me his goal was to beat the Super Heroes and I said “You did it! You beat Superman!” And he laughed and said “Yeah.”

I finally broke four hours in a marathon. Now what?

My plan is to work for the next couple of weeks to lose 10 pounds and if my legs will let me I will start training for the Ouachita Trail 50 Miler.

Andrea and Gwen walked the half and beat last year's time by 13 seconds. That is a one second per mile improvement which is good considering they thought they would finish much slower this year.

Overall it was another good day at the marathon.

Splits:
1 – 9:08
2 – 8:25
3 – 8:34
4 – 8:48
5 – 8:33
6 – 8:35
7 – 8:43
8 – 8:33
9 – 8:39
10 – 9:09
11 – 8:27
12 – 8:59
13 – 8:53
14 – 8:42
15 – 8:37
16 – 8:48
17 – 8:46
18 – 9:03
19 – 8:57
20 – 8:47
21 – 9:32
22 – 9:45
23 – 9:20
24 – 10:07
25 – 10:16
26 – 9:09
26.2 – 1:53
Total – 3:55:13

Taper and a funeral

Marathon taper is going well.

I rested yesterday but not on purpose. I went to work an hour early so I would have time to go a funeral for the pastor of the church I went to from childhood to my teenaged years. His name was Cecil Uzzel and I knew him in typical Baptist fashion as Brother Uzzel. Brother Uzzel as they said at the funeral was a man who loved people. Much of what I know about the Bible began as I listen to him preach for all of the years I was at Emmanuel Baptist Church. He survived his own marathon as he was a prisoner of war for 41 months in Japan and survived the Bataan Death March. He was a great story-teller and the time he spent as a prisoner of war colored some of his messages and captured my imagination. He was a good man.

The day off was apparently good for me. This morning I ran 3 miles with Jakeb and then topped it off with one more alone. I felt great and could have run much further.

For inspiration this week I have been reading the race reports of runners who set some goals for themselves and achieved them in the marathon and beyond. In almost every case their mind had to be discipline to run on as their body told them it was time to stop.

I am stir-crazy as normal and I’m ready to run this race.

Looking back and looking ahead

Last year I ran 1555.9 miles. That is by far the most miles I have ever run in any given year. I averaged 30 miles per week with my longest week coming the first of November at 52 miles. That was the peak week of training for Sunmart 50k. November was also my highest mileage month with 183.

I ran the Houston half-marathon with Jakeb which was the high point of the year for me. I ran the Surfside Marathon (4:11:05). I set a 10k PR at The Bayou City Classic (47:56). Jakeb and I ran a trail race in Austin at Walnut Creek Park called The Maze. It was one of the more fun races I have ever run and gave me the desire to run more trail races. I ran a midnight 25k in July called El Scorcho (2:14:44). It was a bit disorganized but it was fun to run a race in the middle of the night. I finished the year by running farther than the marathon by finishing Sunmart 50k (5:49:15).

I started running in May of 1993 and in 14 years of running 2007 was my best year yet.

In 2008 I think I will try to keep the miles up and take the year as it comes to me. I do have a few hopes and plans. I am signed up for the Chevron Houston Marathon this month and I hope to finally break four hours. My marathon PR is 4:00:55 set at the Dallas White Rock Marathon in December 2006. I wish I hadn’t walked through that last water stop.

If marathon recovery goes well I will start training for the Ouachita Trail 50 miler. I have been intrigued by that race for a while so maybe this year will be the year I can run it.

Mixed in the training for the OT50 will be the Bayou City Classic, which our family tries to run every year. I may run the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon as a training run for OT50. I am most excited about training with Jakeb for the Hog’s Hunt 25k the first week in April.

After the OT50 I have no plans. In fact it is such a pinnacle experience (pun intended) for me I cannot allow myself to look past it.

Happy New Year!

Tapering again

I ran 19.5 miles last Friday. I would usually run an even 20 but I had run an out-and-back to McLean Park and over the Brazos river bridge on 2004. Then I ran back home and that portion of the run ended at the house at mile 19.5 and I didn’t think a half a mile was going to make that much of a difference to my marathon training.

This past Friday I ran 14 in 2:01 (8:40 pace), which is faster than I intended to run. It felt pretty good though. I’ve run 6 and 8 miles since then. My taper has a little more intensity than normal. I want to be rested enough but there have been times when I have been a bit lethargic going into the last week before the marathon so I am trying something new. Hopefully I won’t blow up because of it.

Houston is just two weeks away.

To the Track and Back to Mute Math

I am not a fan of cold weather so this morning’s 61 degree temperature was welcome. I ran a 1 mile warm-up to the track. Then at the track I ran 4x800 (3:22, 3:25, 3:28, & 3:26) with 400 recovery. Afterwards I ran a 1 mile cool-down back to the house as I listened to Stare at the Sun and Obsolete by Mute Math. Such a good groove to run to…

Wild-eyed and crazy!

I was running my 5 mile route this morning by Brazoswood High School. As I neared Slade Field three guys is an old beat-up red car screamed out of their window in my direction as they passed. It scared the mess out of me because I was in my own world listening to Radiohead’s In Rainbows. I shrugged it off and kept running.

The three wise guys (not in a biblical way of course) turned around and I heard them screaming again as they approached behind me, “You better run! We’re gonna get you.”

I thought to myself “What a bunch of bucketheads.” Then I got mad as I thought about the fact that I pass other people, both women and men running and walking in our neighborhood all the time and what if these guys had been harassing them instead of me.

They told me to run so run I did; right at them as they came towards me. I started screaming at the top of my lungs and the driver kind of swerved all over the road wondering, I'm sure, what kind of crazy guy they had decided to chase and was now chasing them back. I thought for a second about throwing my ipod at them as they went by but that would have been stupid because I don’t really have $150 laying around to replace it.

So instead I chased after them, which I knew was a race I could not win, all the while screaming at the top of my lungs “STOP!” They slowed at the stop light at Dixie Drive and Brazoswood Drive and actually pulled into the Slade Field parking lot.

I started to sprint towards them and had to run about 300 yards. As I approached them they were already near the street. I ran in their direction still yelling “YOU BETTER STOP!” - all the while trying to look as wild-eyed and crazy as possible. The driver pushed on the gas and the tires screeched as they retreated toward Lake Jackson. The old red car had Louisiana license plates.

I don’t have a clue what I would have done had they stopped. I know what I did was not that smart because one of these days something like that is going to happen to me and they will have a weapon. I just wanted to freak them out a bit and let them know that not every person running down the side of the road is an easy target for their stupid games.

Sunmart Pictures

Here are some pictures from Sunmart on Saturday.

New Template

My old template was ...well old and apparently not compatible with blogger anymore. Because I do not have time to mess with it I threw together a new template. Some day I may work on one I like better.

Sunmart

I ran the Sunmart 50k in 5:49:35, an 11:14 per mile pace. At first I was a little disappointed with the outcome but I had to remind myself that it was hot and the hills were more than I had bargained for.

The first 18.5 miles I ran close to a 10-minute pace but the last 12.5-mile loop I started fast-walking most of the uphills, which really took a toll on my overall time.

I ran with my ipod but there was a point at which I realized how different it was to run in the woods and how stupid I was being to ignore it in favor of tunes. So I turned off the music and just existed to run with my thoughts.

Physically I felt pretty good at the finish but I am sore today. I do not feel any worse than when I run a marathon.

Sunmart is a very well organized fun race. I like trail running a lot. I hope to run this race again and others like it.

This afternoon I looked up the results on-line and found out that I finished 99 out of 520 runners and 15th in my age group out of 40 so I feel better about how I did. It is all about comparisons, huh? How sad is that?

Taper Madness

I am in the late stages of my taper for Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance 50k. Typical taper stuff is going on. I am worried about whether I trained enough. I am eating too much and not running enough so I am gaining weight. My lower legs have hurt a bit which is weird because they haven’t given me any problems in training. I have far too much nervous energy that is not being burnt off by running.

The next two days I am off and Friday morning I will run two miles just to loosen everything up. And then Saturday I race. This is another first, to run more than 26.2. I am excited to race and celebrate the way of life - the running life - I am happy to live …

“Running is a way of life, and racing is a celebration of that life.” - Jenn Shelton via Riding the Wind (Anton Krupicka)

Thankful

I am thankful that I have two legs and health enough to run 14 miles on a day set aside for gratitude.

Now let's eat ... and watch football.

Happy Thanksgiving!

20 miles and weather

I ran 20 miles on Friday morning. The weather cooled down long enough for me to get my long run in and then it warmed up again. I must be doing something right.

Saturday I ran 5 on the trails and then Sunday morning I ran 5 in the rain. I really like running when it rains - especially when it is a downpour. When it rains hard I feel as if I am the only one who exists in a world no one else is willing to enter. The feeling is even more intense when it is dark. Sunday morning it was good to be isolated in the dark torrent alone with my thoughts.

Friday long run

I ran 24 slow miles. My legs were still sore from running at the track Wednesday on top of the fact that I did not do a very good job of fueling or hydrating yesterday. I did cover the miles though and today that is what counts.

Track work out

1 mile warm-up to the track, 4x800 with 400 recovery (3:30, 3:29, 3:30, 3:34), 1 mile cool-down home. The mile home was almost euphoric.

Training Normalcy

Training is going well. I ran 18 Friday morning at 8:53 pace. I've run 5, 8, 5, 5, since all between 8 and 9 minute pace. Tomorrow I will run some speedwork at the track.

Nothing extraordinary has happened otherwise. This weekend calls for 24 on Friday morning. It will be my longest run before Sunmart.

Run on …

Bid me run and I will strive with things impossible. - Shakespeare

22 Miles

8 on soft ground, 14 on pavement - 9:28 pace

I feel pretty good. Andrea and I are off for some lunch at Kim Son.

Just running and looking forward to Sumart

I’m still running.

I received my post-registration information packet from Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs yesterday and I am extremely excited about running that race. The anticipation for Sunmart is somewhat different from the anticipation I feel for a marathon. This race is more about pure running than it is about time and technique. It probably has to do with the place I am in emotionally as well.

I am excited about going beyond the marathon distance for the first time. I am excited about running in the woods of Huntsville State Park. I am just excited.

I ran 18 miles weekend before last. I ran a really easy pace until about mile 11, and from 11-15 I ran with a friend from church who just happened to catch me. He was running much faster than me and I sped up a bit and he slowed down significantly and we ran a couple together. I paid for it the next day with incredibly sore legs.

Last weekend I ran 20 alone. I ran well within myself and about 8 miles were off road. I felt much better after this run.

Tuesday morning I ran at the track for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have been running tempo runs and fartlek rather than track workouts. Tuesday I ran 8x400 with 200 recovery and a 1 mile warm-up cool-down (1:44, 1:46, 1:46, 1:43, 1:43, 1:43, 1:45, 1:43).

The schedule calls for 21 tomorrow, 18 next weekend and 24 the weekend after before I begin to taper.

I read the article on Tony Krupicka in Running Times as I sat at ate lunch a few minutes ago and my mileage seems meager compared to a guy who does 200 mile weeks. I really like these quotes:

..................

Running sharpens the focus on life and intensifies the emotions.

Is there any better reason to do anything? (Running Times Article)

..................
Going running all day in our present society is completely pointless,

but there is a big difference between something having a point

and something having meaning. (Web Quote)

..................

- Anton Krupicka

Either side of sunrise

I ran a mile to the track this morning. At the track I ran 4 x 800 with 400 recovery. My times were 3:35, 3:39, 3:39, and 3:39. Then I ran a mile home for five miles total. Even though I ran hard I never felt like stopping. Usually when it comes to speed work at least once during the workout I feel like I’ve had enough. This morning I felt good and I was as charged up running the last repeat maybe even more than I was on the first.

Saturday morning I ran 15.5. I was scheduled for 15 but on Oyster Creek Drive I was zoned out enjoying the exploration of my own mind since I left the iPod at home. As I approached Oak Drive I realized I was supposed to have turned on Circle Way and no matter what I did I was a half a mile out of the way. Oh well.

As part of my long run I ran the trail behind McLean Park onto highway 2004 to run over the Brazos River Bridge twice. That is one of the few ways to get in hill repeats in Lake Jackson. On the way out I scared a Whitetail deer (a doe). She ran off into the woods 50 yards ahead of me. On the way back in both me and a eight-point buck scared each other off of the trail as I turned a sharp corner and there he stood. We both jumped at the same time as he bailed off of the trail and into a wetland area.

Both of those runs are examples the reason I run. I am training to run a 50k. That is the destination. But the journey so far has been so good. It feels good to push myself at the track and feel my body respond by getting stronger. It is cool to lose myself on a run so much that I miss my turn. I also like to be surprised by nature when so many people would miss it because they are breathing artificially cooled air while lying in between their warm sheets. I would rather sweat in the damp air of a Saturday morning on either side of sunrise. It is so good to run …

This and that

This weekend I missed my long run. There was just wasn’t enough time to fit it in. I don’t mind missing a scheduled run here and there but I really hate to miss long runs. Last week was a cut back week so maybe it won't matter too much that I missed running long. This weekend is a 15 miler which I hope to run Friday morning before Andrea and I go to Houston to hang out.

Tuesday I ran speed work at the track. I ran a mile warm-up to the track and then ran 6X400 with 200 recovery. My times got progressively slower – 1:41, 1:42, 1:43, 1:45, 1:45, 1:47. I ran a mile cool-down back home. It felt good to run hard.

Friday morning if I make my 15 mile long run the last mile will be my 1000th mile for the year. That is the earliest I have ever reached the 1000 mile mark. My goal was to average running more than 100 miles per month. That should not be a problem since I am really picking up the miles for 50k and marathon training … assuming I do not injure myself.

Also two weeks ago I signed-up from the Chevron Houston Marathon. Andrea and her sister Gwen are signed-up for the half again. Jakeb decided to forgo the half this year for basketball.

Brazosport Relay Triathlon

I was on a team called “Hot Fuzz”. We came in 1st place for the Male Corporate Division. Our team really should have come in 2nd place but the winning Male Corporate team was in 2nd place overall and took the overall Male division trophy. Since there is no duplication of awards we got 1st Male Corporate.

Our swimmer Greg swam the 1k in 14:24. The 1st runner John ran his 5k in 24:05. I ran my 5k in 22:51. Wes rode his bike for fifteen miles in 38:13.

The weather was hot and very humid. I think we did pretty well and it was a fun event.

Austin and Town Lake Trail

Andrea and I spent last weekend in Austin. It was time for us to get away from Lake Jackson and be alone. We had a great time eating good food and shopping as Andrea tried to spend what was left of her birthday money.

We stayed downtown on 5th street and IH-35. Saturday morning I woke up, drank coffee, stretched and headed out of the door to run on Town Lake Trail. It has been years since I ran in downtown Austin but I remember Town Lake (which is actually a river) being an excellent place to run.

As I ran south on Travis toward the river I miss-stepped on an uneven part of the sidewalk and aggravated my twisted ankle. I was mad and limped around for a while contemplating walking back to the hotel room and forgetting about the run. I thought about it while I walked and said “Forget it, I’m running on it”. After a couple of strides my ankle started feeling better and by the time I made it to the trail I completely forgot about it.

I ran past members of the Austin Rowing Club as they cleaned their crafts and got them ready to launch onto Town Lake. I turned down a slight grade and was blown away by the number of people who were running on the Town Lake Trail on a Saturday morning. There were training groups running together getting ready for some unnamed race. There were both moms and dads pushing strollers with kids who were content to ride. There were couples running together and there were runners running alone, some pushing themselves and some running at a comfortable pace.

Town lake is the most festive place I have ever run outside of a marathon. It is like a party of people who have their health and ability to move in common. We navigated the trail together with a sameness of purpose.

I crossed the lake on a foot bridge made especially for those moving under their own power and ran back the way I came on the opposite side of the river. The south side of the river trail passes Runtex – one of the best running stores in the world. Runtex puts out igloo coolers with water, free to whoever is using the trail. I crossed Congress Avenue Bridge and headed back to the hotel. This was one of the best runs I’ve had in a while. I lost myself in the atmosphere and forgot that my ankle ever hurt or that running takes any effort at all.

Town Lake Trail is a great place to run.

I don't need no stinkin rest ...

After Saturday’s long run crash I knew I needed to take some time off. Immediately after the run I mentally made a plan to back off and not run for a couple of days.

Sunday morning I woke up and couldn’t stand it … I ran 3 miles.

This morning I woke up at 4:30 and was out of the door at 5:30 to run 3 more miles. In my mind I was thinking, “Instead of taking days off I will just back off on the mileage and pick it back up next week. These two runs of three miles are much less than the 6 and 5 milers I had on the schedule.” I started making plans to do some speed work tomorrow morning in the middle of a four miler.

As I turned the corner off of Oak and on to Oyster Creek Drive I was feeling good and started wondering why in the world I would ever think to slow down. One bad long run is no reason to back off of a good training schedule.

I barely got that thought out of my mind when my foot landed on a branch about 2 inches in diameter and I crashed to the sidewalk and rolled over to stare at the stars through the branches of a large tree. My ankle screamed at me from rolling awkwardly over the branch.

AHHHH … @#!$&^%

I walked a mile back to the house on my twisted ankle. I took ibuprofen and watched my right ankle swell. This morning my foot was up on my desk with a freezer bag of ice placed strategically on the swelling. I have an ankle brace on and I am trying to walk as little as possible.

There is a possibility that I really did need a couple of days off but I hate to be force into it. I may be able to run again on Friday … I hope!

Not 14

I was scheduled to run 14 this morning. I quit at five. I wanted to quit at one. My legs felt dead. I was sick of listening the same old music and running the same old route. It is time to back off a bit, leave the iPod at home, make some new routes and change the game plan so running will not become stale.

Speedwork, a Garden Hose and Cereal

On the schedule for this morning’s run was a speed session to try to get ready for a faster 5k. I stepped out of the front door and onto the street and headed for Slade Field, which is a one-mile run from the house. I punched the Nickel Creek playlist on my iPod and started the one mile warm-up.

When I turned the corner on Blunk Road I could see a glow in the sky in the direction of the High School. By the time I got to Dixie Drive I could tell that the stadium lights were on at Slade Field. Usually the field is mostly dark.

The lights were blazing at Slade because the Brazoswood Buccaneer football team was about to start an early morning practice. One coach and a couple of players were on the field early getting in extra work by running lines before official practice began.

I ran on the track and changed my playlist to “run – tempo” and kicked it into a higher gear for the first of four 800 meter repeats with 400 recovery. The 800’s were 3:32, 3:32, 3:35, 3:42 – I was dying at the end as you can see by that last time.

When I finished I stopped by the water fountain and drank too much. The first two hundred yards or so of the cool-down run home were rough. Pushing myself and then drinking too much water immediately afterwards made me feel a little nauseated. I know I’ve had a good work-out when I feel like I’m going to puke.

When I got home I fed the dogs and then turned on the water and stood under the stream of the garden hose. There is nothing like rinsing off in the water hose in the summer after a hot run. The water hits my head and it is so cold I lose my breath for a couple of seconds. The routine of rinsing off in the water hose started years ago because I need to get the sweat out of my clothes so they wouldn’t stink up the garage as they dried during the day. Now I enjoy the wet cool-down beyond the mere functionality of the routine.

After taking a shower another of my favorite post run sensual treats is to fill up a big bowl with cereal and skim milk. My body seems to crave fuel and most of the time the cereal satisfies my craving more than anything I eat for the rest of the day. I add more milk than is necessary for the amount of cereal in the bowl so that there is some flavored drink left when the cereal is gone. I drink what is left straight from the bowl. Mmmmm …

The joy of running lasts even after the run has been run.

Brazosport Relay Triathlon

I ran hard this morning. As always I use words like “hard” realizing that it is a relative term. So to restate: I ran at the edge of my limitations this morning.

A friend of mine asked me to run one of the 5k legs of the Brazosport Relay Triathlon on September 8th. I was not asked because of my blazing speed that is for sure. I think all of the really fast runners are either on a team or out-of-town that weekend. I am looking forward to it.

Most of my training has been geared to running further so I have been running more miles at a slower speed. So over the next couple of weeks I am going to work at getting faster. I do not know how much good I will do in a month’s worth of time … we’ll see.

This morning I ran five miles. The first mile was a warm-up, the middle three were fartlek miles, and the last mile was a cool down. It felt good to push it but now I will probably drag through the rest of the day.

I put "Ride" from Ty Tabor's Rock Garden on replay through the second mile of the run. It is a good song to push the pace to.

Arkansas Vacation 2007

The family spent the weekend in Arkansas. It is our annual “before school starts” trip to Lake Catherine. It took us a while to get there though because we made a stop in Longview to meet with the couple I am doing a wedding for this weekend. Then we stayed at Andrea’s sister’s house for a night in Little Rock. Sunday we left Little Rock and spent the rest of the time (till Wednesday) at Lake Catherine State Park.

Saturday evening Tori Jakeb and I climbed Pinnacle Mountain. It was cool to climb with the kids.

Then Sunday morning I woke up and ran from Maumelle Park to Pinnacle Mountain State Park, on to the Ouachita Trail until it comes to Pinnacle Mountain. Then I “ran” over Pinnacle Mountain and ran back the way I came.

I ran this run because it is the beginning of the Ouachita Trail 50 that is run in April. I wouldn’t mind running this race but half way up the side of Pinnacle I thought “this is the most stupid thing I can imagine – to climb over this mountain and then run the rest of the race.” But after I finished running I got to the car and thought “That wasn’t too bad.”

If I decide to run OT50 I will have to find some hills to train on.

On Monday and Tuesday I ran the trails in the park. One of the trails comes off of a hill and has these long smooth switchbacks that make for fast fun running. I had a good time running in Arkansas. I enjoyed the relaxation of the rest of the day hanging out with the fam too.

El Scorcho Pics

El Scorcho in the dark ...

Andrea and I have friends who live north of Dallas. Since we were in the area, on Saturday evening we decided to travel up and go to church with them. I shook hands with my friend and he said “I heard you were running today. How did it go?”

“I am running but not until tonight … at midnight,” I told him.

“You’re nuts,” was the only reply he had.

That is the reaction I got from most people when they found out that I was going to run a midnight 25k. Andrea is to the point where she kind of understands, or at least tolerates my running, but even this race seemed a bit extreme for her too.

I was concerned that the change in schedule would mess up my running. I am a creature of habit and I run almost exclusively in the early morning. I tried to rest Saturday afternoon as much as possible and took about a two hour nap. Nutritionally I ate lunch at noon and then did not eat anything else until about 9:00 pm, then I ate a bowl of cereal and a banana just like I do on race morning. I also took a Succeed Scap electrolyte capsule.

I got to Trinity Park right at 10:30 pm Saturday night to pick up my packet. I was planning to pick up my packet at Fort Worth Running Company on Friday afternoon but they sent an email late last week saying packet pick-up would only be available the night of the race. Things went well except that they only had small and extra-small t-shirts. They said they would have to mail the rest at a later date.

People milled around until the race director made a couple of announcements about 15 minutes before the race. The course was advertised as a “well-lit trail” through Trinity Park. The race director informed us that apparently there were communication issues with the city and many of the trail lights were out. People who had head lamps or flash lights were asked to team up with people who came without any lighting. Andrea is the organized of the two of us and before I left the hotel she gave me the mag-light she walks with. So I had a light but it was not necessary.

The course was very dark. I took the flashlight out on the first loop but I put it back up because it was cumbersome to carry and I really didn’t need it. Once my eyes got adjusted to night running I was able to run even the darkest parts of the course without any problem. It was cool to run in the pitch black and it gave the race a bit of mystery. It would have been an entirely different story if the footing was bad, but that was not the case.

The course was also a 5k loop so I had to run it 5 times. I usually despise multiple loop courses but this was not so bad. Most of the course was soft (grass or crushed rock) with a little bit of concrete sidewalks and some asphalt.

I ran pretty hard the whole way. At first I thought I was running too hard but I never really hit a spot where my mind or body told me I would have to slow down. When I finished there was nothing in reserve.

I finished by my watch at 2:14:44 with official race results coming out later this week. The volunteers were great and did a good job encouraging the runners. I had a great time. It was good to get a break from the typical road race and be able to do something different. If it weren’t in Fort Worth I would say I would like to run this race again. But I doubt I will travel all the way up there for El Scorcho alone.

El Scorcho 25k

This morning I ran 10 miles to finish my training for El Scorcho. The coming week will consist of a couple of short runs but mostly rest, hydration and fueling so I can run a 25k Saturday night/Sunday morning @ midnight in Ft. Worth.

Andrea has a conference this weekend in Grapevine and I am just tagging along. A couple of months back I started surfing the internet for a race that same weekend in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. All I could find was a 25k/50k run at midnight at a park in Ft. Worth. I signed up immediately.

This is the first year for El Scorcho. It is limited to 200 runners because of the permit with the park where it is held and they filled up months ago. Now there is a waiting list. The race is called El Scorcho because even at midnight in July it will be hot.

Little did I know when I signed up how hot of a race registration I was getting … in more ways than one.

Firecracker 4 2007

Andrea, Anna, and I loaded up at 6:40 am and headed to Dunbar Park to see if the Firecracker 4 would still be run in the rain. When we got to the park there were people everywhere even though the rain was coming down pretty good.

I dropped Andrea and Anna off in front of the pavilion and after parking caught up with them to register for the race. Andrea and Anna signed up for the 2-mile walk and I signed-up for the four mile run. Andrea’s sister Gwen and Gwen’s son Matthew signed up for the 2 mile walk as well.

At about 7:15 we headed to the starting line and stood in the rain. After a moment of silence and some instructions the race director yelled “Go!” and we were off right on time at 7:30. I had my iPod wrapped in a Ziploc in my Nathan runner’s belt. I had the volume way too loud as the race started and struggled with it for a little while at the start.

My first mile was fast (for me) at 7:14. The rain was still coming down and I tried to avoid the puddles for the first mile. There was a large group of runners ahead of me in the distance and a string of people behind so I ran alone for the most part. The third place female passed me at the beginning of the second mile.

I passed the 2-mile mark on the Yaupon bridge over Oyster Creek in 7:34. The sidewalk on the bridge was full of water and I decided at that point that I would splash through the puddles like the big kid that I am.

The third mile was slower and I struggled with whether I should keep running as hard as I was or just slow down and enjoy the rest of the race at a moderate pace. I was having the internal arguments that come in almost every race. I decided to keep pushing.

Mile three was the slowest at 7:46. At that point I realized I had a chance to break 30 minutes. I messed around to much in the third mile arguing with myself though and even though I pushed I missed the 30 minute mark by 12 seconds. I tried to catch a runner in front of me but it was not to be. I was out of gas and he had some left. I ran the last mile in 7:33 and finished the race in 30:12.

Anna won the female division of 2-mile walk. She was extremely excited about that. Gwen came in second and Andrea in third. Matthew won the male division of the 2-mile walk for the second year in a row.

Western States 100

This weekend I followed the Western States Endurance run via web cast. I am amazed at how long 30 hours is when it comes to running 100 miles. I ran my Saturday morning long run (13 miles) and my Sunday morning 4 miler twenty-four hours later. In California there were people who had never stopped running their 100 mile race over the same period of time.

Wow …

One Hundred?

I’ve been reading a lot about ultra running lately. I read blogs written by people who run from 50k to the 135 mile Bad Water Ultra that starts in Death Valley.

All of this reading has started me to wondering what my limitations really are. Have I ever really pushed myself? My running this year has increased tremendously over previous years mainly because I have been consistent through the middle of the year rather than dropping off.

So I wonder …can I run a 50k? Surely I can. It is less than six miles longer than a marathon.

Can I run 50 miles? … almost two marathons back-to-back?

What about 100?

Late last week I had been reading blogs by people who are attempting the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles) this weekend. I started looking at 100 mile races closer to home without the insanity of mountains and canyons. I found the Arkansas Traveler 100 - one hundred miles in the hills of Arkansas in October. I thought to myself “maybe someday …”

Then I woke up Saturday morning and struggled through a tough, hot, humid 12 miler and my hopes were dashed. How stupid could I be to think that my body could hold up to running 100 miles?

Today at lunch I read through the Western States Endurance Run program. I wonder …

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
- T.S. Eliot