Oct 20th, race results

Fifty miles in 11:15 hours. Super tough course because of the hard ground, dust created by wanta be hunters and a very driven hot sun. My body was in really good shape but the hard ground and driven sun did their damage. The course and race was a blast. I loved every minute of pain and joy. That simple.

My fifty mile time is very close to the top group of runners. This is a surprise to me given their long history of running and I think speaks strong of the long training runs and good planning. The top group of runners can be stated as super tough, very professional and very focused around running. Top knotch folks.

I started the race at my normal 9 to 10 minute mile pace. My goal was to run 5 miles an hour which is my normal training speed for long runs (25 to 30 mile runs). I felt very good around mile 25 and only started to notice the hot sun around mile 30. At mile 30 my soul started to scream at the dust and the hot sun.

Some have noted that i started the run too fast. I am not sure and will spend some time thinking over this possiblity.

The straw that broke my back was the bodies in ability to process liquids. Most if not all of my training was in much cooler conditions, early morning or late at night. Seldom did i do runs during the middle of the day while the sun was at its best. I did my normal thing by taking scaps (1 per half hour) and drinking a sports drink mixed with carbo pro. At mile 30 the body would no longer process the fluids. Not sure why. It just stopped. Given it was still very hot I had a problem. In the future ice, and other solutions including wearing better clothing will help.

The crazy thing is once the sun went down I had a new kick of energy. Given I had trained to run in the dark over the summer the body was ready for a new run, however i was not. At this point in the process the body started to function a bit better but the sun, lack of water and other conditions had eaten the soul alive.

If I had known that I was doing well in relationship to the other runners my soul would have come alive and there is a good chance i would have run the entire 100 miles. However, for reasons beyond me I thought i was doing poorly.

The body recovery was very good except for the right ankle. The ankle does not hurt and was not swollen after the race. I am not sure what is wrong with the right ankle but my guess is it will get much better in the next day or two.

As for the course and the race wow.. what a blast. I really had a good time. I felt so connected to the other runners even though I had never met them or raced with them. This means a bunch to me.

Future: Easy, keep running. Do at least 2 or 3 50 mile races before october when I run the pony express 100 again.

Closing thought: My friends who know me remind me that three years ago i was running 10 miles a week at best. They remind me I weighted 200 pounds and fat was all over the place. Today I am at 165 and fat is hard to find. I can run at will 20 miles and have a driven desire to train, feel the energy of the outdoors and have tons of fun.. cant beat that.

count your blessings.. name them one by one..

frank

October 11th 2008

The training has stopped. So what has happen? Well not what i expected. First, I reduced my diet from tons of food to a normal amount or less. Second, my joints started to really hurt. The left ankle started to hurt and the right knee also started to hurt. No real reason why. Today, about 4 days later the joints seem to be getting better even though the sleep last night was very limited. The other strange thing was pee. Heck within 24 hours of not running all i did was pee. This lasted for about 48 hours. Today i feel much better. I think brian, my tight bro, gets credit. He made sure i ate so much food last night. I never felt hungry.. i just ate and ate and ate.. so that is really good.

I plan on doing some running during the weekend and during the week prior to the run. Not long runs just short runs that allow me to stay ready. Yes, i am ready and yes i am excited.

October 7th, 2008

Today was the last training day. Body is doing super well. No injuries just a very burnt out and tired soul from running all the time. Did about 180 miles last 7days. Tons of food and tons of running kinda defines that many miles.

Today did a minuture run of maybe 10 miles. Tried to enjoy my run, go places i used to go and see the forest for the last time before the big run.

I have no idea how I will do. My body seems in top condition but I am also 51 so it really depends on the next few days and how well my body rest, repairs and fixes all that is broken. The right calf still hurts but i have grown used to the pain.

The last month was about no water on the runs, no scaps .. nothing.. push the body super hard with no reward during the run. The basic idea is to build up resistance and get used to feeling like crap.

I hope to do one small run around beaver pond which kinda where this insanity started. Not sure how that will feel given the run is less then a few miles at best and all flat. Wow. Three years later if I am not running super hard long distances I feel like I did nothing.

crazy.

so ... today starts the period of rest.. for both the soul and the body.. see how it goes..