September 20th, 2009

Rain and the Flu. Ok for the first time since working I took a sick day, friday. Man that never happens. Of course this means very little running this week because the flu managed to get into my lungs which makes me very sad and very weak.

However, today like a nut that I am my soul and body returned to the mountains to run and enjoy the heavy rain. Given it has rained just about every days this week all day long most folks including my self are starting to go crazy, very crazy.

Getting out for the run was a very important event and most of my soul hopes that the lungs are able to withstand the insanity of the cold, wet and long run.

Now it is important to note that even though I was sick and even though I did not run my body was at the Gym working out like a mad dog all week. I hope no one got sick from my touching everything but the body needs to stay active.

I started the run today, all 17 miles, running my normal run. The first 1 mile is slow as the body wakes up and finds all the parts. By the time i am at the first connector trail my body is doing very well and I am at the 10 min mile run point which I kept most of the run.

As I was returning back to the car a woman pasted me. I could not tell how old or young only that she wore about 500 dollars worth of pretty cool clothing along with an ipod or something to keep her mind off the forest, trees, birds and nature. I noted to her how wonderful the day was but given she was stuck in music she did not hear me.

Being that I am a tough crazy person I yelled back as i started to pass her "ok so you dont want to talk i will pass your ass!". Given i live in Asheville and everyone seems to go to church and love everyone I stand out like a strange weed among plastic flowers.

I managed to keep up a good 8 min mile pace for about 2 miles. Not bad for someone born before color tv. Shit that makes me old. However, at some points I knew there was this side trail i could take and escape the insanity of this woman passing me. It was not that she was silent or a woman but the strange tan on her legs. This was not a tan created by the sun but one created with some sort of booth / chemical. Wonderful.

I must note that as i passed her the trees and birds did jump onto my side and push me forward because going 8 min miles for this old body is a bigger miracle then man walking on Mars.

I took a strange set of trails home and managed to get back to the car with my lungs feeling like shit and my heart screaming at me. Yes i said, the body is back to life, pissed at me but ready to run 100 miles.

If all goes well i hope to run with some folks next saturday. It is my dream because i never get to run with anyone. My runs are great but after a while it would be nice to run with other humans.

enjoy.

September 13th, 2009

First the important stuff: Davy Crockett managed to run the Wasatch 100 in 28:32 with the best time in his age group and given the hot shots did it only 8 hours faster that is a great time.

This week started off with the flu. Sore throat and some minor fever issues. After eating an entire bottle of Vitamin C in which I did not die the flu decided to leave my body given it could tell that I was crazy. However, this was a two part type flu. The throat gets better then this little shits attack the lungs and other parts of the body.

On Wed. I managed to run 12 easy miles but some running. It was tough because the body did not feel too good. On Thursday a bit more running along with some gym time on the bike. Tons of hard work but the body was not too ready. On Friday the fever returned and the lungs started to fill up with something so i rested both Friday and Saturday which i must admit is total hell given I really wanted to run bad. Saturday I did managed to work out pretty hard in the gym however.

Sunday: The lungs not being 100 percent I still decided to give a long run a chance; long run equals 50 miles. The other thing going against me was the 85 plus heat that was sure to try and melt me.

I started at 9am a bit late given the heat but the best I can do given it is Sunday. The first 21.5 mile split was very strong. I had the bowl runs.. and was having problems keeping things down. Took about 4 shits before the end of the splits. However, when i was finished i felt pretty good.

The second split was not so good. The run over the grassy knob and the tunnel went very well given it was my second shot. However, by the time i got to the water I was hurting. My body was dehydrating super fast and no matter how much I drank it did very little good. I walked a bit of the surface road section and some of the connector to the 479a fire road. At this point I started to get very sick so I started to walk then run then walk then run. I felt like I had heat stroke or something but in the end managed to get back to the car only 15 minutes off normal split time.

I can assure you that walking up sleepy gap was not a fun thing.. and with nothing left in my body to push me forward it was amazing i got to the top. Not sure if i could have done anything different given the heat and being sick but i also just did not have the eye of the tiger today. Not sure why.

I plan on running my 21.5 mile run in the morning then resting on tuesday and wed. Thursday and Friday will also see high milage days with Saturday and Sunday being work days. It is getting close to the end of the month and I plan on dropping off the miles about 7 days before the race.

As for recovery. Amazing. My legs hurt a bit but here it is a few hours later and I am feel super good.

September 6th, 2009

Trying to write this blog after running 50 miles is about as tough as cutting the front and back lawn while you have swine flu. However, here i go given i want to record some of the information before i fall asleep and die.

First: I ran into 2 little lost girls and a dog around mile 38. That turned into a big situation but only cost me about 10 to 15 minutes off my last split.

Splits: 21.5 mile post=3hrs 30mins.

Splits: 35.5 mile post =2hrs 45mins.

Splits: 50 mile post = 2:hrs 50mins (minues 15 min. with the park ranger helping find the lost girls)

Give or take Ranger and rescue time i figure i did the run in about 9 hours and 37 minutes. The split times do not take in the rest time between splits / loops but the overall time does.

I started about 9am. The idea was simple. Do my 21.5 mile run starting at the mid point, Sleepy Gap parkway parking lot and then running on shunt-in trail do my entire 21.5 mile loop. The weather was cool around 65 when i started and cloudy which is proof there is a God.

The 21.5 mile loop is about 2 miles surface roads, 15 miles fire roads and the rest is single track. The grade is up and down with about 8,000 foot gain loss during the loop.

The next loop is about 15 miles with a about 3 miles on surface roads, 10 miles on single track and the rest on fire roads. I like this loop given the single track work but is tough on my right foot i have to be careful.

The last split / loop is the same and i run it a bit more to make sure i have 50 miles (more surface road and a bit more fire road.

The logic was simple. After doing the first 21.5 miles I would rest at the car for 15 minute which is not part of the split time but part of the over all run time. During the rest i remove my shoes and socks. I then consumed a protein shake i had made as well as eat some peanut butter plus drink some water. I took 4 pain pills which i dont think do shit except to make my kidneys work harder.

On the second loop i was there about 18 minutes or a bit longer. Time flies when you are sitting on your butt resting. This time i consumed my friend Multi-dextrin (sp) in large amounts. By the time i was about 20 minutes into that split i started to feel very good and very happy.. Gotta love stuff that is used in making beer for ultra run training.

The rescue time took place at mile 38 and mile 45. It cost me concentration for it is tough to focus on running knowing that these two girls are in danger and after watching two woman cry after i told them i saw their little girls. however I did ok.

I am very happy with my run / split times. This is proof that if i rest between splits the end result is much faster overall times. The other thing to point out is my run in october is kinda flat but super hot and dry. This run is very wet, full of bears, snakes and lost children. The wet really helps keep the body moving fast even though I do a ton of super big hill climbs for miles.

I plan on doing the same run next weekend with only a few small runs and some gym time during the week. I want the body to rebuild for the next weekend and see how well i do running another 50 miles. The real key is rebuilding and rest time. If the sun is not out again i might reduce my rest times between splits.. but not sure..

However, how does all this effect the second 50 miles? Great question. I came home and drank a ton of protein mix as well as sugar free cranberry juice so my kidneys got some fuel. I feel ok but the legs are tired and i have a bad rash between my two friends and the legs.. oh no..

My right foot is not perfect but the left is willing to do extra work to help the right foot..

enjoy