Old Man Still running

Funny how I've barely thought about running a 100 on Friday.  I've been so busy, running is about #5 on my priorities lately. My training shows it too.  Oh well.  I guess I better at least start thinking about it.  I'll give it a go, but there is a good chance I'll bail at mile 50 if the hamstring is getting worse.  Today it feels fine.  But if I went running, it would start complaining again.  So, I'll probably just take it easy on Friday and enjoy running with friends.  At least I finally looked at the weather and discovered that it will be cold and windy.  If it is windy at night, that will be pretty brutal out there.  I hope people are prepared for cold.   I'm just hoping for fun.  I know I can't compete as I wish.  It has been almost two years since I really could "compete" in a race and really push it.  For now, I'll just have fun and try to stay away from more injury.

Treadmill.  For the first time in nearly eight weeks, very little pain in the hamstring as long as I kept the speed slower than 10:00 pace which is a decent 100-mile pace.  So I'm encouraged.  I did have to stop several times to stretch.  So I'm pretty convinced that I am healing.  So, I'll approach this race very different.  In stead of going out fast as usual, I'll maintain more of a steady pace like Matt Watts does.  Hopefully that will work.  It is going to be really cold.

A very short report.  This was my third running of the Buffalo Run 100.  With a bad hamstring, I decided to just treat it as a training run, take it easy, and see what I could do, likely quitting at 50 miles.  I hadn't really trained much in the past 8 weeks since straining the muscle running a silly 5K.

The hamstring started to complain during the first mile, so I just held back.  But I had a great time.  For much of the first 40 miles I ran near my friend, Kristle Liddle, the eventual woman's winner.  It was fun to talk, stategize, and try to help her draft against the wind.  I encouraged her to blast past another woman who we were trailing for miles so she would mentally crush the other runner.  We ran very steady 10:30 miles and rarely walked.  At the Ranch we did pass the other runner. By mile 40, when I stopped to put on more layers for the evening, I fell behind, almost caught back up but just couldn't quite get there.   It got very cold, but I had plenty on to keep me warm. Wind chill during the night would dip into the teens and my water bottle would freeze up between aid stations.

I finished my first 50 in about 9:30.  That shocked me, I didn't think I was going that fast.  On the bright side, I never felt bone pain at all from my break last year.  I'm back from that!   Also on the bright side, by mile 50 the hamstring felt fine (or just as sore as my quads and other muscles.)   I was ready to roll.

I charged up the hill and was about to catch other runners when I ran out of gas.  I struggled for energy for a long time after that, so had to back off.  Buddy Tom Jackson caught up and went ahead.  But only two other runners passed me for the rest of the way.  For the last 25 miles, I just concentrated on averaging 15:00 miles including stops.   It was a cold, but wonderful night.   In the morning, the bacon at the Ranch brought me back to life.

I predicted correctly when I would see the front-running 50-milers coming toward me and I had fun greeting much of the front-mid-pack, most of who somehow knew my name.   Great fun.

I really took the last couple hours easy, just enjoying the morning.  I could not see any other runners ahead nor any behind.  I came in alone at 23:11.  I was very pleased to finish my first sub-24-hour 100 in two years.   It feels like I'm almost back.  I put in about an 80% effort and anxious to try to run a race at 100% effort soon.

Next up, North Coast 24-hour in Cleveland, OH, in four weeks, one of the most competitive fixed-time races in the country.   My hope is always a 100-mile PR and 24-hour distance PR.   We shall see.