The Long Run

First run of New Year for me.

Back-filling in entries so not too much to say.  Leaving for a six day cruise this afternoon.  Planning on trying to get a few treadmill runs in on the ship.

Hoping to get 4, made it farther, sunny but rocky day. Key West port visit canceled :-(

Looks like it was too rough to safely dock the ship.

Running on a treadmill on a rocking and rolling ship was interesting.

Later in the day, around dinner time the waves finally got to me, had to skip the main course and go lay down.  Two of the family did not make it out of the room for dinner, but the youngest one had no problem at all, and he was the one most worried about the cruise.

Treadmill run on the ship. Woke up early so I got a little extra in before starting the day.

We have an excursion into Cozumel but not until afternoon.

Another treadmill run on the ship. Got in three runs for the week, better than expected.  Went a little bit faster today.

Haven't had a significant cut back week in a while, so I was probably due for one.  I also learned last year how counterproductive it can be to try and cram in a full schedule of running while on vacation.

I thought I had woken up extra early, but not really since the clocks changed from Central back to Eastern.

Week from today will be my first 50K trail race.  I plan on running at a faster pace than I ran on the training run but not all out since I don't want a big long recovery time, since the 100K will only be a month away.

Ran with Lisa R. , nice relaxed pace, enjoyable run this morning!

When I started out I was planning on running by myself, so was glad to see Lisa coming down the street just as I was turning on my garmin and getting ready to start.

Cool and windy this morning. Got a slightly later start (almost 6:30 instead of the usual 6:00).

I popped wide awake when Jenny's alarm went off then slowly drifted back to sleep until it was just after 6:00.  I thought about staying in bed but decided a short run would be better than staying in bed.  

For some reason, I like to wear my green silence shoes on Fridays.  They are so light, almost feel like wearing slippers but I don't notice less cushioning or support.

My first trail race. I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was freezing at the start (literally) but it warmed up nicely but stayed cool enough to not feel hot.

The course was beautiful. I fell down once at mile 20. I ate m&m's at the aid station (twice).

Saw Jenny and Sean K. out on the course, met Cathy B.  before the start of the race and ran into a lot of nice people out on the course.

Overall I kept a pretty even pace and had to fight to hang on towards the end. It was also nice to see Ash, who I ran with on my first Croom practice run, he was there volunteering today and was very encouraging each time I went past the starting area. I'm very pleased with the overall experience as well as my time which I knew could vary quite a bit. It helped a lot that Jenny encouraged me to think about some goals before the race. I also really enjoy the relaxed after the race hanging out, it feels like you are at a cook out with a bunch of good friends (even though you don't know everyone).

The course consisted of an initial starter loop of just over two miles, followed by three big loops about 10 miles each.

Due to some last minute changes, the 50k race had two start times, 6:00 and 7:00.  There was also a 100K race starting at 6:00 and a 25K race starting at 7:00.  I started out wearing a long sleeve tech shirt (old Disney marathon shirt), sleeveless shirt, hat gloves, arm warmers and shorts.   It was about 32 degrees at the start (it was 28 degrees for Jenny's 6:00 start)

I had some time goals in mind but didn't have an exact pacing strategy.  As the race continued on and I became more and more acquainted with the 10 mile loop, I began to get into a rhythm, speeding up and slowing down as the terrain permitted.  Since it's a relatively small race there were a good number of stretches where I was alone in the woods.

Sometime during the first loop I caught up to a guy, chatted with him a bit and then passed him.  I was going to follow him at first but he pointed out that since I had caught up to him then I should keep going at the same pace.  So, I went on ahead and stayed in front of him until I had to stop for a bathroom break then he went flying by me.  Got going again and caught up to him as we went through the starting area again.  I ditched the gloves and arm warmers then started on the second loop.

During the second loop I was running behind the guy, Mike, who by this time had no shirt on (he started out with just a sleeveless shirt), so for the rest of the race until the results were up he would be known as that guy with no shirt on.  He had picked up the pace and was pushing into sub 8:00 range so I backed off a bit.  Still felt a little bit fast for me although it was hard to judge me speed.  It feels faster when running in the woods with the trees around you, watching out for roots, and jumping over a log every now and then.  About mile 20, I was going up a slight incline and my foot caught a root and I went down pretty hard.  But fortunately, being on an incline I didn't fall very far and my hands landed on nothing sharp.  After the initial shock, I realized I was fine and got back up again.  That was my only fall.  I think my landing reflexes were good due to all of the burpees I've been doing at Jenny's boot camp!

At the start of the third loop, I topped off my bottles with accelerade from my drop bag.  Ash (who is going to be doing a 100k next week) said to me, ok Mark, just one more lap, you did this same run just a few weeks ago.  It was at a slower pace then but it still gave me some confidence to hear it.  I was still feeling pretty good but knew things would change over the course of the next 10 miles.

There were two aid stations on the course, one was at the starting area, and the other at the (about) halfway point on the course.   When I was about a mile from the half way point aid station on the third loop.  I saw Jenny and Sean who had started at 6:00.  They looked pretty good and told me they doing a walk run strategy.  After saying hi, picked the pace back up and made it to the aid station.

 Stopped for another handful of m&m's, which tasted really dry in my mouth this time.  I had been drinking pretty good although could have done a better job early on in the race, but did not since it was so cold then.

As the miles counted down, I started feeling good about staying on track and not falling apart, I had a glimmer of hope as I got to mile 27, but tried not too get too excited until mile 28.  Some time after mile 29 I could see Mike up ahead (the guy with no shirt), even though I felt like I had been slowing he must have slowed down a bit more.  As I got closer, he took off again and I thought I lost him.  With about a half mile to go, on a section of trail going up hill and covered with roots, I saw Mike go down.  I stopped and offered him my hand but he said he was ok and to go on ahead and said something like this just isn't my day.  I felt bad for him that he had fallen.  Got going again and before I knew it I was done.

Got some food and waited for Jenny and Sean who soon came across the line looking surprisingly strong.  Hung out for a bit more and had a beer before packing up and heading home.

Glad I waited a day. Things felt more normal today. Easy paced start, then a little faster after the gel stop. I ran by myself.  Weather was pretty good in the low 50's, comfortable with short sleeve shirt.   After I got home I saw a facebook post from the previous night about some people I know who were looking for other runners, wish I had seen it earlier, oh well.  The peace, solitude and music were nice - although I'm thinking I need to update my playlist soon.

Should be good to go for tomorrow as well as some boot camp tonight.

Easy paced start, then a little faster on the way back. Chilly morning, but I'm not complaining about it, it was refreshing.

Started out at Longleaf about 5:30.

Sort of a "potluck" run since I didn't know who was going to be there but it worked out well. Looking back, I had a little bit of "medium long run dread" which seems to hit me after doing a much bigger run the week before. Fortunately the dread vanished almost as soon as I started. Ran with Bob Tiller, Rebecca D. , Rachel G. and Kim into Starkey park after running to Decubelis (thanks for the company Ladies and Bob (hope that doesn't sound too weird)).

Park was open a little early (6:23) so we went right in. Met up with Eudair at the bike parking lot, ran two miles with her and made plans to run with her for my 25 miles next week. Turned around a little later than I should have and ended up with 16 miles instead of 15. Picked up the pace on the return trip.

Then, back home in time to take Thomas bowling. (I think that might be it for the pair of Asics Nimbus that I wore since this run pushes them over 500 miles).

So, it was a good run although I think there were still some remnants left from Sunday's race.

Easy run today, ran on the grass next to the road. Felt a little tight and creaky starting out but good and loose on the way back.

I had thought about not running when I first woke up this morning.  I had slept into 7:20 except for a very brief partially awake time when Jenny got up for her run.  It felt good to sleep in a little bit.  I used to be good at that.  Although of course, too much sleeping in can be a bad thing, it's nice every now and then!

Anyway, this past week's recovery went pretty well for the most part.  I was a little nervous running the 50K as a race rather than just a long run because I wasn't sure how well I would recover, but it seems to have worked out.  Now I'm at a point of less than 4 weeks to go.  I feel ready in one sense but full of a lot of unknowns at the same time.

Ran from my neighborhood then across Trinity Blvd. Chatted with Wendy H. two times as our paths crossed. I had thought about running to the Y and taking my gel and water there but decided to turn around because I wasn't quite feeling it. So, I decided to turn around. My left foot sounded slappy so I started concentrating on fixing it by trying to run smoother and quieter. I missed a turn on the way back, then things didn't look quite right until I realized I had missed the turn and gone out of my way (did the Kinsmere loop by accident). Finally headed back the right way, stopped at the golf course fountain, then picked it up the rest of the way.

Eudair was nice enough to run the whole thing with me today, she is amazing. Started out with a group from Longleaf, but we fell back a bit to keep the pace easy. Ran into Starkey and then along the power line road to Serenova tract.

Saw one deer and then later saw two more - no longer living ones. Turns out there was a hunt going on which we found out on our way back (would have been nice if signs were posted). Picked it up the last couple of miles. Melanie from the Striders was nice enough to give us a lift back to Longleaf.

The weather was great, it was wonderful having someone to run the whole way and it couldn't have gone better (except for the part about running while a deer hunt was going on).

This was my last big run before the big race (although there is 18 miles next week, pretty big but less than 20).  I need to concentrate on getting some spring back in my step and feeling completely fresh.  Also, I think I'm going to get a new pair of Asics Nimbus.  My old pair is somewhat worn out so I decided to try this long run in the Ghosts. I like those shoes but they didn't feel quite as good as the Nimbus for the extra distance.  I had pretty good luck with the Brooks Launch at the 50K but the bottom of  my feet were hurting and could probably use the extra cushioning that the Asics have.

When I started the training for this 100K race it seemed fairly easy in some ways, but the training is starting to catch up to me a little bit now, so good time for a taper.

Jenny is attending a  Newton training class this weekend.  This is the class to learn how to teach the class that she took over this past summer.  Lots of good information about running form that can apply to Newton and non-Newton runners.

A little stiff feeling when I started but warmed up nicely by the end.

With the 25 mile run out of the way I feel like I'm over the hump for now, although I need to think about some more long term running goals that will lead to running happiness, injury free running, and avoiding burn out.  Want to keep it fun while keeping it rewarding with some challenges to keep it interesting.