Rhett

21 days

Legs felt really good this morning when I headed out for a ride. It was a nice shake out ride to recover from yesterday's 35 mile run. I got a flat about 20 miles in so I stopped an changed it. Then at mile 28 I got another!  That's terrible luck. I was I little less than a mile from home at that point so I took off my bike shoes and walked home. The bottom of my feet hurt by the time I got home. Maybe that will toughen them up and help me prevent blisters on race day. 
 

3 weeks

Weekly review 

I made it to taper!!!!  And (Knock on wood.) I'm feeling 100% healthy. I was a bit worried Friday heading out for my 35 mile run because of the heat. Hopefully it is a nice cool day on race day. I ended up getting in 71 miles running and around 80 miles cycling this week for my longest training week. Now I'm going to start backing off on the miles this week. I think this week will look a lot like my week 2 weeks ago but with 20 mile run on Friday instead of 30. 
 

I got a massage gun this week which I've been using on my legs at night while I watch TV. So far I love it. It's easy to use and I get a nice deep tissue massage. My hope is that I'll stop having my random calf injuries by using it regularly. 

19 days

I ran up to the top of Cherry Tree again today and straight back down for a total of 12 miles and about 1200 feet elevation gain.  I had a little pep in my step today which surprised me coming off my 35 miler with 8000 feet elevation gain a few days ago, so climbed those 6 miles and 1200 feet under 9 minute pace today.  Then I headed down getting faster and faster with each mile.  The last one being 6:36.  It felt good to let my legs fly this morning as most of my running has been at a slow pace in preparation for the 50 miler.  Hopefully I didn't set myself up for injury going too fast though.  I'll have to be very careful with my pacing the next few days and keep it nice and slow.

18 days

AM.  I headed out for a ride on a beautiful morning and 3 miles in I hit some gravel on a turn and went down hard.  I sat there for a few minutes and everything went black for a while but then I got myself together and rode home in pain.  It hurts to breathe and feels like I broke a rib or two.

Lunch. After suffering through a morning of seeing patients, I went for 2 mile mile walk.  It was uncomfortable at first, but the pain eased a bit as I walked.

PM.  I decided to give running a try.  I would run slowly a bit until the pain was too high, then walk a bit until I felt better. I did that for 8.5 miles.  It really hurt, but I'm, glad I did it.  

I have a doctors appointment in the morning.

17 days

I went to the doctor this morning.  Good new!! I don't have any broken ribs, just dislocated with strained cartilage.  He popped the ribs back in and told me to ice/heat/ice/heat the ribs where the cartilage may have a tear until it feels better.  He said not to exercise for a week, but we all know, I'm not going to do that.

16 days

I woke up feeling a little less sore.  When I went to bed last night I was hurting pretty good.  Maybe if I just sleep all the time it will get better.  I didn't exercise this morning so I get a couple extra hours of sleep.  That was nice.  Maybe I'll try and get on my bike trainer tonight and ride a little, probably in an upright seated position.  Look Ma, No hands!!

PM  1 hour bike trainer 

15 days

Since my ribs still aren't healthy enough to run, I decided to hike today. I did 10 miles with over 4000 feet elevation gain. I was going to go farther but as I hit the 10 mile mark I just didn't feel like walking anymore so I called it a day. 

14 days

My ribs are starting to feel a lot better. I went on. 2 mile walk with Doone, then rode the bike trainer for 2 hours. 

Weekly review 

2 weeks

Its really weird being 2 weeks out from race week and just finishing a week without much running. Monday I had one of my best runs in a long time, then Tuesday morning I went out and crashed my bike, jacking up my ribs to the point where I couldn't breathe or move without serious pain. I still tried to run Tuesday night but it was miserable. Wednesday morning the doc popped my ribs back in place and that helped a lot but I still couldn't get up from a prone position or do much of anything. Each day things improved though and I got in 3 hours on the bike trainer and was able to do a 10 mile hike up and down Crossman Peak twice without much discomfort. 
 

I am going to test out running tomorrow morning. I think I'll be fine as long as I keep it slow. This week will likely be a higher mileage week than last week even though I'm tapering. Last week was a forced recovery week before starting what my normal taper would be this week. 

12 days

Exciting news today!!!! I signed up for St. George 2022 Ironman this morning.  It will be my first full Ironman.  It is on May 7, 2022 so I have almost a full year to prepare.  Good thing, because it scares me!

AM.  10 miles nice and easy.  My ribs did pretty well, not perfect, but good enough to give me confidence I'll be able to pull off my race in 12 days.

PM. 30 minutes spinning easy on the bike trainer. I'm hoping to heat adapt by spinning on the bike trainer in the evening when temps are higher. It was 96 degrees tonight. 

11 days

AM. 30 minutes easy spin on the bike trainer before heading off to Kingman for the day. 
 

Lunch. 2 miles walk. I hear the Haulapai Park is open again so I'm going to head up there after work for my run. 
 

PM. 6 miles up in the Hualapai's. I had to stay in the lower section of the park. They said the trails will probably be closed until September. 

10 days

Wow, 10 days!  Crazy how fast time goes when your preparing for a big race.  I've done the training, but now I need to get my head wrapped around the event and all the logistics.

AM.  5 mile weighted vest hilly walk.  I have gotten to really enjoy my weighted vest recovery walking.  It was a beautiful morning today.

PM. 30 minutes spinning on the bike trainer in the heat. 
I have get blood drawn fasting tomorrow during lunch for my annual physical, so I'll be sleeping in tomorrow and taking the morning off. 

9 days

I tried to sleep in a bit this morning but mostly just laid in bed awake for a while. I finally got up and did some massage with the massage gun and headed off to work. At 1:00 I was able to have my blood drawn for my annual physical and then I could finally eat. I was starving so I pounded some Chipotle then headed back to work. It was a really busy afternoon and I didn't get home until late. I was wiped out though so after dinner I sat down on the couch and promptly fell asleep. I then did some more massage with the gun and some core prior to bed. 

Apparently today became a rest day. 

8 days

I got up in the mountains around 7000 feet and did my final longish run before race day. I got in 12 miles with almost 2500 feet elevation gain. I was happy with my effort maintaining a decent pace considering all the climbing. 
 

I'm feeling ready to roll with my main niggle being my ribs. Hopefully in another 8 days they won't be hurting anymore. 

7 days 

More exciting news today!  I found out today that I got drawn from Lotoja with my brother-in-law John. On September 11 we will be riding a little over 200 miles from Logan,UT to Jackson Hole, WY, so after my race next Saturday I'll be changing my focus from running to cycling.  That's 2 big upcoming events I found out about this week. I gotta stop signing up for these things. 
 

1 hour spinning on the bike trainer at the hottest part of the day to get heat acclimated so hopefully next Saturday will feel cool. 

Weekly review 

1 week

It's race week!  I love the pre-race feeling of race week, nervous yet excited, happy to be getting extra rest but missing the training, checking the weather constantly, making packing lists, and feeling lean and mean. I'm happy to report being as close to health as ever before a big race. My ribs are improving still and won't effect my race unless I start coughing a lot. My legs feel great though. 
 

This past week I got in 35 miles finishing with a 12 miler in the mountains. I also rode my bike trainer 4 times for a total of 2 1/2 hours. 3 of those rides were in around 100 temps, trying to build my heat tolerance. 
 

This week will be nice and short with a rest day Friday and the big race, 50 miles on my 50th birthday Saturday!!!!
 

5 days

AM. I got in a nice little 6 mile run with a litlle over 500 feet elevation gain.  I kept the effort on the hard side of easy.  It was a good shake out run to start off race week.

PM. I thought about a spin on the bike trainer but decided to just relax and do some core, stretching, and massage tonight. 

4 days

AM. 15 minute spin on the bike trainer to get my blood pumping for the day. 
Lunch. 2 mile walk. Felt nice. 
PM. 3 1/2 mile mountain hike with almost 1000 feet elevation gain. 

3 days

AM. 45 minute spin on the bike trainer.  My left calf felt a little tight last night so I decided to just ride today and give my calves a break.  It's feeling pretty good right now. Tonight I'll just do some core, stretching, and massage.

2 days

AM. 4 mile hilly tune up run. Everything felt good!! Now I just have to show up and run the race. We'll be taking off early this afternoon and heading to Albuquerque tonight. Then tomorrow Doone and I will head over to Los Alamos. 
 

1 day!!!!!!

Its race day eve!  I'm feeling healthy, fit, lean, and ready to race. 
After sleeping in this morning, I ate a large breakfast then went down to the hotel fitness center for a quick easy 15 minute spin on the stationary bike followed by some stretching, then massage with my massage gun. 
 

I'm just chilling in my room watching sports center right now. Soon I've got to pack up and we'll head to Los Alamos. We're in Albuquerque now. 

Race Day... Jemez Mountain 50....miles or kilometers?????

All started off well.  I felt 100% and strong.  It was a beautiful morning.  I ran nice and easy.  I stayed with my hydration/nutrition plan that I had practiced in all my long runs leading up to the race.  The climbe up the black diamond ski slope at mile 16 was killer.  It took a full 30 minutes for one mile and that was without stopping.  Then I got to desend. I did wipe out once but didn't hurt myself too bad.  I was still feeling good and taking it easy through 25 and then around 26 all of the sudden I got nauseous.  I sat down for 5 minutes and gathered myself and then continued on.  The next 8 miles were brutal climbing out of a canyon with the sun beating on me.  I ran out of water at mile 31 and still had 3 miles to go to the aid staion.  I was walking slowly and threw up a couple times.  I finally made it to the mile 34 aid staion and hoped to sit down for a while and gather myself and continue on, but the nausea just got worse and I couldn't stop throwing up so after an hour and a half at the aid station, I called it a day.  Doone was able to drive and pick me up at the aid staion and we went back to the hotel where I continued to feel nauseous and throwing up for aboout 6 more hours, then I was suddenly fine. 

Sunday morning I woke up feel super hungry but otherwise fine.  My legs are not sore even a little bit.  I'm just perplexed as to why this keeps happening on race days when I training I ran farther, faster, using the exact same nutrition/hydration with no problems at all.  It's very frustating.

I did go 55 K for my 50th birthday!!!

After a cou[le days off, I was itching to get back to exercising.  I went to the gym this morning and swam for 35 minutes.  Ended up doing 1600 m at a nice easy effort.  That was my first time in the pool in quite a while. 

25 mile bike ride this morning. This was my first ride not on my bike trainer since I wiped out and messed up my ribs. I had a little PTSD at first but it felt good to get back on the roads. 

34 mile solo bike ride followed by 3 mile run then a 1600 m swim a couple hours later. 

33 mile group ride with a little over 2000 feet elevation gain followed by 3 mile run. 

Weekly review 

After a coup days rest I got back at it with a swim Wednesday morning which felt great to do again. I also swam Friday afternoon after biking and running. In total I swam 2 miles, biked 90 miles and ran 6 miles this week. It was a good recovery week and a good start back to training for the next thing. 
 

I have a bunch of challenges I've planned for this year that I am 50. The first was the 50 mile run on my birthday that became a 50 k run. The second I accomplished today. I ate 0.50 gallons of Bluebell ice cream in under .50 hours. 😀. It took me 25 minutes 57 seconds and boy did I feel terrible when I finished. The last few bikes were way harder than I thought it would be. But challenge #2 was a success!!! Tonight and tomorrow I may feel like it was a failure. I didn't puke but I felt just about as bad for about 45 minutes as I did last week when I Pulled out of the race because of nausea. I definitely would not recommend eating half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. 

22 mile ride trying to focus on high cadence and did some one leg drills

3 mile easy run. 
 

Happy Memorial Day