Rhett

The recovery week last week was nice and finishing up it with a good 5K made it perfect.  Now to do a couple really high mileage weeks before my 2 week taper for Javalina Jundred. 

I ran easy on the trails this morning and then finished up with a few strides on the road for a total of 17 miles.

14 nice and easy on the trails on a nice cool morning.

I did a nice easy 3 hour run finishing up with a series of 100 m strides.

Total 21 miles

It was a little warmer this morning. I guess that is good for preparation for my race as I will be racing through the heat of the day.

The long week continues.

16 more miles.  I found a new trail which was really a fun trail to run.  I found my legs getting stronger as I went.

Tomorrow I go uber long.

I decided to get up early and do a 6 hour run before work this morning. I started running at exactly 3 am. I set me Strava and didn’t use a gps watch so I only new what time it was. I didn’t want to be watching the miles tick by on my Garmin. There was a full moon so I could see a long was even without my light. That was nice. Early in the run I had a few bad patches where I just didn’t feel very good, but I seemed to get through it. Four and a half hours in I swung by Blake’s house and he joined me for the last hour and a half. That really helped and looking back at the Strava splits I ran fast over that last hour and a half than the rest of the run. As a matter of fact, my last 3 miles were my fastest miles, all right at 8:30. 

I finished right around 6 hours with a total of 39 miles in an average pace of 8:59. Now I gotta go to work. Tonight I’m taking the Boy Scouts camping. Maybe I’ll actually sleep well. 

I didn’t get out to run until around 2 and the temps were in the mid 90’s, so I decided to do a nice easy 6 mile recovery run on the trails. My legs felt surprisingly good considering how far I ran yesterday. 

After logging 113 miles this week, I am certainly looking forward to the day of rest tomorrow. 

I'm within 3 weeks of JJ, so I need to cut my miles back down normal distances.  It was crazy windy this morning so felt almost cold.  My legs felt really good today, nice and peppy.  I ran the trails and finished with a series of strides, totalling 11 miles.

10 easy on the trials this morning.

I did a nice easy longish run, the first half on the roads and the second half on the trails. Then I finished up with some strides.

Total run: 21 miles

12 on the trails. Started off a little sluggish but got better as I went on.

Today was my last long long-run before JJ. I did 27 miles nice and easy and picked up the pace as I went a long. 

Averaged 8:40 per mile. 

I took a vey long out of the way way as I ran to work this morning and then did some strides before heading in for a shower. On my way I stopped and picked up a breakfast burrito from a local taco shop to eat when I was done. It was yummy. 

9 miles 

Look at that. I’m at 2222.2 miles for the year. That’s either got to be really good luck or really bad. I’ll have to consult with Smooth on that and see what she says. 

12 Days till JJ

I did a nice easy trail run this morning with some strides at the end.

Total: 7 miles

Last week I cut about 20% mileage from the previous week.  I'll cut about 30% more mileage this week from last week, so I should end the week around 60 miles. It feels good to be tapering.

6 nice and easy on the trails. The weather is amazing right now in the morning. I am a little worried about how hot it will be in the afternoon during JJ though. 

20 miles this morning pushing the pace a bit.  I started off the first 3 miles or so kind of slow but then ran the rest at a much faster clip.  I did the last half on  trails and was able to continue a fairly good pace even on the trails.  10 days till the big day, so that will be my last long run. I'll do one more medium long run on Friday at a slow pace all on the trails.

Nice and slow and easy on the trials this morning, finishing up with some strides.

7 miles total

13 nice and easy on the trails this morning with Blake. Today is his 40th birthday. Oh to be so young. Happy birthday Blake!

I used today as a dress rehersal and wore all the gear I'll be wearing on race day.  From here on out it is just about keeping my legs sharp.  Race day is approaching fast!

I ran the trails pushing the pace a little harder than easy and then finished up with some strides for a total of 7 miles. 

One week till show time! My legs are feeling healthy and strong. 

It’s race week!  Finally. 

My legs felt lively this morning so I ran at a quick pace on the trails then finished with some strides for a total of 5 miles. 

4 nice and easy on the trails until the final mile when I threw I a handfull of strides.

Same run as Monday, but kept it much slower on the trials.  The strides at the end felt really good.

5 miles

Same run as Tuesday.  4 on the trails doing some strides on the last mile. 

My legs felt really good this morning. I hope they feel like that on race day.

2 easy miles this morning just to keep up the routine. Then I had to go to my Kingman offhand work for a couple hours. Then a 3 1/2 hour drive to Phoenix. After I get my packet I can just relax. I hope I survive the heat tomorrow. 

My Javalina Jundred DNF: The good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good:

I have been building milelage all year and I felt like my training was spot on for this race.  I was healthy coming into it and didn't even have any niggles that we runners often get.  I was able to get in some really long runs, that all went well and even practiced my race day nutrition and hydration on most all of my runs.  My taper went well and I was confident, I was going to have a great race day.  I even got a good nights rest the night before the race and then woke up feeling good. Blake went down to the race with me and helped me set up my spot that I could stop at and reload after each lap. It was about 60 degrees and the race started without incident.  The trails were great, nice and runnable, and way easier than the trails I usually run on.  I knew it was going to be hot, so I started putting ice in my cap and on my body from the first aid stations.  I was cruising at a nice pace and sticking to my hydration and nutrition plan.  The first lap is longer than the rest and near the end it started getting hot.  I was still feeling great though, but I made the decision to slow down a bit to try and stay cool.  I finished up the first lap a little faster than I had planned, but feeling good although hot.  I hydrated and  cooled off a little extra at the turn around aid station, then headed back out at a slower pace due to the heat.

The Bad:

I could tell the heat was starting to affect me pretty early on in the second lap, so I tried to drink a little extra and go slower.  This is one thing I had not trained for.  Although I live in the desert, I do almost all my running in the early morning.  I figured by staying hydrated with the electrolyte drink I had practiced with, taking my S-Caps as planned, and keeping ice in my cap and down my shirt at all times I would be fine.  I was wrong.  

The Ugly:

At mile 28 I puked everything up that was in my stomach and felt a bit dizzy.  I was 3 miles from the next aid staiton, so I figured I'd just walk into the next aid station and feel recovered by the time I got there.  Unfortunately a mile latter I puked the little bit left in my stomach and was so dizzy I was going to fall down, so I had to sit down right then and there.  I crawled over to a bush that gave me some shade and just sat there.  As runners came by they would ask if I was OK.  At first I said yes, thinking that if I sat there a while I'd start feeling better, then I realized after I puked again that I needed help, so I gave them my bib number and told them to tell the people at the next aid station.  At this point, I couldn't even sit, so I just layed down.  My runners stopped and offered help.  One, Pat from Washington state, stopped and would'nt go on. I told him to continue on that I had sent for help, but he remained.  There were 2 ladies who were safety patrol for the race that came by shortly and were of great assistance.  Both of them and Pat stayed with me for at least half an hour until the medics came.  The medics gave me an IV right there on the course.  I was at that spot for over an hour until I felt good enough to walk out. It was about a 10 minute walk to there truck staight through the desert, not on trails.  I was still throwing up about every 15 minutes, but I made it to the truck before losing it again.  They drove me to the nearest aid staion where I was given a second IV before being transvered back to race head quarters.  It head quarters I was given 2 more liters of IV before they let Blake take me back to our hotel.  He was a trooper and really helped me a lot to get out of there.  Unfortunately to puking continued about every 20 to 30 minutes until about 9 pm, so I had been throwining up for about 9 hours.  I was miserable but very grateful to all who helped me out throughout the day.

What did I learn from this experience?  I suck at running in the heat and never want to run another hot race in my life.  Runners are amazing people who are so kind and helpful and willing to sacrifice even their own race to help another.  As I layed in the med tent I heard countless strories of runners helping other runners. 

Hopefully I can find some other race to put this high level of fitness I have built up to good use. I really feel like I am in the best shape I have been in since I set most of my PRs in 2010.