How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 10 degrees, cloudy, windy.

I got out of bed at 6:00am and decided I would run 1 mile to Brookens Gym to do some strength exercises.

Brookens is managed by the park district, so I have a key to let myself in during off hours.

I ended up doing 10 sets of pullups, pushups, and crunches, then I went outside and ran 3 miles in the adjacent park. There is a hill there so I ran up and down a few times.

Less than a week to go for Riddle Run, I just need to relax and let my body strengthen up through easy running.

#436

Weather - 16 degrees, cloudy.

Did a teaser workout today, 2 miles to the arboretum, 1 hour of hill repeats, then 1 mile back the neighborhood.

Feeling light and in great shape.

If there ever was a good time to run 28 miles in snow and cold, this is it...

#437

Weather - 18 degrees, cloudy, snowing.

Best run in a long time. 

Ran a shortened South Farms loop.

When I got to the South Farms road my adrenaline shot up and I took off like I was racing, and I ran the remaining 4 miles at a faster pace than normal, but it felt easy. 

I realized today on my run that I have been running in snow for about 4 consecutive weeks without break. My shins sometimes get sore from all the slipping, and I bruised the ball of my left foot about 2 weeks ago when I twisted it in deep snow. 

Somehow I am hanging in there, winter has beaten me down, but I am not yet out. All the challenges of snow and cold are making me a stronger runner.

It looks like it will be cold the rest of the week, so the Riddle Run will be raced in snow - bring it on!

#438

Weather - 16 degrees, cloudy.

3-4 inches of snow fell last night, it was great walking to work with the camera, made some interesting photographs.

After work I tried my best to run in the thick stuff. It was deep and slick, making forward progress more difficult than usual. I am now skilled in snow running, and my bruised left foot is 98% healed, but I still struggled to run my normal pace.

I ran to the arboretum and did 10 hill repeats, it was slow going, but it was fun to watch the sledders flying down the hill. After 5 or 6 times of going up and down I finally started to pick up some speed because I had worn a path down. 

All of the waiting around is killing me. I felt like running 2 hours of hills today, so it was tough to have to stop after just 10 repeats. My energy is growing to unmanageable proportions, I feel like a balloon with a steady supply of incoming air, and on my way to becoming a piece of limp broken rubber. 

My body wants to run long. I miss the energy fluctuations that come with running more than 2-3 hours. It is a good kind of pain.

But, only 2 more days to go, then I can get my fill. The snow on the ground is not going anywhere, so it is going to be a challenge to cover 28 miles on windy prairie trails. There are not any hills, but it is wide open land with little wind cover, so it will be a constant back and forth of getting too warm, then turning into the wind and getting chilled.

My goal is the usual, to run my heart out. I don't plan on giving 100% effort, probably 80-90%. I am still training for the longer ultras in March and April, so I don't want to have to wait 2 weeks before I can run more than 3 miles because of muscle soreness. But who knows, maybe the snow will cause me to be sore anyhow. 

#439

2 days.

440 days of running, and it leads to this :

28 miles under a winter sky, watched by small trees and faded grass.

Just the world and me, going to battle.

Hours spent in the fields, preparing my spirit - joy, discomfort, doubt - triumph, defeat - done over and over again.

The way has been traversed, the unknown and the fear are gone.

All that remains is the breathing, the striding of the legs, the cold wind beating me back.

The objects of the world speed and move around me, feeding me warmth and energy, and I am in the middle of it all.

It is time to go to war.

Today is a good day to die....

#440

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite."
William Blake

#441

Weather - 9-34 degrees, clear, windy.

What a ride!

I was lucky that everything held together - body, mind, spirit. I had some low points, but that is part of the fun of long runs, and I was fortunate that each low point was followed by moments of pure elation and joy.

The weather held out, although it was nippy during the first few loops. Temperature at race start was 9 degrees, with a 15-20 mph wind. Being a prairie run, that means not much wind break, although there were a few parts of the run that had some tree cover.

Standing Around the Fire,
Waiting for the Race to Begin

A good turn out, over 100 people. However, I didn't know how many loops each runner was doing, so someone could be running a good pace, and I get behind that person, and think, wow, this guy/girl is fit, but then they stop after 1 x 4 mile loop.

Race Director Jeff Riddle Saying "No Wimps!"

It is important with a multiple-distance race to be watchful of my comfort level and to run my own race. At the end of the third loop a guy blew by me in the last mile, I let him go, although for a few moments my instinct was to chase him down to the staging area. Good thing I didn't, as that runner was finishing up his 12 mile jaunt, and I still had 16 to go.

I am happy with how I paced my race. I checked my loop times when I got home and realized I averaged 45-46 minutes per loop for all 7 loops. That comes out to about an 11:20 pace, which is quite slow, but considering the conditions of the course, I think I did pretty well when all things are considered.

I had to add 20 minutes to my total running time because after the 3rd loop I had to stop at my car and refuel for each remaining loop, which added 5 minutes per loop to my result.

I was trying hard to get in and out of my refuel area as quickly as possible, and I think I made some improvement when compared to last year's Farmdale race, where I lounged around eating and drinking after each 11 mile loop. I think I can still find some improvement in this area of race management, so I will keep working on it.

The first loop I had to try to keep myself in check so I brought my camera along and stopped to make a few pictures along the way. That kept me from going too fast.

There was a dangerous creek crossing at the midway point of each loop, a runner could either step gingerly on ice covered rocks to avoid getting wet, or step directly into the freezing ankle deep water.

When I got to the crossing the first time I had nobody behind me, so I stopped and gazed at the rocks for about 1 minute. 10-12 runners then arrived at the creek so I moved out of the way to watch them cross. After 7-8 runners crossed successfully, I jumped in line and got myself to the other side without falling or getting wet.

During the 2nd loop when I got to the creek, a runner ahead of me was not so lucky. I watched him slip on one of the rocks and fall directly into the water, butt first. It looked like he hurt his hand, and he started walking instead of running after removing himself from the creek. Ouch!

100% of the trails were covered in 1-2 inches of slippery snow, so I never was able to land flat on my feet, it was always at an angle, and it made pushing off more difficult than normal. It felt like I was expending more energy per step than I was accustomed to.

Because of this my hip flexors became fatigued during loop 3. They rarely get sore, rather it is my quads which are the usual complainers, so I had to deal with not having good leg lift for the rest of the run.

I was worried that as the race wore on, my hip muscles would get worse, but it turned out that they remained just slightly fatigued all the way through, so I got lucky.

Surprisingly my quads, hamstrings and calves performed well considering the whole run was in snow. They did not get sore, and only had some minor fatigue in loops 6 and 7.

I experienced a drop in energy during the 4th loop, but I knew from my training runs that it should pass. I kept telling myself during the low that once I got through the 4th loop I would have some momentum to finish, because of being past the halfway point.

When I began the 5th loop, I knew the real struggle was beginning. I kept telling myself to control my effort and to step lightly, and tried keeping my upper body relaxed and loose.

My breathing was good until the final loop, when my chest muscles got a little tight, which caused some minor discomfort when trying to inhale large quantities of air.

By the 5th loop I felt like I was out on the course by myself, because I passed only 1 walker and 2 runners during the 4 miles. I figured that most of the runners had quit after 16 miles. This knowledge sapped some of my energy, but it also inspired me because I thought it would be cool to be one of the few runners to finish 7 loops.

Once I got to the 6th loop I felt relieved, because I now knew I had a chance to finish, I just had to stay disciplined with my pace, which was easier now that there were no runners around. I once again experienced some energy lows, but I was happy how well my feet and legs were holding out. I was constantly monitoring my feet because of how tricky the footing was, but they never got tired or felt sore. I passed the walker and 2 runners again.

My favorite moment of the race happened during the final mile of the 6th loop. This was a tough stretch of uphill running into a side wind. I had forgotten how hilly this course was. Nothing steep, but some subtle long inclines which were good at defeating morale.

I was starting to waver during that final mile of the 6th loop, wondering how I was going to continue, because I was feeling so crappy. Electrobank by The Chemical Brothers then started to play on my ipod, and I had a surge of adrenaline shoot through my head. I started dancing crazy while I was running, picking up the pace, swinging my arms, shaking my legs out to the sides. I know I must have looked like a clown out there in the desolate prairie dancing under the cold sun, but nobody was around and it made me happy. I started shadow boxing, feeling stubborn and willful, and I started punching at the sun, which was just to the left of my eyes.

"I'm gonna beat you today sun", I yelled out, punching it square in the face a few times, "knock you out!"

This foolishness got me to the staging area and I couldn't believe my spirit concocted such a gimmick to get me through that rough stretch.

When I completed the 6th loop the race director came up to me as I was writing down my time and seemed excited. He asked me how I felt, and I told him great, and that I felt I had a good chance to finish the 7th loop.

"Oh, you'll finish that loop, these guys here will give you a hard time if you don't", he told me, pointing to a group of runners who were sitting by the fire, talking, and drinking beer.

Seeing how nice it was to be sitting down by the fire, I tried not to let my focus waver. I was psyched that I had made it to the final loop, and was excited to get back out there and finish off the run.

The 7th loop was similar to the 6th, which was a relief, because throughout the race I walked only 200m or so. Everything was forward motion with a running stride, even if it was slow and methodical.

I threw a few punches at the sun during the final mile, knowing I had it beat. I kicked it home the final 400m, feeling great as the beer drinking runners around the fire cheered me on as I sprinted the final 100m.

When I finished I received my well deserved homemade cream filled cupcake, stood by the fire, and drank water. I later noticed that the cupcake made a ring of chocolate around my mouth, making me resemble the clown I was during the bout with the sun.

I talked briefly with a local ultra legend, and he told me that only 7 or 8 people did the full 28 miles, that made me feel good.

All in all, a great experience, what a race, I love running long distance!

#442