Trails? OK I Guess...

I didn't plan on doing all my mileage on the trails but once I got going in Hartley I decided to stick to it and finish out the hour. I managed to run a short road section in Hartley Estates but the rest of my time consisted of single track trails that were in fair condition. I didn't mind the pokiness of the run today as I wanted to keep the pace slow and really start working on time and build up those mitochondria. I recently re-read my HADD article and it reminded me of how easy I should be taking some of these runs in the early base phase. My legs are really coming around, something I think I mentioned a time or two in earlier posts this week and it sure feels good. It's crazy but I am already looking forward to all those long runs, pace runs and whatever else is on the 'plan'.

Tomorrow will be another easy long effort. Happy Running!

PS: Tomorrow is the start of the John Beargrease Sled-dog race and we will be there taking pictures. Maybe I will post some later Sunday night.

Totals: 56:30 6.8 miles

Hungry Like A Wolf

Thursday I took the morning off as I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like putting all the clothes on and hitting the cold streets, but also at this point in my training cycle it is quite alright to allow for a day of recovery/rest during the build-up. I got up and did a few house chores instead and had a good cup of coffee.

This morning the temperatures were no better and the mercury read -12F and thankfully there was calm skies above with a near full moon. The footing has been good but if we don't get any snow soon the streets will soon be ice again. Hopefully my new Get A Grips will arrive by then and I will not have to worry too much. I can see some treadmill running in my near future as well.

For the loop this morning, as I neared the outer rural edges of town I was a bit confused if there was a wolf crying at me or a really good dog-wolf sound-like out there. I heard multiple howls and at one point thought I was being followed. I never saw an animal for blame, but the thought was there for a bit. Interesting. As for the rest of the run my legs are really starting to react to the daily grind and I should be able to add some miles next week and make the next jump. Good thing!

Total: 55:00 7+ miles

Fiber Optic Down

We are back online after a steam pipe burst which melted fiber optic lines and disrupted our internet service. You can read more here.

Monday I had all I could do just to get out the door and run in the slop again. I managed to stay mostly dry by running on campus and Skyline a bit. My legs felt tired, as often they do after a long effort on Sunday, but I know that is part of the plan and I need to get out on those difficult days.

Total: 38:00 ~4.5 miles

Tuesday was much better from many perspectives. The temps dropped which lead to better roads. They had a snow cover but I enjoyed them much more than the wet slop of the two previous days. I had running partner again, as Chris set up a nice hour run together. I added three or four striders at the end of the run and my legs thanked me for that.

Total: 56:30 7.5 miles

Wednesday the temps dropped even more and the wind chill was reported at -20F. The loop up past Pig's (soon not to be Pig's anymore) and home via Vermilion was in spectacular shape and my legs felt ready to rock. I kept the pace easy as hard running has no purpose at this stage. All aerobic. To top things off, I put new batteries in my headlamp and now I can be seen by all the sleepy drivers out there.

Total: 51:10 6.5 miles

Long Wet Run

The positive side of today's run was that the ice was non-existent. Our group that consisted of Jeremy, Tony, Wynn and myself trudged our way east on Grand and Superior streets to the hour turn-around and returned on the same soggy streets that the weather provided. It's January and I had to run most of today's run with wet feet which made the last hour or so rather interesting. Cold, wet Little Piggy's.

Since that was only my second true long effort of the year I was a bit nervous but my legs held up well and I feel that all the hard work I did last fall is paying off big time. I decided to take my "emergency" gel at the hour mark and that was a good thing I was thinking ahead as I would have cratered without it.

The goal for the upcoming week is to slowly add some time to each run and stay aerobic for the entire week. That is not too hard to do with the running surfaces as they are. Slow jogging has been the theme as of late.

Total: 2:00:00 15.4 miles

Weeks Totals: 49 miles

Years Totals: 126.2 miles

Last Call For Trails

The weather forecasters are calling for more ice, rain, heavy snow and winds throughout the rest of today and tomorrow. Great fun. I guess I will worry about it come tomorrow morning when it's time to go running again.

This morning I found myself pleasantly surprised in the Hartley trail cluster as the trails were in decent shape. I wore the Get A Grips which provided me the extra grab that the ice was requiring. My goal this morning was to run for an hour nice and easy and I accomplished that for the most part. My legs are adjusting to the routine and tomorrow should be a two hour jaunt if possible.

Total: 57:30 ~7 miles

Crack! Things Are Better

I woke up Thursday and all I could think of was to stay home. No running. So after a little evaluation of how I felt, I was fighting a virus this past week, the decision was to take a zero and head for my Chiropractor appointment. Good choice. I've said this before but the older we get, we should get wiser and avoid making the same mistakes of our younger years. (my point is I would have forced myself out the door five or ten years ago) I had a wonderful adjustment at the Chiro and with the added rest my run this morning was wonderful.

I made my way west on Skyline and did the short turnaround to make the out and back just under 55:00. My legs are starting to adjust to the "routine" again and even one week post bad-ass half-marathon snowshoe race my legs are ready to get movin'. Sweet!

My thanks to Greg McMillan for such a speed response and delivering my marathon plan that starts on Feb. 1st. Here we go again!

Total: 52:45 7.1 miles

Get Your Feet On the Floor

It was a bit of a rough morning to get up, I'm not too sure why as I slept good, but I have to remember these mornings are only difficult to get started. Out of bed with my feet on the floor is the goal, then proceed. Once I hit the roads my legs felt pretty good and I decided to run a bit shorter and do a series of small loops around UMD, Chester Bowl, and lower Mt. Royal neighborhoods. Just to test the legs I threw in some 30 second striders. Overall I have a decent week going and hope to keep at it.

Another great weather morning: 21F, subtle wind 13 mph, no precip

Totals: 40:44 5.1 miles

Making Ground

My legs woke up feeling a bit more refreshed than yesterday and I took advantage of it. Early morning running pal Chris made the initiative to set up a meeting at his driveway and eagerly accepted. Anytime you can have a mate to run with at 0530 you better jump at. We made the best of a loop in the outer Woodland territory and I must say it sure is nice to rid the ice! There remains to be enough to cause a catastrophe if one is not careful on the corners but taking it easy is the goal these days.

A great run with great company. Thanks Chris!

Totals: 1:05:30 8.6 miles

Muscle Soreness

Yesterday felt great. I thought I had run the snowshoe race smart and didn't cause too much muscle damage. Then came Monday. Can you say, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness? I can. My quads felt a bit torched but not to the point of taking another zero.

I got up and hit a combination of single-track trails, snowmobile trails, and finished on the roads the last three miles. The last mile I was crawling but that is part of the game. Tomorrow will be a better day and I am looking forward to bumping up the volume in my runs.

Total: 49:30 6 miles easy

The Final Championships

*early morning sunrise in Canal Park

Saturday was the 20th and last running of the Northwoods Snowshoe Championships. I had no intention of running this race since I haven't run further than ~7 miles since the marathon on December 6th. I saw the Friday morning paper and it mentioned that the race was in it's last year of running and that made my decision quite easy. The race has a 10K, half-marathon, and full marathon distance to choose from and I chose the middle distance. I figured I could gut it out for a couple of hours and get a good long effort. Accomplished.

The race started on the groomed ski trails at Lester Park where we did a short loop taking us past the start, then ventured out for the big loop that runs the trails, some private land on fresh tracked snowmobile trail that crested Moose Mountain and the famous "power lines" and back via the ski trails. Overall the snow was decent, but there was plenty of loose sugar snow to deal with as well. I managed to run decent enough for the win and no major injuries to report except a little frost bite on two toes and some blisters. Easy to heal.

Totals:

2:03:00 14 miles (gps)

End of Week Totals: 38 miles

Year: 77 miles

Better Days

I have found dry pavement! The last few days have been a mix of the same terrain and I like that. Dry. No ice. My legs/hip flexors are much better and now I have to focus on increasing the duration of all my runs and prepare for the real training at the end of the month heading into Feb.

This weekend I may try to add a bit of time and run my Sunday run near ninety minutes. Here's to better days!!

Tues: 46:00

Wed: 50:00

Thurs: 46:00

Fri: 0 (so far, dead tired, sore achilles)

Ups and Downs

After an enthusiastic Saturday my Sunday was a bust. My left hip flexor, both actually, was to the point where I had difficulty lifting my knee. Running was out of the question. I spent most of the morning going through a series of stretches just to loosen the bugger out. Looking back I may have figured out the culprit. With all the ice on the city streets my running took to the snowmobile trails. Good for the footing, bad for hip flexors with all the hills. Most of my "street miles" during the fall had some hills, but not the steep up and downs the snowmobile trails offer. So, for now, that is where my focus will be.

This morning upon awakening, I felt much better and made my way out the door with a pair of Get a Grips. Wrong choice. I should have worn the Yaktraks as the extra inch of snow we got last night made it too much for the "grips" to grab. At any rate, the sidewalks around UMD provided me with the miles I needed. Two loops plus an extra around my neighborhood streets gave me my allotted time. My goal this week is to run at least forty minutes all seven days. A step in the right direction I hope.

Totals:

41:00 ~5.5 miles

A Sour Week Turns Sweet

I had one of those weeks that made me wonder why I live where I do. When the temps are consistently in the -20's to -30'sF and all the streets remain ice, the trails are not tracked yet and the treadmill gets old, or occupied in my case, one begins to wonder what draws us to these parts of the country. Ask me again in July. My mind may be more clear and I may even have some bragging rights in regards to the weather. It's amazing how one week of "less than ideal" conditions can make me fall off the wagon. I'm looking forward to better days.

On Monday I woke up to feeling sick and if I had a phone near my bed I would have called in sick. Once I got up and moved about, sipped a cup of coffee and had a Tylenol or two I was feeling much better but at that time it was too late to go running. Tuesday was the same pattern but I felt much worse upon awakening. Wednesday found me feeling better physically but I had the cold temps to deal with. I hit the streets with a pair of "Get a grips" strapped to my feet and that made all the difference. A short loop and I was back home clearing the frost form my brow. I was able to repeat the same routine on Thursday and had a very good run. On Friday I woke up and heard on the radio that the wind chill temps were in the -30'sF and that is all I needed to hear. At that moment every ache in body was multiplied by a factor of ten! I didn't take much to talk me into staying in a warm bed and gaining an extra hour of rest. What I did manage to do was head out for a short ski at Hartley trails after work. I put on the headlamp and skied two loops of tracked, slick trails and realized that I am a runner, not a skier. I worked so hard and all I got was sore shoulders. I must have uttered, "skiing sucks" a dozen times or more on my two loops. Skiing doesn't suck, I just need to spend more time at it so it's not such a chore and more pleasurable. That leads me to this mornings run on the snowmobile trails. I did the same loop Chris and I had done last Saturday and then I added a short out and back on some single track. This was my best workout of the week as I was really starting to feel a bit more fluid with my stride. My hip flexors continue to be an issue and I hope I can nip them soon. I often wake up and have to do some stretches in bed just to get up as my hips feel locked in place. Too much ice! Once that goes, I'm sure things will improve quickly. Until then I will bitch and complain like no other, but in the end I will find myself chasing yet another marathon dream come June.

Weeks Review:

Monday: 0 miles

Tuesday: 0 miles

Wednesday: 42:00

Thursday: 44:00

Friday: 40:00 classic ski in Hartley

Saturday: 50:30 trails/snomo trails

First Week Back

I completed the week with my first run out west at Jeremy's house. I finished up the second hour of their run as I ran just under an hour. Maybe next week I will work on adding time to one of my weekend runs.

Maybe it's just blowing out the rust, but my hip flexors and overall lower body is beginning to feel better. No major pains to worry about today.

Total: 55:00 ~7 miles

Weeks Total: 33.5 miles

Years Total: 20 miles

Make It Two

Two days in a row on the snowmobile trails. That's three out of four this week. It really is the best running around right now unless someone else can point me in another direction. (no treadmill suggestions)

Chris and I made our way to more 'local' snomo trails and found them to be in spectacular shape. It was a bit odd not to see many people out and about. Come on people, its only -6F out! What are you going to do when it hits -30F?

I hope to keep some form of momentum heading into the workweek. My wife and I may end up swapping treadmill days just so we both get a flavor of outdoors.

Totals:

44:40 ~6 miles

Happy New Years!

Chris and I hit the snowmobile trails out from the Prindle road and enjoyed the serenity it offered until the snowmobilers woke up. We had a half dozen or so wiz past us and only one gave us the stink-eye.

My legs are beginning to make the turn for the better but my hip adductors are still a mess and are starting to make me worry just a bit. They respond very well to stretches and strength exercises, and I will continue to keep at it.

Totals:

1:00:00 ~ 7 miles

Week:

21 miles

Year:

7 miles

2009 Year in Review

I have to say right from the start. I was happy with 2009 and what it gave me. From a running standpoint, which is the purpose of this blog, I had one of the better years I have had since my late 20's. (yes close to 10 years ago)

I had a decent fall 2008 training season and after the holidays I was working on a good base in Jan. 2009. All systems go, as they say. Until THIS happened. Not good. I haven't ran in snowshoes since. I may not. We will see how the winter goes. It took me a good 4-6 weeks of recovery, and lots of bandages and second skin, to get over that Achilles mess, but really I was able to get back on track and whipped myself into good shape going into Grandma's marathon. As a workup to that marathon I ran a half-marathon in Fargo in May and ran one of the quicker races I have in years. I ran 1:12:55. Pretty happy given the stomach problems I was having. After that race I recovered well and was ready to nail a good race at Grandma's Marathon. One major problem and one other problem sprung up on me. The major problem was the 70 F temps we had a race start. The day got worse from there. What was worse was the cool, NE winds we had on Sunday! Two years in a row with that weather pattern. The second problem, the one that gave me some trouble in Fargo gave me a harder time that day in June. Later, by process of elimination, I self-diagnosed a stomach ulcer that responded very well to cutting coffee, red-wine and red sauces out my diet along with starting some Prilosec daily. By the end of the fall I knew that combination would get me through my next marathon. That marathon was chosen to be in Sacramento in early December. Building up to this race went very well and I had some of the best training days I have ever put together. Once race day approached I was ready to hit my splits and call it a PR. We woke up to temps under 30F and by the time I finished was just shy of 40F! Yes, in California! I didn't mind though, as I was used to those temps and it produced a PR in the marathon. A PR at age 39! I will take it. 2:38:25. What a great feeling. I want to carry that momentum into 2010 and hit yet another PR in the marathon at the young age of 40! I know I can do it and am ready to tackle the challenge. I hope your 2010 is filled with stupendous running adventures and may all of your running dreams and goals be fulfilled. Here's to a year of great training and racing.

2009 Totals:

2740 Miles

Finish Out the Year

Since the marathon (on 6th) I have taken a nice break from running and now I am making my return to regular running and will start more "formal" training the first of the year. I enjoyed the time off from training but continued to get up early in the morning because that is one element of my training cycle that is very difficult to form to habit.

Here is the last few days of 2009 and how it rounded out my year.

Dec. 20th:

first day back since the marathon. ran the Hartley trails with Rod and had a decent, easy loop on the snow covered trails.

48:00 6.5 miles

Dec. 22nd:

loop out on the roads just to get some time in. my hip adductors are killing me and I need to get some core exercises started ASAP

32:40

Dec. 26th:

nice snowshoe loop in White Pine with Kari. we did two loops where I was breaking trail for the first loop. not a high HR workout, but a good workout for the hip flexors.

1:00:00

Dec. 29th:

i made the mistake of trying to run on the streets after the ice/snow storm we got during Christmas. terrible streets and the trails are no better.

32:00

Dec. 30th:

out on the local snowmobile trails just off of Vermilion road. the footing was superior to anything in the immediate vacinity of city streets. i will be running these types of trails until the city streets improve.

34:47

Dec. 31st:

on the treadmill. i had to give my legs a break from all the slipping.

the turnover felt great. I did 3 X 1 minute at 5:42 pace just to get the legs turning over a bit.

38:30 5 miles

That's it for 2009! I will total up and report soon.

California International Marathon

27th California International Marathon

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Time: 2:38:25, 6:02 minutes/mile pace

Place: Overall: 46th, 45th male, 9th in age group 35-39

12th marathon/ 10th finish

I figured I would give you the bulk of my story before making you read through a long story of yet another challenging marathon. Aren't they all!

For the few of you out there that have followed my path to this race you would have noticed that I managed to accomplish one of the most important and yet challenging parts of training for a marathon. I showed up in Cali healthy, and uninjured. Check, advantage me. This is where I should give a shout out to the person responsible for drawing up my marathon schedule, Greg McMillan. Thanks Greg. Anyone can recruit this wonderful coach. Just follow my link on the right column of my front page and click on McMillan running and follow the links to his coaching page. He did a wonderful job.

As I was monitoring the weather forecast for Sunday morning it was looking great. Clear skies, no precipitation, and temperatures that should be great for marathon running. Check, my advantage yet again. Things were looking great. Could this really happen? Did I play my cards right? I passed on training for Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and that gamble was wrong. (they had perfect weather, no wind, clear, temps in the 40's-50's) I guess all I had to do was show up and hit my splits and the rest would be history. Not quite. After all this was a marathon I was preparing for. I somehow forgot to think of the wind. Some courses aren't bothered by wind factors so much. When you have a point to point course, like CIM is, there is potential for trouble. Trouble is what I found. Advantage, NOT me. Damn!

I woke up, hit a hot shower, and made my way to the lobby for a bite to eat. When I asked the front desk person what the local temperature was he didn't know, so I made my way to a computer and quickly looked up Sacramento and Folsom California temperatures on weather channel. 29F! NO WAY! Wow, this was about ten degrees cooler than I planned, and I planned hitting the 40's by mid race. (that never happened) Oh well, no rain or snow, so I didn't worry. I am from northern Minnesota after all.

The bus was to be at our motel at 5:00 am to get us to the start. That went off without a hitch except while waiting in line, I dropped my bottle of water/gatorade mix I was going to carry for the first mile or so and cracking the top off in process. "Don't Panic!", I told myself. I knew there would be water at the start and with temps at 29F I guess I didn't have to worry about getting dehydrated. After a pretty quiet ride to Folsom I exited the bus and made my way to one of several, (ratio 1:26) porta potties to relieve all the drink I had consumed in the previous two hours. Making my way to the starting line was easy as I was on one of the first buses to make the drive. Things were looking great. I had tons of energy and the legs were feeling limber. Once they pumped up the 90's dance club music I was ready to cut some rug. Exhilarating, crazy energy was pumping through me. Almost to the point of screaming. I was ready. After a quick jog and stripping the clothes I was ready to line up. Crazy, the guy just announced, "two minutes to go". It was time to toe the line.

Once the gun went off I had an immediate sigh of relief. Whew! Finally, on my way to Sacramento. I got out of a small pack and managed to stay clear of any heels in front of me and got comfortable. As we hit the one mile I hit my watch. 6:02 mile. Perfect. I wanted to take two easy miles before getting too excited about splits. Mile two was a near match at 5:59. It was after the second mile when I knew I had to get out of that pace and make it just a bit quicker to get closer to goal pace. Perfect. Even with the slight ups and downs the first half of this course offers my splits were coming to me like going for a job on the local boardwalk. I managed to keep this effort until I heard the voice of one, middle-aged man just after the ten mile mark. He said in such an easy, gentle voice, " you're going hit a little wind around the corner." I was thinking, "we have had gust on and off for ten miles, what's the big deal." Wind direction was the big deal. With the turn it faced us right into a blustery 15 mph wind. Wow! That sucks. I need to find a group to run the next stretch with. I finally made my was up to a group that was running the same pace as I wanted and was ready to do some pace sharing and then the urge to urinate became too strong to ignore. Zoom, into a porta pot just prior to the half-way split. Thirty seconds later I was out and making my way to the half-way mat to see 1:1806 on my watch. Hmmm. The wind was stronger than I anticipated. I was still optimistic that I would be able to make up some time in the closing miles if I was smart. Trouble was, the wind didn't really improve much until a turn took us out of some point after twenty miles. Too late. My legs were calling my name. I wasn't going to negative split. I was going to be lucky just to get to the finish without any full-on hamstring spasms. Both hamstrings, and my left, lower calf was calling my name outloud with each step. It's kind of funny. I was telling my wife afterwards that if people watching the runners could hear what the runners were thinking it sure would be entertaining. I was telling myself not to slow. Just maintain. You can salvage a decent race. Just don't stop. It hurts. Hell ya it hurts, it's a fu***** marathon, it's supposed to hurt. Relax your hips. Focus on the runners in front of you. Keep lifting your legs and drive to the next block. Kari said, "getting tired is no excuse to stop, just keep pushing on." She is so wise. I know she has uttered many of those similar thoughts along to her 2:47 PR years ago. We see eye to eye. I love her so.

Once I got down to the last two miles I put myself in Duluth, Minnesota. I know the last two miles of the Grandma's marathon course better than the homeless people that walk it every day. I knew comfort. Just picturing myself one block at a time allowed me to get up the course. Passing 25 miles was great! I knew I was going to make it now. All I had to do was press just a bit more. Then I started looking for Kari. We agreed before the race that she would stand at 10th street. I started looking for her at 14th, 12th, 11th, and then I saw her on the side of the street. What a sight. It's amazing the lift you get from loved ones along the way. Such a wonderful lift! After rounding the first corner, I ran a block and rounded the last corner and a push for the finish line. I over the speakers my name and someone else with the name Lucas (my son's name is Lucas) and that someone was right on my heels. The announcer said, "they are neck and neck and heading to the finish" This part of "they" isn't going to let that happen. I pushed just enough to hold of the next guy by a mere one second. There is was. Complete. In the books. It's all over but the crying. I was happy and sad at the same time. I had a new PR and yet it took so much out of me to get it. My legs were screaming. After a bottle of water and a warming blanket I made my way to my wife for a much needed hug. Such a relief. Thank you honey. You don't know how much I needed you and will need you for races to come.

So there it is. I will rest and take at least two weeks off completely. Nothing. Eating and resting will be my goal. This will feel great. I have a plan for 2010, but too soon to set in stone. It should be yet another big year. New age group coming up.

For the stat people out there, here are my splits.

6:02,5:59,5:49,5:43,5:51,5:53,6:00,6:02,5:57,5:53,5:52,5:58,12:19* (piss break),6:07,5:54,5:55,6:05,6:02,6:03,6:02,6:10,6:16,6:15,6:18,6:24,1:27

Totals: 26.2 miles

Weeks Totals: 54.4 miles

Years Totals:2709.5 miles

The Final Countdown

Now that mid week has come and gone I can now officially start to antsy about Sunday's race. I try not to think too much about the finish of the race. It's only natural, as I and many others have put hours and hours of time into preparation for such a physical challenge. I think I have said, " I hope...." a hundred times this week. I hope for good weather. I hope my legs respond the way I have trained. I hope I can run a decent last 10K and not have my race fall apart at the end. Well, I hope for the best. And really, that is what we all can do, right? Our best?

As for this week, not much excitement about my runs, as if there ever is right? Monday I took it easy and cut the distance down a couple miles and Tuesday I did a short fartlek session, and today I did my last track work and had to cut it a bit short just to save my right hip flexor. (it remains stiff and a little sore when running hard.)

Monday:

36:19 4.7 miles easy (7:43 pace)

Tuesday:

48:42 6.6 miles (8 times 25 second fartleks)

Wednesday:

53:40 7.4 miles

3 X 1000 meters at 5:15/mile pace

(felt great except my right flexor)

Well, there it is. Near twenty + weeks (i didn't add them up) of training for this upcoming Sunday's marathon in Sacramento, CA. I may not blog until after the race. One more time. I hope the next entry is one filled with great news! Until then. Peace!