Training in Montana

Now that I'm back home I did a new race report. My apologies to whomever reads it. :)

Woke up at 3:30 am, changed and headed down to the bus drop off. I took water, bagels, and Clif bars with me to eat on the bus and at the start. Got to the start at 4:30 and walked to the far North bonfires as those were the first ones burning. Laid around and listened to some conversations, then did some business at the POPs. As it got closer to 6:45 I got in line one more time, but realized that I wouldn’t make it so I got my bag together and headed down to the drop off. Put my bag away and searched for the 3:35 pace balloon. I found it, but there was a crush of people between me and the pacer so I thought I would stay where I was and find the pacer when the race started. That was mistake #1. Before the race started I lost the pacer balloon as he must have moved forward, and I never saw him again. After crossing the start line I ran pretty fast to try and catch up with the pacer, but after a bit of running in the 7’s and not seeing him I backed off, realizing that I probably wouldn’t catch him. It turns out that I was behind the 3:45 pacer as well as I caught up to him much later. Weeks before the race I created a SGM pace bracelet for 3:35, telling me exactly the pace I should hit for each mile based on elevation change and difficulty. Unfortunately I decided not to take that pace bracelet but instead took the Clif pace bracelet which was not SGM specific, and I knew it wasn’t realistic. So, mistake #2 was that I decided I’d run about an 8:30 pace for the first half, then book it downhill the second half and still hit my time. I’m not very good with running math on the fly. Really not good at it, plus didn’t take into account that I wouldn’t be able to run my pace the last few miles. Should’ve thought of that.

So, I chugged along, hitting around 8:30 for the first bit, then sped up with miles 6 & 7 into Veyo. That was really neat seeing the whole town come out to support us. Up Veyo hill I felt strong and passed a lot of people who I’d let go by on the first 5 miles, and I hit a 9:20 for mile 8 and a 9:32 for mile 9 including a pee break on a tree. The next few uphill miles were slower than I wanted, in the 8:40s, but once we got over the hill during mile 12 I started going faster, although it wasn’t as fast as I had planned. Mentally I thought I could hit 7:50s which would make up some good time but those miles were 8:18 and 8:14, which weren’t even on pace for a 3:35. Good downhills came after that and I hit paces in the low 7s and clicked onto a Marathon Maniac who was doing about 7:40 miles. I realized I couldn’t sustain that pace so I only ran in the 7s for a few miles, then hit another pee break at the 17 mile aid station. I felt pretty good for the next few miles, but my times were erratic. 8:23, 8:33, 7:51, 9:21. I knew I was in trouble when I was running downhill and hitting a 9:10 mile during mile 22. Just after that was one of the last uphills and I again felt strong and passed people, but at the top of that small hill I suddenly felt lightheaded and had to walk. The heat was hitting me. I wore my HR monitor and my HR was up way more than it should’ve been at the paces I was running. I was hoping to break 3:38 and with 4 miles to go I could’ve done that with an 8:00 pace but I realized that with the heat that was off the table, so now my goal was to finish as strong as I could. Saw my family at mile 23 and that was awesome. Mile 24 was okay and hit an 8:45, but mile 25 was a 10:00 as I walked quite a bit to keep my HR down. Mile 26 I picked it back up to an 8:55, then the last stretch I was able to get back to an 8:08 to finish. It was great being able to run solid down the chute and I got cheered on by a friend I made in Kansas City who now lives in Southern California and was cheering on his family. Loved that. I grabbed food in the recovery area and hung out there for a while. My gut bomb hit about 30 minutes after that, and then again while walking to the car. Thank goodness we parked near the labor & delivery hospital as I was able to duck in there and use the restroom. I’m glad the gut held out until after the race.

Overall, I’m pleased with the race, but a bit disappointed in how I ran the race. Next time I’ll go with Plan A and not second guess myself or try to do math on the run. But I’ll definitely be back for more.

My paces: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/118876781

I can nearly walk without looking like I'm having leg problems, but not quite. My thighs are the worst as I booked it downhill during the steep parts. Sunday I could hardly sit down, Monday it got a little better, and today I was able to walk the 5 flights of stairs from my floor instead of taking the elevator.

Went to the Y today to get a workout in. Peddled on the recumbent (sp?) bike for 15 minutes while watching a combination of Top Shot (Gatling gun elimination - very cool!), SportsCenter, and Design on a Dime. I need a similar row of TVs at my house. That would be cool. Legs felt good and warmed up. Then did a couple laps around the indoor track, legs still feeling good, then did upper body. 3 sets of curls, triceps, and bench press. Did some abs work - 1:00 planks (been a long while); some laying down toe touches, and some bicycles. Not too many - need to work into doing my ab work as I did nothing over the last few months.

Excited to be post marathon, but ready for more. If I could run one in November I would, but there's none around here and no money to travel to one. My next race is a 5K on Thanksgiving morning. I'm shooting for a sub 21 minute race. That's probably a bit agressive as I don't venture into the 6's very often, but I'll give it a go. It's only 3.1 miles, right?

Legs are much better today, so I decided to return to Boot Camp (circuit training) as I told the instructor months ago that once my marathon training was over that I'd be back. I think I might do it once a week or so as I'm not in good enough shape to handle double workouts.

We started off with 3 laps around the indoor track (17 laps per mile) and I took it very slowly - I was dead last and normally I'm towards the front. My hammies are very tight but the quads feel pretty good. First circuit was 10 step ups, then sprint (slow jog) to the middle of the basketball floor, and 10 lo-jacks, then on to the other end for 20 jumps of the rope. Next circuit was in push up position with hands on towels, going down and sliding one arm straight out, then up and other arm out the opposite side. I did most of those on my knees. Next one worked the quads so I skipped that and did some curls instead. Next was tricep dips; then stairs. First set I went super slow on the stairs and nearly got lapped. On the second time around I realized that I could go up and down the stairs just fine but the run in between the stairs had my tight hamstrings angry so I went super slow shuffle. Next one was hand weights punching straight ahead 1-2-3-4 then a big jump. First round I did a teeny white man jump. Second time I realized I could bring my legs up for a butt kick and that didn't kill my quads. Next one was 10 chest raises, then 10 military press, and repeat for 1 minute. Last one was riding the seatless spinning bike. All circuits were 1 minute.

Glad that my legs are healing nicely. Might try and go for a very slight jog/walk tomorrow morning.

I just noticed that I'm fewer than 20 miles away from 1000 for the year! Wow - I'm feeling good about that. Next year I may just set a mileage goal as there seems to be a direct correlation between miles invested and PRs returned (smart miles of course).

Spent a little time on the Treadmill today to see what it was like to run again. I walked for a bit at 4.0 then ran at that speed, then bumped it up to a 5.0 for a while. Ended up being on for 20 minutes total. Could've gone further but was tired and calorie deprived. Devoured lunch afterwards and scouring the office for more.

AM: I ran today! It felt soooo good to get out and do my normal early morning running. I was going to do it Friday but it was raining and cold and Saturday I had a Scout campout. Sunday morning I woke up ready to run, not knowing what day it was. I love that pre-wake confusion. So set the alarm last night and woke up this morning. A bit chilly at 42 but fine with gloves and a new thin hat I picked up at the SGM expo. Love the hat.

Felt pretty good, just taking it easy like normal. I probably got going a bit too fast down the hills, but 7:55 was the max so not crazy fast, but my calves were/are a bit sore. Anyhow, felt great to get out. Excited to run in the mornings and hit the Y 2-3 lunches a week, something I didn't do during the SGM training.

Lunch: Hit the Y for Boot Camp. Regular instructor was back and it was killer both upper and lower body. The upper body weights make me so light headed - I must not breathe right or something. It's been a problem for a while. Or I think I can do faster reps than I'm doing - I don't know. Great workout though.

Got out for 5 miles this morning. Legs a bit sore from boot camp, calves a bit sore from yesterday's run. Nothing too crazy though. Ran the 5 miles in 44:56, so I was going fairly slow but ran naturally on the down parts and was in an 8:10 range or so. 9:30 or so up the hills. 53 degrees, so 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. Wore a long sleeve tech shirt & the free Wasatch Running gloves I got at SGM, but could've gone short sleeve & no gloves. Beautiful morning. Nearly full moon low in the Western sky, Eastern sky starting to get light, and O'Ryan's belt directly overhead. Very nice.

5 good miles this morning. Nearly didn't wake up early - turned off my 5:45 alarm as I'd gone to bed later than planned. Then my body woke me at 5:58 telling me to just get up and get on with it. I listened and obliged. 50 degrees with a 23 mph wind so I wore my lighter sunglasses. Amber colored lenses so not too hard to see through when dark with a headlamp, but helped when running directly into the wind, which was mostly on the way back. No watch or tunes as I'd left them both at work, so just listened to the crunch of the gravel underfoot and watched the glowing eyes stare back at me from the herd of deer. Beautiful full moon lit up most everything - nice run. Will do boot camp at noon.

6 lovely miles this fine morning. 45 degrees out & cloudy with nary a breeze.

Realize I just broke 1000 miles for the year. Wahoo! Now I've got plenty of time to go for more. Need some new shoes though - please send spare change my way.

Boy howdy, today was the toughest run I've had in a long long time as I nearly cut it short by a long ways. But, I pushed through and made it the distance (He's going the distance - he's going for speed). I rolled out of bed at 5:25 as I planned out my Saturday in Outlook at work and my appointments automically add an alarm 5 minutes before but I'd forgotten that. I had my other alarm set for 5:45 so that was a bit of a rude awakening but worked fine. Had to work out some issues with my friend John, but finally rolled out that door at 6:05.

When I headed out the door it was 38 with a very slight breeze, so wore shorts & a long sleeve shirt, tech shirt underneath that, and gloves and a thin hat. It was perfect for today (but I was in need of a long hot shower afterwards to warm up completely). After 1 mile I took a short walk break. Weird. After 2 miles I took a walk break as I just wasn't feeling it - I never do that. Just past 2 miles is a fork in the road. If I go straight it's rolling hills but coming back that way it's slightly uphill. If I go left it's my tougher-than-Veyo hill and then more and more up, but on the return I can always run low 7s which is fun for a slow guy like me. All week I'd planned to go the hill route, and turn around at 6 miles. As I'd walked twice already, I'd figured to go the easier route. After going 30 seconds towarads the easy way out, I turned around and headed to the hill. I thought that if anything could get me going, it would be my favorite hill. I really do love it. So, I headed off. It's gravel road from this point on, and starts out with a stretch of downhill. Still not feeling it. Now a strech of uphill then some flat before hitting the big hill. Really not feeling it. At 3.17 miles I walk again, and this time I walk for a few minutes. This has literally never happened to me. Obviously I haven't been running that long (nearly 2 years). I think I'm not getting enough sleep, I guess I did run a marathon only 2 weeks ago, but my body feels great. Maybe it's because I'm not on a training plan and I live by the plan. I don't know. It sucked. I turned around, ready to head home and admit defeat at 6 miles, when I desperately wanted a 10+ miler. After a few steps I conquer the negative voices and decide to just go up the hill. I swallow some jelly beans, I start shuffling, then the hill starts, and I get in the groove. I shuffle some more, and soon I'm at the top of the hill. I'm feeling it! Wahoo! It took me running up a monster hill to get in the groove. That felt great. At this point it was just over 4 miles and I knew the rest of the run would be good and it was. Turned around at 6 miles and cruised back home. I cruised downhill in the low 7s, ate me some more jelly beans when I started to fade, and I moved on towards home.

With 1.5 to go I'm back on a paved country road, no cars around, and I see what looks like a herd of cattle spread across both lanes coming towards me. I couldn't figure out what it was for a while. Finally realized it was a herd of 20 wild turkeys, 3 of them albino, that live in the area. They were cruising the highway eating along the way. When I got to them I chased them off the road, gave them a stern lecture about walking in the middle of the road, and then ran home.

AP: 9:08. That was a really long post. Sorry.

5 miles on a cool fall morning. 40 degrees with a slight breeze, 84% humidity as it had rained during the night. Clear skies all around, so the moon was bright, the stars were out, and the Eastern sky warmed during my run. Gorgeous. It was a bit muddy on my first .75 before I hit pavement, but not too bad. I felt pretty good, much better than Saturday, and ran the whole way so that's an improvement. I slept in until 9:15 Sunday morning which helped a lot. Good run, ready for boot camp at lunch.

AP: 8:45

Slept in yesterday and it was very nice. This morning I rolled out of bed and got on the road by 6:10. Beautiful morning. No clouds, half moon directly overhead, stars bright and plentiful. Eastern light very faded. I turned off the headlamp after mile 1 and ran without light the rest of the way. I love where I live.

Legs were tired the first mile, but then warmed up. I thought it was 42 when I started, but there was frost when I drove to work so it must have been in the 30s. Legs warmed up and I felt better. On the way back I got thinking about the Run Turkey Run 5K next month and realized I haven't done any training for it. The last .75 I picked it up and kept it under a 7:00. Averaged a 6:55 for the last mile, and the first .25 I wasn't trying too hard, so I had a good pace. There's a lot of downhill, but I need to get my legs used to turning over that quickly. Going Elk hunting Friday-Monday with my 12 year old and my hunting buddies, so I'll take a running break for a while.

I started exercising (stairmaster) 2 years ago to get in shape for Elk hunting, and when I got back I didn't want to give up my gains, so I started some minor running (I've always been an off and on runner). At the end of that month (November 2009) I watched Biggest Loser contestants run a marathon and realized that if they could do it, I could. I'd wanted to run a marathon since my Dad did St. George in 1987, but I'd never figured out how to do it. That night I determined I would run the DesNews Marathon in 2010 and found Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan. Interesting how I started this to be a better hunter, and now running has overtaken hunting in importance. Now I run to run, and I hunt because it's a fun thing to do, but I don't spend near as much time thinking about it and planning for it as I do my running. It will be fun, though, and hopefully we'll bring home some meat for the freezer.

Hiked lots of miles the past few days of hunting, all at 8000 feet or higher elevation, so didn't lose much. I did miss my long run, but made up for it with 3 days of fun-filled 4-wheeler riding and "Elk looking". I can't call it hunting if I didn't fire my rifle. Next year.

Had a nice run today at lunch time. The weather turned cold, so it was 45 with 20 mph gusts when I ran. Gloves, hat, and my SGM long sleeve shirt were a good choice. Warmed up after a couple miles, and by the last 2 miles took the gloves off, and had the hat above my ears most of the run. Beautiful day, lots of gorgeous colors on leaves all around. Love this time of year. After warming up I noticed I was moving faster than expected, so I pushed it a bit. Felt really good.

AP: 8:18. Splits 9:17, 8:42, 8:01, 7:56, 7:23, 8:40 (cool down).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/124293710

Had to have run about .75 miles during boot camp today. It was a good one - the kind where you can barely bring your arms up to your head to wash your hair. I plan on running tomorrow morning, probably in tights for the first time this year. So much fun, and so stylish.

5 miles from home. A bit chilly out with the wind gusting, but not too bad. I felt good today so pushed it a bit. A warm shower felt fantastic.

AP: 8:00. Splits: 9:00, 8:44, 7:30, 6:44, 7:22.

A cold 29 degrees this morning, but thankfully no wind at home. Hit a bit of a breeze on the run but not bad. Donned the tights and a fleece vest, plus a second set of gloves. I could use a thin jacket - should've bought a cheap one at the SGM expo. Next year.

I found a new 5 mile hills course for me. I normally head South from home when I run - okay - always head South, as that's the way I drive home. Today I headed North, or downhill. It's a rough dirt road for a couple miles then a paved very uphill course that loops back to my house. It was a good workout. Was in the 7s on the way down, but that took no effort as it's at least 400 foot drop over 2 miles. Didn't hook up the Garmin to the computer so not exactly sure. The climb back up was brutal with paces in the 10s for a good part of the way. There's a bit of flat and minor downhill over the next 2 miles, but not much. A steady climb and it was tough for me after yesterday's speedier times. Walked once but then made it home. I was slightly chilled for a couple hours. Might need to wear more clothes when the temps are high 20s/low 30s.

AP: 9:00 or so. Don't remember.

At Noon, hit the gym for 30 minutes of weights. Did pullups - 10, 5, 5. Some curls, tricep dips, triceps with weights, pushups, and planks front/side/side (without a clock).

Running uphill is hard. Running into the wind is harder. Running uphill into the wind just plain sucks. I didn't hit that until mile 5, but ran up and into wind the last 2.5. Ugh. Was very glad for the turnaround. Ran pretty hard on the way back but with it being downhill and with a wind at my back it wasn't too hard of an effort. Overall happy with my longest effort since the marathon.

AP: 8:53. Splits 9:21, 9:01, 9:42, 10:12, 8:54, 9:41, 9:04 (turn around), 7:58, 9:38 (?), 8:03, 7:34, 8:51, 7:54, 8:06.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/124991961

Even though I slept in today until 8:30, after church I took an hour nap and it greatly improved my attitude. Also took the chill off having to substitute teach 8 year olds today at church, and one of the boys was very tough, and my 12 yr old boy who was "helping" me was worse than the younger ones. Grrr. But after the nap I felt awesome. I need to sleep more this week so I'm not so tired by the end of the week.

Planned on running this morning, and should've, but I was couldn't get myself out of bed on about 4 different chances. I was always planning on Boot Camp, though, and I made that at lunch. Ran around the block 3 different times, then had lots of upper body stuff. Good workout. Upper body is a bit fatigued, thighs are still a bit tired from Saturday. I'm hoping I can keep up the mileage plus BC 2-3 times per week. I really enjoy it and it gets me my fast twitch workouts (even though they aren't much) and builds some good core and upper body strength, plus works leg muscles I don't normally hit during running. Halloween tonight - supposed to rain/snow later on. Hopefully it holds off until the fun is over.