A scientist with a running problem

How to pick a race

2011-08-02T10:02:00.003-04:00

I'm conflicted on what race to run this Fall. The two I've narrowed it down to are on the same weekend. One seems a better choice for several reasons, the other is "calling" me more, but with 1 major drawback.

The options:
Gibbet 50 miler
West Virginia Mountain Trilogy (3 day stage race of 50K, 50 mile, half marathon lengths)

The Gibbet just makes more sense. It's closer (4 hour drive versus 6 hours). It's in a much more family friendly location (Virginia Beach, VA versus BFE, WV) if J and the kids wanted to accompany me. I'd be away from the family for less time if they don't. Given my currently level of fitness, a single long race makes a helluva lot more sense than back-to-back trail ultra's followed by a trail half marathon (followed by a 6 hour drive home). Both courses are primarily trail but neither appear to have major climbs or long stretches of overly-technical sections.

The biggest thing for me is the fact the words "remote location" are on the Trilogy race website. Race headquarters is at "The Mountain Institute" in WV, where free tent camping (albeit with showers and bathrooms) is available. According to the website, the closest lodging ("clean, comfortable, older style motels") are ~40 minutes away. They recommend you bring whatever supplies you may need as the nearest store is 20 minutes away. This is a deterrent for me.

Don't get me wrong, the WV mountains can be beautiful. I've run another of the WVMTR races, the Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 mile. And while it was almost entirely run in the dark (started at 9 PM), what I could tell was that it was pretty nice country. But let's face facts. I'm a "comfy chair & shower" kind of person. I like a comfy bed, especially after running all day through trails. 3 days of trail races sounds awesome, but not with tent camping in between. Hell, I don't even own a tent!

So, Gibbet 50 in Virginia Beach makes so much sense. I'm fairly certain I could finish it (with the usual caveats of any long race) if I continue training the next 2 months the way I've been. But the idea of running 3 days of trails races through the mountains definitely calls to me. I've never done it anything like it. Would I even be able to start on day 2? How would my body react afterwards? I really want an answer these questions. But at the expense of my comfort? I don't know.

Umstead 100 Race Report

2010-04-11T23:06:00.015-04:00

The Umstead 100 Endurance Run was my first attempt at 100 miles. Umstead Park is right in my backyard so to speak (~15-20 minute drive to the race headquarters) and I run there a lot. While I've wanted to attempt a 100 miles for a while, doing so at Umstead was never really in my thoughts. Knowing the loop that is run, I simply had no desire to do so 8 times in a row. With the benefit of hindsight, I feel stupid to have thought like that as I couldn't have been happier with how everything worked out. This is an AWESOME race for 1st timers and a great race overall.

The recap:

For those interested in the short version, here it is. I finished in 23:27, scoring the sweet "100 miles, one day" belt buckle for a sub 24 hour finish. En route, I ran a 50 mile personal best of 9:55, and got to see my family a couple of times. My lap (12.5 mile) splits were: 2:15, 2:21, 2:44, 2:35, 3:23, 3:42, 3:06, and 3:21. The last lap I had the pleasure of running/walking with my sister Leanne, who flew out from California to cheer me on.

The details:

Buildup

It’s safe to say that the last year has been a good stretch of running for me. I have:

Completed a "100 runs in 100 days" challenge
Run a half marathon PR of 1:37 (on a not flat course and it hurt like hell!).
Finished Mountain Masochist in a personal best of 10:56 (including an extra 2-3 miles because of a boneheaded wrong turn)
Ran my first 100K at Hellgate in 16:47.
Finished my 7th Umstead Trail Marathon on March 6 (in 4:14:20 without really pushing it).

That being said, I was a little worried that I had logged only 6 runs of 15 miles or longer in 2010 (27 & 15 in Jan; 20 & 15 back-to-back in Feb; 31 & 16 In Mar (I ran 5 miles before the Umstead Trail Marathon). I had only run at night twice and those were simply 4-5 milers at about 9 PM. I felt that finishing under 30 hours was definitely achievable, but I really didn't want to have to walk entire laps to finish. I like running, and walking for hours on end just wasn't that appealing to me (at least not in Umstead park). I thought sub 24 hours was an outside shot, but a more likely scenario was 26-28 hours, which worked out well because my family could be at the finish line when I crossed.

Race weekend

I went to packet pickup with my sister (who knew several other people running) and tried to just soak in the atmosphere. I'm not one to mingle and socialize but love to watch. It really started to sink in what I was going to be doing and I started to get a little nervous. On the way back to the car, I realized just how cold it was and had to re-think my gear choices. I had planned on just wearing shorts and various T-shirts for the duration of the race. Early forecasts had called for low 60's in the day and mid 40's at night. It turned out to be around freezing at the start. After I got home, I did my normal nightly routine (kids bathed, dishes done, etc) and then packed my gear. I even loaded up a second iPod which the most inspirational songs I could think of to use during the last couple of laps, if needed. Given that I'd be leaving early, my wife allowed me the luxury of sleeping on the couch downstairs as both our kids have bad histories of not sleeping well through the night (yeah, she absolutely rocks!). I was asleep by ~ 11 PM and slept until about 4 AM. A little less than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary. I dressed, pre-fueled with coffee and peanut butter toast, then had to scrape the ice from my car before I could head out! Definitely colder than expected!

The only "oops" in the morning was that I left my cooler bag of sandwiches, milk and Frappucino's in the 'fridge. Not a big deal as I wasn't planning on needed it until much later anyway. I arrived at headquarters at about 5:10 AM and just milled around the building for a while. My starting line gear was Smartwool socks, a pair of well used Brooks Cascadia 4, compression underlayer briefs, Patagonia Ultra shorts, a technical T-shirt from Bull City Running and my favorite long sleeve short, gloves, water bottle with Perpetuem, a few gels and iPod. I wore a watch for the 1st lap so I could have an accurate start time but took it off for the last 7 laps. I wasn’t feeling too nervous, and was glad to be finally starting. This moment had been on my mind for the last 5 months and it was nice to have the cold to focus on instead of the task the lay ahead.

Lap 1

I attempted to take it really easy at the start. The 'airport overlook' spur is shorter than in the Umstead Trail marathon course so it felt great to get to turn around so soon. The first 4-5 miles I chatted with nice people about all kinds of stuff. Heard some great stories (from the Croom Fools Run 50K director, among others) and chatted with someone who mentioned expecting to finish in ~22 hours with even splits. Whoa...running too fast this early! I walked some early on, even when I didn't feel I needed to and only stopped at the big aid station at 6.8 miles. I grabbed a few small bits to eat, refilled my bottle and headed out. Knowing the 'North Turkey Creek' section pretty well, I knew of several short, steep uphills that I planned to walk every lap. I followed my plan and ran alone for most of this section after firing up the iPod. I made decent time down Powerline Hill, walked up Cemetery Hill and then cruised back to headquarters, finishing lap 1 in 2:15. Ahead of schedule but I felt good. Anything slower would have been uncomfortable to run. I called my wife to request my cooler bag when she made it over to the race. Then I made a big mistake. The sun was coming out, so I assumed things would be warming up. I took off my long sleeve outer shirt and gloves, opting instead for Moeben arm sleeves. I then got some food and drink at Sally's Asylum and headed back out.

Lap 2

I almost immediately regretted losing the gloves. The time at the aid station and the hike out of headquarters allowed my body to cool and my hands got seriously cold. So cold it hurt. By a mile into this lap, I had pulled the arm sleeves down to cover my hands, but that didn't help much. All I could think about was how freaking cold my hands were! OK, so 13 miles into a 100 mile race is perhaps not the best spot to be thinking how uncomfortable you are, regardless of the reason. Lesson learned. Don't let the picture fool you, I only pulled the arm sleeves up so I wouldn't look so stupid. I was NOT a happy person at this point. But I used it as motivation to keep running and eventually things got better, as they always do. I again stopped briefly at the middle aid station, this time to use the 'facilities' so I lost touch with the group of people I had been around. The rest of this loop was the same as Lap 1. By the end, I was feeling a lot better, but my stomach was starting to growl! As I pulled into the headquarters area, I saw the wonderful sight of my kids, wife and dog (who was going nuts at all the commotion). I stopped briefly to say hi and get fist bumps (my 4 year old daughter pointed out that she was wearing gloves, a hat AND a hood!) then made my way back to my drop bag. I clocked lap 2 in 2:21 (4:36 total). Still too fast but my legs felt great and my energy level was good. However, this was the point I felt a hint that something was going to get ugly. I had to run to the bathroom to apply Bodyglide in a very, uhh, private, sensitive area (lower than abs, higher than quads…). I convinced myself everything was good, and grabbed a peanut butter and sugar flatbread sandwich, a few more gels, and a handful of donuts and wafer cookies at the Asylum. I also got to see my mom and sister this time around which lifted my spirits. I spent at least 10 minutes at this stop.

Lap 3

A rather boring lap. The sun was out, temps were up, and I felt great. The family met me at the middle aid station (~32 miles), leading to the (utterly fake) "What, 100 miles? No problem" photo seen below. As expected, my 2 year old son was more interested in playing in the dirt than in seeing me at this point. It was on this lap started to get a few hot spots on my feet, but nothing too worrisome. It was also on this lap where I told Zach Gingerich (eventual winner) as he passed me that he better watch out because I was going to kick it in on the next lap and that I was gunning for him (he must have heeded my warning as he went on to shatter the course record by over an hour, clocking 13:23!). I had to stop several times on the course, leading me to think I was drinking way too much. I made sure to keep up the calorie intake though, as I had a fear of crashing later (not having much experience with runs past 5-6 hours). I finished this lap in 2:44 (7:20 total). Other than the arising chafing issue, I had no other major concerns (except, you know, having to run another 62.5 miles). After this lap, I felt the need to add one more line to the ultrarunners mantra Blake had us newbies chant the night before: "Drink before you're thirsty, Eat before you're hungry, Walk before you're tired...and LUBE BEFORE YOU CHAFE!" I changed T-shirts, grabbed some real food at Sally's, and filled up my bottle with sweet tea!

Lap 4

OK, time to get serious and get this thing halfway done. I had a slight surge of energy/confidence/caffeine when I left for Lap 4. A group of runners I thought had long since left me in the dust were only ~1-2 minutes ahead. I ran a good portion of this lap, if slowly, and again had to stop multiple times on the course. I spent a little more time than usual at the middle aid station this time around. When I came back to headquarters, I found myself at a lap time of 2:35 and 50 miles in 9:55. That's a personal best by ~25 minutes! My legs felt great...well, my leg muscles felt great. My inner thighs felt like someone had sandpapered them. I again saw my family (my amazingly awesome wife was dealing with a 2 and 4 year old, neither of which had napped!), and this time spent probably 15 minutes in the bathroom. I opted to remove the compression underlayer briefs. I wasn't sure if it was the cause of the chafing or not, but I was starting to be in some pretty serious discomfort. I downed a strawberry milk (tasted awesome!), grabbed a slice of pizza and cup of potato soup at the Asylum, and headed out. I also loosened my shoelaces as my feet were really starting to hurt (go figure!). Before I left, I mentioned to my wife that I was not happy and that I wasn't sure what would happen.

Lap 5

A brutal lap. Painful in all the wrong spots. It was made even more frustrating by the fact my leg muscles felt great and I had tons of energy! I wanted to run but just couldn't make myself. I walked a lot of this lap, definitely more than any. Removing the compression briefs didn't help and in fact I think made things worse. The lining of my shorts now rubbed right against where the chafing was. YAY! I found a way to make myself even more uncomfortable! My time for this lap was 3:23, nearly an hour longer than the previous lap! Back at the aid station, I had the pleasure of just being done with 62.5 miles when I hear people clapping and cheering. Then they announced that the WINNER was freaking done! Well, there goes my goal of winning my first 100! I put the undershorts back on, took a Tylenol, then texted my wife that if things continued like the last lap, it would probably derail the whole effort. I didn't think I was doing any long term damage, but I wasn't going to make myself suffer through 37.5 miles of painful walking just to say I finished a 100 miler. I also heard at this point that my sister would be arriving soon at the headquarters with the plan of staying through until I finished. Have I mentioned that my sister is awesome and also runs ultra's? She's run several 50K's, 50 milers and 100k's, including Promised Land, Holiday Lake, American River, Dick Collins, Ruth Anderson and Miwok. Having her around was a definite advantage for me. I downed a Frappucino and some more soup. Then left my iPod and grabbed both my headlamp (worn around my waist) and a handheld flashlight. The moon was bright enough and the course smooth enough that I rarely used either, though. Running in the dark was probably the most enjoyable part of the race, save for the finish.

Lap 6

The combination of the Tylenol, undershorts, and basically telling my wife I was giving up had its desired effect and this lap wasn't too bad (I hate disappointing people who have done so much for me). I ran a little more of it, felt a little less uncomfortable, and started to come up out of the 'mental valley' I was in. By this point, I had a pretty good idea how fast a given lap would be given how much I was running and walking, so I started to do the math for a finishing time (it helps pass the time, and for the other runners is much preferable to the singing out loud I often do). I was able to convince myself I actually had a shot at sub 24 hours if I was able to keep things moving along. It was also during this lap that I realized the 'pebble" I thought had been in my shoe was actually a hotspot turning into a nice blister (just behind my big toe on the ball of my foot). I grabbed a cup each of potato and chicken & rice soup at the middle aid station. Gels were simply not an option at this point. I finished this lap in 3:42. While this was my slowest lap, a lot of that was from ‘non-moving time’ trying to do something about the chafing. I downed a chocolate milk and several cookies. I saw my sister, told her to suit up and charge the batteries so she could pace me on the last lap. I felt, at this point, slightly, marginally, not worse than earlier. I changed into a fresh T-shirt and long sleeve that was a little more than I needed, but better than being cold.

Lap 7 - aka The false hope that you are almost done

Something kicked in and I ran a good portion of this lap. I ran like a man possessed. I actually ran some of the uphills, because I found I could. My legs felt freaking awesome. Yes, they were sore and tired, but nothing like they've felt at the end of Masochist and Hellgate. I again stopped at the middle aid station to apply Vaseline "liberally to affected areas” which took time, but I somehow convinced myself that I was almost done. I met a guy here that was on lap 6 who had finished the Brazil 135 in 57 hours. H**y F*****g S**t! That's like the guy at Hellgate who 'wondered if he could finish' when his last race was the Hardrock 100! Ultra people are simply awesome. I came "flying" into the headquarters with a lap time of 3:06. When I arrived, I saw I had just under 4 hours for the last lap to get in under 24 for the race (87.5 miles in 20:06). Wow. My sister was surprised I had come in when I did. I still took time to drink a Starbucks DoubleShot (a mistake) and some more soup. By the time we headed out I think we had maybe 3:45 to finish in under 24 hours.

Lap 8

About 3 steps into lap 8, I crashed from the effort of Lap 7. Legs still felt OK, feet hurt but not a deal breaker, chafing was getting bad again and it forced me to walk more than I wanted to. But mostly, my stomach was growling from a lack of significant solid food, churning from the Doubleshot, and my head spinning from what felt like a blood glucose level of 1. My sister was awesome in keeping me going when I didn't want to. I ran when I could, walked when I had to. I spent a few minutes at each of the intermediate aid stations trying to refuel properly even knowing most of it wouldn't kick in until after I was done. We left the middle aid station with 2 hours to go for 5.5 mile. Even with a very healthy dose of walking, the math was in my favor (which utterly shocked me, both that I could do math at that point and that I had a very good chance at sub-24 hours!). I ached, I complained that I ached, then complained to myself that I was complaining…my sister probably wanted to slap me (and she would have been totally justified in doing so), but she kept me moving on the downhills and flats. We started counting down the miles to go. At the last unmanned aid station, I began to get the fire back, knowing how close we were. My sister has a super cute 1 year old boy, so she hasn’t been able to run much lately. I took full advantage of this fact and pushed as hard as I could on the last few hills. She let me feel good by pretending to not be able to keep up with me. She is awesome beyond description. We hit the turn at the water fountain, made our way down into the headquarters and I somehow found the energy to finally run the last little uphill under the banner. 23:27:19! I got my buckle and fought back tears as I wandered to my drop bag. Damn that was fun! (yes, I was already forgetting the intense chafing pain and I KNEW I was doing it!). The last lap was 3:21.

I managed to change into dry clothes, grabbed some pancakes and liquid, then promptly fell asleep for about 20 minutes. At about 6:30, my sister woke me up so we could get to the park gate for the 7 AM opening. I wanted to get home and see my family! Sunday was kind of a blur. I cleaned up, slept from ~9:00-noon, ate, fell back asleep from ~2 until 5 PM, then was in a haze the rest of the evening.

The aftermath

Overall, it was an absolutely awesome experience. Completely different from my first 50K, 50 mile, and 100K races. All those hurt more in ways that were dictated by a lack of proper training. My legs simply couldn’t keep up with the hills/trails/distance. This one hurt, but in a much different way. I never felt like I physically wouldn’t be able to finish. Maybe because it is considered an ‘easy’ 100 miler (like running 100 miles is ever really easy) without significant elevation changes. Maybe because I had such great family support and such great race volunteer support. Who knows. Whatever the reason, I absolutely loved it and want that 1000 mile buckle now! One of the things about ultra’s that has always bummed me out was that a lot of them take place on technically difficult courses that force me to walk significant portions. I like running, not walking. I am thrilled I picked Umstead as my first 100 attempt.

2010 running goals

2009-12-31T22:06:00.003-05:00

In brief, here are my goals for running in 2010.

As always, remain (at least mostly) uninjured and in good overall health.

Overall distance goals:
Run my first 100 mile training week.
Run my first 250 mile training month.
Finish the year with at least 2100 miles, preferably closer to 2400.

Time goals (in decreasing importance with the first 2 being real close):
Finish 7th straight Umstead Trail Marathon in under 4 hours (I've never broken 4:08 on the current course).
Finish my first 100 mile race, Umstead 100. The main goal is to finish, but sub 24 hours would be real nice!
Run a sub 20 minute 5K.
Run a 6 minute mile (I've never actually specifically tried to run a single, fast mile)
Run a 3:30 marathon, even better would be to qualify for Boston with a 3:20.
Run a 1:30 half marathon.
Run sub 10 hours at a 50 miler.

Goal Races:
Carrboro Fat Ass 50K (January 2, 2010) - Confirmed
Umstead Trail Marathon (March 6, 2010) - Confirmed
Umstead 100 Endurance Run (March 27, 2010) - Confirmed
Bethel Hill Midnight Boogie 50 mile (June)
Triad Triple Lakes 40 mile
Hinson Lake 24 hour

December, 2009, Overall Running Stats

2009-12-31T21:39:00.004-05:00

OK, so I know I haven't posted my Hellgate 100K race report yet. Hopefully this weekend. In lieu of that thrilling tale, here are my December 2009, 2009, and 2003-2009 running stats, in more detail than anyone reading this should want to know.

December 2009
Miles run: 146.2
Times run: 19
Days run: 19 (61%)
Longest run: 66 miles (or whatever distance Hellgate 100K really is)
Shortest run: 2.5 miles

2009
Miles run: 1828.9 (2nd highest all time)
Times run: 290
Days run: 268 (73%)

Average per month: 152.4
Highest month: 191.1 (September; new all time high)
Lowest month: 118.5 (March)

Weeks with at least 1 run: 52
Highest week: 76.2 (new all time high)
Lowest week: 10.0

Average miles per week: 35.2
Average days per week: 5.15
Longest run: 66 miles (or whatever distance Hellgate 100K really is)
Shortest run: 2 miles
Average miles per day: 6.82
Average miles per run: 6.31
Number of runs at least 20 miles: 8

2003-2009 (Since I've been keeping track)
Miles run: 11,268.3
Average per year: 1609.8 Times run: 1642
Days run: 1619 (63.3%)
Average miles per 'run' days: 6.96
Average miles per run: 6.86
Average miles per total days: 4.4

Hellgate 100K prediction

2009-12-08T23:39:00.022-05:00

My official prediction is that I'll finish in 16:53:42.

That is an honest, accurate, non sand-bagging prediction based on a lot of information (see below) as well as my gut feelings of my current state of fitness. If anyone reading this wants to "entice" me to push myself, for instance, by offering cash or prizes for finishing faster, I'm listening! What follows is a brief description of the race, some background on me, and how I arrived at my prediction.

This Saturday (December 12, 2009), I'll be attempting my hardest/longest ultramarathon to date, the Hellgate 100K, directed by the 'infamous' Dr. David Horton. Technically a 100K (62.2 miles), one GPS track of the race has the distance at ~66 miles, with ~13,500 feet of elevation change. Below is listed some great sites for additional information. Highly recommended.

This will be my 13th ultra start and I hope my 12th ultra finish (I DNF'd the 2007 Mountain Masochist Trail Run at ~40 miles, although it turned out I had the flu!). The latest weather predictions are that it will be in the mid to low 20's as the low at the start and maybe mid 30's as a high during the day, but with a 40% chance of snow. I ran the Holiday Lake 50K++ in 2007 where it never got above freezing, but that was only 6.5 hours and almost entirely in daylight. Did I mention this race starts at 12:01 AM on Saturday? Yeah, so the first ~7 hours are in the dark. Luckily I am a night owl and generally don't have problems staying awake when needed. I've run one other nighttime race, a 50 miler that started at 9:00 PM back in 2008. Weather wise, my main concern is ice, not snow or temperature.

My previous longest race is the Mountain Masochist Trail Run, a ~50 mile race in this same geographic area. I finished it a little over 4 weeks ago in 10:56:25. On that day, I got a little off track and ran an extra ~2 miles so I think I could have finished in ~10:30. That race was my best ultra to date, by my assessment. I felt great at the end, better than I have in any other ultra. I feel I could have gone another 10-15 mile if needed. In total, I've finished four 50 mile races (2 of those have been the Mountain Masochist), two 40 mile races, and five 50K's, including Promise Land 50K which shares a portion of its course with Hellgate.

The two biggest "unknowns" to me is the fact that David Horton's races are never the advertised distance and the darkness + difficulty of the course is hard to objectively measure. So any predictions based simply on expected pace are likely to be wildly off. To combat this, I figured that the best way to guess my finish time was to see how long it took other people to finish Hellgate who also ran Mountain Masochist. So I trolled through the results of both races and found people who finished both races in the same year. My reasoning was that someone's level of fitness wasn't likely to change greatly in 4-5 weeks (the interval between the two races). I then calculated how much of an increase in time it took people to finish Hellgate compared to Mountain Masochist. Any errors in data are solely mine, and please keep in mind that with one exception, I have no firsthand knowledge of any of the people that resulted in this information. What I mean is, some people may have 'held back' at Masochist in anticipation of running Hellgate. Or maybe someone had a really bad day during one race and a great day at the other. Or maybe they ran with a buddy/loved one at one race and not the other. For this reason, my main focus is the average increase in time. I've also included the finishing (in under 18 hours) percentages, and what my predicted finishing times might have been in the past.

I find it really cool/scary that for a race that at its most is 16 miles longer than Mountain Masochist (i.e 32% longer), it takes most people more than 50% longer to finish! This is true for front runners and people just barely making the cutoffs. As you can see, only 1 "prediction" is over the 18 hour time limit: taking into account my actual Masochist finish time and the "Ice Year" average increase in finishing time. Most predictions are in the mid-16 to mid-17 hour range. My prediction comes mostly from the global average and what I feel I could have run at Masochist this year.

Interestingly, using where I finish in relation to the field has me finishing faster (sub 16 hours? Really?). I've found previously that I usually finish at or near the 50^th percentile (i.e. if there are 100 finishers, I finish around 50th). In previous ultra's I've finished in the 31^st, 40^th, 49^th, 46^th, 63^rd, 48^th, 56^th, and 48^th percentiles. At Masochist this year, I finished in the 54^th percentile of all official finishers, and like I said I felt great and feel I could have gone faster. Even estimating I finish in the 70^th percentile at Hellgate this year (given I've never gone this far, etc) has me in the mid to high 16 hour range. The reason I haven't relied heavily on this data for my prediction is that it is much more variable.

So there it is. Keep in mind that this analysis is for fun and as a way for me to have some idea of how long this race may take me. I really just want to finish under 18 hours safely, anything more is a bonus. It's bad enough I'll be away from my family for a few days, I don't need to hurt myself in the process! This doesn't mean I'm not going to try my best to finish as fast as possible. With the predicted forecast, I'm gonna be wanting to get done and around a fire as soon as possible!

100 in 100, Done and DONE!

2009-09-24T14:34:00.004-04:00

Woo-Hoo! Yes! I got in a run today at lunch (7 miles in 1:06), and it was the 100th run in the past 100 days.

With it, I have successfully completed the "100 in 100 Challenge". That was fun, and it made me run much more than I would have otherwise. Will be fun to take a few days off from running without feeling guilty though! Will post a more complete story later.

100 runs/100 days!!!

Day 99

2009-09-23T22:04:00.002-04:00

Second to last day...

I ran 4.1 miles in the morning, after about 20 minutes of weights around downtown Raleigh. Kinda humid but I kept the pace in check.

Then I snuck in another 4.5 miles at lunch time (also very humid).

99 runs/99 days

Day 98

2009-09-22T14:57:00.004-04:00

A very un-fun 8 mile run today. Was very humid, and I started out with a stomach full of Junior Mints and a banana. Apprently that doesn't make for a good run, because this run SUCKED.

But, I'm done and only 1 run "behind" with 2 days to go in the 100 in 100 challenge. At the risk of jinxing myself, I think I have a good shot at completing it!

97 runs/98 days

Days 96 and 97

2009-09-22T11:47:00.003-04:00

Day 96 = Sunday = 4.5 miles, pushing the kids in the stroller. A very difficult run. No energy at all in legs. Such is life.

Day 97 = Monday = 2 runs totaling 8.5 miles. The first was an easy 4 miles on the indoor track in ~34 minutes. The second was a 4.5 mile loop course, about haf of which was single track, the other half was dirt road. A fun run, but my feet were incredibly sore after wearing my NB790's with no socks. They felt bruised afterwards.

96 runs/97 days

Days 94 and 95

2009-09-19T20:37:00.002-04:00

Good and bad...I busted my ass at work on Friday and was able to get in 2 runs...then didn't run on Saturday!

Day 94: 5.5 miles on the road around Centennial Campus of NC State. Easy pace that was astonishingly around 9:00/mile. Then in the PM, I did 4.5 miles of speed intervals on the dreadmill (9:00 jog pace, 6:30-7:00 run pace).

Day 95: No run. 13 mile bike ride towing the kids. Multiple walks with Buddy.

My plan to get this challenge done is to run tomorrow (long-ish run, maybe 12-15 miles), then do 2 days of double runs by Thursday.

93 runs/95 days

Day 93

2009-09-17T15:02:00.001-04:00

Well, this is it...home stretch now. After today, only 1 week left. I got in 2 runs today, one of 4.8 miles on the road in the AM. Was a bit humid and my legs took a while to get into it. They're still sore from the weights the other day!

Then, after a "bag lunch" with G at daycare and getting my haircut, I went out on the un-improved section of the American Tobacco Trail for another 4.5 miles of mud and rain. That felt awesome! Need to do that more often.

91 runs/93 days

Day 92

2009-09-16T22:02:00.002-04:00

Did a very nice run of 7 miles today in just under an hour. My right knee was giving me issues out of the blue! Go figure. Had planned on sneaking in another quick 4 miles between a seminar and going to get the kids, but got stuck in the lab. Oh well, maybe tomorrow to make up a run.

89 runs/92 days

Day 91

2009-09-16T09:52:00.003-04:00

Only managed a 4.5 mile run today (well, yesterday) but I also did some weights/plyometrics so my legs got a killer workout. Things are getting close now...

88 runs/91 days

Day 90

2009-09-14T23:43:00.001-04:00

I snuck in a 4 mile run early, and had planned to go again in the afternoon, but ended up having to go pickup the kids (YEAH!), so no double run. Going to be close to get this 100 in 100 completed!

87 runs/90 days

Keep on keeping on...

2009-09-13T22:22:00.002-04:00

Friday, run 2 = 5 miles pushing the kids in the stroller, with J, after work. Good run, although foot was sensitive again.

Saturday = No run. Went to Wrightsville Beach with the kids, had a blast.

Sunday = 14 miles. Ran 8.5 pushing the kids, J was finishing up 20. Walked a bit at the end of that leg, but then finished up the run back to the car solo in ~9 minutes pace for 5.5 miles. Felt pretty good. The rest of the day (house & car cleaning, etc) took me out though.

86 runs/89 days

Day 87a

2009-09-11T12:26:00.004-04:00

Short run this morning. Left foot really starting again. It's been fine for over a week, and now this! Grrr.....

Anyway, ran 4.11 miles (according to my old Garmin Forerunner 201 watch), and I plan on getting out for another 5 later today. That's right, 9.11 miles on 9/11. Just my own little tribute to what happened 8 years ago.

84 runs/87 days

Days 85 and 86

2009-09-10T15:16:00.002-04:00

OK, after today, just 2 weeks left. Ran once each yesterday (7.5 miles) and today (4.2 miles) making me still 3 run short. My schedule is gettign busy, so getting in daily runs for 2 weeks straight, including 3 days of double runs will be tough.

But tough is what I like!

83 runs/86 days

Day 84b

2009-09-08T15:55:00.002-04:00

Just finished with another run: 4.5 miles in 36:13, about 30 minutes of which was hill repeats. Fairly steep and run at an uncomfortable pace. My legs are still shaking.

81 runs/84 days

Day 84a

2009-09-08T11:53:00.003-04:00

Tuesday morning after a 3-day weekend. Being 4 runs down in this 100 in 100 challenge, I decided to ramp up the dedication! First thing after dropping the kids off at daycare, I went to the gym, changed, then did some weights (squat thrusts, situps, pushups), ran 5 miles in 46 minutes, then did more weights (pulldowns & rows, weighted step ups, situps).

I have every intention of gettign out again this early afternoon for run #2, possibly some time on the treadmill at 15% incline. I'm really need to get my leg muscles ready for Mountain Masochist! That elevation profile ain't no joke!

80 runs/84 days

Up to day 83

2009-09-08T11:35:00.005-04:00

Crazy week, sorry for lack of updates! Last Monday (Aug 31st) was Day 76, so through yesterday (Monday, Sep 8) makes 83 days down. Not a good week overall, here's the recap:

Tuesday (D77) - A good 8 mile run in 1:07 with some short steep hills. Only minor foot aches. Temp was cooler, which helped a lot.

Wednesday (D78) - 6.6 miles total in 1:03. I did ~4 miles of speedwork on the treadmill: 2 intervals each of 1, 2, and 4 min at 7:00 pace, with a 1 min rest at 9:00 pace. Legs were cooked.

Thursday (D79) - 7.2 miles, 2 on trail, in 1:08. Left foot hurt on trail sections (Grrr). Left work early to go to Wake County Animal Shelter...adopted a 5-6 year old Golden/Chow mix, will pick up on Saturday. Named Buddy. Took the kids in the bike trailer for ~40 minutes after work.

Friday (D80) - A very easy 5 miles, 3 on trail. That is to say, I took it very easy.

Saturday (D81) - No run. Exhausted from a long day with kids and new dog. Had a good walk with Buddy in the evening, though.

Sunday (D82) - 11 miles in Umstead State Park, the first 5.5 pushing the kids in the double wide. Difficult run, no energy in legs whatsoever. Was supposed to go further, but just couldn't fathom anything more than making it back to the car! Took another good walk in the evening with Buddy though.

Monday (D83) - Was planning on a long-ish run, but life conspired first to cut it short, then to prevent it from happening at all! I did do a lot of chasing G and 2 of her friends around the yard during their playdate. And D was all about wrestling and playing today (cross-training?).

79 runs/83 days

Up to Day 76

2009-08-31T15:06:00.002-04:00

Bummer! Just got caught up, and I get a 2 day break from running. Busy weekend, with no running. I did go for a 12 mile bike ride in Umstead pulling the kids in the new bike trailer. Killed my legs!

Today (Day 76), I ran 5.2 miles in the rain...it was awesome. Cooler temps too. Easy easy run, under 45 minutes.

74 runs/76 days

Days 69-73

2009-08-28T14:50:00.002-04:00

Bit of break in updates...busy week! Here's we go...

Monday = Day 69 = 5.5 miles, 50 minutes, Nice and easy, no issues with foot.

Tuesday = Day 70 = Early morning run with D on the Tobacco Trail. 5 miles, started at 6 AM! Took me out for the rest of the day.

Wednesday = Day 71 = 4 miles, again early in the AM with D-Mac. We saw a Great Dane that blew his little mind! ALso ran a second time today: 4.8 miles in 45 minutes. Did some quarter mile repeats on grass at ~90% effort. It was hot out, so that translated into not so fast running!

Thursday = Day 72 = 5 miles on the indoor track at NC State (38:13), the first 4 in 30 minutes flat! I did intervals of 2-3 laps (1/3 to 1/2 mile) at fast pace, with equal recovery. I also did 10 minutes (1.03 miles) on the stairmill at 85 steps per minute.

Friday = Day 73 = A quick run today, 4.7 miles in 40 minutes. Then a pizza lunch with G and J at daycare.

73 runs/73 days

Days 66-68

2009-08-23T22:23:00.002-04:00

Got some runs in, but all very short. Busy busy busy!

Friday = Day 66 = 4 miles of not fun running. Maintenance run in the heat/humidity.

Saturday = Day 67 = 4 miles on American Tobacco Trail. Hot again, and had major nerve issue with left foot again!?! Maybe it is the NB 790's. Need to get this resolved.

Sunday = Day 68 = 3.5 miles pushing the kids in the stroller. Foot OK, but wore my Saucony Ride (700+ miles!). "Slogged" up the hills to simulate late in race fatigue. Not hard as it was humid, but cooler, yet still my legs were toast.

67 runs/68 days

Days 63-65

2009-08-21T09:37:00.006-04:00

Tuesday through Thursday. Days 63-65. Let's see...

Tuesday, Day 63: Another morning run with D-Mac in the stroller, on the American Tobacco Trail. He fell asleep this time. Humid but you can't beat spending time with your kids!

Wednesday, Day 64: Super-looper-dooper busy day at work, so no run. ☹

Thursday, Day 65: Four (4) mile morning run with D-Mac on the American Tobacco Trail. Once again, he was in an awesome mood and had a blast. I struggled, tired legs. After lunch, at about 1:15 PM, I headed out from work and ran to the gym, did 2 miles on the indoor track, then ran back to work. 4.6 miles total. I did the track miles in ~15 minutes, alternating fast strides on the long stretches, and recovery on the short stretches.

64 runs/65 days

Day 62b

2009-08-17T16:53:00.003-04:00

OK, luxury today. The construction of a new building next to mine is causing my office desk to shake, and today was a lot worse than usual (they are taking down an exterior wall), so I left for a lunchtime run. Got in 3.2 miles and finished off with some 0.25 mile pickups on the soft grass of Miller fields next to the gym. It was hot, but still fun! Also did some situps, pullups, etc.

61 runs/62 days