So 2016 was a low mileage year for me. I was sick for 3 weeks in Jan and injured my popliteus muscle in June. I biked alot in the summer and gradually got back into running. So as a result my yearly miles was only 2003 miles.
Lifetime mileage totals is 98,488. 1512 short of 100,000 miles
Only ran 1 race which was a 50K in Virginia, Grayson Highlands Park. Was alot of fun, went with Tom and Gregg, then we hiked in the Great Smoky Mountains, then Frozen Head in Tn. where Barkley is and finished at Land Between the Lakes in Ky.
3rd year as volunteer assistant xc coach.
Weight - too much.
This year (2017) should be interesting as I retired on Dec 31, 2016. So I get to do what I love as much as I want.
Maybe I'll blog a little bit more than once a year. Time will tell.
Have a great year and happy running to all.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Sunday, January 10, 2016
2015 - Year in review
2015 - Stat totals
2375 miles
missed 18 days
got sick 3 times
96,485 lifetime miles
1 race Lov'n the Hills 16 miles
weight - too much
2nd year of volunteer assistant XC high school coach
2016 preview:
Be consistent, use Jan, Feb to slowly built make up from a 3 week cold.
Decide on retirement date.
2375 miles
missed 18 days
got sick 3 times
96,485 lifetime miles
1 race Lov'n the Hills 16 miles
weight - too much
2nd year of volunteer assistant XC high school coach
2016 preview:
Be consistent, use Jan, Feb to slowly built make up from a 3 week cold.
Decide on retirement date.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
2014 - Year in review
2014 - Year In Review
1 post last year
2502 miles
missed 20 days
averaged 7.25 miles per days that I ran
94,110 miles in lifetime....on pace for 100,000 miles by 4/1/2017 (age will be 59)
Injury free!!!....Amazing....Thank you Mettler Center!!!!
8 races:
LBL 14.9 mile trail - snow, hard going
Mt. Goat 10K road - hills!! but fun
Shamrock Shuffle 8K road , chicago, fast
Lake Mingo 7.1 mile trail, fun
Moline 1 mile, hot, ran hard, was numb at end
Moline 6K, hot, 90 mins after 1 mile, hard
Howl at the Moon 8 hour (34 miles) cramps, ok, should have done more
Tunnel Hill 50 mile, flat rails to trails, 1st 50 miler in 10 years.
Notes:
My brother, Tommy, passed away. I miss him. Life is short.
Training harder doing both tempo and speedwork. Ended up over trained with too much hard in spring, early summer.
In the fall became a volunteer cross country assistant coach. Lots of fun.
In general training was the same with trying for a 80/20 split on easy/hard running. Continue to learn better training methods.
Always enjoying every day with the opportunity to run that is a privilege that I do not take for granted.
Weight continues too high but I do not seem to have the desire/motivation to eat less.
No RiddleRun in 2014. It was a decision I made.
Debbie and I had a GREAT vacation hiking in the Smoky s, me 160 miles, her 80 miles.
2015 - Continued learning
I'm fine tuning my training, after reading the book "80/20".
This means:
1-maintain high total volume. I love this anyway so this is easy to do. Hike more this winter, along the Sangamon River. Need to get outside after getting home from work.
2-the low intensity is recovery of 115-130 up to 144 heart rate (HR) for easy runs. This will be the key. Base running will be closer to 90% low while more specific training will be 80% low.
3-the other 10-20% will be moderate (tempo up to 162 HR) + some faster VO2max and sprint/hill work.
4-when calculating the faster moderate/high intensity running I will count the recovery time between the faster running to help from over training.
Weekly guide for this year:
Sunday - am- long run, pm- walk
Monday - am - easy, pm - uphill walk + gym
Tuesday - am - tempo running, pm - easy recovery
Wednesday - am - easy, pm - uphill walk + gym
Thursday - am - easy, pm - easy recovery
Friday - am - speedwork, pm - as I feel
Saturday - am - recovery, pm - easy
1 post last year
2502 miles
missed 20 days
averaged 7.25 miles per days that I ran
94,110 miles in lifetime....on pace for 100,000 miles by 4/1/2017 (age will be 59)
Injury free!!!....Amazing....Thank you Mettler Center!!!!
8 races:
LBL 14.9 mile trail - snow, hard going
Mt. Goat 10K road - hills!! but fun
Shamrock Shuffle 8K road , chicago, fast
Lake Mingo 7.1 mile trail, fun
Moline 1 mile, hot, ran hard, was numb at end
Moline 6K, hot, 90 mins after 1 mile, hard
Howl at the Moon 8 hour (34 miles) cramps, ok, should have done more
Tunnel Hill 50 mile, flat rails to trails, 1st 50 miler in 10 years.
Notes:
My brother, Tommy, passed away. I miss him. Life is short.
Training harder doing both tempo and speedwork. Ended up over trained with too much hard in spring, early summer.
In the fall became a volunteer cross country assistant coach. Lots of fun.
In general training was the same with trying for a 80/20 split on easy/hard running. Continue to learn better training methods.
Always enjoying every day with the opportunity to run that is a privilege that I do not take for granted.
Weight continues too high but I do not seem to have the desire/motivation to eat less.
No RiddleRun in 2014. It was a decision I made.
Debbie and I had a GREAT vacation hiking in the Smoky s, me 160 miles, her 80 miles.
2015 - Continued learning
I'm fine tuning my training, after reading the book "80/20".
This means:
1-maintain high total volume. I love this anyway so this is easy to do. Hike more this winter, along the Sangamon River. Need to get outside after getting home from work.
2-the low intensity is recovery of 115-130 up to 144 heart rate (HR) for easy runs. This will be the key. Base running will be closer to 90% low while more specific training will be 80% low.
3-the other 10-20% will be moderate (tempo up to 162 HR) + some faster VO2max and sprint/hill work.
4-when calculating the faster moderate/high intensity running I will count the recovery time between the faster running to help from over training.
Weekly guide for this year:
Sunday - am- long run, pm- walk
Monday - am - easy, pm - uphill walk + gym
Tuesday - am - tempo running, pm - easy recovery
Wednesday - am - easy, pm - uphill walk + gym
Thursday - am - easy, pm - easy recovery
Friday - am - speedwork, pm - as I feel
Saturday - am - recovery, pm - easy
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2013 Looking back
Boy, blogging is not easy if the idea is to do it consistently. While I keep a daily log book with mountains of detailed data, doing it by a blog is harder for me.
So, as a new year begins I thought I'd do a catch up post for 2013. In a later post, I'll post a few thoughts of 2014.
2013
April - I still was not recovered from the LBL marathon in March and with my daughters wedding, April took on a different priority. Just regular running for 179 miles.
May - started the month w/ a hiking trip to the Smoky Mts with Tom R and Tom R. Hiked to Rocky top in nice sunshine, then alum cave to mt. leconte in high winds/fog/cold, then gregory bald in winds/rain/fog. Interesting but fun. Passed 90,000 life time miles during the trip.
After/during the trip I got a case of plantar fascitis which took a month to recover enough to run. Only 105 miles for may.
June - in early June went w/ gregg to calif. to run shadow of the giants 50K. I had not run in a month but had already paid for everything and it was a fun trip seeing the tall big trees and Yosemite. boy it was hot. the 50K was fun, I hiked 98% of the time and the PF pain never got worst. finished in 9h 8 mins for close to last place. 2 days later we hiked 12.8 miles up/dn Mt. Baldy in 3h56m up/down in 3h40m w/ 6000' accent...very tough and very fun...great views!! Nice trip thanks to gregg and his family in calif.
After this trip I started back running and have continued to run since w/ only minor PF pain. A night splint helped greatly. For June 155.5 miles.
July - started more serious training for the 8 hr howl at the moon in August. 240 miles total
August - 33.5 miles at howl. I guess okay but was shooting for 36+. It was hot/dew pt 70 and I gave in to lots of walking late. I had not done howl for 7 years so it was fun seeing past runners. I plan to come back next year. Total for month was 227 miles.
Sept - 276 miles. This included our annual 2 week vacation hiking in the Smoky Mts. with Debbie. lots of fun as usual. Covered 153 miles in the 2 weeks. Debbie hiked 80 miles.
Oct - 242 miles. started adding a few workouts into the running like 2 x 2M tempo runs, fartlek of 10 x 1min fast, 4 x 1/2 miles at 5K pace. At end of month I race Allerton 5.75 mile trail race at 9.50 in 56:33 (161hr/177max) about 2+ mins faster than last year. I was pleased.
Nov - 164 miles. Ran 30mile(50K?) McNotAgain ultra in Pekin. I forgot how tough the 10 mile loop is. very pretty sunny day. ran/walked 7h 31m, about what I thought.....was not last, many people DNF'd. Started 100 day winter running streak on Thanksgiving day as challenge by fellow runner/ long distance hiker Matt H. This goes to March 8, 2014
Dec - 206 miles. A little more planning into my schedule with hard workouts every 3-4 days, trying to read/learn more about R.Canova training ideas of elite runners. Ended the month still streaking.
Total miles for 2013 = 2450
Lifetime miles = 91, 608
Overall a good year. My left ankle/insertional achilles injury stayed away as I got regular deep muscle massages which is keeping my calf/foot muscles. I am forever grateful to Mettler Center for getting my left foot back to where running is not painful.
So, as a new year begins I thought I'd do a catch up post for 2013. In a later post, I'll post a few thoughts of 2014.
2013
April - I still was not recovered from the LBL marathon in March and with my daughters wedding, April took on a different priority. Just regular running for 179 miles.
May - started the month w/ a hiking trip to the Smoky Mts with Tom R and Tom R. Hiked to Rocky top in nice sunshine, then alum cave to mt. leconte in high winds/fog/cold, then gregory bald in winds/rain/fog. Interesting but fun. Passed 90,000 life time miles during the trip.
After/during the trip I got a case of plantar fascitis which took a month to recover enough to run. Only 105 miles for may.
June - in early June went w/ gregg to calif. to run shadow of the giants 50K. I had not run in a month but had already paid for everything and it was a fun trip seeing the tall big trees and Yosemite. boy it was hot. the 50K was fun, I hiked 98% of the time and the PF pain never got worst. finished in 9h 8 mins for close to last place. 2 days later we hiked 12.8 miles up/dn Mt. Baldy in 3h56m up/down in 3h40m w/ 6000' accent...very tough and very fun...great views!! Nice trip thanks to gregg and his family in calif.
After this trip I started back running and have continued to run since w/ only minor PF pain. A night splint helped greatly. For June 155.5 miles.
July - started more serious training for the 8 hr howl at the moon in August. 240 miles total
August - 33.5 miles at howl. I guess okay but was shooting for 36+. It was hot/dew pt 70 and I gave in to lots of walking late. I had not done howl for 7 years so it was fun seeing past runners. I plan to come back next year. Total for month was 227 miles.
Sept - 276 miles. This included our annual 2 week vacation hiking in the Smoky Mts. with Debbie. lots of fun as usual. Covered 153 miles in the 2 weeks. Debbie hiked 80 miles.
Oct - 242 miles. started adding a few workouts into the running like 2 x 2M tempo runs, fartlek of 10 x 1min fast, 4 x 1/2 miles at 5K pace. At end of month I race Allerton 5.75 mile trail race at 9.50 in 56:33 (161hr/177max) about 2+ mins faster than last year. I was pleased.
Nov - 164 miles. Ran 30mile(50K?) McNotAgain ultra in Pekin. I forgot how tough the 10 mile loop is. very pretty sunny day. ran/walked 7h 31m, about what I thought.....was not last, many people DNF'd. Started 100 day winter running streak on Thanksgiving day as challenge by fellow runner/ long distance hiker Matt H. This goes to March 8, 2014
Dec - 206 miles. A little more planning into my schedule with hard workouts every 3-4 days, trying to read/learn more about R.Canova training ideas of elite runners. Ended the month still streaking.
Total miles for 2013 = 2450
Lifetime miles = 91, 608
Overall a good year. My left ankle/insertional achilles injury stayed away as I got regular deep muscle massages which is keeping my calf/foot muscles. I am forever grateful to Mettler Center for getting my left foot back to where running is not painful.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Weekly Summary - 3/25 to 3/31/2013
3/25 Monday - 4.7 miles/ 3.8 running - easy
am- 12" of wet heavy snow total from last 24 hours, no work, shovel snow for 40 mins.
pm- fittek- easy 60 min at 124hr
3/26 Tuesday - 4.75 miles/3.8 running - easy
am - fittek 60min at 121 hr - felt tired from snow shoveling
3/27 - Wed - 5.1 miles / 4.8 running
am - road, LOW/BP loop 55.20 at 137hr- run as I feel
3/28 - Thurs - 5miles /3.5 running - speedwork
am- fittek 5 miles in 59.47 at 125/157max
15min warmup + 35 min workout (20 fast/15 walk rest)
1m@ 105% 5k race pace = 8.50 (6.8mph) w/ 1 min walk rest at 4mph
2m@ 104% 8.57 (6.7mph) w/ 2m walk
3m at 103% (6.6 mph) 3m rest
4m at 102% (6.5mph) 4m rest
5m at 101% 9.22 (6.4mph) w/ 5m walk
5m at 100% = 9.30 (6.3mph) +
9min cooldown walk
felt good - good leg turn over
3/29 - Friday - 5.3 miles/4.6 running - tempo
am - bike path w/ gregg 58.52 at 139/163 tempo effert, a bit tired after speedwork
2 x 2miles in 21.44 + 19.55 at 150hr
3/30 - Sat - 5.5 miles/5.5 running - medium fast
6 am- w/ gregg all run of 150 bp /LOW bp 57.30 at 140 hr, probably running too fast/hard for 3 days in a row.....less sleep last 2 nights with watching ncaa b-ball
3/31 - Sunday - 7 miles/ 6.3 running - easy
am - 5 mile trail in 59.25 at 135/ 156 at 5m walk/run 50mins at 9R/1W + 5 m walk.
felt a little tired but nice warmer easter morning
pm- Tergat loop - 2 miles in 22.12 at 140 hr with last 2mins walk
1st double day in a while...need to slow down and get back to more consistent double days...hopefully the weather will start to warm up a little, been a very cold /wet spring.
weekly totals = 37/32 running
March total = 182. 4 miles/ 133.3 running
Lower month w/ taper and recovery from marathon. still a little tired. I'm having to re-learn how to recover.
Sleep is good. less than 8 hours matters. And the time change goes back to dark mornings and cold spring w/ little sun making for lazy days when I get home from work. need to get back to double days. have started a little speedwork, i.e. 20 mins of speedwork based on a 5k pace of 9:24.
am- 12" of wet heavy snow total from last 24 hours, no work, shovel snow for 40 mins.
pm- fittek- easy 60 min at 124hr
3/26 Tuesday - 4.75 miles/3.8 running - easy
am - fittek 60min at 121 hr - felt tired from snow shoveling
3/27 - Wed - 5.1 miles / 4.8 running
am - road, LOW/BP loop 55.20 at 137hr- run as I feel
3/28 - Thurs - 5miles /3.5 running - speedwork
am- fittek 5 miles in 59.47 at 125/157max
15min warmup + 35 min workout (20 fast/15 walk rest)
1m@ 105% 5k race pace = 8.50 (6.8mph) w/ 1 min walk rest at 4mph
2m@ 104% 8.57 (6.7mph) w/ 2m walk
3m at 103% (6.6 mph) 3m rest
4m at 102% (6.5mph) 4m rest
5m at 101% 9.22 (6.4mph) w/ 5m walk
5m at 100% = 9.30 (6.3mph) +
9min cooldown walk
felt good - good leg turn over
3/29 - Friday - 5.3 miles/4.6 running - tempo
am - bike path w/ gregg 58.52 at 139/163 tempo effert, a bit tired after speedwork
2 x 2miles in 21.44 + 19.55 at 150hr
3/30 - Sat - 5.5 miles/5.5 running - medium fast
6 am- w/ gregg all run of 150 bp /LOW bp 57.30 at 140 hr, probably running too fast/hard for 3 days in a row.....less sleep last 2 nights with watching ncaa b-ball
3/31 - Sunday - 7 miles/ 6.3 running - easy
am - 5 mile trail in 59.25 at 135/ 156 at 5m walk/run 50mins at 9R/1W + 5 m walk.
felt a little tired but nice warmer easter morning
pm- Tergat loop - 2 miles in 22.12 at 140 hr with last 2mins walk
1st double day in a while...need to slow down and get back to more consistent double days...hopefully the weather will start to warm up a little, been a very cold /wet spring.
weekly totals = 37/32 running
March total = 182. 4 miles/ 133.3 running
Lower month w/ taper and recovery from marathon. still a little tired. I'm having to re-learn how to recover.
Sleep is good. less than 8 hours matters. And the time change goes back to dark mornings and cold spring w/ little sun making for lazy days when I get home from work. need to get back to double days. have started a little speedwork, i.e. 20 mins of speedwork based on a 5k pace of 9:24.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Summary - 3/4 to 3/24/2013
3/4 to 3/10/2013 - Taper week to LBL trail marathon
3/4 - Monday - 4.6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- real easy at fittek 60 m at 107 hr
3/5 - Tuesday - 4.7 miles/ 3.4 running
am- bike path , easy 2 x 1.7 miles in 18.50 at 127 hr & 18.08 at 132 hr
3/6 - Wednesday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek 27.27 at 97 hr
3/7 - Thursday - 4 miles/ 3.4 running
am- fittek easy 50.36 at 111 hr
3/8 - Friday -0 miles - 1st rest day of year
3/9 - Saturday - 26.2 miles trail race in Grand Rivers
6:30am - 5h 17 m 54 s (12.08 pace)
see previous post on race
3/10 - Sunday - rest day - tired - very sore in quads
(hindsight comment - should have walked some)
3/11 to 3/17/2013- recovery runs
3/11 - Monday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek - tired
3/12 - Tuesday - 2.5 miles/ 2 running
pm - fittek - tired and sore
3/13 - Wednesday - 6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- fittek - 60 mins better
pm- walk dogs at trails cold windy
3/14 - Thursday - 3.1 miles/ 3.1 running
am- bp loop 35.37 at 130 hr - still feel tired
3/15 - Friday - 4.5 miles/ 2.5 running
am/pm - tired
3/16 - Saturday - 6.6 miles/ 3.7 running
9am- fittek - 60 mins + 60 mins of weights - I've decided to start back with a regular weight routine with arms and legs.....at LBL race my legs seemed weak and got sore earlier than I remember they should
3/17 - Sunday - 9 miles/3.5 running
8am- easy 5 mile trial in 65 mins walking 5 mins at start of each mile
1pm-fittek - walk uphill at 2mph at 15% incline
4pm-walk dogs
Note: I forgot what it is like to recover from a hard marathon. I should have gotten more sleep and only did 30 min easy runs in pm....allow myself to sleep more in am.
3/18 to 3/24/2013 - more recovery
3/18 - Monday - 4.7 miles/ 3.8 running
am- fittek
3/19 - Tuesday - 7 miles/ 6.3 running
pm - bp with gregg - felt better but extreme cold/windy 10deg , 2 x 2miles in 21.46 at 131 & 20.22 at 147
am- tergat loop 2miles in 22 mins very cold
3/20 - Wednesday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- in dark bike path/LOW road loop, all run, 62.11 at 131hr, extreme cold and windy 5 deg, should not have run outside in shorts . my legs hurt from running into wind, stupid me
3/21 - Thursday - 5 miles/ 4 running
am- fittek - workout - 15 min warmup + 10 x 2 mins fast in 9.50-10 min pace w/ 1 min walk at 4mph + cooldown of 15 mins
(Hopefully this is the first of a weekly speed session of 20 minutes total fast. I plan to vary the time and paces. The paces will be 10:00 down to 8:30 pace. Goal is to do a little bit of speed to get ready for some shorter races.)
3/22 - Friday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- same LOW/BP loop as Wednesday, 60.54 at 135, not as much wind, still very cold.
3/23 - Saturday - 11.8 miles/ 11.6 running
8 am- 2 loops of allerton shrocth trail w/ chris. 32-42 deg, no wind, nice
2.07.51 in 143/164hr
1st loop -walked first 2 mins then ran all the loop back to car in 64.45 at 138hr ( 10:58)
2nd loop - same as above in 63.05 at 150 hr, ran harder the last 20 minutes
good 2 hour run
3/24 - Sunday - 2.2 miles/1.6 running
1pm- fittek 30 minutes warmup at 104hr + weights
3/4 - Monday - 4.6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- real easy at fittek 60 m at 107 hr
3/5 - Tuesday - 4.7 miles/ 3.4 running
am- bike path , easy 2 x 1.7 miles in 18.50 at 127 hr & 18.08 at 132 hr
3/6 - Wednesday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek 27.27 at 97 hr
3/7 - Thursday - 4 miles/ 3.4 running
am- fittek easy 50.36 at 111 hr
3/8 - Friday -0 miles - 1st rest day of year
3/9 - Saturday - 26.2 miles trail race in Grand Rivers
6:30am - 5h 17 m 54 s (12.08 pace)
see previous post on race
3/10 - Sunday - rest day - tired - very sore in quads
(hindsight comment - should have walked some)
3/11 to 3/17/2013- recovery runs
3/11 - Monday - 2 miles/ 1.4 running
am- fittek - tired
3/12 - Tuesday - 2.5 miles/ 2 running
pm - fittek - tired and sore
3/13 - Wednesday - 6 miles/ 3.7 running
am- fittek - 60 mins better
pm- walk dogs at trails cold windy
3/14 - Thursday - 3.1 miles/ 3.1 running
am- bp loop 35.37 at 130 hr - still feel tired
3/15 - Friday - 4.5 miles/ 2.5 running
am/pm - tired
3/16 - Saturday - 6.6 miles/ 3.7 running
9am- fittek - 60 mins + 60 mins of weights - I've decided to start back with a regular weight routine with arms and legs.....at LBL race my legs seemed weak and got sore earlier than I remember they should
3/17 - Sunday - 9 miles/3.5 running
8am- easy 5 mile trial in 65 mins walking 5 mins at start of each mile
1pm-fittek - walk uphill at 2mph at 15% incline
4pm-walk dogs
Note: I forgot what it is like to recover from a hard marathon. I should have gotten more sleep and only did 30 min easy runs in pm....allow myself to sleep more in am.
3/18 to 3/24/2013 - more recovery
3/18 - Monday - 4.7 miles/ 3.8 running
am- fittek
3/19 - Tuesday - 7 miles/ 6.3 running
pm - bp with gregg - felt better but extreme cold/windy 10deg , 2 x 2miles in 21.46 at 131 & 20.22 at 147
am- tergat loop 2miles in 22 mins very cold
3/20 - Wednesday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- in dark bike path/LOW road loop, all run, 62.11 at 131hr, extreme cold and windy 5 deg, should not have run outside in shorts . my legs hurt from running into wind, stupid me
3/21 - Thursday - 5 miles/ 4 running
am- fittek - workout - 15 min warmup + 10 x 2 mins fast in 9.50-10 min pace w/ 1 min walk at 4mph + cooldown of 15 mins
(Hopefully this is the first of a weekly speed session of 20 minutes total fast. I plan to vary the time and paces. The paces will be 10:00 down to 8:30 pace. Goal is to do a little bit of speed to get ready for some shorter races.)
3/22 - Friday - 5.5 miles/ 5.5 running
am- same LOW/BP loop as Wednesday, 60.54 at 135, not as much wind, still very cold.
3/23 - Saturday - 11.8 miles/ 11.6 running
8 am- 2 loops of allerton shrocth trail w/ chris. 32-42 deg, no wind, nice
2.07.51 in 143/164hr
1st loop -walked first 2 mins then ran all the loop back to car in 64.45 at 138hr ( 10:58)
2nd loop - same as above in 63.05 at 150 hr, ran harder the last 20 minutes
good 2 hour run
3/24 - Sunday - 2.2 miles/1.6 running
1pm- fittek 30 minutes warmup at 104hr + weights
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Land Between the Lakes trail marathon race 3/9/2013
Saturday, I ran a true marathon race for the first time since 12/4/2004 (Tuesmuch trail 5:34) in Grand Rivers, KY. My time was 5:17.54, just over 12 mins per mile. If my opinion that trail races take 10% longer than road races, this would mean I'm in 4:46 marathon shape, about what I thought, and how I've been training.
As typical for the trip to this race a couple of friends, gregg and chris, went with me and also finished the marathon, apparently only a few minutes ahead. Personal comment: they should have ran 30 minutes faster.
Also, as usual we stayed at my sister's house, which makes for an easy trip. Thanks Susan and Danny!!
The weather was perfect, 40 at start, overcast, light breeze, 60 at end. This race is one of the best organized and with great volunteers, making this race one the best, if not the best, I have ever run. It helps to have a great trail to run, a fair course, runable all plus with 4 major hills on KY lake side. This year it was dry and soft, perfect.
The start is in Grand Rivers at lighthouse landing down by the waterfront. In trail races unless you know exactly how a course was measured you never know its true length but the advertised marathon appeared to be this:
1.9 miles on road to trail loop
11.3 miles trail loop x 2 (note: since 2010, last time I hiked the course, changed a little)
1.7 miles road back to finish
26.2 miles total, I think its pretty accurate.
Overall, I will admit to thinking I could run 5 hours or under, but I just do not have the mental toughness to run thru the pain and tiredness like I used too. Maybe that will come with more racing, especially short races, as I re-learn what a race day effort feels like again. I love to run, but racing is done to test myself and doing this makes racing fun. I love to do workouts then race and see how they relate to each other.
So on to the race. My splits:
1.9 miles road = 20.10 at 142 hr- seemed real easy but HR was high
loop 1 - 11.3 miles = 2h 15 m at 150 hr - just cruising, running easy and steady how I felt
loop 2 - 11.3 miles = 2h 25 m at 151 hr - more of a struggle, had to concentrate more- drank 33 oz of tailwind drink which seemed to keep energy level good
1.7 miles road to finish = 18.57 at 150...a mental struggle, almost cramped in hams on downhill finish
Overall race avg hr was 150/ max 163
Overall, a very even effort, even hr, even energy level. I'll see in the results how I did overall.
My legs seemed to fatigue earlier in the quads then I expected. I know from past racing this may mean I trained a little too hard the last 2 weeks (the key workouts I have noted in other posts) or possible just normal fatigue from a long trail race. Maybe I need to starting my leg extensions exercises again for my quads. Anyway, I was happy to see I did not slow down that much over the last half of the race. I passed a few people and a few passed me.
I ran in Hoka One Evo's. They did good. My bottom of feet feel good, no heel pain, no left foot pain (Thank You Mettler Center!!) and no knee pain, just good ol' soreness from the marathon. Had not felt this for many years....crazy but a good feeling that I've missed, although it reminded me I need to be lighter weight and better trained.
My nutrition plan going into the race was to drink the Heed at the aid stations the first loop then use my new hydration pack with 32 oz. bladder filled w/ tailwind sports drink. I felt very good plus I ate 3 gels. I forgot the gels go down better with water as I did not time the gels well.. However, my stomach had no problems. Chris had told me of reading that taking 1 pepsi AC at the race start might keep the stomach settled. Well, my stomach felt great, maybe the pepsi AC was why.....I will definitely do this again.
Now, its on to recovery for a few days and losing a few more pounds. Next planned races are June 8, Shadow of the Gaints 50K in Fish Camp, Calif., which will be more of a sight seeing/hiking trip with Gregg in and around Yosemite National Park. After that is Howl at the Moon 8 HR, August 10. In between I want to run some shorter races (road races and trail) but with so many to pick from you do not have to sign up early which is nice.
Next week will be easy but hope to keep the miles up. Heartrate this morning was 50, about 6-7 more than normal, so I need a few good nights sleep for recovery.. Time changed this early morning so its back to dark for mornings and more light for evening's, which means more walking the dogs.
It was good to see Ed running but I must admit I missed seeing most of the runners when I would hike backwards on the trail in past years.
As typical for the trip to this race a couple of friends, gregg and chris, went with me and also finished the marathon, apparently only a few minutes ahead. Personal comment: they should have ran 30 minutes faster.
Also, as usual we stayed at my sister's house, which makes for an easy trip. Thanks Susan and Danny!!
The weather was perfect, 40 at start, overcast, light breeze, 60 at end. This race is one of the best organized and with great volunteers, making this race one the best, if not the best, I have ever run. It helps to have a great trail to run, a fair course, runable all plus with 4 major hills on KY lake side. This year it was dry and soft, perfect.
The start is in Grand Rivers at lighthouse landing down by the waterfront. In trail races unless you know exactly how a course was measured you never know its true length but the advertised marathon appeared to be this:
1.9 miles on road to trail loop
11.3 miles trail loop x 2 (note: since 2010, last time I hiked the course, changed a little)
1.7 miles road back to finish
26.2 miles total, I think its pretty accurate.
Overall, I will admit to thinking I could run 5 hours or under, but I just do not have the mental toughness to run thru the pain and tiredness like I used too. Maybe that will come with more racing, especially short races, as I re-learn what a race day effort feels like again. I love to run, but racing is done to test myself and doing this makes racing fun. I love to do workouts then race and see how they relate to each other.
So on to the race. My splits:
1.9 miles road = 20.10 at 142 hr- seemed real easy but HR was high
loop 1 - 11.3 miles = 2h 15 m at 150 hr - just cruising, running easy and steady how I felt
loop 2 - 11.3 miles = 2h 25 m at 151 hr - more of a struggle, had to concentrate more- drank 33 oz of tailwind drink which seemed to keep energy level good
1.7 miles road to finish = 18.57 at 150...a mental struggle, almost cramped in hams on downhill finish
Overall race avg hr was 150/ max 163
Overall, a very even effort, even hr, even energy level. I'll see in the results how I did overall.
My legs seemed to fatigue earlier in the quads then I expected. I know from past racing this may mean I trained a little too hard the last 2 weeks (the key workouts I have noted in other posts) or possible just normal fatigue from a long trail race. Maybe I need to starting my leg extensions exercises again for my quads. Anyway, I was happy to see I did not slow down that much over the last half of the race. I passed a few people and a few passed me.
I ran in Hoka One Evo's. They did good. My bottom of feet feel good, no heel pain, no left foot pain (Thank You Mettler Center!!) and no knee pain, just good ol' soreness from the marathon. Had not felt this for many years....crazy but a good feeling that I've missed, although it reminded me I need to be lighter weight and better trained.
My nutrition plan going into the race was to drink the Heed at the aid stations the first loop then use my new hydration pack with 32 oz. bladder filled w/ tailwind sports drink. I felt very good plus I ate 3 gels. I forgot the gels go down better with water as I did not time the gels well.. However, my stomach had no problems. Chris had told me of reading that taking 1 pepsi AC at the race start might keep the stomach settled. Well, my stomach felt great, maybe the pepsi AC was why.....I will definitely do this again.
Now, its on to recovery for a few days and losing a few more pounds. Next planned races are June 8, Shadow of the Gaints 50K in Fish Camp, Calif., which will be more of a sight seeing/hiking trip with Gregg in and around Yosemite National Park. After that is Howl at the Moon 8 HR, August 10. In between I want to run some shorter races (road races and trail) but with so many to pick from you do not have to sign up early which is nice.
Next week will be easy but hope to keep the miles up. Heartrate this morning was 50, about 6-7 more than normal, so I need a few good nights sleep for recovery.. Time changed this early morning so its back to dark for mornings and more light for evening's, which means more walking the dogs.
It was good to see Ed running but I must admit I missed seeing most of the runners when I would hike backwards on the trail in past years.
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