What have I been up to lately?

It’s been the off season. Unlike other off-seasons, I came into this one with a plan. After two weeks off from running entirely, I wanted to run 3-4 times per week at a relatively easy level. To this I would add strength training of whatever kind I could  manage. I had visions of going to the gym and rowing, going to the gym and doing treadmill climbing workouts, and cross-country skiing. 

Those visions didn’t pan out. The gym didn’t work out because, as it turns out, I hate the gym. It’s too contrived, and why go to the gym when I can get a good deal of strength training in at home? So I’ve been doing strength training at home 5-6 days per week, alternating between leg workouts (dynamic power and stability both) and upper body/core workouts (primarily with an exercise ball). 

Cross country skiing has not worked out because, unlike last year, we have not had much snow here in Minnesota. We were getting a good base going through the end of November and beginning of December, but then it rained for a week. We are just now getting the cold weather and snow accumulation necessary for the real ski season to begin. If all goes as planned, I’ll be getting out there on my skis this weekend. 

That said, I have been getting out running regularly, 3-4 times per week. This is in contrast to last year, when I did not really do any running between the time of my last race in November and the beginning of January. I am already miles (you see what I did there?) ahead of where I was at this time last year. And I have experiences to prove it. 

Experiences, and an ice beard or two. 

This past week, for Christmas, G and I headed out to Colorado to visit her family. A few days prior to that, we went to Duluth to visit some friends of mine who were in town. Turns out, one had never been sledding before (SoCal girls . . .). So we went to Ace, bought some cheap sleds, and headed to Holy Rosary hill to do some traditional Duluth sledding. 

Holy Rosary hill is dangerous. It’s steep and bumpy at the best of times. On this particular day, there was very little snow, but plenty of ice. This led to fast, and painful, trips down the hill. I had a surfeit of energy, so I paired these with hill sprints back to the top. It turns out, I am in great hill-climbing shape. So far, so good. 

Once in Colorado, I promptly hooked up with a friend for a run from work. There’s a new trail up the backside of Mount Sanitas, so we naturally did that. This route consists of almost 1700 feet of climbing over a 3.5 mile stretch, most of it coming in the last mile or so. I surprised myself, coming from sea level as I was, by keeping up fairly well, and coming in for the 8th place time on Strava. Again, so far, so good. 

On Christmas morning, after a rest day, I took another 4.5 mile run with 500 or so feet of climbing. I felt a little tired still, but averaged 9 minute miles even so. That would be my last run in Colorado, but in the following days I would again go sledding (running up the hill, of course), and walk 3 miles from my car rental place to downtown Boulder in under 45 minutes. 

As far as I can tell, my off season has gone as planned. I seem to have kept a good base level of fitness while leaving my legs rested and ready for the year ahead. 

And I have big goals for next year, and a plan for accomplishing them.

Break the Stigma + Weekly Summaries.

I heard about the Break the Stigma project through the Upper Midwest Trail Runners last spring, shortly after the project was founded. It stuck a chord with me. The goal is to break the stigma attached to mental illness. 

Over my lifetime, I have known, and still know, many people who suffer anxiety and depression. And without fail they feel a stigma, or shame, associated with the conditions. I think that’s horrible, quite frankly. I suffer from very occasional anxiety, but have never had trouble with depression myself. But I have seen at least some of what people who suffer from mental illnesses go through, and attaching any stigma to the struggle they already go through is disgusting. 

Do I understand anxiety and depression? 

Of course I don’t. It’s not something I have personal experience with. But attaching a stigma to it is beyond the pall. 

So I’m happy to support this group, and, assuming my applications fall through, will happily run in their shirt next year. 

On to the weekly summaries.

Week Ending 11/23

Monday:

Full core/upper body circuit

Tuesday:

Partial leg/glute/dynamic power circuit

Wednesday:

Full core/upper body circuit

Thursday:

Full leg/glute/dynamic power circuit. Introduced the stability disk exercises today. This is going to really help my running if I can keep the cycle going. 

Friday:

Full core/upper body circuit. Still recovering from the workout yesterday. My hamstrings are still sore from all the lunges yesterday.

Saturday: 

Rest. 

Sunday: 

Full core/upper body workout with full leg/glute/dynamic power circuit. 

Week Ending 11/30

Monday: 

2.75 miles, 22 minutes of running + Full core/upper body circuit.

Tuesday: 

Full leg/glute/dynamic power circuit. This is already getting easier.

Wednesday:

2.75 miles, 23 minutes of running + full core/upper body circuit.

Thursday: 

2 miles walking. Turkey day.

Friday: 

3 miles, 30 minutes running around Duluth. 2 miles hiking around Duluth. 

Saturday: 

1 mile beach walk. 

Sunday: 

Off. 

Planning for 2015

I recently decided that this year I would try applying to run for a couple different teams. I have never done so before, but realized that either this year or next would be the time to do so. As a part of the application process, I have to give a general plan of my racing and other event schedule for 2015. 

This is much earlier than I generally plan my year, but as I’ve thought through my schedule and thought of which events I’d like to do, I have found that it’s great motivation. It should also help me actually make my goals next year by allowing me to create a progressive race schedule with enough rest time and shorter races that I will be able to give a good effort for each race. 

One of the applications asks me for my three main goals (running or otherwise) for 2015 as well as a tentative race schedule with at least five events on it. With these guidelines in mind, I came up with this plan: 

My three main goals:

1) I am definitely going to run from the lowest point in Minnesota to the highest. I’ll start at Lake Superior (602 feet) and run up the Cascade River towards Eagle Mountain (2300 feet). It should be around 2o miles. If all goes well, I want to try this in early to mid June. 

2) Thru hike, or more ideally run, the Kekakabic or Border Route Trail.  This is something I’ve been tossing around for a while, but my recent 35 miles at the Icebox 480 and my decent time at the Superior Spring 50k makes me think it will be possible. If the rest of my schedule goes well (see the racing schedule below) I’m hoping to try this in late September or early October. 

3) Try my hand at Fishpacking. This is a more general goal than the rest. For some time, I have been intrigued by the idea of lightweight fly fishing. The general idea is to get a lightweight fishing pole, probably a Tenkara style flyfishing rod, combine that with a fastback (I have wanted a UD Fastback since they first announced the product earlier this year) and use my legs to get me farther in that other fishermen can go. This was a better concept in Colorado than it probably is here in Minnesota, but it should still be workable here. This is the most gear-intensive goal, so I’m a little leery of it. But it’s all gear I wanted to get in any case, so I think it will be doable. 

As for races, I’ve sketched out the following schedule. 

January 31: The Iceman. This is an obstacle 5k, with snow replacing mud. 

April 11: The Zumbro 17 (or 50 if I’m feeling particularly ambitious). This is, as far as I can tell, the kickoff of the Minnesota Trail Running season. It seems like a fun event, and I would like to participate this year. 

May 16: The Superior 25k, or 50k. ‘nuff said.

July 11: Warrior Dash 5k.

Late July: Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon. This used to be known as the “Half-Voyageur,” but was renamed after a local running legend recently. 

Early September: Superior 50 mile. My goal for the whole year is to run my first 50. I am fairly certain that I can do so after the Icebox, and I think the demanding nature of the course will actually play to my advantage, since it will force me to walk more often. 

Early November: The Icebox 480.

With my three other goals, that would make for my busiest season ever. It will rely on me keeping on target with my training, and just as importantly keeping target with my rest. If I make the team, their support, and the added motivation of running for a team would probably help. My main obstacle now is making sure I don’t overtrain. 

Over all, I’m happy with this plan: a little nervous, a lot excited, and mostly hoping that it will work out. 

The Off Season

Last year, I entered the off season break a little by accident. Shortly after my showing at the Moab 1/2 marathon National Championships, my fiancees family had a medical emergency while we were busy moving to Minnesota. With the move, staying at my parents’ house for a while, and the inevitable uproar involved, I failed to run for almost two months. After that, I had to slowly rebuild my training up from almost zero. I started with ten minute runs, and moved up as my fitness allowed. 

After that experience, I wanted a more specific plan for this off season. I had decided, prior to racing, that I would take 2 full weeks off after the Icebox 480, however I was feeling. I am in the middle of that period right now, and I think this is a good time to lay out my goals for the off season. 

At a base level they are as follows: I want to severely reduce my overall running  mileage, running 3-4 days per week, not more than 20-25 miles. That should keep a base level of fitness, and keep my body used to the impact of running, while not overtaxing it.  At the same time, I will work on increasing my overall strength. Having bought a new pair of cross country skis this year, I also plan on skiing at least a day or two each week. 

How will I do this? 

First, clearly, I will run or ski at least 3 to 4 days per week, and not more than that. This, as I said, this will keep me at a good level of fitness, and keep my body used to impact training. As part of my strength training, I intend to do at least one workout per week on the treadmill (shudder), at a significant incline (10-15% grade).  

Second, I will continue my “Cool Impossible” strength program. With the reduced overall training volume, I should be able to do this 4-6 days per week without compromising my overall training. 

Thirdly, 1 to 2 days per week I will head to the gym and do a different strength workout (lifting, rowing, or swimming). 

Finally, as much as I can, I will be cross country skiing. I am thinking of using a major present (my 30th birthday present) on a skate ski setup.  That gets me the best workout I can possibly get, with zero impact. 

With any luck, and proper forethought, this workout schedule should leave me both refreshed to run another season, and stronger than I started. 

In the meantime, I am working on a few schemes that might make things more interesting next year. While I keep up my off season schedule, I’m not sure yet what my plan is going to be for keeping up with this blog. If my schemes bear any fruit, I will certainly post about it here. Otherwise, I think I’ll save entries for notable events and workouts. 

Until later, then. 

Icebox 480 Race Report

As mentioned in my last post, I decided to treat this race as an experiment. I had not prepared thoroughly, neglecting my long runs as I sometimes do. My decision proved itself a good one when the RD decided, two days before the race, to up the length of each loop to 7 miles instead of 10k. Not a big deal, but it makes a difference.

As I mentioned in my last post, may A goal was to run 2 marathons. My B goal was to run the full 8 hours. My C goal was to break my 50k PR.  I realized pretty quickly that, with my training as it was, A and B were probably right out, unless I wanted to injure myself.  So I quickly decided on three new goals: break my marathon PR, break my 50k PR, and break my overall distance PR (which was 50k).

I had prepared my drop bag (or rather box) well: I had all the VFuel Gels I could need, extra gloves, hats, shoes, and socks, as well as 4 bottles of Skratch Labs hydration mix. I hoped the constant influx of low-level calories would help me avoid the crashes I've experienced in other races.

Lap 1 (1:01:06 with aid, 7 miles): The race started with little fanfare out of a cul-du-sac. The RD gave the announcements, gave a "ready, set, go," and we all followed a guy on a fat bike, in red onesie pajamas, past the aid station and onto the loop we would run for the next several hours. 

I started out slowly, running with a group of people including a recent Chicago marathon finisher. My watch was reading 9:50+ mile pace, and fool that I am I believed it. After sticking with a pack running an almost excruciatingly slow place (for me), I shot off at about mile 2 and left my train behind. 

This lap was exploratory at best. I tried to find a pace slow enough that I could maintain it for a long time, but one that was also comfortable. I was going as slowly as I could and still feel comfortable and efficient, but was discouraged somewhat that my legs, particularly my hip flexors and attached stabilizing muscles, were already feeling slow.

When I passed the 4 mile mark at just under 36 minutes, I knew the mileage on my watch was well low (3.67 miles). The latter 3 miles proved much easier than the first 4. I skipped the Break the Stigma aid station, passing several people (including the lead woman) in the process. The last mile or so of the course proved to be rolling once again, but I coasted easily in and through the fully stocked loop aid station, asking only a water bottle refill.  

Lap 2 (1:00:39, 2:01 in aid station, 2:03:46 elapsed, 14 miles): Lap 2 began with an unfortunate realization. I took a sip from my newly refilled water-bottle only to find that it was not water, but HEED. HEED tends to make me sick to my stomach, and that one small sip was enough to throw off my stomach. So I had half a bottle of Skratch for the next four miles.

Within the first mile of this lap, I teamed up with another runner (also in bright green) named Jeremy. He had recently run a 50-miler on roads, but this was his first ever trail race. It sounded like it was also his first ever trail run of any sort. Gutsy. But he was quick and good company. By this lap, I had decided that the 4-mile point was my checkpoint. I passed it this lap in around 35:20 this lap, and realized that I was again ahead of my goal pace. Feeling light and comfortable still, I decided the pace was ok.

This lap was characterized by encroaching pain in my calves and lessening pain in my hip flexors. I was still running easily, and even though this was closing in on the length of my longest training run, I still felt reasonably fresh and light. A stop at the 5-mile aid station refreshed my water helped up my mood. 

Lap 3 (1:00:25, 22s in aid, 3:04:23 elapsed, 21 miles): This time I took a brief stop in the aid station (my 2:01 stop) for a pit stop, and to grab my next bottle of Skratch. So far, despite the HEED mistake, I was still on track for my nutrition plan: 1 gel every 40 minutes and 1 bottle of Skratch every two laps.

Jeremy had passed me at the aid station, but I could see him darting ahead of me for this entire lap. I think it was chasing him that led this to be my fastest lap of the bunch. Despite being nearly 20 miles into the race, I still felt easy and light as I chased Jeremy through the woods. The 4 mile checkpoint came at under 35 minutes this time, once again ahead of my prior lap.

As ever, the last 3 miles felt easier than the first 4, and I cruised into the aid station to find G waiting there. 

Lap 4 (1:07:41, forgot to lap in aid, 4:12:04 elapsed, 28 miles): The 22 seconds must have been incorrect here, because not only did I have time to talk with G, her mom was on the phone and, for the first time I can remember, I had a phone conversation in the middle of a race. That's something I would not consider doing if I were racing in the usual format. After my conversation, I grabbed a few cookies at the aid station, the same time

This race saw the beginning of my inevitable deterioration. I ran for a while with an older runner who had found a good pace early and was trying to keep it up as long as possible. But he kept keeping his feet too low and took two diggers that I saw while I was running with him. After the second, I passed him, running for a while with a guy named Jason, who I had talked to briefly on the first lap.

Turns out, he's a Western States finisher and rather experienced at this whole ultra-running thing. We passed mile 4 at around 38 minutes or a little over, and I knew the wheels were falling off. Nonetheless, we ran in to the aid station at the same time.

Lap 5 (1:16:06, done at aid, 5:28:10 elapsed, 35 miles): At this loop, I took a little extra time. G had gone off for coffee and wasn't back yet, but I took the time to grab a couple salted potatoes. These seemed to satisfy at first, but the switch from gel to solid food left me a tiny bit nauseated for a little bit.

Jason had taken off a little earlier and a little faster than I did for this lap. For the first time this race I started walking more of the uphills. My quads were beginning to get really sore, not cramping this time as they did in the Superior 50k this past spring, they were just shot from lack of sufficient training.

The wheels had fallen off. I had a brief moment of elation at 31 miles (50k) where I passed my farthest distance ever. I told myself after that point that each additional step I took was another PR for me. But honestly I needed more walking breaks than I had hoped I would, and my quads were just getting worse. I passed the 4 mile checkpoint somewhere around 44 minutes.

In one lap, I had gone from mid-9 minute miles to 11-minute miles. I found out a few things about myself in this lap, though. First: I still have the ability to run on essentially dead legs. Second, I get really weird when I'm fatigued (according to G). Third, I am not willing to push myself to the point of injury when I haven't trained enough. If I'm going to pursue longer and longer distances, I need to train more appropriately.

I ran into the aid station, considering dropping out right when I got there. G was waiting, and convinced me that I should take a break for a little and then see if I felt up for another lap or, more likely, a few of the shorter, finishing laps.  But once I stopped, even after switching shoes, I was done.

The Loop: The loop itself was really nice, non-technical single track. Mile 1 was an out and back loop with just a few small, rolling hills. Mile 2 took you up to the top of the ridge (on the biggest climb of the course, which was none too bad), then wound over bike obstacles back down into the valley of River Falls. Mile 3 was again single track through the woods. Winding back and forth through the woods, you would occasionally catch glimpses of the other runners flitting through the trees.

The fourth mile shunted you back up towards the ridge and, near the end, along the edge of a cornfield where, for much of the race, a tractor was plowing under the corn stalks. After 4 laps, believe me, a ride on that tractor started to seem really nice. Mile 5 saw the on-course aid station, winding along the ridge before hitting another stretch along the cornfield. With the wind gusting at 25 mph, this section could be pretty cold.

Mile 6 took you tantalizingly close to the major climb at the start of mile 2 (also near the start of the lap), then popped along the cornfields again before dropping back down into the woods to weave through the trees again. The final mile took you up 1 final hill, that seemed longer and longer each lap. But the last stretch into the aid station was blessedly flat, letting you at least look fast when coming through.

Synopsis: I am pretty satisfied with this race. I did not meet my original A and B goals, but they were major reach goals in any case. By the pure fact that I run more quickly than many people, it's harder for me to run an 8 hour race. Had I kept up my progression, I would likely have run more than 45 miles in the 8 hours, even had I walked a 6th lap.

But I was treating this as an experiment. I wanted to find out whether my body could go longer than 31 miles on 15-mile training runs: it can. I wanted to find out whether I could still keep going when my legs said to quit, and I could. I wanted to see how Skratch Labs hydration mix would work for me: it certainly seemed to. I never had the crashes I've had in prior races.

I also learned that I find it really hard to go appropriately slow at the early stages of a race like this. It feels uncomfortable to me to run much more slowly than 8:30 pace on the flats, and 9-minute average miles. Jason seemed to have an efficient, shuffling stride that worked well for him, and maybe I need to work on that sort of stride if I want to try these longer challenges.

Then again, maybe I want to focus on shorter races, and save longer efforts for my own fkt-type attempts. I do know that, if I'm going to do something longer than 50k, I need to a) do longer runs than 15 miles (25-30 would be better) and b) do back-to-back longer runs.

All in all, a satisfying and fun experience. 

Week Ending November 2, 2014

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 4 miles. 32 minutes. Easy down Summit.

Wednesday: 7 miles. 50 minutes. Fartlek with 3 minutes on, 2 minutes float. A great, hard workout on my hilly loop. This was an exceptionally good workout. I felt fast, with a good amount of endurance and pep left in my legs at the end. It had me wishing that my race was shorter.

The only problem now is that I seem to be reaching the limit of this particular loop. I have nowhere else to go with limited stoplights. If I go down Summit, I hit a stoplight every half mile. I can't extend my hilly loop any farther without more stoplights. It may be time to find another option.

Thursday: 5 miles, 40 minutes. Easy run down summit after the workout on Wednesday.

Friday: 4.2 miles, 40 minutes. Either my heart was palpitating wildly, or my heart rate monitor was having severe issues. I am assuming the latter, because my heart rate didn't seem crazy when I tested it on my neck. This is not the first time I've had trouble with the heart rate monitor during my warm up. And I am not the only person to have this problem.

Suunto so far has not impressed me with their customer service or general quality. I have no extra money for one at the moment, but next time I purchase a GPS device, it won't be Suunto.

Saturday: Inadvertent rest day.

Sunday: 6.5 miles. 1 hour on the nose. Ran one loop of the River Gorge and added on a bit. For most of this loop, I was holding back, trying to run at a pace I could maintain for 8 hours.

On the bridges, though, it was another story. I dropped the pace there to 5:30-5:45 min/mile. I was pleasantly surprised by how (relatively) easy this felt. Again, it had me wishing that my race was a little shorter than 8 hours, but such is life.

Total: 27 miles. A good start to a taper.

As I am tapering, I guess it's about time to discuss my goals for the Icebox 480.

I see this race as an experiment. If I run the whole 8 hours, I have no doubt that this will be my longest and farthest run ever. Even if I don't, I have a good chance to beat my 50k PR.  If I don't do that, I can experiment with fueling and pacing.

My goals, by tier.

"A" goal: run the equivalent of 2 sub-4 hour marathons back to back. This will be hard. Maybe not possible for me. But it's my goal over all others.

"B" goal: keep going for the entire 8 hours. This should let me break my PRs for distance and time.

"C" goal: break my 50k PR.

Finally, my biggest goal is to have fun with the race. I seem to do better when I enjoy my races and don't take them too seriously, and worse when I psych myself up and out too much. The UMTR peeps on Facebook describe this race as an "end of the season 8-hour party in the woods."

I'm in good shape. Mentally I'm doing well. My friends are coming out to watch me, driving 40 minutes to do so. And I have an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ to look forward to that night.

Sounds like a party

Week Ending October 26

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: 6 miles. 45 minutes. Easy down Summit and back. Anybody who runs occasionally gets to experience a run like this. I was running easy, keeping my heart rate low. Even so, I ran around 20-30 seconds per mile faster than I usually do at that heart rate. A breakthrough run, where, after weeks and months of work, everything seems to come together, and you make what seems to be inordinate progress. More likely, the rest day, combined with the slightly lower mileage the week before, let my muscles recover enough for me to realize the effects of my training.

We runners live for those days.

Wednesday: 7 miles, 51 minutes. 5x4 minutes up-tempo on a hilly course. Had it been a flat course, I would have run these at 6:10-6-30 pace. Given the hills, the intervals were either a bit faster or slower than that. I tried to keep the effort honest, though.

Thursday: 4 miles, 32 minutes. Easy (recovery) run down Summit.

Friday: 6 miles, 45 minutes. Mostly easy, with 7x20s sprints. These proved to be a little too much, or I ran them too hard. Either way, my calves felt like they used to after track practice in high school, where I was a sprinter. The only difference is, in high school I was more ready for sprinting.

Saturday: Rest. Walked a good bit, but no running today.

Sunday: 12.5 miles, 1:53. Did a double lap of the River Gorge loop, plus a little extra added on the second loop.

Total: 35.5 miles.

Sunday was a great morning to be out running. Sunny, 40-50 degrees, just a bit of a wind, and the tail end of the fall colors made for a perfect morning.

And I reveled in it.

I tried to keep this at a low pace, as a trial run for the race. And in general I managed fairly well. Even so, I couldn't help picking up the pace for the quarter-mile across the Ford Bridge. I may be an ultramarathoner now, but that doesn't mean I have to run slowly all the time.

As with my first 50k, I'm coming into this without as many long runs, or long enough runs, to be as prepared as I would like. As I get more experienced in these, I get less worried about my training. I know I can run the distance and time required. When I signed up for this race, 8 hours seemed like an almost impossibly-long time to be running. But I realized that it's only about an hour and 45 minutes longer than I have before (at the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty).

I certainly feel more prepared for this race than I did for my first Ultra.

Week Ending October 19

Monday: 4 miles. 32 minutes, short shakedown run after a hard weekend.

Tuesday: Off. Legs were justifiably tired after a weekend of excessive training.

Wednesday: 6 miles. 48 minutes. Easy run down Summit and back. Legs felt significantly better on this run than they had the day before. It's truly amazing what a good rest day can do.

Thursday: 5.5 miles, 45 minues. 5xRamsey Hill in about 1:40 + 4x1 minute hard. This was one of the hardest workouts I've done so far. I got to Ramsey Hill to find that there was tree crew on the side I normally train on, so I had to run on the other side of the street. Not a big deal, I know, but it did change things up a little bit. I would have loved to test myself against the same hill, but that was not to be.

The 1 minute intervals after the hills felt hard, but not as hard as I would have expected for approximately 5:30 pace on tired legs. I've said it before, but I think this training plan I've been using is working. I can run faster on tired legs than I could all out at the beginning.

Friday: 3 miles, 25 minutes easy shakedown run.

Saturday: 10.5 miles, 1:35, 1000' . This run began in a very frustrating way, as I drove half an hour out to Afton State Park to find the gate closed at 7:45. After waiting around for a few minutes, I turned around and headed home to run around the Gorge.

I was still tired after Thursday, so my legs didn't have the pep that they usually would on this sort of run. Nonetheless, I managed to get out for a while. I did not get the length of run I was hoping for, but with the state of my legs, I think it was a good idea to go short. I did, however, get a chance to try out some Skratch Labs hydration mix.

While I did not care for the flavor (how do so many people like Lemon Lime?), I think the actual mix worked fairly well. If I plan to race with it, I think I'll have to either cut it with more water, or carry a bottle of Skratch and a bottle of water to mix it up enough so that I can a) stay hydrated while b) getting enough nutrition in.

Sunday: 6ish miles, 50ish minutes. Made it out to Afton for a fantastic fall run. I forgot my watch, having purposefully left my heart rate monitor at home. That gave me the chance to really play on this run, and regain a little fun in my run for the day.

I used it well. One thing I have noticed in Minnesota is that, while I had a lot of leg strength from my constant climbing in Colorado, most of that came on long, sustained climbs. Here in Minnesota, we have short climbs, but they come at you fast and furious, and relentlessly. I need to up my ability to take on rolling hills rather than mountains.

With that in mind, I took each and every hill at speed, charging up to the top and sustaining my pace for a few strides beyond.

It felt good, like I was playing again.

Weekly Totals: 35 miles.

Night Lights Half Marathon.

I had some pretty clear goals going into this race. The primary goal was to run a controlled but sharp effort, injecting some fatigue into my legs without blowing out the tanks and adversely affect my training. Secondary goals were to get some more experience running at night, preferably at a fast pace, to get some additional mileage in, and finally, of course, to have some fun.

In the interest of that final goal, G (who was running the 5k) and I went out and bought some battery-powered light strings to wear during the race. I found a way to wrap them around myself, tucking the batteries into my shorts' key pocket, without adversely affecting my running. The lights had a side effect of causing other runners to not take me as seriously as they otherwise might have. Nobody else in the front line, or seemingly in the entire race, had thought to decorate.

Their loss. G and I were a huge hit with the race staff and the aid station volunteers, who promptly dubbed me "Christmas Tree" and G "Ms Purple Sparkles."

To keep myself from going too quickly, I set a max heartrate goal of 166 on my Suunto. This would keep me roughly at a marathon pace, making me work hard while leaving something in reserve. If I strayed out of this zone for too long, the watch would beep, letting me know that I was going too fast and to ease up a bit. It turns out that the watch allows you some leeway, so that I could stray from the target zone while running uphill. Overall, the method worked well (with a few mistakes on my end which I will outline later on).

The race itself was run over three laps of a ~4.3 mile course, which lends itself to a report by lap write-up:

Lap 1: As I said, nobody seemed to take the guy with Christmas lights wrapped around him seriously at the start line. At the same time, nobody seemed to want to start at the front, so I had half a yard on everybody before the race started at 6:15. Unfortunately, as I tend to do, I started too quickly. I ran the first mile in 7-flat, far too fast and over my heartrate. Once I realized this, I slowed down a bit and, after allowing a few more ambitious runners to pass, settled in to my rhythm for the evening.

(It was around mile two, as I slowed myself down, that somebody asked in passing "what are you plugged in to?" I bit back a sarcastic quip, "a really long extension cord," and told him it was a battery pack.)

The slower pace allowed me to fully appreciate the view at mile 2-3, as we ran along the Mississippi River Bluffs with (first) a phenomenal view of the sun setting over the skylines of Minneapolis and St Paul and (later) a view out along the river itself, with clouds lit up in purples and oranges by the sunset  now behind us.

The course itself was technically very easy, running on wide, mown ski paths, which would allow for more confident footing after dark. It was not too challenging, with only 300 or so feet of elevation gain and loss per lap. But what hills there were proved remarkably steep, uphill and down. Coming on to one, you felt like you might run straight into it, and coming to the downhills, the trail simply seemed to disappear, particularly after dark. That said, the footing on the downhills was good, and I surprised a good many people by charging down each hill without worrying overmuch about injury.

One thing I've learned in my years of trail running: my legs and feet can take most anything I throw at them on the downhills as long as I relax and pay attention. The runners here seem much more tentative on the downhills than runners in Colorado, a fact I plan to continue to use to my advantage in future races.

Lap 2: By lap 2, the sun had fully set, with enough light left still in the first half that I did not need my headlamp and flashlight (the combination I've found works far better than either alone) until we were under the trees. By this point we had all basically settled into the paces and positions we would hold for the duration, barring the inevitable fadeouts from those who were more ambitious than prudent. I fell in behind a runner who was using the same headlamp/flashlight combination as me. I felt no real need to pass him, but rather stuck to my heartrate-based racing strategy.

I definitely felt the pace, but it felt sustainably hard: something I could hold on to for a good deal longer than 13 miles. And so the second lap passed without much incident.

Lap 3: By the third lap, it was fully dark, with lights required. I have run in the dark before, on trails and on roads, often running with the night run group in Boulder. But this was the first time that I had ever raced in the dark, and there are some definite differences.  Mostly, I found it harder to concentrate, and kept letting my pace slip.

Nevertheless, around halfway through the lap, I glanced back and realized the runner I had been trading spots with for the last couple laps had disappeared behind me. This was also around the time when I started catching up to runners in the 5k and 10k races (and lapped one unfortunate half-marathoner). This snapped me out of the pace-slipping conundrum.

With about a mile and a half to go, I decided to let loose a little bit. My strategy of keeping the heart rate low seemed to have worked, and I had a ton of pep left in my legs. In fact, my strategy worked a little too well, because the pace I set (7:20 or so) still felt pretty easy, and, after passing two other half marathoners, crossed the finish line convinced that I had somehow cut the course.

I finished in 1:40:30 for 11th place over all.

More importantly I learned a few things.

Pacing: I can, in fact, keep an easyish pace during a race (something I have not succeeded at in the past) and let it not affect my training overly much. Heart rate is an excellent way to do this.

Starting: I still go out too fast in races. I will definitely have to keep this in mind for the 8-hour race, lest I blow up horribly.

Racing at night: I have never done this before, and so had little idea what to expect. The combination of a headlight and flashlight worked very well. It was not a technical trail, but I think this combination will work well for those as well. I did, however, find my pace slipping in and out a bit as my concentration wavered. I had trouble keeping my mind in racing mode. I looked down at my watch and saw my heart rate down a zone, and was not sure how it happened.

All in all, I think this was a successful training race. I managed to keep my pace in line for the most part, and hit 9 miles on Sunday to boot. I found out a few things about racing at night. I reigned in my start before it killed my race. And, had I raced rather than used it as a training run, I might have won.

Week Ending 10/12/2014

Monday: 7 miles, 55 minutes. 3x8 minutes at half marathon pace or above, with a 3 minute rest interval on a hilly course. I decided this particular day to run a half marathon on Friday night as part of my training for the Icebox 480.

Tuesday: 4.75 miles, 38 minutes. Nice, easy run down Summit. Recovery from the hard workout the day before.

Wednesday: 4.75 miles, 38 minutes. Same run as yesterday, but I added 6x10s sprints in to get the leg turnover going.

Thursday: 3 miles, 25 minutes. This was originally scheduled as a hard run in my training plan, but given the half the next day I opted for an easy run with 5 striders. I wanted to train through this race, but I also didn't want to risk injury by overdoing it. As I grow more experienced in running, I can tread the line between training enough and overtraining with more ease. My gut told me that I would risk injury running a hard workout even if I took it fairly easy in the race the next day.

Friday: 13.1 miles. 1:40. Night Lights Half Marathon. (Race report coming soon).

Saturday: Off. I considered running, but again, did not want to injure myself. Since the race was in the evening, I figured I could still get the back-to-back benefit by running Sunday morning.

Sunday: 9 miles. 1:21. My legs definitely still felt the race on Friday, but I succeeded in getting a longish run in on a gorgeous fall day. I shuffled my way down to the River Gorge and back. THere were far more people than usual out on the singletrack above the Gorge today. I purposefully kept the pace slow and steady, trying to average about the pace I hope to hit in the 480 on November 8th. I did, successfully hitting 6.2 miles (the length of a lap at the 480) at almost exactly 57 minutes. That would give me 3 minutes at the aid station each lap and still let me hit my goal of  8 full laps.

Assuming that I can keep that pace.

It was a solid week of training. 42 miles and one half marathon under my belt. My training seems to be moving along well. The night race was fun, and I learned a thing or two about pacing. I also learned about night running, something I imagine will be useful if I continue pushing out to longer and longer distances.

Plus, I got to wrap a string of lights around myself and still run a decent race.

Two Weeks Ending 10/5/2014

It has been a solid two weeks of training for me. I feel more and more like this training program, which is slightly more intense with slightly less mileage than programs I've done recently, is pushing me towards greater fitness. It is enough that I am considering (strongly) entering a half-marathon that's being run on Friday night.

On with the summary.

Monday 9/22: Off. Drove back from a BWCA trip and was in no shape to go for a run.

Tuesday 9/23: 6 miles, 48 minutes easy down Summit. Preparing for a tough week of  training. Added in a brief sprint every 5 or so minutes to get the turnover going. After several days in a canoe and a car, my legs were more than a little stiff, so the pickups were much needed.

Wednesday 9/24: 6.25 miles, 49 minutes. 5x3minutes at a hard (6:10-6:30 pace) effort with 2 minute rest. Chose a hilly course to get some strength work in.

Thursday 9/25: 5 miles. 40 minutes easy down Summit. Recovery day.

Friday 9/26: 5.1 miles, 54 minutes trail running on the River Gorge area. This was a hill day, so I did 10 hard repeats up from the river to the bike path. I lowered the average time for these below 1:10 this time, despite a hard week leading up to this point. All 10 felt relatively even and hard, though I naturally blew out the tubes on the last one for a 1:03 to close it off.

Saturday 9/27: Off, if you consider 7 hours of wandering around the Ren Fest an off day.

Sunday 9/28: 16 miles, 2:20. 1800'+ elevation change. This was my first time out at Afton State Park for a run, and I chose to do the Afton 25k loop. Weather was sunny and nearly 70 by the time I finished my run at 11 or so.

I was pleasantly surprised by this loop. It was long, varied, with a large amount of elevation change. I was trying to keep it at a very easy effort, since I had not been on a long trail run since my last race in May. That said, I think it went fairly well. The trail was not consistently technical, but there were enough single-track and technical sections that I think this will be a good prep course for the other races I have planned for the future, particularly if I get to the point where I start doing repeats on the hills.

Weekly Totals: ~38.5 miles. 

From Afton, looking out over the St Croix river valley. 

Monday 9/29: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes to start my off week.

Tuesday 9/30: Off.

Wednesday 10/1: 5 miles, 40 minutes down Summit with a few up-tempo portions thrown in for fun.

Thursday 10/2: 5 miles, 37 minutes. Added a fast stretch (5:40 or lower) at the end for a little extra workout and to get the remaining kinks out of my legs.

Friday 10/3: Off.

Saturday 10/4: 15.5 miles, 2:12, out at Afton again.

Sunday: 10/5: Off. Spectated the Twin Cities Marathon and 10 mile. It was fun to see some friends from Colorado come out and throw down on my local course. Lee Troop ran a controlled 49:54 for the 10 miler. He even responded to my cheers with a "cheers" of his own. Tyler McCandless took 1:20 off his PR to finish strong in 5th place in the US marathon championships.

Weekly Totals: 29 miles.

What a difference a low-intensity, relatively low-mileage week makes. I went out to Afton on Saturday with much fresher legs than the week before. The temperatures were also 30 or so degrees colder than the week prior.

I did not consciously push the pace on this run anywhere but the flats, but due to fresher legs and a better understanding of where I was (read: fewer stops at trail signs) I came in around 10 minutes faster than I had the week before. I pushed myself just a bit on the flat portions along the St Croix, just to see how my turnover would go on a long run. I did ok, averaging just over 7-minute pace in the middle of a long run. And it didn't feel like I was pushing that hard.

I think, over all, my training is progressing well. For a given heart rate, my pace is getting steadily faster. I can run farther each week than I could before. My long runs are coming along nicely now that I found a fun place to go. All in all, things are looking good.

This week, I have a half-marathon scheduled on Friday night. I am training through this one, and am going to set some heart rate alarms on my watch so that I don't end up pushing too hard. The course is three laps of Battle Creek Park in St Paul, and takes place just before and just after sundown. My fiancee will be participating in the 5k at the same time, so it should be a fun night.

My goal will be to also run long on Sunday, and thereby get nearly a back to back long run in. With that in mind, I intend to take the first lap of the half really easy, using it as a scouting lap for the next two. After that, I'll consider where I am, and pick up the pace either on the second or third lap. Regardless, I intend to close at speed.

I am excited.

2 Weeks Ending 9/20

Monday 9/8: 6 miles. 46 minutes. 3x5 minutes at medium hard effort on a hilly course. This workout felt solid. Not hard enough to leave me trashed, but built a lot of confidence.

Tuesday 9/9: 4 miles. 32 minutes easy plus 12x10s sprints. Really opened the legs up on these, dropping down to sub-4 minute pace on several.

Wednesday 9/10: 4.75 miles, 40 minutes. Easy. Needed a recovery day after the last two. The workouts in this training plan are more intense on a more regular basis than I am used to, but my top speeds and certain heartrates are getting faster. I'm not feeling burnt out or like I'm not recovering, so I will keep going with it.

Thursday 9/11: 4.5 miles (and a bit), 53 minutes. 8 x River Gorge Hill hard. Good, hard hill workout. Averaged about 1:12-1:14 per repeat. Unfortunately, at the bottom of the hill, on the bank of the Mississippi, there was a very dead corpse of some animal. The smell, and the sight of the ribs poking out, definitely motivated me to get back up that hill.

Friday 9/12: Off.

Saturday 9/13: 13.1 miles, 1:57. That's not going to win me any half marathons anytime soon, but it got me out for a long run around the River Gorge loop. I didn't quite break the 2 hour mark with this run, but my next long run should do it.

Sunday 9/14: Off. I did wander around Afton State Park for an hour or so. Probably added a couple miles to the weekly total.

Weekly total 32 miles

Monday 9/15: 4.75 miles, 40 minutes. Easy start to a truncated week of running.

Tuesday 9/16: 6.2 miles. 50 miles. 4x5 minutes hard with a 2 minute rest on a hilly course. Another boost of confidence. These intervals were suggested to match my half-marathon pace based on my heartrate, and I kept them between 6:30 and 6:40 pace, save for one that was particularly hilly and topped out over 7 minute pace. All in all, a solid effort.

Wednesday 9/17: Off.

Thursday 9/18: 5.8 miles, 48 minutes. 5x10s sprints followed by 6x1minute at 5:20-5:30 pace. Some of these were in fact slower than the prescribed pace. I am unsure whether this is correct, as the pace on my watch suggested I was consistently going faster than recorded ultimately. However, as the majority of these were uphill on a trail, I think I'm ok with the results.

Friday 9/19: 3.75 miles, 31 minutes. Easy recovery day before heading up to the BWCA in the afternoon.

Saturday-Monday: BWCA trip. No running, but lots of canoeing and general hiking, with a little bit of portaging mixed in.

I didn't quite get the prescribed mileage in, and got no long run in the second week of this training segment. Even so, I feel like my training is progressing well. My legs continue to recover better than I expect, and nothing untoward is happening with my heartrate, so I don't think overtraining is an issue.

That said, I really need to get my long runs in the next few weeks. This week I will be aiming for 2:30 at the least, with 3 hours the next week and a subsequent double (3+ hours followed by 1+ hours the day after, getting half of my ultimate race time over the course of two days.

After almost two months of this particular training plan, I am not quite sure how I feel about being on a fixed plan again. I love the structure, and I feel that I am definitely improving my speed and general endurance. At the same time, I miss the freedom I had previously. I need to start running more freely on some of my non-specific days. This weekend's long run grants a little more freedom to my heart rate, so I think I will head out to Afton without my heartrate monitor and just let myself enjoy my long run.

Week Ending 9/7/2014

Monday: 8.5 miles. 1:20. Long run for Labor Day. This is the first longer run I've done since starting my new training regime. I felt slow, out of it, and incredibly happy to be out and about again. In point of fact, I was both slow and out of it, since I did not notice two of my friends running along the same road.

Tuesday: 3 miles, 25 minutes. Easy.

Wednesday:  Off.

Thursday: 4.75 minutes, 40 minutes. 20 minutes ever-so-slightly up-tempo (just sub-8 minute pace).

Friday: 4 miles, 33 minutes. Easy.

Saturday: 11 miles, 1:44. Long run again. I took a route down Summit and along the River Gorge trail, taking whatever chance I could to drop down to the river and back up, to get a good 500' of elevation in. Again, I felt slow, particularly on the trails.

This week was my off week, officially, which is why I did not do any intensity. Due to the two longer runs, my distance for the week was still a bit over 31 miles. That marks the most I've done since the race in May, and makes me think that I might just be able to get back into it.

That being said, I still felt really slow on my long runs. I have been trying to keep within a low heart rate range, which seems to make me really slow on the trail sections. On the plus side, to run the way I want to run in November, I don't have to run any faster than I am right now.

On a more annoying note, I think my strength routine has ended up giving me a pulled muscle in my left arm and chest. I worried for a bit that it might be something more serious, but after a doctor's appointment the other day, I am not worried about that. And it seems to be gradually feeling better now that I'm taking a few days off from strength work.

Sometimes it seems like it's always something.

Two Weeks Ending August 31

Monday 8/18: 5 miles, 42 minutes. Easy run with 8x10s surges at the end. Workout called for 6, but it felt so great to stretch my legs out and sprint a bit, that I added a couple extra on the end, bringing the pace down to 3:30 miles, according to my Suunto.

Tuesday 8/19: 46 minutes, 4.2 miles. I had a hill workout on the schedule for Wednesday, and wanted to see if my favorite River Gorge hill was long enough, so I took to the trails for an easy (very easy) scouting run. Sadly, even at a very easy pace, the hill I was hoping for was still less than 2 minutes long. This relegated the next day's workout to the roads. This run, though, reminded me again that I am, at heart, a trail runner.

Wednesday 8/20: 5.5 miles, 48 minutes. 4x400m (125') hill repeats, + 3x2min repeats between 6:10 and 6:30 pace. Stepped out the door with the legs feeling flat, and they didn't feel that much better throughout the run, but I sucked it up and bore through the workout any way. I missed starting my watch on the first repeat, but the others were 1:53, 1:53, and 1:51 for the Ramsey Repeat. Even at a moderate pace, I haven't lost that much. I would love to see what I can do full bore on this hill again. I liked doing the additional post-hill repeats (well, they were difficult at the time, but I like them now). I think it builds some mental toughness that I will need in the Icebox 480 in November.

Thursday 8/21: Off? I Think I may have actually run this day, but I don't see it in my log.

Friday 8/22: (AM) 6 miles, 48 minutes. Easy and then a section of moderate down Summit and back. Felt good despite the hard week so far.

(PM) 4 miles (est) and 4 hours on my feet at the Fair. The Great Minnesota Get Together was as vast and confusing as always. I'm not sure whether my distance was accurate, but I would bet we walked at least one mile per hour. Probably more. And I ate absolutely nothing that came on a stick.

Saturday 8/23: 5 miles, 5 hours on my feet. We headed, you guessed it, back to the Fair. This time we decided to see the animal barns and take in some of the glory that is the Fair during the daytime. I did not make it through without a pretzel dog (on a stick), but we did a fair amount of roaming once again. Thankfully, it was a relatively cool day, with the temperature hovering between 70 and 75 under cloudy skies.

Sunday: Off. Travelled to Pittsburgh.

Monday 8/25: 4.75 miles, 49 minutes, 500'+ elevation. Headed over to Frick Park in Pittsburgh to see what the trails were like. There were a lot of ups and downs. In fact, I'm not sure there was anything but ups and downs for this entire run. If anything, I think the elevation is low. I ended up on some mountain bike trails that, at times, I was unsure if I was supposed to be on. But I will say that I find dashing up, and jumping off, mountain bike obstacles to be very entertaining. I added surges into my run this way.

Tuesday 8/26: 4 miles, 33 minutes, 250' elevation. Took it easy and ran the three quarters of a mile over to Schenley (sp?) park in Pittsburgh from my Hotel. Saw, for the second day in a row, what I think must be either the Pitt or CMU women's cross country team doing a long hill workout. Surprisingly nice trails, even if they were wide gravel bike paths.

Wednesday 8/27: Off

Thursday 8/28: 6.75 miles, 56 minutes, 400' elevation. Again over to Schenley. This time I ran with my friend and coworker E for a little while before taking off to do 7x2 minute intervals. Workout said for 6:10 to 6:30 pace again, but I had to run based on effort due to the hilly nature of the park. This meant that during my intervals, my pace ranged anywhere from 4 minute pace to 9 minute pace on a particularly nasty uphill. The day off must have done wonders, because my legs didn't feel tired even at the end, even though I definitely pushed myself.

Friday 8/29: 3.5 miles, 30 minutes. Squeezed in another quick lap of Schenley before heading to the airport.

All in all, a very satisfying two weeks, even if I did not get my long runs in like I need to. My turnover is coming back, and I know that I can run for long periods of time.

My focus now, though, has to shift to getting my long runs in on the weekends. This past weekend I opted to sleep in on Saturday (on which day I still walked around the Minnesota Zoo for several hours), headed to Duluth on Sunday (and proceeded to longboard, which is a much better workout than you might think).

Monday I did run longer, hitting an hour twenty. This week, my goal is to push that out to 1:45 and up it as much as I can the following weeks until I reach 3+ hours. From that point on, I plan to sub out one shorter, harder workout during the week for a longer mid-week run. Ideally, I will also get a back-to-back weekend in in October before the race in November. If I can pull that off, I might have a shot at running for a full 8 hours.

Week Ending August 17, 2014

Monday: 6.2 miles. 51:22. Easy run with 6x20s surges, + leg/foot strengthening. Felt slow overall, but I think that was more because I was constraining myself by heart rate for the first time. Surges felt good.

Tuesday: 5.4 miles. 45:00. Easy + core/upper body strength.

Wednesday: 5.4 miles. 45:00 with 5x2minutes stated at sub-6:30 pace. Two were slower than 6:30 pace, but they were also uphill. Legs felt slow going in, but the surges themselves felt good. This was my first time revisiting my hilly course from my training for the 50k. Felt good to be back.

Thursday: 4 miles, 32:55. Easy recovery run + leg/foot strengthening.  Legs were tired from the prior three days of running. I had not actually planned to run, but my weekend plans precluded any running whatsoever, so I bit the bullet.

Friday: 3.8 miles, 31:13 + core/upper body strength.  Legs were still tired. Got to do some (mildly) faster running, based on pace rather than heart rate.

Saturday-Sunday: I was out at a friend's cabin on Lake Minnetonka, on an island if you can believe it. Through the two days, we probably spent 1.5-2 hours, or more, in the water (swimming and treading water) over the course of the weekend.

I am definitely back at it, and have the sore legs to prove it.

The Cool Impossible lists a range of times/repetitions for each of the workouts listed in Orton's training plans. For this week, I aimed for somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. As I go through, I hope to move myself up towards the upper threshold of the workouts. For now, though, the workouts I've done have left me fairly tired.

But I am back in the game, and feel like I'm making progress towards my Icebox 480 race later this year.

Running is a series of new beginnings.

I have a confession to make: for the 6 years leading up to 2014, I was pretty much cheating at trail running.

Don't get me wrong, I was not doping or otherwise cheating in the usual sense. Rather, I feel now like I was cheating. Living in Boulder and running on the type of trails that are so prevalent there, I could get away with running without any sort of overall training plan. I could, and did, get away without doing any outside strength training. The mere fact that I was running trails like Flagstaff, Green, and Sanitas each and every day that my legs (specifically my stabalizer muscles) and core naturally got an excellent workout whenever I went out for my daily run. Thus, when I encountered gnarly trails in my races, I was ready for them by default.

Add to that my consistent altitude training on the weekends, and you can see why I now feel like I was cheating.

Moving to Minnesota, the rugged, mountainous trails that were my default in Colorado simply do not exist outside of the northeaster corner of the state (somewhere I want go more often, never mind that I've been up there every three weeks this summer). This means that, when I raced a 50k on the aforementioned rugged, mountainous (not to mention muddy) trails, my legs lacked the requisite stability and strength to truly race the course without suffering the consequences. I had, in a sense, become lazy by running some of the most difficult trails in Boulder day in and day out.

And so here I am. After the Spring Superior 50k, as I reported before, I suffered, for the first time, from ITBS, dreaded by runners everywhere. About the same time, I picked up Eric Orton's book "The Cool Impossible." I almost left it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, thinking that the last thing I needed was another running book.

Fortunately, I took it down, bought it, and, eventually read it cover to cover. Eric takes a different approach than many in his writing, presenting the book more like a conversation than a lecture. He takes you on a virtual trip to Jackson Hole, running a virtual, week-long running session. I appreciate this method. I found it encouraged me to think more about what he was saying than I otherwise might have.

Having met Eric once in Boulder (the same day I met Chris McDougall and reacquainted myself with "Coach" Jurek), I knew he had some valuable insights. I also knew that he struck me as a person I might accept as a coach, which is a great deal more rare than you might think. With that in mind, I gave his words a little more weight than I might have otherwise, and the more I read, the more I thought he was on to something.

Orton takes what I would call a systems approach to running: everything has to work together in order for a person to run injury-free (first and foremost) and quickly (less important). While taking a serious approach over all, he constantly reminds you that running should also be fun.

After reading the book, I decided, for the first time, to adopt a training program. I got away without one in Boulder, by virtue of living in a trail running paradise. Now, living in Minnesota, I can't do that any more, and I have decided to follow the most comprehensive yet individualized plan I have ever endeavoured to follow..

As a part of that, I had to buy some equipment. The most expensive is a GPS unit with a heart rate monitor. I chose a Suunto Ambit 2 R. Had I waited a few weeks, I could have gotten the Ambit 2 for the same price, but that's life sometimes. I also bought a fitness ball, a "slant board" (a small slanted board, raised in the middle so it wobbles), and a stability disk (about 5" in diameter with a hemisphere attached to the bottom).

A big part of Orton's training plan is strength training. Particularly dynamic stability strength training, which is where the slant board, stability disk, and fitness ball come in. I do strength training 5 days per week (2 upper body and core, 2 lower body, 1 of both). It leaves my body exhausted when I'm done, and it seems to be working reasonably well. At this point, I have run the last 5 runs completely ITB pain-free. Some residual tightness remains, but the pain seems to be gone.

The personalization comes in the running portion of the training plan, which I have not started yet. I want to be completely recovered before I start the running portion. It's no small commitment: the running portion takes a good 5 months total. It's based on customized heart rate and speed zones, based on three tests Orton has you run at the beginning of training. As soon as I feel good enough, hopefully in another two weeks or so, I'll run those tests (quite literally), and begin the program.

Recovery

As the video says, it's a long road up to recovery.

After the Superior Spring 50k, I actually felt pretty good. Two days post-race, I ran three miles down Summit, and proceeded to run 4 miles the next several days. I didn't have much pep in my legs, but then that is to be expected after a race where you leave everything on the course as I did.

Over two weeks later, after a lot of 4- and 5-mile days, I still don't have all my pep back. More annoyingly, I've developed some definite ITBS symptoms. This is something I have never really had to deal with before, so I am a bit discouraged by the course events have taken.

Fortunately I have been reading "Anatomy for Runners," a book I highly recommend to any runners out there who think they might lack strength or flexibility in key areas. With this, I have a few ideas as to which exercises I can do to mitigate ITBS and be sure it doesn't come back again.

My assumption is that this is a result of my taking on a highly technical course after not practicing enough on technical trails. The mud and leaf sludge I ran through probably didn't help a whole lot. Going forward, in addition to working on the strength and flexibility exercises I've found to treat this particular injury, I want to work on more technical running as much as possible.

Difficult, but not impossible, here in the twin cities. I know one section of the river gorge trail that might be technical enough, and it has the distinct advantage of being on one of the larger hills on that trail, so I can work technical training and hill training at the same time.

I hope that I can get through this quickly.

(Mis)Adventures on the North Shore: Lake Superior 50k Race Report.

As you can probably tell from the title, everything did not go to plan this past weekend.

The short version: This post got long, as they tend to do, so if you don’t have a lot of time, here’s the short version. I wanted to mix it up at the front of the race this time, so I went out quickly. I ran through the halfway point, feeling strong, in 6th place, but at mile 17 or so my quads cramped and I fell off the pace. The next 5 ½ miles were a sufferfest, until a friendly fellow runner suggested I take in some serious calories. I ended up rallying over the last 8 miles of the course, passing two more runners while being passed by one, and finished strong  in 13th place in 5 hours, 10 minutes (a PR by over an hour for the distance).

And I learned more about these long trail races.

Friday: The day before the race we spent 1) getting to the North Shore, 2) poking around several state parks, 3) attempting (unsuccessfully) to start a campfire and 4) attempting (semi-successfully) to sleep.

Lutsen is a bit over 4 hours from my house in St. Paul. We took the straight shot up I35 to Duluth, where we stopped for lunch (smoked lake trout from the Northern Waters Smokehaus), wandered around Canal Park, and filled up the tank before heading the rest of the way up the Shore. On the way, we stopped by one of my favorite places: Gooseberry Falls State Park, where the eponymous falls were raging with the spring melt and recent rains. When I was young enough to live in Duluth, but old enough to drive, I used to make the hour trip on a regular basis and climb around on the various rock formations (occasionally startling unsuspecting tourists who were unaware of just how sure-footed I am).

After a brief stop in Lutsen to pick up my race number and shirt, we grabbed firewood and checked in at the Cascade River State Park campground on our way up to the Angry Trout in Grand Marais for dinner. If you ever happen to find yourself on the north shore, I highly recommend the Pissed Off Perch (as it’s known in my family). The meals are pricey, but the fresh lake trout, wild rice, asparagus, and salad was well worth it.

Once we set up camp, we turned to the firepit with the hope of getting a fire going, because what’s a camp site without a fire?

Not a chance of that. We tried for two hours to get the fire going. We eventually resorted to torching the wood over my Biolite Camp Stove in the hopes that we could dry it enough that it would light. When that didn’t work, I drove to the nearest town to find more firewood, only to find that the gas station was closed. The firewood was just sitting on the porch, but I just was not about to take it.

Finally, a bit before 10PM, we gave up and turned in. I think I slept until about 3:30, before I had to step out of the tent to dehydrate a bit. At that point, I realized that my pad had been leaking the whole night. And while I hadn’t noticed it while I was asleep, it did keep me from falling back asleep. I’m not sure my fiancee ever fell asleep at all. This is the last time I try camping for a spring race in Minnesota. It isn’t worth the money you save.

Gooseberry

Cascade River. Shutter Priority mode is pretty fun for water picks. Now I just need to find my little tripod. 

Again, shutter priority mode. I think this was 0.6s exposure.

Saturday (the race):

Despite the lack of sleep and other misadventures of the night, I still felt pretty good at the start line. After checking in, I chatted with a few of the other runners before being ushered up to the start line, mostly discussing (as ever) why I chose to leave Colorado, given that I am a trail runner. Some day I will touch on that here, but not today.

At the start line, the RD proceeded to quite literally call out the runners who had picked up their packets the day before but not checked in the morning of. Asking for “Eric Olsen” in a crowd of Minnesotans is, unsurprisingly, not specific enough. And then, with zero fanfare and no warning, it was “5-4-3-2-1-go!”

No gun. No anthem. Just the announcement.

Start to Oberg (7.75 miles, 1:06:30)

I had several goals for this race: number one was to mix it up at the pointy end of the race (the top ten or so) for as long as I could.  With this in mind, I took off for the first half mile of road with a group of 6 others who had sprung off the start line. The pace was quick, but felt sustainable to me. At the start of the single track, where the course hit the Superior HIking Trail, the group spread out a bit, and I found myself both passed and passing as we sorted out order by who was better at the uphills.

I found myself somewhere around 8th place for a bit, talking with a guy from Iowa named Andrew (he was behind me, and I never did see what he looked like). I mentioned having moved from Boulder, and he said “the thing that amazes me about you Western runners is how quick you are on the downhills.”

Bam! There was my strategy. I had passed fewer people than had passed me on the uphill. But as soon as we hit the first descent, I shot off the front of my group, and quickly caught and passed the next group ahead of me. I consider myself a mediocre descender in Colorado, but it seems I am comparatively much better here in the Midwest. At the bottom of the first descent off Mystery Mountain, I tacked myself onto the trail of a guy in Salomon gear and would stay on his tail until the halfway point. In the saddle between Moose and Mystery mountains, we encountered the first major stretches of mud, which would be our constant companion through the rest of the race.

The ascent and descent off of Moose Mountain went similarly, but being closer to the front of the field, I stayed in the same position the whole time, losing a bit of ground on the ascent and gaining it back on the descent. We (Salomon and I) ran into the first (Oberg) aid station together, with a spectator telling me I was in fifth position. I was in sixth, but either way was closer to the front of the field than I thought.

Oberg to Sawbill (5.5 miles 52:45)

With a quick refill for my 2x10oz water bottles and a quick gulp of water from the station, I was off again at 1:06 on the clock, chasing Salomon down what was supposed to be the smooth, runnable section of the trail for the day. It was smooth, and runnable, and muddy as all get out. I had kept my feet mostly dry up until this point, but quickly gave up on that as we splashed through (so far) ankle-deep mud in this boggy section of the course. The pace was still pretty quick this point, but I was well within my estimated splits for a 4:30 total time, and feeling remarkably fresh for the 10 miles or so we had finished to this point.

Sawbill-Carlton-Sawbill (4.5 miles ~33)

I continued running with Salomon through the Sawbill aid station, where I refilled my bottles again and he ran through onto a short boardwalk section. This stretch, with just about 2 hours on the clock, felt fantastic after the rough, muddy, rocky trails we had just traversed. I would guess I hit upwards of 6:30 pace on the boardwalk, slowing considerably as I hit the rocky, technical, and washed-out trail up Carlton Peak. This is also where the race leaders started coming back to me, likely as much as twenty minutes ahead of me and moving quickly.

The top of Carlton Peak, and the turnaround point at 15.5 miles, came with 2:17 on the clock and the race marshall at the top saying “you’re 3 ½ minutes late, and I have water, juice, and beer, but you’re too soon to be wanting beer, I bet.”

Have I mentioned I love goofy race marshalls? This was exactly the ridiculousness I needed at the halfway point of a long, hard race. I rounded the cone and headed back downhill, going for several minutes before I saw any more racers coming up behind me. Down the technical trail, along the boardwalk, I got the first inkling of what was coming: twinges in my quads suggesting I was heading for a major cramp fest.

In retrospect, at this point, I should have immediately taken in calories, salt, and as much water as I could before the aid station. But this is only my second 50k, and I am still learning. And let’s face it: I was surprised. I had been hitting my nutrition well, draining my bottles between each aid station, and taking water at each as well. But as I hit the station at 14 minutes or so down from the peak, I was not thinking clearly, and did not do enough.

Sawbill to Oberg (5.5 miles, ~1:11)

The next 5.5 miles over to Oberg were a sufferfest. This section took me 52 minutes on the way out, and would take me 1:06 on the way back. I had to walk anything beyond a gradual uphill, and the muddy patches had been churned up enough at this point that I had to pick my way through them as well, lest i lose a shoe. For the first half, I kept looking back over my shoulder, wondering where the heck the runners behind me were, since despite the encouragement from the slower 50k runners I felt like I was barely moving.

It was also in this section that I thought about DNF-ing. I was wobbly, and uncertain of my footing. I knew that, unless I turned things around, I would risk injury on the 7 ¾ mile section from Oberg to the finish: the most technical section of the course.

Eventually, inevitably, the runners behind me started to catch up. It seemed like there were trains of them passing me, and eventually, I worked up the energy go tag onto the back of a train of two. I talked a bit, and they gave me the (seemingly) brilliant advice of “Eat as much as you can, right now.” Thank you Peter and Cody, wherever you are. You remind me why I love trail running so much.

I followed their advice, eating my Honeystinger Chews and downing a VFuel. I immediately felt better and tagged after Peter and Cody to the Oberg Station. I lingered here a bit, downing a couple cups of Coke, and four blonde Oreo cookies. I also watched the lead woman run by, still looking pretty smooth and fast.

Oberg to the Finish (7.75 miles, 1:27:30)

I managed to pick it up here a little bit, losing about the same amount of time over an extra 2.25 miles of distance as I did between Sawbill and Oberg. I think the added food helped quite a bit. But this was also where we picked up the 25k runners, who had started two hours after the 50k. Passing runner after runner, who were after all running half the distance, gave me a huge mental boost.

I ran much more of this section than the prior section. I had scouted the route on the downhills outbound, and on the way back I ran everything but the steepest sections. Well, the steep sections and the muddy sections, which were now even more torn up from the added pressure of the 25k. It got to the point where I felt bad that we were tearing up the trail so much, but there we were.

I was only passed by one other 50k runner during this section, and I passed two, which is always a boost mentally. More than anything else, though, I passed one 25k runner who yelled “You look so good! You’re my inspiration!” at my back.

Up and over Moose, and over Mystery again, and I was on the final downhill into the finish. I really picked it up the last mile of doubletrack and roads, party due to one 50k runner I had passed passing me back. I was not going to allow that.

A few yards before the finish line, I patted a young 25k runner on the back, said "let's kick it in," and I crossed the line in 5:10, good for 13th place over all.

Reflections:

I did a lot right this time. I trained well for the distance, with more speed workouts, and one very long training run.  I knew I could go the distance, at the very least. And I knew I had some speed if I needed it.

I went for it. I wanted to go out there and try to mix it up at the sharp end of the field, and that’s exactly what I did for the first half of the race. But if I’m going to do that, I need to take in calories at a higher rate: on the order of a gel every 35 minutes rather than 45 minutes.

The other thing I need to do is find technical trails to train on in and around the Twin Cities. I had been lulled into complacency with regard to the trails around here, but the Superior Hiking Trail is a different beast entirely. I think that is where the cramping came from (combined with the inadequate calorie intake), because it was focused in my adductors. With a little extra training on the technical stuff, I think I have a chance at doing better next year.

I am happy to report, though, that I don’t seem to have lost any of my prowess at the technical trail, just my fitness. Three days after the race, my legs are feeling pretty decent, all things considered, and I’m pondering my next race. I am already signed up for a silly 5k (the Electric Run) in a few weeks, and am considering a 5k trail race a week from Wednesday.

Gear

Shoes: Altra Lone Peaks 1.5

Shorts: Salomon Exo Skins 2-in-1.

Belt: Ultimate Direction Jurek Endure

Fuel: VFuel Gels (5), Honeystinger Chews (1), Endurolyte Caps