Not often we get to be proud of a Canadian marathoner, check this story out.
http://reidcoolsaet.com/2010/09/27/while-im-here-id-like-to-thank/
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Pain free!! (cross your fingers)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Walking
Hey,
The last week I've been doing a lot of walking with Lisa. We've been doing pretty much 4-5 miles per day. She def. walks a lot faster than when we did our first walks. It's great to see the improvement. I'm looking forward to running and I honestly can't feel anything from my achilles, but I just want to make sure and there's no real rush to get back into the running. I've decided I'm not doing anymore races this year so I may as well make sure it's ready to go before I test it out. While you're walking you notice more stuff that you wouldn't normally while running. We've seen lots of deer, some of them are very well cammoflaged, but my keen eyes pick them out. Yesterday we got to see a owl right up close. The big sucker landed on a evergreen right beside us. He kept an eye on us while we watched him. These things are amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzing creatures and it's rare to get a close up view of one as they are nocturnal and very very shy of humans. The coolest feature by far is the way they spin the head around. So cool how they do this with out moving anything else. I just move my head 90 degrees and I'm straining my neck muscles.
Fall is so nice with the leaves changing color and even with the temps going down(although sounds like we may have a warmer weekend) the air is so crisp. The leaves on the ground are like a plush carpet, well a carpet that crunches under the feet. I had an idea while on all these walks. I might just buy some classic cross country skis and make tracks around our pond near our house. There's also plenty of other trails through the bush, I could make my own trails. I have good memories of doing this as a kid. Make a loop then do laps, I could even time myself and on weekends I could make a trip to COP or Canmore, or K country. Not sure yet, I go through ideas pretty quickly and my mind really takes off when I think of stuff. Skis shouldn't be too expensive and it'd be super good exercise in the winter. I could substitute all the indoor riding with that, make it more exciting. I even thought of a good goal to work towards. I really cannot do any type of exercise without giving myself something to work towards. You guys ever heard of the Canadian berkie? If I was trained I wonder how long it would take, 4 hours? more? I guess it depends on the terrain. It's held near Edmonton so I doubt it would be killer hilly, maybe rolling. Just a thought, we'll see how far I get with this. Here's the website http://www.canadianbirkie.com/ Cheers,
dp
The last week I've been doing a lot of walking with Lisa. We've been doing pretty much 4-5 miles per day. She def. walks a lot faster than when we did our first walks. It's great to see the improvement. I'm looking forward to running and I honestly can't feel anything from my achilles, but I just want to make sure and there's no real rush to get back into the running. I've decided I'm not doing anymore races this year so I may as well make sure it's ready to go before I test it out. While you're walking you notice more stuff that you wouldn't normally while running. We've seen lots of deer, some of them are very well cammoflaged, but my keen eyes pick them out. Yesterday we got to see a owl right up close. The big sucker landed on a evergreen right beside us. He kept an eye on us while we watched him. These things are amazzzzzzzzzzzzzzing creatures and it's rare to get a close up view of one as they are nocturnal and very very shy of humans. The coolest feature by far is the way they spin the head around. So cool how they do this with out moving anything else. I just move my head 90 degrees and I'm straining my neck muscles.
Fall is so nice with the leaves changing color and even with the temps going down(although sounds like we may have a warmer weekend) the air is so crisp. The leaves on the ground are like a plush carpet, well a carpet that crunches under the feet. I had an idea while on all these walks. I might just buy some classic cross country skis and make tracks around our pond near our house. There's also plenty of other trails through the bush, I could make my own trails. I have good memories of doing this as a kid. Make a loop then do laps, I could even time myself and on weekends I could make a trip to COP or Canmore, or K country. Not sure yet, I go through ideas pretty quickly and my mind really takes off when I think of stuff. Skis shouldn't be too expensive and it'd be super good exercise in the winter. I could substitute all the indoor riding with that, make it more exciting. I even thought of a good goal to work towards. I really cannot do any type of exercise without giving myself something to work towards. You guys ever heard of the Canadian berkie? If I was trained I wonder how long it would take, 4 hours? more? I guess it depends on the terrain. It's held near Edmonton so I doubt it would be killer hilly, maybe rolling. Just a thought, we'll see how far I get with this. Here's the website http://www.canadianbirkie.com/ Cheers,
dp
Monday, September 20, 2010
50 Ironmans!!!
Yesterday Lisa and I hosted a little get together between some long time tri buddies. We ate and ate and talked and talked. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did. I had a blast!!! At the end Trevor suggested we take a Ironman(the men) picture, what a good idea. Sorry Susan, we all know you're an Ironman(woman) too but her ironmans didn't count for the "mens" tally. Between us guys we counted 3.8km swim x 50, 180km bike x 50, and 42.2km run x 50!!! That's a long friggen way. Take a look at the picture, make a guess as to how many each has done??
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7gITWfiR7vTpvyYCdhJGayIo7HIugcVUqbidtWKDZ5vsLxIzyWaoyzGAFGq4AAiiR3-i4SYxDepwjC2AXv4LdreMdABbRyqZ0aESIQuCBM09InEfmtKnrXepA32IZyBxsh08r_FJ0u8/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG
(Thanks for posting the picture Trev)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7gITWfiR7vTpvyYCdhJGayIo7HIugcVUqbidtWKDZ5vsLxIzyWaoyzGAFGq4AAiiR3-i4SYxDepwjC2AXv4LdreMdABbRyqZ0aESIQuCBM09InEfmtKnrXepA32IZyBxsh08r_FJ0u8/s1600/IMG_0202.JPG
(Thanks for posting the picture Trev)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Random crap, memories, etc. (long boring post)
Hey all,
My season is officially over. My achilles doesn't like the fact that I ran 30 miles, go figure. So I'm gonna listen to my body and rest it properly before I start running for the winter. I'm not actually minding taking a break. The ultra was really just a last minute goal to try to keep my sane. It really wasn't doing the job anyways, I still miss triathlon training like crazy. I guess the grass always does look better on the other side of the fence. I think I was saying to Greg the other day, I hated all the hard work triathlon training was, but now that I'm not doing it I miss it and get depressed all the time not having it there. It's an addiction, like you all know, but for me it's not the actual training. It's the way it makes me feel. I just love challenge, and accomplishing this(even day to day workouts) gives me that satisfaction. Yes just like the stones song. So here I am, 35 years old wondering what's next on the horizon. I've thought about many things, but so far, nothing really seems like it can fill the void. Some things look possible(although I'd rather go for somthing that might not be) but nothing to do right now!! I'm impatient, I need somthing right now. I wonder if anyone's ever gone to rehab for something like this???
This led me to thinking of some of my favorite workouts over the past 4 years. Here's a few that bring a big smile to my face. Some weren't so much fun at the time, but now I remember them and realize they def. helped shape and mold who I am today. Here they are in no particular order.
#1 Signing up for my first IM. Like most of you know, this is a big deal and the first step down this path to IM'ing.
#2 Going for some epic rides with a friend from work. We'd both signed up for the coming year and wanted to get some good rides in before winter. He had some injury problems so the following year I ended up doing the training and eventually IM CDA on my own.
#3 Running with Curtis at the res. On one particular time I got sick about half way through our run, shakey, feever, muscle soreness(think flu) so Curtis had to go get the car and pick me up near the Tech shop.
#4 Every last long run with Curtis, I have so many memories of this. We've been friends since I moved to calgary way back in 1999. All the smoothies/coffees after, all the miles, good times, will never forget...
#5 Two epic rides with Cam, especially the first one where we did about 120km around his 40k loop? It was sunny, hot, the absolute best riding weather you could imagine. I had so many questions about IM, he took me under his "wing" and answered all of em. Even hung out with me at the race and made sure I had everything in check. But really this memory is about that ride. I hope I can do that loop with him again, damn it was fun climbing on that road. He made me feel like a poka dot jersey wearing TDF mountain goat. At one point I remember clear as day we were climbing side by side(no traffic) with the sweat pouring off our faces, heart pounding, porn star breathing, heat radiating off the pavement and he looks over and says somthing like, "You better be hurting as much as I am". I was.... but I tried to hide it hee hee. The run after was great too, hard.... but awesome.
There's just so many memories I don't know which to post..
#6 Racing IMC cda, the first one. I was finally accomplishing this. It was huge for me!!! I'd dreamt about doing this since I was a young teen watching wide world of sports and watching the athletes kill themselves trying to finish the Hawaii Ironman and then IMC as well. I remember at one point on the bike choking up. Thinking about all of this, and realizing I would get to the finish.
#7 Greg agreeing to coach me. I was sooooo excited at the prospect. He seemed like a really down to earth guy who was genuinely interesting in helping me be my best!! Guess what, I was right and he's become not just a coach, mentor, training partner, but also one of my best friends.
#8 Epic training camps. I soooooooo love to push. I've attended 3 May long camps, they were always hard, really hard. But so many good memories from them. I think I enjoyed them nearly as much as IM. A chance to go out to an amazing place and train train train. With friends who had the same hopes and dreams that you did. I can't do the camps justice with my words...
#9 The IM races themselves, there are many memories from them as well. Each one is special, each one is different. If I had to pick one thing from each race that clearly defined it(if this is possible at all) I'd say; #1 CDA was all about getting through the swim(it was brutally rough water conditions in 07) I knew if I could make it to land, I would finish #2 IM 08 I blew up and big time on the run, ended up walking a lot. I knew I didn't have enough calories in me, the watermelon really appealed to me so I gobbled up as much as I could. This and thoughts of the Curtis/Cam dual catching me got me back into the race to finish strongly in a respectable time. #3 IM 09 Canada again, this time stronger on the bike which helped my run. This race I really thought I would/could run the whole marathon. No walking the whole way through the OK falls(the hilly section). This was a huge breakthrough and I was nearly back into Penticton when my calves/groin started cramping and forced me to take walk breaks. Still finished pretty good and another PB #4 IM CDA I really raced for the first time(at least in my head it felt like more of a race) terrible swim which made me want to quit. But I fooled myself into thinking that I still had a chance at a sub10 and or kona slot. So I went for it on the bike. Rode a little harder than I might do normally. I still ran well and only walked aid stations in the last 10 miles. A PB barely
#10 Flat tires, sorry Curtis this is a memory. It's really about you, but about me too. It was frustrating for both of us how many times we sat on the edge of the road in 08 waiting for you to change your flat. I rememeber one particular ride we were between Calgary and Strathmore and you flatted while I was ahead and just out of ear shot range. We both had cells that day, I remember looking back and wondering what was up as I couldn't even see you anymore. I then felt my cell phone buzzing. I couldn't safely get it on time but got the message(after I'd stopped) that you were fixing another flat. I had to ride like 10k back for you. Then when we managed to get going again, it was early in our ride so we stopped at Canadian Tire in Strathmore to see if we could pick up more C02 since I think you'd left most of yours at home??
#11 Epic weather. One particular long ride Curtis and I did this last year. We went out in 6-8 degrees and did 180k. At one point at a gas station(again in Strathmore) we saw snow flakes and we both looked at each other and asked something like, "Are we really this crazy???" We both knew the answer with out having to say it.
#12 Epic training weekend. We eventually had some summer days this year. One particular weekend Chuckie had me do 200k plus ride one day, followed by a hard ~140km the next day and immediately after a hard run. I had friends along for parts of those rides. That weekend really stretched me and made the next one seem easy(May long weekend).
#13 Getting Chuckie as a coach!! What an honor to be coached by one of my heros. He made me work hard this year. I still feel like I didn't really get a chance to show my fitness, but that's the way it goes and he certainly understands this. IM doesn't care who you are, what you've done, or how badly you want it. You still need to get the job done on the day. So anyways I hope I get to work with this awesome coach again.
#14 Climbing Anarchist Sorry Greg I gotta mention this. We spent a year talking about this climb. It's both our favorites and def. has to be mentioned as a memory. The whole camp at least I was looking forward to nailing this. At first was a bit worried as I was sick the first two days of the camp. Then everything seemed to come together for the climb. One of my favorite things to do on the bike is to climb, when things are going right I always imagine I'm a tour climber. I know it sounds silly, but it really makes me feel good when things are flowing and I'm pushing hard up a hill. Fighting gravity to make it to the top. This was one of those times. It also helps that I was riding away from my training partners. hee hee ;) (sorry I know this is cocky, but it's the way I feel?? and this post is all about me)
Jeez these posts are gettting longer, some of you must have quit reading by now...
#15 Epic hammer fests on tues/thurs rides. Some of these ended up to be solo for one reason or another. I think there were only 1-2 this year, more other years. But they were def. highlights. Climbing the cochrane hill, or hammering up the last Stony trail hill on our springbank loop. It always amazed me how on the bike you can attack so hard, ride till your legs literally give out. Then relax for 1 minute(still riding hard), recover than attack again, rinse and repeat. I just love the pissing contests we have. There was none of the "we're doing a workout, not racing each other, I'm sticking to my pace, doing my own thing" stuff it was clear, drop the others period!!
#16 The IM trips. It was exciting driving down to CDA or west over to Penticton to take in all the IM festivities. Oh it had it's share of stress too. But these memories are about the good and the bad so this one def. had both. Lots of people, lots to do, rushing around Penticton then forgetting to eat the day before the race!!!
#17 My mom and wife coming to watch me race. I absolutely loved this and I"m sure you all get it, I don't have to explain. It was difficult finishing my first one with out Lisa at the finish.
#18 The weather def. goes down as a bad memory. Especially this year!! Chuckie was my coach and he was living in either Solvang, or Boulder. Either way he really didn't understand some of the weather issues. Actually now that I think of it, it was probably more that he didn't care, his sole purpose was to get me ready to race and weather be damned I needed to get those rides in. Anyways this memory is about watching the weather and wondering if the weekend hard ride would have to be done on a trainer. I could handle some of the trainer rides, but the thing that ticked me off was when I thought I'd be riding outside, then the last minute the weather looked bad and I had to change my plans last minute. Ohhhhh I hated having to put my bike back onto the trainer and try to prepare myself mentally(all over again) for a indoor ride. Also especially where the workout was designed to be done on the roads!!! ha ha good times... this leads me into #19
#19 SWEAT!!! The trainer into sweat fests. It was already super cold in the basement for some rides, but I always poured a ton of sweat. I hated it, not so much about how gross and slimy it made me feel, or the clean up on the floor. But and this sounds weird but I couldn't stand the times I could feel it literally coming out of my pours. It just drove me crazy as I'd just wipe my back and I could feel it running down my back the moment I put my towel onto the bench or bars of my bike.
#20 The swim this year. Sorry today I'm ending on the worst one of all. This year during the swim I got fed up with it all and actually wanted to quit. I had choked on some water and had some flem in the back of my throat(now thinking back I think it was the ensure I had drank on the way to the race) and was afraid of drinking or inhaling more water. The congestion in the swim made this even worse and I just plain mentally got out of the race. I hated swimming with all my heart at that point and asked to be removed. Well you know the rest.
I have many more, but now Lisa and I have some errands to do. Gotta go.
My season is officially over. My achilles doesn't like the fact that I ran 30 miles, go figure. So I'm gonna listen to my body and rest it properly before I start running for the winter. I'm not actually minding taking a break. The ultra was really just a last minute goal to try to keep my sane. It really wasn't doing the job anyways, I still miss triathlon training like crazy. I guess the grass always does look better on the other side of the fence. I think I was saying to Greg the other day, I hated all the hard work triathlon training was, but now that I'm not doing it I miss it and get depressed all the time not having it there. It's an addiction, like you all know, but for me it's not the actual training. It's the way it makes me feel. I just love challenge, and accomplishing this(even day to day workouts) gives me that satisfaction. Yes just like the stones song. So here I am, 35 years old wondering what's next on the horizon. I've thought about many things, but so far, nothing really seems like it can fill the void. Some things look possible(although I'd rather go for somthing that might not be) but nothing to do right now!! I'm impatient, I need somthing right now. I wonder if anyone's ever gone to rehab for something like this???
This led me to thinking of some of my favorite workouts over the past 4 years. Here's a few that bring a big smile to my face. Some weren't so much fun at the time, but now I remember them and realize they def. helped shape and mold who I am today. Here they are in no particular order.
#1 Signing up for my first IM. Like most of you know, this is a big deal and the first step down this path to IM'ing.
#2 Going for some epic rides with a friend from work. We'd both signed up for the coming year and wanted to get some good rides in before winter. He had some injury problems so the following year I ended up doing the training and eventually IM CDA on my own.
#3 Running with Curtis at the res. On one particular time I got sick about half way through our run, shakey, feever, muscle soreness(think flu) so Curtis had to go get the car and pick me up near the Tech shop.
#4 Every last long run with Curtis, I have so many memories of this. We've been friends since I moved to calgary way back in 1999. All the smoothies/coffees after, all the miles, good times, will never forget...
#5 Two epic rides with Cam, especially the first one where we did about 120km around his 40k loop? It was sunny, hot, the absolute best riding weather you could imagine. I had so many questions about IM, he took me under his "wing" and answered all of em. Even hung out with me at the race and made sure I had everything in check. But really this memory is about that ride. I hope I can do that loop with him again, damn it was fun climbing on that road. He made me feel like a poka dot jersey wearing TDF mountain goat. At one point I remember clear as day we were climbing side by side(no traffic) with the sweat pouring off our faces, heart pounding, porn star breathing, heat radiating off the pavement and he looks over and says somthing like, "You better be hurting as much as I am". I was.... but I tried to hide it hee hee. The run after was great too, hard.... but awesome.
There's just so many memories I don't know which to post..
#6 Racing IMC cda, the first one. I was finally accomplishing this. It was huge for me!!! I'd dreamt about doing this since I was a young teen watching wide world of sports and watching the athletes kill themselves trying to finish the Hawaii Ironman and then IMC as well. I remember at one point on the bike choking up. Thinking about all of this, and realizing I would get to the finish.
#7 Greg agreeing to coach me. I was sooooo excited at the prospect. He seemed like a really down to earth guy who was genuinely interesting in helping me be my best!! Guess what, I was right and he's become not just a coach, mentor, training partner, but also one of my best friends.
#8 Epic training camps. I soooooooo love to push. I've attended 3 May long camps, they were always hard, really hard. But so many good memories from them. I think I enjoyed them nearly as much as IM. A chance to go out to an amazing place and train train train. With friends who had the same hopes and dreams that you did. I can't do the camps justice with my words...
#9 The IM races themselves, there are many memories from them as well. Each one is special, each one is different. If I had to pick one thing from each race that clearly defined it(if this is possible at all) I'd say; #1 CDA was all about getting through the swim(it was brutally rough water conditions in 07) I knew if I could make it to land, I would finish #2 IM 08 I blew up and big time on the run, ended up walking a lot. I knew I didn't have enough calories in me, the watermelon really appealed to me so I gobbled up as much as I could. This and thoughts of the Curtis/Cam dual catching me got me back into the race to finish strongly in a respectable time. #3 IM 09 Canada again, this time stronger on the bike which helped my run. This race I really thought I would/could run the whole marathon. No walking the whole way through the OK falls(the hilly section). This was a huge breakthrough and I was nearly back into Penticton when my calves/groin started cramping and forced me to take walk breaks. Still finished pretty good and another PB #4 IM CDA I really raced for the first time(at least in my head it felt like more of a race) terrible swim which made me want to quit. But I fooled myself into thinking that I still had a chance at a sub10 and or kona slot. So I went for it on the bike. Rode a little harder than I might do normally. I still ran well and only walked aid stations in the last 10 miles. A PB barely
#10 Flat tires, sorry Curtis this is a memory. It's really about you, but about me too. It was frustrating for both of us how many times we sat on the edge of the road in 08 waiting for you to change your flat. I rememeber one particular ride we were between Calgary and Strathmore and you flatted while I was ahead and just out of ear shot range. We both had cells that day, I remember looking back and wondering what was up as I couldn't even see you anymore. I then felt my cell phone buzzing. I couldn't safely get it on time but got the message(after I'd stopped) that you were fixing another flat. I had to ride like 10k back for you. Then when we managed to get going again, it was early in our ride so we stopped at Canadian Tire in Strathmore to see if we could pick up more C02 since I think you'd left most of yours at home??
#11 Epic weather. One particular long ride Curtis and I did this last year. We went out in 6-8 degrees and did 180k. At one point at a gas station(again in Strathmore) we saw snow flakes and we both looked at each other and asked something like, "Are we really this crazy???" We both knew the answer with out having to say it.
#12 Epic training weekend. We eventually had some summer days this year. One particular weekend Chuckie had me do 200k plus ride one day, followed by a hard ~140km the next day and immediately after a hard run. I had friends along for parts of those rides. That weekend really stretched me and made the next one seem easy(May long weekend).
#13 Getting Chuckie as a coach!! What an honor to be coached by one of my heros. He made me work hard this year. I still feel like I didn't really get a chance to show my fitness, but that's the way it goes and he certainly understands this. IM doesn't care who you are, what you've done, or how badly you want it. You still need to get the job done on the day. So anyways I hope I get to work with this awesome coach again.
#14 Climbing Anarchist Sorry Greg I gotta mention this. We spent a year talking about this climb. It's both our favorites and def. has to be mentioned as a memory. The whole camp at least I was looking forward to nailing this. At first was a bit worried as I was sick the first two days of the camp. Then everything seemed to come together for the climb. One of my favorite things to do on the bike is to climb, when things are going right I always imagine I'm a tour climber. I know it sounds silly, but it really makes me feel good when things are flowing and I'm pushing hard up a hill. Fighting gravity to make it to the top. This was one of those times. It also helps that I was riding away from my training partners. hee hee ;) (sorry I know this is cocky, but it's the way I feel?? and this post is all about me)
Jeez these posts are gettting longer, some of you must have quit reading by now...
#15 Epic hammer fests on tues/thurs rides. Some of these ended up to be solo for one reason or another. I think there were only 1-2 this year, more other years. But they were def. highlights. Climbing the cochrane hill, or hammering up the last Stony trail hill on our springbank loop. It always amazed me how on the bike you can attack so hard, ride till your legs literally give out. Then relax for 1 minute(still riding hard), recover than attack again, rinse and repeat. I just love the pissing contests we have. There was none of the "we're doing a workout, not racing each other, I'm sticking to my pace, doing my own thing" stuff it was clear, drop the others period!!
#16 The IM trips. It was exciting driving down to CDA or west over to Penticton to take in all the IM festivities. Oh it had it's share of stress too. But these memories are about the good and the bad so this one def. had both. Lots of people, lots to do, rushing around Penticton then forgetting to eat the day before the race!!!
#17 My mom and wife coming to watch me race. I absolutely loved this and I"m sure you all get it, I don't have to explain. It was difficult finishing my first one with out Lisa at the finish.
#18 The weather def. goes down as a bad memory. Especially this year!! Chuckie was my coach and he was living in either Solvang, or Boulder. Either way he really didn't understand some of the weather issues. Actually now that I think of it, it was probably more that he didn't care, his sole purpose was to get me ready to race and weather be damned I needed to get those rides in. Anyways this memory is about watching the weather and wondering if the weekend hard ride would have to be done on a trainer. I could handle some of the trainer rides, but the thing that ticked me off was when I thought I'd be riding outside, then the last minute the weather looked bad and I had to change my plans last minute. Ohhhhh I hated having to put my bike back onto the trainer and try to prepare myself mentally(all over again) for a indoor ride. Also especially where the workout was designed to be done on the roads!!! ha ha good times... this leads me into #19
#19 SWEAT!!! The trainer into sweat fests. It was already super cold in the basement for some rides, but I always poured a ton of sweat. I hated it, not so much about how gross and slimy it made me feel, or the clean up on the floor. But and this sounds weird but I couldn't stand the times I could feel it literally coming out of my pours. It just drove me crazy as I'd just wipe my back and I could feel it running down my back the moment I put my towel onto the bench or bars of my bike.
#20 The swim this year. Sorry today I'm ending on the worst one of all. This year during the swim I got fed up with it all and actually wanted to quit. I had choked on some water and had some flem in the back of my throat(now thinking back I think it was the ensure I had drank on the way to the race) and was afraid of drinking or inhaling more water. The congestion in the swim made this even worse and I just plain mentally got out of the race. I hated swimming with all my heart at that point and asked to be removed. Well you know the rest.
I have many more, but now Lisa and I have some errands to do. Gotta go.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Marathon and beyond!
I'm still not sure about signing up for the Ultra. I ran 30 miles monday(last monday, 8 days ago) and it was hard, very hard. One, I did it on my own, two I had to refill the bottle at the 25 mile point and head out again into the dark for the last 5 miles, and three it's just a long friggen way and the longest I've ever run. For that it was a neat feeling to look at the Garmin and see the 26.2 mile point come and go. I ran the whole way, no walking only two brief stops. I actually rushed through the stops to refill my infinit and gobble up some gel blocks. 30 miles in 4:16, I ran pretty well 8:30s the whole way right where I wanted to be. I ran as much as I could on dirt, grass, and gravel. Some of my 12.5 mile loop is a red gravel trail, maybe 1/3 of it??
Anyways since then my achilles has been bugging me here an there, just a tad though. Sooooooo it was gone sunday, showed up a bit after sunday's run, gone today, so I'll run today and see. My plan is to run long tomorrow, or friday, cross my fingers hopefully do 35 miles or more. That'd be my last chance to run long since this weekend I'm busy and that is 3 weeks till the race so I don't want to push the recovery period. But!!! If I feel anything in the long run or even before then I'll pull the plug, I'm not risking an injury, the last half of this year is really all about experimenting with some longer runs which I have done. I don't Neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to do that ultra. I'd rather not and run comfortably all winter. I'll let you know how it goes, I should know for sure by monday if I plan to run the race.
Anyways since then my achilles has been bugging me here an there, just a tad though. Sooooooo it was gone sunday, showed up a bit after sunday's run, gone today, so I'll run today and see. My plan is to run long tomorrow, or friday, cross my fingers hopefully do 35 miles or more. That'd be my last chance to run long since this weekend I'm busy and that is 3 weeks till the race so I don't want to push the recovery period. But!!! If I feel anything in the long run or even before then I'll pull the plug, I'm not risking an injury, the last half of this year is really all about experimenting with some longer runs which I have done. I don't Neeeeeeeeeeeeeed to do that ultra. I'd rather not and run comfortably all winter. I'll let you know how it goes, I should know for sure by monday if I plan to run the race.
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