not giving up on the comeback

not a ton of miles this week but I am happy with the paces and all that

tried to run the route of one of the local 5ks that is in May and took a wrong turn - 

6.3 @ 6:48 ave pace

long day of work on closets at Grandmas house then 8 miles

7:26 ave pace

This week is spring break and my wife and I took off M-W.  Unfortunately it hasn't been good for my running.  It just hasn't worked out.  Monday we shut down Six Flags and then we went to the mall all day yesterday(which we never do so the kids like it).  My legs feel refreshed and I had a decent run today. 

9.8 @ 7:11 ave pace

15K this weekend should be very informative as to my fitness level.  I have no idea what the course is like, so I REALLY don't know what to expect. 

had a nice run around town - forgot to log it yesterday

9.9 @ 7:25 ave pace

almost 80 out there - sweated like a pig

6.9 @ 7:24 ave pace

Felt kind of poopy and not mentally into the race today.  I ran the 3.5 miles to the race and never got into it, like I usually do.  I don't know for sure why.  I almost didn't even start because I felt so out of it.  But I started and ran mostly 6:30s.  It is a hard core course, with one giant hill repeated twice and several mini giants repeated as well.  So without my head really into the race, I didn't have a chance for a decent race.  

But I hung on and races the guy who won the masters division for 7.5 or so.  But I had nothing and just hung on after that. I did win a nice mug for winning my age group at least. 

on to my 50K next weekend.  I can't be a wuss for that one. 

foot is a little sore from the race on Saturday but nothing big - felt pretty good.  It was nice and hot here and I sweated a bucket load  :)

10.9 @ 7:33 ave pace

Extremely blah miles today - not sure why.  Maybe it was just a bad time of day. 

6.1 @  7:29 ave pace

tried to run one of the local 5k routes (one I'm thinking of doing next month) and took another wrong turn.  Pushed it a little at times and jogged at times.  Not feeling really spiffy but the higher speeds felt better than the slow - at least for a little while

6.55 @ 6:48 ave pace

good chance of t-storms tomorrow night and early Sat, so it'll be a soggy muddy run.    :)  Plus the rain should make the two river crossings even more interesting than usual. 

Later in the day I got out for 5 - I felt good.  I'm just taking it easy this week.  I'm getting uptight about this race for some reason.  I can't wait for it to be here. 

5 @ 7:11 ave pace

This local race has been on my to do list for a few couple years, so I finally signed up for it.  I knew I wasn't trained for it but I'm not in horrible shape and figured I could fake my way through for a middle of the pack finish.

We had heavy rains the night before, so they had to change the course a bit, which unfortunately took the river crossings out of it.  At least we got to cross a spillway and climb the cement retaining wall twice. 

The way they had to modify the course we just did two laps of the same route.  The first mile or so was on the road around the lake.  That was a nice little warm up and I made sure I didn't get too far back in the pack so that I'd get help up when the trail came.  The part of the course that is in the Sweetwater Creek state park was quite reasonable with lots of different type of trail.  Then came the top of the world and powerlines section.  That is the challenging part of this course and one I was not prepared for.  It is a series steep climbs and descents that isn't more than a few miles but it is harsh.  It is hard to describe, it is rollercoaster series of hills that very steep and repeat one after the other.  My strategy was to walk the ups and run the downhills.  This worked, but I had to pause on some of the ups.  And even some of the downs were impossible for me to run. I got dropped by a bunch of guys here and it was hanging on from there.

I came into the halfway point at 2:30-ish, which was way ahead of my goal time of 6 hours.  But then again, I had to do the whole thing again and I wasn't feeling all that zippy anymore. 

Needless to say, or write, I struggled in the second loop.  I was doing ok through mile 25 aid station, but started to do downhill from there.  By the time I made it to the top of the world section, I was really wanting to call it quits.  I took a minute or two at the next aid station to kneel down and collect my thoughts, got a few go-get-ums, and went back at it.  I knew that after making it over the last series of climbs it was at least pretty runnable to the finish.  I started feeling ok.  The knowledge of an upcoming finishing line really makes you feel better.

Then I took a strange hard step off of a log and my heart went into one of it's little episodes where the rate goes high and won't stop.  I know that if I stop immediately and get it under control I'll be fine in a few minutes.  In my current state, it took longer than usual and I started walking before it was over.  I had to stop and sit after a few more minutes and then again.  But after the third sitting, I yawned and things went back to normal.  I was able to go back to the pace I was at prior to that little issue.  I hit the last aid station and they said it was 3 miles to the finish.  I started giving it all I had and came in a 6:18:35 (38th overall out of 209 finishers).  What a great relief it is to finish a race like this.

Things I know now or was reminded of on Saturday:

1. while you certainly can finish a challenging ultra without long runs over 1.5-2 hrs, it isn't the best of ideas.  2. I still don't know how to pace myself.  No one passing me was fast (faster than me of course), but they all had a steady pace and kept at it.  I tend to end up walking too much and lose way more time than others because of this.  3. My stupid left foot is the weaker element of my lower extremities.  It still is making me limp around today. 4.  I still don't grasp the in-race fueling concept for these races.  I started eating early and thought I had enough but I think I stopped eating enough in the last three hours.  5. I really don't do the hills well.  I'm timid on the downhills and not strong enough on the up hills.  6.  I need to toughen up mentally if i want keep running these ultras.  7.  It is always a humbling experience.  Every one of the ultra's I've done seems to cut me to the core and break me down emotionally. 

Poking around the internet it looks like 4 of the top 3 guys have a Utah connection, which is kind of interesting.  And Jon, the winner, is on this blog site.   Those front runners were simply amazing.

Up next is running tomorrow and then a 5K on Saturday.  And tomorrow I'll be sending in the app for the 8hr race at the same park in August (albeit without the top of the world included).

had a blast at the Sweetwater 420 fest - awesome bluegrass

left foot is still sore so I'll give it another day and see

ent out for a small run but turned about after a couple blocks.  My left ankle/foot is ok now when walking but it didn't feel great when running.  So I'll try again on Wednesday afternoon.  

got out for a short run after work today - it felt good to get out there again.  My foot is all better.  My quads are still sore but it felt good.  I hope things get all better by Saturday for the 5K. 

5.1 @ 7:28 ave pace

Had a decent run in the afternoon.  The weather is just about perfect.  My quads are still sore.   I'm hoping they'll be ready for the 5K on Sat. It was probably stupid to schedule a race so soon but I really want to race more this year.  I am still trying to talk my wife into the 8 hour trail run in August.  I can't see how that will be any worse than the 50K in South Carolina on June 26th. 

5 @ 7:09 ave pace

Ran over to the race route for tomorrow's race and back.  I took a misturn and cut it .1 short but it'll be a fair route. Early big hill and then nice last mile.  My legs are feeling stronger every day.  

5.9 @ 6:59 ave pace

57 deg and misty this morning - ran the 2.5 miles to the park as a warmup.  I just don't feel too speedy in the morning.  I'm not a morning runner.  

Lined up and there weren't too many speedy guys.  One guy I knew would be tough.  I beat him in the fall but I am not in the same shape and my legs still feel shaky from last Saturday.  Got elbowed at the start - not sure what was up with that - race start syndrome I guess.  Right from the get go I never had the leg speed to keep up with the front guys.  I just hoped they'd come back to me a bit.  If nothing else I'm reasonably consistent with my race paces so that was my strategy.  Was into 3rd by the 1st mile split at 5:55 or something like that.  The first mile was the hardest.  Drafted off the 2nd place guy in the 2nd mile and passed him at about 1.75 mile.  A little uphill at 2 miles (11:35 ish) then downhill or flat to the finish.  I didn't have much to give at this point and just tried to maintain.  Disappointing that I couldn't gain ground on 1st guy.  Finished at 18:05.  5:50 average pace

No more official races for a while.  I need to get my training in order so I have that leg speed and turnover like I lacked today.  Track nights start in 2 weeks. 

2nd overall - 1st master  got a nice running visor, a nice ceramic mug, and a $25 gift card for a running store.  It is nice to pay for the race with gift cards.  Now I can buy a new handheld water bottle.  I only have one and I need another for the trail race in June. 

got out for 6.3 in the evening - felt good for the most part

7:22 ave pace

got out after work for 6 - sweated buckets

4 races in the past 5 weeks.  It has been fun but I'm certainly ready for a weekend without one.  My legs are still not very fresh - need more time for that.  Next race is on June 18th or 19th, so I should be ok by then. 

6 @ 7:25 ave pace

got out after work - not feeling it today - I think I'm not used to the 80+ deg temps yet.  Slogging through it the whole way. 

6 @ 7:15 ave pace

first day of speed work in a while so I decided to do my traditional 1 min at 5K pace and then 2 min of normal pace.  Ran 4 miles of that.  2 warmup and cooldown and there you have it.  

8 @ 6:53 ave pace

ran before getting the kids from camp - same route as wednesday - felt better today

6 @ 7:09 ave pace 

had science olympiad up to around 1 today - pretty cool stuff.  Sawyer didn't win any awards but he did very well in his competitions.  

had too much coffee and not enough water and then felt like poop when we got home.  so i cleaned a little before heading out.  supposed to get in 15 but I only did 12.4.  Just took it easy and combined some old routes into a new route.  Pretty spent at the end but it is no surprise considering my nutrition choices this morning. 

12.4 @ 7:39 ave pace