got schooled
this past saturday i ran the half marathon at the North Face Endurance Challenge which is staged in the nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest. first off, i’d recommend this event without hesitation as it is well organized with a well marked course and a great technical t-shirt. regrettably, my effort fell well short of my own expectations.
admittedly, i went out a bit fast as the folks ahead of me weren’t moving real fast in the paved first mile. once we entered the wooded trails that changed for the leaders while i began my slow slide backwards through the other racers.
the next mistake was that my recent training has been 100% on paved surfaces. adjusting to the rocks, roots plus quick up and down hills was a bit of a shock to my quads and i found it tough to get myself into any resemblance of rhythm. yet another mistake was that my pre-race fueling consisted of a single Clif Bar, containing only 240 calories. the beginnings of an impending “bonk” were apparent after 75 minutes of crashing the trails. with a little more than two miles to go, i downed a GU plus some sports drink and water at the aid station and walked a bit to allow my blood sugar to elevate a bit.
i was able to get myself rolling again and shuffled across the finish line so i can at least claim that i finished what i had started. beyond that, it was great to get some time out in the woods and not placing in my age group meant i would make it home for the noon kickoff of the sunday football games.
sometimes it’s good to be humbled. there’s still plenty of time for some fall road racing and then some snowshoe racing this winter. after having two days to dwell on the experience, i’m putting it in the rear view mirror and moving forward.
easing back
rest is a four letter word to most endurance athletes. over the years i’ve heard and seen many references to how necessary rest is in order to improve performance. more often than not about all i hear is the garbled instruction of the school teacher from “Peanuts” to which i nod my head and respond with a “yep” or an affirmative “uh-huh” to feign my acceptance of the concept. over the years my insistence on “pushing through” obvious signals of impending over training or overuse has prompted my dad to draft a yet unpublished book for “uncoachable runners.” he claims to have changed my name in his manuscript but i have yet to verify this as of yet.
during late august, i was noticing a few signs of overuse beginning to show up. my right shin and achilles were aching on a daily basis so i opted to ice them down one evening while sitting on the couch channel surfing. (my wife loves when i do that – – channel surfing not icing.) while i’m not doing much running (compared to others and even my own historical training levels) i have opted to take my (right) foot off the gas pedal for a little while to allow for some recovery. (notice how i didn’t say “rest”)
so far this month, i’ve run on only half of the days for 45-60 minutes each time i’m out. a little less than two weeks from now i’ll be running a trail half marathon in the nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest. i do wish i’d be taking this reduced workload a bit closer to the race but i guess i’d rather show up a bit under trained than a bit gimpy. regardless, both my shin and achilles are feeling better now and i’m not minding (too much) starting my morning constitutionals at 5:15AM or so now that the kids are back in school.
MTD – 23 miles (4 days)
YTD – 1,141 miles (179 days)
Odometer – 32,247 miles
two hundred
after an early morning seven mile constitutional, i was able to log my first two hundred mile month in twelve months. along the way, i was able to roll long runs of 13.5, 14 and 15 miles and stay (pretty much) injury free. i didn’t choose to race this month but i am focused on the North Face Endurance Challenge (trail) half marathon that is a little less than three weeks away.
MTD – 200 miles (27 days)
YTD – 1,118 miles (175 days)
Odometer – 32,224 miles
vacation miles
having a few more minutes of free time has helped me fit in some miles in the past few days.
yesterday I ran an easy five miles and met my family down at the lake for a post-run swim.
today I ran around lake hilbert three times for a total of 15 miles averaging 8:45 per mile.
MTD – 108 miles (14 days)
YTD – 1026 miles
Odometer – 32,132 miles
good fortune
as luck would have it, i’ve managed to enter the local North Face Endurance Challenge for free. another local runner (Rachel) had been given the opportunity to participate (for free) but already had committed to running the Fox Cities Marathon. she posted the entry as a give-away on her blog and i was fortunate enough to be the recipient. (thanks again Rachel!!)
i decided to enter the half-marathon event as that’s likely the distance i am best suited for with the training i’ve gotten in. the event also offers a 50M, 50K, marathon, 10K and 5K, in case you’re interested. i participated in the 50K in 2009, only to be handicapped by a splitting migraine. ideally, i would have enjoyed a shot at 50K redemption but that will have to wait until another year.
my training so far this month has gone alright. i got in a two hour run this past weekend which was slowed by high humidity. thankfully it was cloudy that morning otherwise i would have been even slower. i’m still averaging about forty miles per week and getting out to run on 5 or 6 days per week. later this month i may still sneak in a road half marathon as a tune-up for the North Face event. that said, i may also opt to just go for a long run instead.
MTD – 72 miles (10 days)
YTD – 990 miles
Odometer – 32,096 miles