Birthday Pi

Birthday run at far end of Riverfront Trails - Al, Adrian, and Derrick

I've got a couple of friends who are planning to run the Pi Day half marathon. The run takes place on or near 3/14 of each year. Finishers get pie. Winners get engraved pie pans (glass or Pyrex or something). Anyway, it is a fun, single-track race. I've run it in training many times, and usually volunteer to help on race day.

Anyway, my buddies Adrian and Derrick are doing the race this year. so on Saturday, I met them as well as Chris Ford, and we set out to do the long loop which would pass by all of the shorter Pi Day course loop turnarounds. Since Saturday also fell on my birthday (and I like to do long runs on my birthday), I had already planned to do a good run in the am, before the ground thawed and turned into a mud pit. We met at 8:30 am, while the temp hovered just below freezing.  It was slated to be 40F by the time we finished.

A quick note here: because my birthday is Feb 22nd, the weather is normally awful. Having a day slated to be 56F in late February is a bit if a rarity. So I had planned to spend as much of the day outdoors as possible.

We ran the first half of the run on ankle-twisting hard mud ruts, created by bicycles that also use the route. On the way back, there was a sheen of mud over much of the path, making footing a bit sketchy. Still though, everyone cruised the course without too many slips (and sadly, no funny falls).

The earliest beer I've had in a long time. Hand models L-R Allen, Derrick, Chris, Adrian

In celebration of my birthday, Chris brought some nice beer to have. While it was only 10 am, is there ever really a wrong time to have New Belgium Ranger?

After lunch with the parents who loaded me up on veggie tacos and a gift certificate to Sunflower Outdoor and Bike, I played a round of disc golf before heading out for a celebratory Moscow Mule at the Bourgeois Pig, and finally, vegan pizza at Morningstar.

The great day ended as KU thumped Texas in b-ball.  

Possibly my best birthday in years...

Snowy Run = Fun (well maybe)

Early AM = Cold Running Conditions

With all the snowfall and sub-zero temperatures, the past week has provided and excellent opportunity to cross train. Swimming has been the top alternative thanks, in no small part, to my proximity to an Olympic-size pool. There has also been a lot of upper-body workout in the form of shoveling. The dreaded treadmill has also gotten about 30 minutes a day of use. I would love to do more, but simply can't stand the machine for more than a short time. If we only ran on treadmills, no one would ever run.  

Last night I was playing ping-pong with a buddy.  He and a friend are training for a trail half-marathon coming up in a few weeks.  The snow has thrown a wrench into their training. I had planned to show them the trail course the past couple of weekends, but weather has prevented that outing. He mentioned that they were hoping to find some run that they could do that wouldn't be too snowy. I agreed to show them a 5 mile loop from my house into the country. We could run that and they could continue on if they wished.  I warned him that there would be one absolutely extreme hill on the course. He left promising that he would meet me in the morning.

Ten minutes later I get a text that he is bailing, but his friend is still up for it. So this morning I bundled up, slammed some coffee and hit the road with a new running partner. The snow made the first mile (where we had to run on a trafficked street) a bit dicey. After that we descended a hill via a well-plowed gravel road into the countryside. In the flats, we passed a place I love that raises llamas, and another that always has geese honking as I run by. After a couple of miles we came to the turn that would take us to the base of the monster hill. My running companion went up it with ease. For once, I will admit that the incline got to me. Normally it is not too much of an issue. But it was a bit icy, and I may have consumed a couple of shots of Basil Hayden during ping-pong the night before. I made it up (though no speed records were set). The two of us then finished a second mile-long gentle climb before turning and heading home. We only encountered one area where ice covered the road surface. Basically, we used that as an excuse to practice our running form - keeping our weight directly over our feet. 

When I got home I realized that my hoodie was frozen solid in several places, most noticeably around the collar, which made pulling it off a real pleasure as the ice rubbed my neck and cheeks. And as uncomfortable and unpleasant as much of the experience was, I can't think of anything else I'd rather do on  a dreary, cold day.

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On an unrelated note - If you can handle scary (and graphic) content, check out American Horror Story. Season 1 and beyond are all available on Netflix. I was not expecting to like it at all, but am turning into a binge-watcher. Also look for House of Cards Season 2 to be out in the next few days.

The year end summation: sort of. . . whatever

This is the last post of the year.  But who cares, really. Tomorrow is simply another day in the current week.  I'll only have to remember to change one digit habitually written on my checks.  I probably won't be up for the stroke of midnight. So 2013-2014, BFD. Honestly.

2013 was the year that I finished the rough draft of my novel.  It is/was also the year where I fianlly ran both a trail marathon and then an ultramarathon.  I have an intense dislike for organized races.  But I got talked into the marathon, and then, while I still had the stomach for it, I thought why not just knock out the ultra as well.  So check and check.  I'm now back to running for running's sake (and possibly the endorphins that the longer distances and tougher runs provide).

I'll be honest, I understand why people who have no possible chance of winning sign up for races: to establish some future goal to goad them into getting into shape to do the distance.  A marathon, a half-marathon, a 10k, whatever.  That's all fine.  They do it and then go back to whatever lifestyle they led before they started training.  But the runners I admire aren't the ones who need goals.  They are instead, the ones who do it whether a race is coming up or not.  Some of these types are actually avid and acomplished racers.  But their defining characteristic isn't the race, it's the need to run whether or not some organized event is on the horizon.

A few weeks ago, a major college running coach I follow tweeted something that relates to this topic.  Basically he wrote (paraphrasing here), "If you want to run, run. If you want to race, train."  Brilliant in its simplicity.  I can't argue with that at all.  In a way, it describes a third type of runner - one who runs to win.  I understand that mind-set as well.  But I can't imagine being that type of athlete if I didn't already love to run.

If I were to draw a Venn diagram of these three types of runners, it would be easy to see that each will overlap the other where specific runners are concerned.  But, since I really kind of hate Venn diagrams, I won't do that.  You're welcome.

Anyway, I have very little else to say about 2013. It was a year like most others. I saw two movies at theaters - The Banff Film Festival (absolutely freaking amazing event that takes place over three nights - can't wait for it to come back in 2014), and The Dallas Buyers Club (also fantastic and moving).

My running mileage for the year is just above 1,500.

So that's that.  My resolution is try to enjoy other aspects of my life a tenth as much as I do the three Rs - reading, writing, and running.  I'll try, but I doubt it will happen.

Finally a Post

It has been the longest 'dry' period between posts for this blog.  I have a couple of excuses - both true, yet both still being excuses...

Excuse#1
I took time off to go back through the first draft of my novel.  Now I'm in a 2-3 month editing process that should improve a reader's experience.  Writing the novel was fun.  Editing can be fun as well.  Just not as fun...

Excuse #2
I've been injured and depressed.  I hurt myself a bit finishing the Hawk 100 Marathon.  Something went a little off in my hamstring and IT band in my left leg.  A couple of weeks later, on a 17mi training run, my shoe caught a clump of grass and torqued the same leg up higher in a groin-adjacent area (but not a groin pull, mercifully).  So a couple of weeks later, I obliterated any chance of a speedy recovery when I completed the Prairie Spirit 50 ultra.  I ran a few times after to increasing pain each outing.  Finally, after run-walking the last mile of a 7 mile run at Clinton North Shore, I decided to take a couple of weeks off.

Two weeks off running... Something I haven't done in... well ever.  It didn't really suck as much as I thought it would.  I had my Specialized bikes - Sequoia (for road) and Rockhopper (for trails) - and an Olympic-size swimming pool 100 yards from my home's back door.  I got in a few good rounds of disc golf as well.   But I fretted about losing things like muscle memory and running fitness.  After two weeks I decided to hit the trails., a pied, again and see how things had progressed.  Somewhat frustratingly, no improvement to report as I did 5 days of 5 miles on the river trails.  At least there was no decline. So it was both good and bad news...

Then, a week ago, a friend gave me a treadmill.  I got it just as the weather turned nasty.  And running 4 miles a day on the stupid thing seems to be helping, not hurting - and I'm not sure why.  But every time my hammy gets sore or stiff, I hop on the mill and run.  When we get back into the 30s or 40s this weekend, I hope to hit the trails and see if improvement has taken root.  Never a fan of treadmills, I am finding that, in this case, the machine may just become my new bff.

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My buddies at Bearded Brothers shot me a care package of their awesome natural energy bars (and a couple of groovy discs - a mid-range and a putter). That was a real pick-me-up, and hugely appreciated. If you haven't heard of them, check them out at www.beardedbrothers.com . Get on their email list as well - they run a lot of specials.

Prairie Spirit 50

I ran the Prairie Spirit 50K over the weekend. The weather was about as perfect as I could have wished it to be.  The temperature was high 40s to start, and low 60s at the end.  It really couldn't have been better.

A very typical view of the trail.  Pretty, no?

I decided to enter the race, as I do almost all races, at the last possible minute.  I always want to see how I'm feeling, what the weather will be, are there other things that sound more fun to do on any given weekend...  In short, I don't like to commit to anything like a marathon or an ultra way out in the future.  For most people, having a race for which to train creates a goal.  For me, that creates pressure.  And I run to avoid or ease pressure, not to increase it in my life.

A couple of things worried me about the race, put on by the really talented people at Epic Ultras.  One was that the course is the flattest course possible in the world.  I had run 17 miles on it in the summer, and had developed odd soreness from repeatedly landing in exactly the same spot for 17 miles. Without turns, rocks, roots, down and up hills, the repetitive pounding in the same spots can add up to some pain. Second, it is odd to admit, but the word 'ultra' is a bit intimidating.  I never look past any distance (ok, well maybe 5K or 10K - just kidding), because to do so is a quick way to get into trouble in a hurry.  I regularly run in the teens and twenties.  But that extra 10K tacked on at the end of a marathon distance seemed oddly daunting.

When it came down to the actual run, I had some pleasant and unpleasant experiences.  I took off at a pace that I would now deem way too slow.  I was following advice from a friend who regularly does ultras who suggested starting out at a relaxed pace and conserving energy for later.  That advice, which might not have been bad for ultras taking place on courses with varied terrain, was deadly for this race. In hindsight, I should have just gone out and run at a pace that would have saved 1-2 minutes/mile for the first 17 miles, and then simply hung on for the rest of the run.

Muscle and mental fatigue really were not the issues.  The pounding was the issue.  Around mile 20, I began to have some structural (read tendon) twinges that put me on notice that my fun run was morphing into a challenge.  Luckily I had, for some weird reason, thrown an ace bandage in my drop bag at the 17 mi aid station.  Even more luckily, for some reason, I had grabbed it as I left the aid station.  So, when a tendon started complaining at 20 miles, I simply wrapped it tightly and ran on, with the problem mainly solved.  I grabbed the second bandage at the 23 mile aid station.  I'm glad I did, because I had some more misfires higher up on the same leg.  So, again, I wrapped it even tighter and ran on.  The repetitive use issues diminished, but didn't go away. The final  10K or so, was actually pretty painful.  But I was able to tell myself to ignore it, and think about how many endorphin were being released.  I do that sometimes on long runs.

I finished relatively strong - not really tired, yet structurally suspect.  In hindsight, I could've saved time by running much faster at the inception (savings would've been 17-34 min), spending a couple of minutes less at the aid stations (that added 10min total), and not stopping to pick up a beautiful ornamental box turtle and move him/her off the trail and into a more turtle-friendly looking area (3min).  In the future, all except saving the turtle, are things I would choose to change.

A moment with RD Eric Steele immediately after finishing in Ottowa, KS.

Epic Ultras did a great job. Their people, as I wrote earlier, were friendly and helpful, and showed an obvious passion for the sport.  There were plenty of pre-race, post-race, and aid station food options - even for vegans.   I would strongly recommend Epic if you are looking to do a well-run ultra in this region.

Most of the race was run the way I like it, alone.  On a couple of occasions, I did have the chance to run with another runner.  I will confess to forgetting how nice it is to meet people who share an addiction to running.  I ran for a few miles (miles 19-23) with a guy who turned out to be a vegan. His wife, who also runs, but is sensible enough not to do ultras, is also a vegan.  After the race, we sat and chatted over some wonderful-tasting veggie burgers.  I realize that this is not hugely interesting news to most people reading this.  But for me, so much of my running life - what I would probably describe as the part of my life I most value - is done alone. It was good to be reminded that even solo experiences can be shared and celebrated.

Now, a couple of day later, I'm pretty fully recovered.  The pain issues went away as soon as I stopped running. Other than a little lactic acid residue in the quads yesterday, I'm ready to go.  Discretion being the wiser choice, I am going to hold off on putting in any real mileage until later in the week.  Can't wait...

Final thoughts:  Prairie Spirit 50.  Tough?  Oddly, yes.  Beautiful?  Absolutely.  Worth the pain?  Always.

The Hawk 100 Marathon

Ran the Hawk 100 Marathon over the weekend.  Well actually not over the weekend.  Saturday morning to be precise. Why isn't 'preciser' a word meaning more precise?  It makes sense... at least in my mind.

The weather was beautiful.  The trails were as punishing as ever.  The hills were brief and brutal (except for the Bunker Hill loop 13-15 miles in, where we had to run up one side in ankle deep grass, go down the other,  run through flat grassland, and then up the backside of the hill and back down - great tough feature for the middle of the marathon.  It gave a beautiful view of Clinton Lake, where we had come from, and how far we still had to go.

A quick aside here: I have volunteered at the race for the past two years.  Since there are 50 and 100 mile races happening at the same time, the marathon is really just the little brother of the three events. The aid stations and volunteers are what can make or wreck a race. The Hawk 100 always has stunningly good, efficient, friendly, and well-stocked aid stations.  I have never seen better.

Anyway, I felt pretty good through the first 21 or so miles.  I have hit 'the wall' before, so I recognized the signs of its onset and mentally prepared for a challenging 5 miles to the finish.  I used my 'thankful' practice; a way of approaching sports challenges that I learned from an Everest summit documentary.  I mentally become thankful that there are rocks, hills, roots, descents, streams, sand, etc...  Each challenge I face is something for which I am thankful, because it will make the completion of the run more meaningful.

As I ran the last few miles, I actually began to laugh, because I was starting to be thankful for every rock and minor root that I passed over.  The gratitude I was expressing to nature simply seemed excessive.  But it took my mind off of the fact that I was having some pretty real physiological issues with shoulder cramps (odd) and a bit if a chill that came on from unexpected dehydration.

Still, though, when all was said and done, it was a great experience. I almost never run races (and had only signed up for this marathon on the Tuesday evening, 4 days before the event).  One of my friends who was also running the race seemed shocked to find me at the start on Saturday.  Frankly, I was a little surprised myself.

Over the past couple of days, I've gotten some congratulatory emails from friends who mention that it is good that I officially have a completed marathon behind me. I have run the distance on other occasions for fun, but never for anything as externally notable as an actual race. I will state that it does feel pretty good.  I will very likely be running the Hawk 100 Marathon again next year.  And, I may add one more to my schedule - a 50K in Texas in 2014.  Otherwise, while fun, racing really isn't my 'thing.'  Running is.

A quick shout out to all of my fellow Lawrence TrailHawk friends.  Thank you for running with me on various fun runs throughout the year.  And thank you to those Hawks who didn't run so that they could help make the event so successful - I know how much you do, and I appreciate it immensely.

Annual Event

I did 5 circuits of the 3 mile course at Coleen's Sweaty Ass Run in Olathe last night. It's kind of funny that earlier in the day, when someone asked me how far I planned to run, I had mentioned that I would knock out 15 miles and then assess how many more I wanted to complete.  Well, when it came time to 'assess' how I felt, I felt like the first three letters of that word.  It was time to quit.

I had taken in a Vega Orange Zest Gel shot. It was pretty good tasting, but I'm not sure how well it sat.  I also had a banana, a couple of small pieces of watermelon, and a few chips dipped in hummus. Really not much in the way of food.  By the fourth circuit, I had developed a bit of digestive discomfort, which by the fifth lap, became a stomach ache that hurt every time a foot hit the ground.

It may have less to do with the food than with the drink.  I tried my own sports drink, then switched to a tea I had brought.  Next I tried the run's sports drink.  Then water.  Then,with stomach hurting, switched to flat ginger ale.  I wasn't dehydrated. Instead it felt a little bit like too much water/liquid in the gut.

The drive home was less than pleasant.  It was 9:30 ish and I was really tired and felt quite ill.  My stomach was upset, and I kept looking around in case I needed to pull over and throw up.  Luckily I made it home without too much drama.  I knocked down a glass of rice milk with hemp protein and called it a night.

With all the above being said, 15 miles shouldn't kick my butt like it did.  I've done plenty of longer runs in much more strenuous settings recently.  But there is something about the course layout, the time of day (evening vs my usual a.m.), and the charge of running in an actual event that always seem to make the Sweaty and Frozen Ass runs much more challenging.

I have very few other organized runs that I'm considering doing. Maybe the Hawk 100 marathon.  I'm also looking at the Big Bend Ultra.  But Coleen's runs are always on my list.  Unless there is a blizzard, I'll be back for more this winter.