A Snowy Run Through the Hinckley Reservation

Saturday morning I decided to head out for a few miles in Hinckley. Weather forecast was low 20's and snow, and that's just what I had. There weren't too many people out, keeping things nice and quiet. Just the crows making noise from up in the trees. I ended up running three loops around the lake for just over nine miles. But in those three loops I managed to capture the essence of the morning. Enjoy:

Boston Training: Hill Work Session #1

I began my Boston Marathon training a little later than I would have liked, but better late than never. Right? The nagging aches and pains, which are slowly getting better, kept me from really getting into full-on training mode. But after printing out Hal Higdon's Boston Bound Training Plan, I feel much better. One major thing, it's a 12 week program instead of the usual 18, so I have only missed the first two weeks. Switching around Monday and Tuesday to deal with the snow (which we are now getting) had me running hills last night.

I arrived in Hinckley just as it was getting dark. I planned to run one loop around the lake. There are plenty of hills to choose from there, both uphill and down. If the trail wasn't runnable, I would run on the road. I ended up doing a little of both by the time I finished. I didn't count on it being so cold though, and I was glad to be doing only one loop.

Four hill repeats were on tap with one being downhill. I ran counter-clockwise from the Spillway, using the first uphill as a warm-up. The trail was plowed but mostly packed to loosely packed snow with icy spots. My first hill was the one at the Boathouse. I ran down on the roadway to check the footing, reached the bottom, turned around, and sprinted right back up. Good one! Running back down I thought about sprinting it again but decided to save it for the next one which is a little longer.

Hill number two was the one that runs alongside the long road that dips down to the bridle trail access area. I ran in the road again here as there were no cars around and more bare pavement. This one really tired me out but it felt good. I was able to get a little rest before hitting the big dip along State Road.

Hill number three was the uphill along State Road going north. Here, the trail was dry pavement and I pushed hard. I was gasping for breath by the time I crested the top. I'm sure the low 20 degree temperature didn't help any. But I didn't have much time to recover as I still needed a downhill repeat.

So I turned around and flew downhill as carefully as I could for hill number 4. A great finish to my hill work! All I had to do was run back UP the hill I just came down, then make my way back to the car which was still nearly a mile away. But that was OK. I needed a cool down.

Superbowl Weekend 2010

I remember going for a group run this time last year. There was snow on the ground and we had to run in the street. Well, we were simply dumped on Friday into Saturday this year and there was no running going on for me. 8 to 10 inches by my estimate, lots of blowing and drifting, few people shovelling their sidewalks, and the roads not being cleared very well, and very cold morning temperatures kept me inside. A packed Rec Center kept me from running period.

Indoor cycling was on tap for the weekend. 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. I completed the distance in close to 1:30 each day. Sunday I followed the ride with 40 minutes of strength training to help burn calories before the Superbowl viewing party. It's kind of scary, I'm getting used to riding in the basement!

Good news! I have a plan! A training plan, that is. For Boston! I'm staying with Mr. Higdon and using his Boston Bound Training Program. It has runs scheduled for every day except for Fridays and should allow for some repositioning due to inclement weather this time of year. The new item is scheduled hill training. I will be alternating Tuesdays running repeats on the track and hill repeats. Today I'm supposed to do 4 easy miles with 4 X hills tomorrow. Due to more snow coming in tomorrow, I think I'm going to switch them around, doing my hills tonight in Hinckley, leaving me open to run indoors tomorrow if the weather is bad enough.

A Little on the Hinckley Trails

And by a "little", I do mean LITTLE. Like four miles little! You see, for the second time now I've arrived 5 minutes before 6:00 for the Thursday 6:00 trail run, and the group has already left. Since I didn't think they could have left too much before my arrival, I hauled ass over the snow covered bridle trail, following what I thought were the footprints of at least five people. I ran that first mile of trail... uphill... in the snow... in 8:37! Did I mention it was getting dark? Oh yeah, that too. Needless to say, I didn't catch them, nor even find them. They might have taken a singletrack side trail, but I doubted that due to it getting dark. I didn't hear a peep either. Oh well.

I managed to get across that first water crossing dry, using the ice and stones, and ran until I hit two miles out. By that time it was dark, my lamp was on, and I had to make a decision whether to continue or turn back. Since I really didn't want to be running solo in the snow in the dark, I decided to turn around and cut the run short. Only 4 miles in 39:49 at an average pace of 9:48/miles.

Good news/bad news. Good news: No discomfort or pain at all in the four miles, some of which was hard running. Bad news: I don't think I'm going to try to meet with that group any more. It's just too hectic for me to get there by the determined time, only to find they've left early.

The Track? The Track!

THE TRACK! I've forgotten all about the track. It's been so long since I've been there! But I was there last night and it was nice to be back.

I didn't expect to see anyone else up there so I wasn't disappointed when no one was there. With temperatures hovering right about 33 degrees or so, I wanted to get out for a few miles in the relatively "nice" weather. Speedwork is something I stopped doing as 24 hour training began ramping up last fall, and it's been calling my name for a while.

There were snowy spots, clear spots, and clear "wet" spots that began freezing once the sun went down. I wanted to get 5 miles total in with warm-up and cool-down. 800s were on tap. Five of them with 400 meter recovery. My times weren't great, but decent enough: 3:25 / 3:25 / 3:16 / 3:14 / and 3:18. With all things considered: my leave-of-absence from speedwork, the snow on the track, the cold temperature, and my persistent pain, I'm happy with the times. If anything, they will become a baseline for the rest of the year. Something to shoot for.

Only my left foot really bothered me. I needed to stop and loosen the laces on that shoe a couple times due to a pressure spot. I also wore an older set of shoes, the Scarlet and Gray Asics Gel Stratus Gen 1's, with approaching 400 miles on them. They felt light and fast, not at all like the Nimbus the other day.

I'm feeling a little under the weather today with a slight sore throat and a mild fever so I don't know if I'll do anything tonight or just take a rest day.

Round and Around Buckeye Woods

You would think that with a 100% cloud free sky and maximum sunshine, it would have been a little warmer Sunday. But you would have been wrong, as was I! Good thing I packed some "emergency" layers, just in case.

As it was only in the low to mid 20's around noon, it was still a little on the cold side, but much warmer than the single digits we had earlier in the morning. But given the abundant sunshine, it should have been warmer. You see, what I didn't count on was all the wind that particular area gets due to all the farm fields. There isn't much in the way of wind barriers in rural Medina County. So, that, combined with my recent running pains, is why I ran with no time goal, no mileage goal, and no route in mind.

I parked at Buckeye Woods, planning on returning to the car whenever I needed a drink or bite to eat. I just didn't feel like carrying a lot with me, including my camera, which left me with no choice but to use the camera phone, resulting in some low quality images.

The nice thing about this park is that the trail loops around. It's kind of like running in Hinckley but without the hills! I started out with a loop around the big field/pond area. Lots of wind there! Running through the treed sections on my way to and from the field provided the most protection from the wind, and I wished I could have just stayed under their cover. Too bad there wasn't a forested loop.

After a brief stop at the car, I decided to make my way south on the Chippewa Inlet Trail. Better get it out of the way early while I wasn't a total freezing mess in the wind. And there was wind. LOTS of wind! As you can see in the photo below, the trail is completely exposed with nothing to block the wind at all.



Also missing along the trail: me restarting my Garmin after crossing Rt. 162! I went for at least a mile before catching the mistake.

After returning from the canal side spur, which turned out to have a headwind both going AND coming back, I logged the remainder of my miles within Buckeye Woods just running loops. The trail was mostly snow covered, but not icy, and the footing wasn't bad at all.

The Asics Gel Nimbus was my shoe of choice for the day. I haven't put many miles on them and I wanted to see how they felt after a week of rest. Which leads me to some good news and some bad news. The good news: My ankles didn't bother me at all! I tried to keep my feet relaxed without tensing up at the ankle. The tongue design of the Nimbus may have helped too. The bad news: The balls of my feet began bothering me after about 8 miles or so. The left foot more so than the right. I ended up icing the left foot that night. The ball area just behind the second and third toes was very swollen. The unexpected bad news: My right knee gave out on me as I was finishing the run. I had about a quarter mile to go and I nearly fell down from it not bearing my weight. I don't know what that was about. That knee has never given me any problems before.



I'm hoping that my aches and pains are temporary, but I'm not ruling out a visit to Dr. Joe if I don't have any success working past things on my own. I have too many long runs scheduled for this year to not be able to run 15 miles without collapsing.

January Re-Cap

Since I'm encountering Technical Difficulties trying to make a post about my run yesterday, I think I will go ahead and re-cap January's numbers. Let's get right to them:

Swim: 1.25 miles
Bike: 181.37 miles
Run: 57.43 miles

As I'm having problems with the run right now, I really made an effort to get on the bike trainer and log miles in January. I had no official goal distance, but the 200 mile mark crossed my mind a couple times, and I could have hit it had I been a little bit more motivated. But still, 181 is the most trainer miles I've ever logged in one month, and quite possibly could be the most cycling miles period!

My swimming distance was from one visit to the pool. Totally mental. I just have had no desire to go up to the Rec. and get in the water with it being as cold as it has been here. I get shivers just thinking about it! I'm going to have to make more of an effort to swim in February.

Running? What can I say. It hurts right now and is not fun. Although my ankles didn't bother me on yesterday's run, my feet and my right knee did. I'm hoping it's just bugs getting worked out of the system. I'm systematically working through different shoes in the hopes of finding something that feels better. IF the shoes are the problem! I'm not all that convinced that's the case. Time will tell!

Metatarsalgia and Other Maladies

I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV either. That being said, I am self-diagnosing myself with metatarsalgia. "What is metatarsalgia," you may ask. From what I've found, metatarsalgia is pain caused by increased pressure on the metatarsal heads, with the metatarsals being the bones in the foot. This is the first of my maladies and the one I've been suffering from the longest. Since early to mid December to be exact. Ever since A) I began ramping up my running mileage with back-to-back long runs on the weekends training for the Freedom Park 24, and B) I bought new running shoes to break in for the same event. The first of those shoes, the NIKE Lunar Glides, felt horrible and I've already returned them. As the foot lands, the metatarsals are designed to spread out and absorb the impact. My pain occurs as this happens. It gradually gets worse as the run progresses and will continue for a few hours after finishing. Although it doesn't completely go away, it is mild and tolerable at all other times, but especially noticeable walking barefoot on hard surfaces.

The second nagging injury I'm dealing with is a little more mysterious: pain in the front of the ankle. I'm going out on a limb and diagnosing it as simply tendinitis of either the posterior tibial tendon or the peroneal tendon, both of which are located toward the front of the ankle. This problem doesn't date back as far as the one in the foot. The first time I became aware of it was during the 24 Hour run. I had some swelling in the area as well, which I attributed to the compression tights I was wearing. Now I'm not so sure they were the problem. If you can imagine sharp pain in the front of the ankle when pulling your foot upward, that would be it. It's mostly in my left ankle, whereas the foot pain is in both feet.

Treatment for tendinitis includes immobilizing the area, elevation, limiting weight-bearing, applying ice, and using anti-inflammatory drugs. I saw the term orthopedic casting mentioned as well. That's out. I'm willing to cut back on the mileage and frequency of my runs in the long term, and I've already used icing and elevation, which seem to help immediately after a run. Other than that, I don't see too much else I can do. I'm certainly not going to rest completely. I think I can maintain up to two runs a week. Otherwise I plan on using this as an opportunity to spend more time on the bike and in the water. I've already logged over 120 miles on the bike trainer this month, which is more than any month last year, trainer or road!

Hopefully this will pass in the next few weeks. I'm not worried about it affecting my spring marathon training (yet) as I'm not overly worried about my times at those events. And yes, that includes Boston. However, I am worried about the two spring 50Ks I've already signed up for. I may have some problems completing them without doing any long training runs. So, my running may be dropping for the foreseeable future, but maybe my swimming and biking will be the beneficiaries.

The First Tough Weekend of 2010

I suppose I'm officially back in training now. It certainly feels like it! It hurts. I hurt. Everything hurts, upper body and lower.

I was able to return to the water Saturday afternoon and get some quality time in the pool. After nearly five months on dry land, I didn't know what to expect yesterday. I was hoping for a full mile, but willing to cut it short at a half mile if things were not feeling good. To my great surprise, things felt GREAT! When I finished my second half mile set I still felt good so I added another quarter mile to equal the distance of the Steelhead swim. My splits were: first 1/2 mile - 28:48 / second 1/2 mile - 27:01 (A NEGATIVE SPLIT) / and final .25 mile - 14:54 for a total time of 1:10:44. Not speedy by any stretch, but very decent for me in January.

This morning I met Dan H. in Hinckley at 6 AM to run some hills. We began with two loops of the all-purpose trail around the lake for 6 miles. Time: 55:30. We stayed in the park while it was still dark. That coupled with the fog made for poor visibility and we were not inclined to be hit by any cars.

At 7:00 we decided to hit the roads around the park to measure the Big Loop, a route that circumnavigates the entire Hinckley Reservation. It measured 9.2 miles and took us 1:24 to complete. Talk about hills! The first .75 mile is all uphill! While we got our share of downhills, the uphills seemed to be more numerous.

We finished with one more lap of the all-purpose trail for another 3 miles in 27:40. I was hurting pretty bad by this point. Both my shoulders from swimming and my lower body: feet, ankles, and knees. I don't know what's up with my feet. It's the same pain I was experiencing training for the 24 Hour. As for the knee, it's my right knee now instead of the left. Go figure!

A tough weekend and hopefully worth it in the long run. But for now, time for some recovery!

Back in the Saddle?

Let's hope so! After two weeks, TWO WEEKS, of no running, I hit the road yesterday afternoon for a hastily planned jaunt out the Lester Trail. The last couple days I've been pondering where to run Saturday and Sunday mornings, so yesterday, when Jr. P said he didn't want to be picked up early from the day care, I decided to go out for an easy middle distance run.

The Lester Rail Trail is a converted railroad line approximately 1.5 miles from my house. At three miles in length, plus getting there and coming back, I have a nice 9 mile out and back route. With the January thaw happening, I thought it would be in decent enough shape to run on. So, lacing up my trail shoes, out the door I went.

And I was right. The trail was indeed runnable, albeit at a very slow pace. The snow was soft, wet, and slushy, and thanks to someone who drove a snowmobile through there at some point, not very deep. The going was slow, I averaged only 10:30 per mile for the six miles of the trail, but enjoyable. With the exception of a cardinal, some other birds, and some small flying insect that must have just woken back up, there wasn't a living thing to be seen out there. Just the motoring public in their Friday afternoon hurry at the three road crossings.

I've been reading Born to Run recently and tried to concentrate on my form while out there. It was kind of hard considering the lack of solid footing, but I think I managed OK. My problem is that right where you land on the foot while barefoot running is exactly where my foot pain is. Not new foot pain, but the same stuff I had while training for the 24 Hour. Maybe my feet are so week I'm going to need to work through the pain to get stronger. Or this ball-of-the-foot form just isn't for me and I should concentrate on landing the way I always have.

One / Ten / Ten - The Numbers Edition

What would a blog by Mr. Pythagoras be without numbers? Not right, that's what! I woke up this morning on the tenth day of the first month of two thousand ten and realized that I had not wrapped up the year two thousand nine yet. So without further ado, the numbers:

I participated in 21 events in 2009, which is a tie with 2008 for the most I've done in one year. They ranged in distance from 5K to 24 hours. Seven of the events were marathon distance or longer, which is a HUGE jump for me. Five of the events were multi-sport, including one 2 person relay. The number of multi-sport events was way down from my high number of nine in 2007, but three were triathlons, which I enjoyed much more than racing duathlons.

In 2009 I broke seven of my existing Personal Records: 5K twice, 5 mile, half marathon, and the marathon three times as I eventually got fast enough to hit my Boston qualifying time of 3:15. I also set three new PR's: trail marathon, trail 50K, and 24 hours. As of right now I'm not sure if I will keep official records for two of those last three as specific categories. I think of the trail races much as I do multi-sport events. The courses are so unique that it's hard to compare one to another. I may be better off just keeping track of my times from a specific event, like the Bobcat Trail Marathon, from year to year, and not comparing it to other trail marathons.

In 2009 I ran 1,589.7 miles. That's right! No typo! I SMASHED my previous annual running miles total by nearly one thousand miles! I biked a total of 502.6 miles. Although that's the most I've ridden in a single year since coming back in 2006, it's still over 400 miles behind my high point back in 1991. As for swimming, I finished the year with 31.0 miles, most of which occurred in the pool. The only open water swimming I did was during my three triathlons.

So what do all the numbers mean? While they're nice to reflect upon, the numbers serve the most use as a guide on how I'm doing from year to year and, more importantly, they can help me in setting goals for the following year.

2010 Goals:

- Do fewer than 21 events. I've decided in the last few months that I don't need to race every weekend. I don't need to take part in every event we go to. It's OK for me to just be a spectator while others compete.

- Make the events I do participate in "quality" events. For me, "quality" means "longer". I derive more satisfaction from going longer rather than shorter and faster. The events I'm planning for 2010 will include distances of marathon and longer as well as multi-sport, focusing on triathlon.

- I would like to run more than 1,600 miles. I need to add more time on the bike, so trying to log much more running miles would be difficult.

- My cycling mileage should be at least equal to my running mileage, if not more. That means 1,600 to 2,000 miles on the bike. I have some ideas on how I will accomplish this goal, from getting on the bike trainer on a daily basis this winter, to doing some nice LSD (long slow distance) riding this spring and summer. I plan to incorporate my mountain bike into the LSD program with some rides along the Towpath Trail. It's about time I began to really take advantage of what Northeast Ohio has to offer!

- I would like to swim more than 31 miles this year. That means hitting the pool on a regular basis. I also want to get in as many open water training swims as I can. For that I will need to find a decent place to swim, and some training partners would be helpful too.

- While I began entertaining thoughts last year about running a sub 3 hour marathon, that's not something I need to do this year. If I can finish around 3:30 in my marathons this year I will be very happy. That's not to say that if I feel confident about my conditioning I wouldn't make the attempt. I'll just leave that one as a fuzzy goal.

- Which leads me into Boston. As of right now I just want to enjoy the experience of running Boston. I'm not planning to PR there. I'm not even worried about hitting 3:15 there. Of course, that may change.

- Perhaps my biggest goal is to finish Ironman Wisconsin in September. And not just finish but finish strong, like I did at Steelhead last year. The cutoff time is 17 hours. I would like to be well under that. If I can have a good swim, a smart decent bike, and a strong run, I will be very happy.

- I will be making at least one attempt at running 24 hours again this year. I would like to run farther than 80 miles. That may be hard considering the North Coast 24 is six days after Ironman. Maybe a trip back to North Carolina will be in order? No pressure...

2009/2010 Freedom Park New Year's Ultra 24 Hour Run

There are times when all the world's asleep,

the questions run too deep

for such a simple man.

Won't you please, please tell me what I've learned

I know it sounds absurd

but please tell me who I am.

-The Logical Song - Supertramp

This is but one of the songs that hit me like a truck sometime after 10 o'clock on New Year's Eve. That's when I decided it was time to put the iPod on, put my head down, and just force the run. And force it I did for about the next four hours or so. Until the pain in my feet became too much for me to run on at all and I was reduced to the slowest walk I've ever done.

Going into this 24 hour run I was prepared to both hurt and to face exhaustion. But I wasn't prepared for the pain of exhaustion. It wasn't the pain of a cramp, less immediately debilitating. It built over time, preventing me from recognizing what was happening. I'm absolutely sure the compression tights were a bad idea. Now. But at the time I didn't realize they were adding to my physical woes. The combination of the swollen and inflexible ankles, knee pain, tight hamstrings and quads, and the problem in the balls of my feet were tolerable, but the blister on my left foot was the proverbial straw, and I, the camel.

I had been looking forward to the dark, when the effort on my face would go unnoticed.

The day began nice enough, grabbing breakfast at the hotel before checking out, making our way to the park, finding a spot near the port-a-potties, and getting set up. Never mind that I needed to run the shower in our room for literally four minutes before the water got warm. Or that it had snowed overnight and temperatures were hovering at just over 30 degrees. We were all in good spirits, and that was the important thing.

Ladd putting the finishing touches on his supplies.

Dan, Mike, Ladd, and myself, four members of Team Ohio.

Looking from our base camp down towards the aid station and timing mats.

The construction of Base Camp Ohio went quickly with the four of us hauling equipment and erecting tents. Although it was cold that morning, the only part of my body that was feeling it was my toes. I was fine with that because I knew they would warm as soon as we began moving. My main worry was still the rain which was forecast to arrive during the afternoon and overnight. Running 6 hours in the rain is one thing. Spending 24 hours in it, completely different.

Dan and Ladd a few mile into the run.

One of many walking breaks.

With nervous energy trying to burst forth from within, the run began. Keeping the pace under control was the hardest thing to do at this point. We may have been better off just forcing a walk for the first few miles, but our conservative starting pace morphed into a comfortable 8:30 running pace. Too fast and we knew it. Dan was out ahead of us doing his thing, eventually making it to fourth place overall for a time, while Ladd and I ran our regular pace. I was of the mind to just stay comfortable, and the pace felt comfortable.

Never find, never mind, never peace God at least

give me strength just for one more try

Got to give, need to live long enough just to say

that I stayed to the end of the big time

-Default - Never Slow Me Down

Sure, I wanted to speed up even more. I would have liked to let go and RACE. But as much as I wanted to, I knew that this wasn't the place for me to do that. That was for guys like Dave James, who tore things up at the North Coast 24 in October. He was flying again here. Except this time I was a runner, not a volunteer, and getting passed!

Looking down the "hilly" stretch out by the road.

The lonely tree I noticed every lap until it got dark.

Each lap was nearly a mile in length, and we ran so many they all kind of blend together. We hit our first marathon in about 4:15 and our first 50K shortly after that. I made my only shoe change at that point, going from the Asics Gel Stratus to the Saucony Grids. What a difference! I had immediate support in the parts of my feet that needed it. All was well. For the time being, anyway.

Some drizzle in the morning amounted to nothing. The afternoon rain never materialized. Neither did the overnight precipitation. We really lucked out! What we did get was a steady temperature until the wee hours of the morning. And a fog/mist that seeped into everything. Food. Clothing. The 100% humidity made breathing difficult. Combine the moisture with mid-30s temperatures and it was pretty chilly unless you were moving.

I hit three low points during the run. They all came before midnight and were all due to low blood sugar. I am fortunate to have enough experience to recognize it for what it was and eat something. The great thing about ultras is the wonderful selection of food available on the course. A pair of hot dogs perked me right up out of one funk. A cheeseburger out of another. Chips, fig newtons, pretzels, nut bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Christmas Trees, Gatorade, gels, Coke, Mountain Dew, grilled cheese, bananas, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, all helped me out during the run. Each time I hit a new low, I grabbed some grub and walked a mile.

I was hoping to hit 60 miles by 8:00 PM and was darn close. Within a few miles. You can guess what kind of shape I was in to make it only another 18.8 miles in the second half of the run. The music came on after 10:00 and I phoned home at midnight. After downing a few glasses of sparkling grape juice, along with some other yummy things, I took full advantage of my second wind and ran until about 2:00 AM. Granted, the shuffle I was doing was far from my normal gait, but I was moving quicker than walking pace. This is important because I had earlier considered stopping after midnight. Just make it into the new year and make a decision then, I had told myself, and Ladd as well. Somewhere along the way I decided I wasn't going to step out for a prolonged break. I may have nodded off a few times while sitting in one of our chairs, but that didn't last long and I was back out on the trail.

Forcing myself to get moving after each stop at base camp or the port-a-potty was hard. Really hard. And had I not just gone through something very hard, I may not have been able to find the strength to keep pressing on. I was hoping for 100+ miles at the start, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I had a good chance to hit a triple marathon if I just kept moving. That became my goal. I couldn't run any more, so I walked. I limped. I was broken physically but not mentally. I was being passed by people walking at a pace I should have been able to maintain. It was like I was in someone else's body, or in a dream. I just couldn't get the thing to move the way I wanted it to. By this time I was in a rain coat, more for heat retention than anything else, the hood drawn down low, my eyes focused a mere few feet in front of me.

And that's how I finished my last lap. A far cry from how I began the previous day. I've run in pain before, but these pains were new. I had no solution for them. I think that without them I could have kept running. At least a little bit. As bad as I felt though, I didn't swear off doing it again. Which is good, considering I'm already registered for the NC 24 this September! And surprisingly, I'm looking forward to it.

What I've learned:

-I'm still stronger mentally than physically.

-A 24 hour run is right up my alley.

-I'm nuts enough to derive pleasure from beating myself into the ground.

-I need to go out a little slower in the early miles.

-I need to walk more early on.

-A hilly course is harder than a flat one.

-I need to take more photos next time.

-DO NOT wear compression anything on the lower legs for that amount of time!

-Try to get more sleep the night before.

-Hire a crew!

-Have more than a month of specialized training.

So, I'm happy with my 78.8 miles. I really worked to get those last few! And as bad as I felt, I had a great time down there. The Ohio group was great, I saw some familiar faces from North Coast, and met some new people as well. Congratulations are in order for everyone who ran, however far they went, and however long they went for. A small percentage of the population runs, an even smaller percentage of runners would sign up for something like this.

Finally, big thanks go out to BMRC for putting on a GREAT event. This was only the second time for it, and each one has seen it's share of less than ideal weather, but they still managed to put on a fantastic event. I felt very comfortable running there, like I hadn't even left Ohio. Nice job everyone!

Freedom Park 24 Hour Results

While I am still recovering from my 24 hour adventure in North Carolina, I feel MUCH better than I thought I would two days after finishing. I have some aches and pains and I'm still walking funny, but I've had more muscle soreness after running a hard half marathon than from running for 24 hours. I have some joint/tendon/ligament pain/swelling that I've never had before, but it's all slowly getting better.

I will post a more detailed race report soon, but since the official race results have been posted I wanted to make a quick mention of them here. Even though I was hoping to hit triple digits in mileage, I am very pleased with my distance of 78.88 miles. I completed 80 laps in 23 hours, 33 minutes, and 43 seconds. Granted, the "run" was a "run/walk" combination, but that's how these things are done. And who would have thought that I would decided to enter something like this anyway? I distinctly remember deciding that a 24 hour event wasn't for me while working the North Coast 24 back in October! But something has happened recently to make me decide that ultras as well as trail running ARE in fact for me! And my race number was all I needed to confirm that.

Congrats to the rest of Team Ohio: Mike K. - 56.2 miles, Ladd C. - 70.13 miles, Dan H. - 93.66 miles, and another Ohioan whom I didn't know Mark P. - 82.82 miles. The conditions were less than ideal, but could have been worse. I will try to get a full race report up before too long!

THE Final Post of 2009

I have some time while waiting for my ride to North Carolina, so I thought it would be good to discuss 24 hour strategy. I have a few ideas in mind:

1. Start out by running either a hard marathon or 50K. I'm talking sub-8 minute miles. Get a good start by logging 26 to 31 miles in under 4 hours. Then take a break. Do some walking. Eat something. After I'm rested, do it again! I ran this idea past Ladd and Dan and neither one thought it was a very smart plan. I agree!

2. Do whatever feels good. If I feel like running, I run. If I feel like walking, I walk. If I feel like running faster, I speed up. Slow down? Sure, why not! Another version of this plan involved me not looking at how many laps or miles I've logged at all until after finishing. I still like the not knowing part, especially for this first try at 24 hours, but I don't think I could do it.

3. The third and most likely option will be to run for a prescribed number of minutes and/or miles, and then walk for a certain amount of time or distance. This is probably the way to go, as I've already set the countdown timer on my watch to 20 minutes. That means every 20 minutes it's time to take a walking break. We'll see how that works out. On a one mile loop course, I'm thinking the way to go will be to run 2 to 3 laps, then walk half a lap after grabbing some drinks and food at the aid station. We'll see...

I'm hoping for decently dry weather. It can be chilly if it wants to. It can even snow! I'm just hoping for a minimum of rain. But if it does rain, we've been there and done that. For 31 miles! We'll just have to tough it out a little longer this time.

Happy New Year!

Ending and Beginning

2009 is nearly done. 2010 is there lurking around the corner. I'm happy to have accomplished all the things I did this year. I ran distances I'm comfortable with, finished my first triathlon, completed a half Ironman triathlon, ran a trio of fast marathons, qualified for Boston, discovered trail running and literally had an epiphany, became an ultra-marathoner, and maybe inspired some other people to push themselves and try some new things. But I'm still very sad at how this year wound down. We lost a dear member of our family just before Christmas, Penny, our 12 year old Golden Retriever whom Mrs. P and I got before we were even married. The decision we had to make doesn't hurt as much as it did last week, but the pain is still there for me to find whenever I want to go looking for it. It was with a heavy heart that I went for a much needed run on Christmas Eve, by myself on the Hinckley trails, and captured some winter images which reflected how I was feeling as well.

The end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 are going to be different this year. By running in this 24 hour ultra I will be able to bring in the new year exactly how I'm finishing the old one. They will be tied together for me in a way other years have not been. I've had no "off" season this year. The transition from one season to the next has been an active one. I fully anticipate a recovery period following the 24 hour, but it will be just that, "recovery" and not "off".

As I look forward to this run, which will be my longest one so far, I worry a little. The weather forecast isn't looking good at this point: rain, freezing rain, snow, wind. Yuck! My feet have been hurting lately too, and I don't know why. I'm worried my knee will give me problems. I'm anticipating a miserable, physically and emotionally painful experience. But when it gets to that point I'm going to remind myself how hard it was to make the decision we made last week, and it's going to pale in comparison.

Finally, in an attempt to finish my last post of 2009 a little more upbeat, Happy New Year to all! Hopefully it will find everyone happy and healthy. Best of luck to Team Ohio down in North Carolina. There will be a half dozen or so of us representing the state in Morganton. I hope to come back with stories and lots of photos!

See ya' next year!

Our Family is Missing Someone This Christmas

Rest in peace Penny (1997 - 2009)

Another High Mileage Weekend

Notice I said "weekend" and not "week". That's because all my mileage this week took place on Saturday and Sunday. That's right, I didn't run at all on the week days. I wanted to and planned to, but stuff and weather prevented me from getting out and running. I did some cross training though. Two mornings of weights and 50 minutes on the elliptical on a third morning. Am I worried about not getting enough miles under my belt going into this 24 hour run? Yes. But I'm also worried about over training. Maybe even more worried about over training.

Everything was a little frosty.

This weekend alleviated my fears about not running for five days in a row. Saturday, Ladd and I ran 21 miles, including a trip down to Chippewa Lake and back, and then around the south side of Medina. Temperatures were in the upper teens to very low twenties, but it was sunny and that made us feel a little better. The gusty wind however, did not.

Just a little frozen trail work.

On my most recent trip to Second Sole, I purchased three new pairs of running shoes. Why so many? Well, the shoes I have been running in for more than a year, the Asics Gel Stratus, have been discontinued and I need to find an entirely new "perfect" shoe. I began the Saturday morning run with one of the new pairs, the NIKE Lunar Glides. They felt great when I tried them on in the store, but didn't feel so good out on the road. After only a few miles I knew I they weren't for me and that I would need to return them. I was able to change into another pair mid-run, some Asics Gel Nimbus. They, on the other hand, are very comfortable. But still, they're going to take some getting used to.

My right foot still felt a little banged up heading into Sunday's long run of 30 miles. Ladd and I met Dan H. back at the Hinckley Metropark to run 3 mile loops. How fun! During our second loop the rain/freezing rain began to fall. The weather deteriorated steadily from that point. It was a miserable outing. My shoes were soaked and the trail socks I was wearing weren't able to drain, leaving me with numb feet. I became thoroughly soaked all over, freezing whenever the wind would gust. Parts of the trail began to ice over, giving us unsure footing in spots. We were very close to calling it quits! But we realized at some point that it wasn't getting any worse, so we kept running. Ten times around Hinckley Lake, which is hilly, is certainly overkill training for a basically flat one mile loop. My Garmin showed 3,000 + feet of elevation gain. It was a very tough physical and mental run.

So tough that I'm still looking at taking a rest day today. My feet hurt in places they normally don't. Some tendons or ligaments or something. They just feel abused. I don't know if it was the new shoes or the 52 miles in two days, but something just wore them out. Everything else feels just fine! I'm pretty confident that the 24 Hour run is going to go well as long as I go into it rested and healthy. I may feel miserable during it, but as long as I can keep moving forward, the worst shouldn't hit me until after I'm done.

Building Mileage, Lots of Mileage!

This weekend was the first long back-to-back running I have done in a while. Probably since before Columbus. Why am I running for hours on end in the cold and building mileage in December? That answer will be at the end. First, lets see what happened this weekend!



I met Dan H. and his running buddy Dave on Saturday morning at the Station Road Bridge area of the Valley. It's in Brecksville, or right next door at least. It was still dark when I arrived precisely at 7:00. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has a stop here and as I was crossing the tracks on my way to the restroom, I slid a little. It seems that the temperatures had dipped pretty low overnight and things were finally beginning to behave as if winter were here. I'm finding it very annoying not having a thermometer in the new car.



As the sun rose somewhere above the thick overcast clouds, we were gradually blessed with light. It didn't warm the morning air at all, but at least we could see fine. There were a few others hitting the Towpath Trail at the same time as us, but we were pretty much left to ourselves for most of the run. Heading south for seven miles, we made our way down to Peninsula, where we turned around to make the return trip.



I had to stop to get a photo of Brandywine Ski Resort making snow. Both they and Boston Mills were pumping out the fake stuff Saturday morning. They might as well, since the real stuff isn't falling in any major quantities yet!



Once back at the parking lot, Dan and Dave headed home while I made a quick stop at the car and went back out the other direction for some more miles. Three miles north and back would bring my total to 20, which is about how much I wanted to get in that morning. I don't know if it was the cold or if my metabolism has kicked up another notch, but I was so hungry during those final six miles. I ended up eating all the emergency food I was carrying, which wasn't much, and began working on my freezing Gatorade stores. I felt pretty darn miserable, which is a good thing. I'm going to need to get used to pushing through that feeling.



That run took me a little over three hours. We pushed the pace on the seven coming back from Peninsula, but otherwise they were comfortable miles. Fortunately Sunday's run would be comprised of comfortable miles too!

I met Dan in the morning again, this time in Hinckley and at 5:00! We just ran loops around Hinckley Lake, mostly on the hilly all-purpose trail, but with the final two down on the lake trail. I finished with another 21.5 miles in about 3.5 hours. It was even colder Sunday morning and there was the occasional tiny snowflake streaking across the beam from my headlamp. I dressed in the most layers I've worn since last winter and I stayed comfortable for the entire run. The Asics mittens I picked up this spring have really kept my fingers warm while switching to trail socks has done wonders for my toe comfort. I was never this warm running last winter!

So, 41.5 miles in two consecutive days is a lot of mileage for me. The most for me so far, in fact! Why would I possibly be doing this now? Here's why:


I was "persuaded" to run a 24 hour run in North Carolina over the New Year's holiday. For reasons known only to myself, I said "sure"! Now I'm trying to intelligently ramp up not only my weekly mileage but my weekend totals too. I've heard the best way to train for a 24 hour race is to "run a lot." That, and back-to-back long weekend runs. I'm hoping the weather continues to partially cooperate and not give us anything nasty. But the cold is good to train in as the temperature in last year's race dipped to 9 degrees overnight. Now THAT'S cold running! Aside from the weather, I'm pretty excited about taking part in this event. I like the challenge presented by running for that long. I want to know how far I can go. And there's something about beginning a run in one year and finishing it in the next!

We Three Dans, The Triumvirate of Dans, Three Dan Night...

Whatever you want to call it, Dan H., Dan B., and myself hit the track Tuesday night for some speed work. It was dark, as seen by the photo below, where you can also make out some Christmas lights toward the right. What you can't see, and I wasn't able to get a good photo of, was the HUGE full moon in the cloudless sky. It really helped around the backside of the track where the light from the stands fails to reach.


We had a decent workout. After a nearly two mile warm-up we decided on alternating 400 and 800 meter repeats X three sets. With a mildly gusting breeze out of the south, it was a darn near as perfect a December night as we could hope for. Splits were: 1:36 / 3:13 / 1:34 / 3:02 / 1:24 / 3:09. I think I really could have busted out a nice final 800 except I had a tight hamstring and I didn't want to injure anything. Not with what I have planned for 4 weeks from today. Details to follow...