I wrote a whole blog about Desert Solstice, but I am not sure I want to share it. So, I saved it and maybe one day I will feel like revisiting it, but not now. Basically I let people get in my head and didn't stick to the plan and it was a shit show.
I have basic race plan for the first four months 2019. I’m running Coldwater 52 miles (1/19) as a training run for Black Canyon 100K (2/16). I am headed back to Colorado to run RUFA 6 hours on March 9 (if I can get registered before it sells out). Of course I will be at my favorite Aravaipa race Crown King Scramble on March 30th. And I am headed to Oklahoma for The Oklahoma City Marathon on April 28th. I am sure I will through some other stuff in there to use as training runs and speed workouts.
I have some ideas or the summer but I haven't really made any decisions or final plans. I am also looking at some FKT’s but need to sit down and make some plans for those.
Monday:
Norm has decided he wants to run again, I think. He asked about running with me a couple days ago. Today Norm decided to head out with me. I told him to pick a distance and that was what we would run. He likes trail better so we went out on the trail. Norm decided to go to Visitor’s Center and back. That seemed a bit far for me (it’s 6 miles total) but it was his choice. We weren’t far in and he seemed to be struggling so I offered to turn around but he wanted to continue. We were close to the Visitor’s Center when Norm took a bad fall right in front of a bunch of people. Poor guy! We walked to the Visitor’s Center. We headed back home after using the bathroom and chatting with some people about their dogs. It was a lovely 3 mile hike home.
Tuesday:
I don't normally post my workouts on here. Not that I am hiding them, you can see it all on my Strava. But I am so happy with this workout that I am posting a picture. And for once my Suunto and Strava where in synch (meaning Strava didn't say I ran insanely fast miles that I did not run.)
I left for 12 mile run with 4 miles to warm up and 6 miles at 6:35ish pace. I am terrible at pacing so I never expect to be dead on. I was already worried during the warm up because I was feeling sluggish. Right before starting the fast running I stopped and was trying to mentally pull myself together. Zach and Nicole Bitter went by wishing me a merry Christmas and probably wondering why I was just standing there. I was giving myself a pep talk. The first mile did not go well. I was struggling and didn't come close to pace. I was worried that the whole work out was going to be a disaster. But after that first mile I picked up the pace and felt great. The only time I didn't feel great was when I would look at my watch and see it say 6:15. That would cause me to freak out. I kept having to remind myself to calm down. I was running comfortably and felt fine. I kept telling myself, “You are faster than you think, be happy.”
With 3 miles of speed left I started having a bad side cramp. I think it was from the constant stopping and starting due to stop lights, people, and in general city stuff. I had decided to take one of my favorite road routes knowing there wouldn't be much traffic on Christmas Eve. I think it messes up my breathing and ends up giving me a side cramp. Yeah, we'll go with that.
To sum it, I am really impressed with myself!
I have basic race plan for the first four months 2019. I’m running Coldwater 52 miles (1/19) as a training run for Black Canyon 100K (2/16). I am headed back to Colorado to run RUFA 6 hours on March 9 (if I can get registered before it sells out). Of course I will be at my favorite Aravaipa race Crown King Scramble on March 30th. And I am headed to Oklahoma for The Oklahoma City Marathon on April 28th. I am sure I will through some other stuff in there to use as training runs and speed workouts.
I have some ideas or the summer but I haven't really made any decisions or final plans. I am also looking at some FKT’s but need to sit down and make some plans for those.
Monday:
Norm has decided he wants to run again, I think. He asked about running with me a couple days ago. Today Norm decided to head out with me. I told him to pick a distance and that was what we would run. He likes trail better so we went out on the trail. Norm decided to go to Visitor’s Center and back. That seemed a bit far for me (it’s 6 miles total) but it was his choice. We weren’t far in and he seemed to be struggling so I offered to turn around but he wanted to continue. We were close to the Visitor’s Center when Norm took a bad fall right in front of a bunch of people. Poor guy! We walked to the Visitor’s Center. We headed back home after using the bathroom and chatting with some people about their dogs. It was a lovely 3 mile hike home.
Tuesday:
I don't normally post my workouts on here. Not that I am hiding them, you can see it all on my Strava. But I am so happy with this workout that I am posting a picture. And for once my Suunto and Strava where in synch (meaning Strava didn't say I ran insanely fast miles that I did not run.)
I left for 12 mile run with 4 miles to warm up and 6 miles at 6:35ish pace. I am terrible at pacing so I never expect to be dead on. I was already worried during the warm up because I was feeling sluggish. Right before starting the fast running I stopped and was trying to mentally pull myself together. Zach and Nicole Bitter went by wishing me a merry Christmas and probably wondering why I was just standing there. I was giving myself a pep talk. The first mile did not go well. I was struggling and didn't come close to pace. I was worried that the whole work out was going to be a disaster. But after that first mile I picked up the pace and felt great. The only time I didn't feel great was when I would look at my watch and see it say 6:15. That would cause me to freak out. I kept having to remind myself to calm down. I was running comfortably and felt fine. I kept telling myself, “You are faster than you think, be happy.”
With 3 miles of speed left I started having a bad side cramp. I think it was from the constant stopping and starting due to stop lights, people, and in general city stuff. I had decided to take one of my favorite road routes knowing there wouldn't be much traffic on Christmas Eve. I think it messes up my breathing and ends up giving me a side cramp. Yeah, we'll go with that.
To sum it, I am really impressed with myself!
Wednesday:
10 easy miles today. Since my watchband is still broken I wear my running vest and shove the watch in my pocket. If I am not looking at my watch it is easier to run slow.
Thursday:
Since Enzo and Brandi are out of town I am dealing with their puppies and my dogs. By the time I got everyone outside, inside and fed and had my coffee I has been up for almost an hour and a half and my stomach was starting to growl. I got dressed to run and saw that it was 42 degrees outside. I changed back into warm clothes. I decided to work on cleaning my desk and run later today when it warms up.
I have come to the conclusion that some sort of massive taper is not for me. A couple years ago I decided to cut my taper to a few days before the race. I was basically following a plan by David Roche. That worked well, but I decided that I want to keep mileage a little higher going into a race. I used this approach with Desert Solstice. Although DS didn't go well, I don't think it was my taper plan that was the problem. I did cut out yoga the week of the race and I think that was a mistake. I go almost every day so I think not going left me feeling really tight. In the future I won't cut back on yoga.
I was feeling tired in the afternoon and decided to take a nap, but ended up sleeping longer than I thought. I should have gone for a run, but I just didn't feel like it. I took a shower, had a coffee and a snack. I figured I would run plenty tomorrow. I listened to the podcast I have been listening to over and over again since Desert Solstice. It’s an Outside Podcast called Sweat Science: Loving the Pain. I love this because it talks about doing what you love now. And obviously about pain and human endurance.
10 easy miles today. Since my watchband is still broken I wear my running vest and shove the watch in my pocket. If I am not looking at my watch it is easier to run slow.
Thursday:
Since Enzo and Brandi are out of town I am dealing with their puppies and my dogs. By the time I got everyone outside, inside and fed and had my coffee I has been up for almost an hour and a half and my stomach was starting to growl. I got dressed to run and saw that it was 42 degrees outside. I changed back into warm clothes. I decided to work on cleaning my desk and run later today when it warms up.
I have come to the conclusion that some sort of massive taper is not for me. A couple years ago I decided to cut my taper to a few days before the race. I was basically following a plan by David Roche. That worked well, but I decided that I want to keep mileage a little higher going into a race. I used this approach with Desert Solstice. Although DS didn't go well, I don't think it was my taper plan that was the problem. I did cut out yoga the week of the race and I think that was a mistake. I go almost every day so I think not going left me feeling really tight. In the future I won't cut back on yoga.
I was feeling tired in the afternoon and decided to take a nap, but ended up sleeping longer than I thought. I should have gone for a run, but I just didn't feel like it. I took a shower, had a coffee and a snack. I figured I would run plenty tomorrow. I listened to the podcast I have been listening to over and over again since Desert Solstice. It’s an Outside Podcast called Sweat Science: Loving the Pain. I love this because it talks about doing what you love now. And obviously about pain and human endurance.
These puppies are goofy!
Friday:
I am trying to go into ATY really chill. It’s really just a training run and the chance to make a go at a decent 100 mile time. I was feeling fine until the car ride. Suddenly I was really nervous. If you don’t know anything about ATY, it’s a little over a mile loop. We decided to park on the backside of the loop and use a small table to put my stuff on that I would be using. It wasn’t much. Squirrels Nut Butter, portable chargers for later in the day a couple changes of clothes and my running vest. Norm and I had a bit of a squabble when we were parking.
Despite this, the day started off well and went will for most of the day. A few miles before mile 50, two problems developed. I just totally lost interest in running 100 miles. I was bored. The other problem was I was starving! I had tried to up the amount I was eating at the aid station, but it wasn’t helping. At mile 51 I walked with Cheryl Miller for a bit to tell her that I was feeling like I didn't care about running 100 miles. Maybe I just didn't care enough to keep going. She told me I was just tired and I was doing great, just keep going. But really other than being super hungry, I felt fine.
I decided to keep going to 60 miles. For 10 miles all I could think about was how hungry I was. My pace was dropping a bit. I think the hunger was leading to a lack of energy. Combined with a loss of interest I just was having trouble making myself go. I stopped and talked to Norm. I told him I just needed to eat a lot of food. I couldn't think about anything but In and Out Burger. I decided 61 miles was a good training run and with Black Canyon 100K on the horizon I want to be sure I can keep training.
We packed up and headed to In and Out Burger. We stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way home. All the things I don't eat so I'll pay for this tomorrow.
I am trying to go into ATY really chill. It’s really just a training run and the chance to make a go at a decent 100 mile time. I was feeling fine until the car ride. Suddenly I was really nervous. If you don’t know anything about ATY, it’s a little over a mile loop. We decided to park on the backside of the loop and use a small table to put my stuff on that I would be using. It wasn’t much. Squirrels Nut Butter, portable chargers for later in the day a couple changes of clothes and my running vest. Norm and I had a bit of a squabble when we were parking.
Despite this, the day started off well and went will for most of the day. A few miles before mile 50, two problems developed. I just totally lost interest in running 100 miles. I was bored. The other problem was I was starving! I had tried to up the amount I was eating at the aid station, but it wasn’t helping. At mile 51 I walked with Cheryl Miller for a bit to tell her that I was feeling like I didn't care about running 100 miles. Maybe I just didn't care enough to keep going. She told me I was just tired and I was doing great, just keep going. But really other than being super hungry, I felt fine.
I decided to keep going to 60 miles. For 10 miles all I could think about was how hungry I was. My pace was dropping a bit. I think the hunger was leading to a lack of energy. Combined with a loss of interest I just was having trouble making myself go. I stopped and talked to Norm. I told him I just needed to eat a lot of food. I couldn't think about anything but In and Out Burger. I decided 61 miles was a good training run and with Black Canyon 100K on the horizon I want to be sure I can keep training.
We packed up and headed to In and Out Burger. We stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way home. All the things I don't eat so I'll pay for this tomorrow.
Waiting for my fries while sucking down a Dr. Pepper.
Sunday:
My favorite yoga teacher is back from vacation and the hip hop yoga class on Sunday is my favorite class. I slept in a bit. Not hard to do at all because I was feeling very lazy. I’m at 100 miles for the week so I am taking today off from running.
In the end, I am totally fine with my day at ATY. It was a solid run. I also think I have learned that maybe if I want to run 100 miles I need to a point to point course and not loops. I always thought I would like loops better, but I think being able to pick up a pacer that is forced to keep me company might help. But 100 mile races are really freaking expensive so maybe not.
I also know I need to figure out the food thing. I had gotten myself to a place were I could run a lot of miles on very little calories. After taking so much time off due to the ankle injury, that isn't the case any more. I think I can get back there, but it going to take some time. It’s good to know this going into Black Canyon so I am prepared with more food than I would normally eat.
My favorite yoga teacher is back from vacation and the hip hop yoga class on Sunday is my favorite class. I slept in a bit. Not hard to do at all because I was feeling very lazy. I’m at 100 miles for the week so I am taking today off from running.
In the end, I am totally fine with my day at ATY. It was a solid run. I also think I have learned that maybe if I want to run 100 miles I need to a point to point course and not loops. I always thought I would like loops better, but I think being able to pick up a pacer that is forced to keep me company might help. But 100 mile races are really freaking expensive so maybe not.
I also know I need to figure out the food thing. I had gotten myself to a place were I could run a lot of miles on very little calories. After taking so much time off due to the ankle injury, that isn't the case any more. I think I can get back there, but it going to take some time. It’s good to know this going into Black Canyon so I am prepared with more food than I would normally eat.
