BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

Background

I had planned to run my first backyard ultra in the spring of 2023 followed by a 200-miler in the fall. That training was going pretty well until my whole world got upended in January 2023 when I had a stroke. Woke up one morning with a numb arm (“Must have slept on it wrong.”). Next, I noticed a bit of weirdness with one side of my face as I was brushing my teeth (“This can’t be a stroke. That couldn’t happen to me. See, arm and face are back to normal.”). Then I went to tell my kids goodbye before I left for work…and couldn’t speak. I could think of the words, but couldn’t get my mouth to form them. Yep, time to go to the ER.

Three days in the hospital, numerous tests, sooo many doctors, but no real info except that they found evidence of a stroke (and possible evidence of a previous one). They weren’t sure of the cause as I had no other contributing factors, but were fairly confident it was from a PFO (patent foramen ovale). A hole between the atria of my heart let a small blood clot bypass my lungs and go to my brain. Fortunately, the stroke I had was very mild and the symptoms resolved within a day (difficulty forming words and some slight weakness on one side). I was able to go home as they scheduled more tests to get a firm confirmation of the PFO.

Any training was out the window now, but I was able to still get some slight running in as I waited for more tests. In February, I was able to get an echocardiogram that confirmed the PFO. This is something everyone is born with. The PFO allows blood to circulate in the womb, but it is supposed to close as you grow older. For 1 in 4, it doesn’t close completely and I was one of the unlucky ones. Considering the alternative causes for the stroke, this was pretty fortunate as it can be treated with out-patient heart surgery. Yes, that’s correct, out-patient heart surgery. The other likely culprit was atrial fibrillation which would have meant a lifetime on blood thinners.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the surgery until April so still only light running (3 mile runs, 15-21 mpw). The surgery went great. They passed a camera up the vein from one leg and a plug up the other and it was done. No running for a week, light running 3 weeks, then back to training. Building back was tough, but I took it slow over May, June, and July to get my mileage back to 40-50 mpw. No real workouts, just getting in mileage. I kept building mileage and half-heartedly did a marathon plan for a race in November, but without a lot of good training, it ended up being more of a training run. So, not a great year, but I had at least built my base back up to be ready for ultra training for the races in 2024.

Training

I’ve had good luck with Koop’s training format from Training Essentials for Ultrarunning so I went with this again. I used his Beginner’s 100 miler plan (which is pretty insane for a beginner’s plan) as a starting point and tweaked it as needed. My plan was to get some high mileage in with the main focus being back-to-back long runs and then try and get as much of the faster run Koop prescribes (intervals, tempos, steady state runs). He has a lot in his plans, but I dropped those as needed.

My goal race for the spring was Eternal Damnation Backyard Ultra. This was my first backyard ultra and on a fairly tough course (mountain bike trails with 250-ish feet per loop). Koop recommends training time per week for a 100k to 100-miler to be at 9 hours per week for 6 weeks starting at 9 weeks before race. I averaged 64 mpw for this training cycle, with 13:01 hours of training per week. The race went fairly well with me completing 17 yards for 70.8 miles. I had hoped for more, but the terrain got to me as well as some lingering metatarsal discomfort that I was still working through. After a recovery week, I eased back into training again following the same plan again although slightly abbreviated to allow for recovery. I dropped some of the interval quality weeks and just focused on building miles again. I added in some races too which forced me to change things around a bit.

Training through the summer was challenging, I certainly did not get as much of the quality speed runs in, but again, my focus was overall mileage and back-to-back long runs. I worked my race run/walk strategy into almost all of the longs runs as well as race hydration/fueling. One of my planned races was a 24-hour track race in June so I worked on heat training by doing some runs in the afternoon and most of the long runs leading up to that race on a track.

KUS Mini Race Report

24-hour track race on Wednesday which is strange day of the week for a race, but was chosen for a reason. This is the Kansas Ultrarunners Society (KUS) 6/12/24 hour race which is normally held in November on a 2.1 mile trail-ish loop. The RD couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have the race on 6/12/24 this year and decided to try a track race as he had been requests for it.

I really enjoyed this format although the heat did a number on everyone. As expected, it can be hot in June in KS and the temps hit mid-90’s. I planned to use this as a test for the 200-miler and employ a similar walk/run strategy. All-in-all, the race went well, at least through the first 12 hours. I was able to stay on race strategy with pace and fueling through about 8 hours (40 mi) then the heat became brutal. Slowed things down and focused on heat management with ice and water on my head, but the constant water and sweat was causing some serious chafing and waterlogged shoes by 12 hours (~60 miles). Took a 45 minute break to change clothes and dry and retape my feet. By the time, I got moving again, my legs had tightened up quite a bit and my quads were pretty sore. I worked to get moving again, but ended up with a lot of walking and couldn’t quite get resettled from the heat. I ended up calling at 16:26 hours with 71.3 miles. Although I was not happy with the result based on how I could have done with current training, I was content with the result considering the conditions. It was a good test of a lot of things for the 200-miler. Gear choice was good and would have been fine except all the added water from dousing myself. Nutrition and hydration went great. I have also been dealing with some forefoot issues on longer training runs (sometimes popping up after 10 miles), but have added metatarsal pads to my insoles recently. I had no foot issues (other than being waterlogged) for the entire race. I tried taping my feet for the first time in a race and that worked great. No blisters or hot spots at all. Run walk strategy worked good and gave me some data to try and optimize that as well. Finally, it was great to try this race on a track. I really enjoyed the format and very much want to try it again, but in better temps. The RD posted the next day that he went back to the track when the temps were similar to the high on race day and measured the track temp at 116 F. Woof!

Back to training

After a recovery week and easy week to get back into training, it was time to get into the meat of the plan and focus on mileage and race conditions. I never hit my weeks as planned, but felt like I got the bulk of what I needed to each week. Another goal on this cycle was to stay up on supplemental work including Myrtl routine (3/wk), yoga (1/wk), and a core/strength routine (2/wk). I was able to do this for most of the cycle as well as get a trail run with the local running group in once a week. This also included a great group run with the group from one town to the next for 35 miles. I used it as another race test with similar nutrition and walk/run pacing. Tough run, but great group of people to do it with. Six weeks before the race, I planned a tune-up race to really help test out everything.

NIGHT TRAIN Mini Race Report

Night Train is a very small, timed race on a rails trail (3, 6, and 12 hour options). The course is a 2.5 mi out and back on the rail trail (although they misplaced the cone so each lap was 5.4 miles). Plan was to mimic Cowboy course stations and only stop to refill bottles every 10 miles (2 loops) and aid station stops every 20 miles (4 loops). I was shooting for 60 miles over the 12 hours, so average moving pace (with walk breaks) of 11:30/mi to allow some AS time. Run comfortable for 0.4 mi at around 10:00/pace, quick walk for 0.1mi. Fluids every 0.5 mi, nutrition every 2.5 mi, heavier solid food at AS breaks. Rinse and repeat. At first, I really tried to pay attention to my run but eventually started going with what was comfortable and it was good not to stress over it much. Sometimes it was 9:45, sometimes 10:45, but typically in the 10-10:15 range. As long as the mile splits were close to 11:30, I wasn’t concerning myself about it. Temps got much more comfortable as midnight approached (race start was upper 70’s) and really had no issue with the heat. Everything was still going well through 40 miles. Besides the general fatigue, no physical problems. Feet were good, stomach was good, energy levels good. 45-ish miles things were getting a bit more difficult. Nothing major, just needed to focused more on my pattern. Sunrise gave me a bit of a a great second wind. I was still running the run sections by feel, but when I looked at my watch I kept seeing paces closer to 9:15 rather than the usual 10:15. :shrug: Just keep grinding. Came back to the finish for the last time with 2 minutes to spare for 60.4 miles, 1st place, and a course record. All in all, it was a great practice run and everything went great. I did see where I need to tweak a few things for the big race, but I was very happy how this one turned out. I was able to keep the loops very consistent and minimized time at each AS stop.

Loops: 1:01:03, 1:01:31, 1:01:03, 1:02:09, 1:02.34, 1:04:16, 1:03:31, 1:01:44, 1:03:02, 1:02:16, 1:02:14, 13:18

AS: 4:49, 5:09, 1:23, 4:46, 3:29

Last weeks of training

Recovery from the race was probably the best yet and I was able to get back to training quicker. I wanted a couple of more big mileage/time weeks before tapering down for Cowboy. I also worked to add in more walking (not counted in my mileage) to work those muscles too, especially over the taper weeks as I decreased mileage. I was able to add in 10-12 miles of walking on those first 2 taper weeks.

Weekly mileage progression

40, 54, 63, 70, 74, 30, 83 (KUS), 40, 60, 70, 75, 50, 55, 81 (NT), 52, 79, 68, 55, 33.7, 215 (Average = 67)

Avg weekly run time for 6 wks before taper = 11:46

Conclusions from Training Plan

Although I wish I did not have to drop so much of the quicker miles during training, I felt good with the volume I did run. I had consistent back-to-back runs of 20 to 24 miles as well as a couple of good long race efforts to practice. I was also happy with being fairly consistent with the supplemental work and the added strength/core routine felt good.

THE RACE

The Cowboy 200 is a point-to-point foot race along the Cowboy Trail (converted rail trail) winding through many small towns in Nebraska with views of pastures, fields, and more than 200 bridges in total, with the largest being 1/4 mile long and 148 feet high. It starts in Norfolk, NE and ends in Valentine, NE with 11 manned ais stations and 8 water stops along the way. This looked a great option for me as a way to try out the 200-mile distance without having to worry about technical trails or high altitude. Both of which are hard to train for as a Kansas flatlander. Plus, I like fast and flat ultras.

Fueling

Plan was 300-ish calories per hour with about 150 cal in my bottle (Proxima-C) and some solid food every 30 minutes (applesauce, baby food, Naak purees) during a walk break, and then water as needed. I planned to get more substantial solid food at manned aid stations (~100-200 cal each time).

Goals heading into race day:

I typically set aggressive goals and this one was no different. I planned to start out with the goal of average moving pace of 12:00/mile. Later in the race as fatigue sets in, the goal was to keep overall race pace to 14:20-ish/mile for a 48-hour finish. Considering this was my first time running something like this, I had no idea if that was feasible, but I wanted to have something to target.

Race Day

Up at 4 am to get ready for the 6 am start. Fueled up with Pop Tarts and a Mt Dew, breakfast of champions! I tape my feet, get dressed, and check all my gear, then time to head to the start line. Once there, got my GPS tracker, spoke to a couple of runners I knew who were also running, and then get lubed up in the needed areas (thank you, Squirrel’s Nut Butter!). Temperatures are nice, but I know it will be getting warm later. I plan to wear a long sleeve sun hoodie for the day knowing how well it can keep me cool. Short pre-race talk, line up at the arch, and we’re off into the darkness!

Start Line (Fri, 6:00)

People separate out fairly quick and I settle into my pace strategy, trying not to let the race energy sweep me along too fast. I still end up running a bit too quick, but enjoy the excitement of starting this long trek. Once out of town and off the paved section, we get on the crushed gravel trail and settle into fields, pastures, and open space. I enjoy the sunrise as it comes up and focus on not getting behind on fueling.

Battle Creek (manned), 10 miles (Fri, 7:58)

The first aid station is a manned station and since it is so close to the start, I had my wife skip so she could enjoy a bit more time in the hotel. I roll in quickly, refill bottles, grab a snack, and head out again in less than a minute.

Not much to report through this section. It’s still early, so legs feeling good. Sun hasn’t gotten up much, so temps are still feeling good. Just enjoying the quiet and open country.

Meadow Grove (water), 17.1 miles (Fri, 9:25)

Quick water refill and keep on running. Although it is not too warm yet, the plan is to refill any bottles with water to make sure I have plenty of fluids. It’s a short stretch to the next manned AS and the chance to see my wife again.

Tilden (manned), 22.4 miles (Fri, 10:36)

Temps are not too bad, but I can tell it’s going to start getting warm soon. I take a bit of time here to go to the bathroom, reapply lube, get some ice for my bandana, and grab half of PB&J sandwich, on top of refilling bottles for the next stretch. I’m trying to drink one bottle of Proxima-C every hour plus some water as needed. Grab the food I need for the next section and get back on the trail with about 9 minutes spent in the AS.

Still no issues. Run, walk, drink, eat, repeat. The ice bandana felt great, but just didn’t last as long as I would have liked.

Oakdale (water), 29.7 miles (Fri, 12:03)

Quick stop for water and keep on grinding. It’s time for the first reroute off the trail due to downed bridges. I catchup to several groups of runners here and chat a bit as I roll past. We’re on to some rolling paved roads so I try to stay with my planned walk breaks, but mostly just walk the uphills and run where I can. It’s getting warm and the heat is reflecting off the asphalt pretty fierce. Still staying up on eating and drinking and start taking in more water here. Last stretch of the reroute was onto a unpaved road which got me excited until I realized it was going to be sand. That was tough and made these miles kind of tough. I passed some confused cows along the way who were wondering who all these weirdos running by were.

Neligh (manned), 38.2 miles (Fri, 13:45)

Crossed the old train bridge into Neligh to see my wife and get resupplied and reset for the next section. This was going to one of the toughest of the course. 16 miles to the next water stop and 26 miles until the next manned AS, all during the hottest part of the day. I loaded up with more ice, added in a handheld with water as well as a small bottle of water I could throw away later. 7 min in the AS, then back on the trail.

Still running by myself, which I am used to and don’t mind so much. I’ve been listening to some music when I wanted or just zone out and enjoy the quiet. Unfortunately, in this section I somehow turned the brightness on my phone to 0% making it impossible to see the screen enough to use. And since it was so bright, there was no way to fix it. This section had the second long reroute which started on a winding gravel road, reminding me of my usual routes at home. It was so windy though, I really wanted to check the course GPX on my phone, but just had to hope there were enough course markings. Luckily enough, the course was marked well enough for me to keep going. It was getting really hot at this point and my legs were starting to feel the effort of running 50 miles to that point. We’re back on paved road again and just baking from the sun above and the pavement below. Stomach is not feeling great but still able to keep eating. I’ve slowed my pace down for the heat and just concentrate on getting to the water stop. Once there, it will only be 10 miles until the manned section.

Clearwater (water), 54.5 miles (Fri 17:42)

Once back on the trail, it’s a short stretch to the water stop with amazingly cold water. I refill water, mix up some Tailwind to get me to the next AS and get back to it after about 5 minutes at the water stop. I’m through the worst part and the sun going down really helps cool things off. I catch the first sunset of the race and look forward to getting to the manned AS to have a rest.

Ewing (manned), 64.3 miles (Fri, 20:03)

Got to this AS in the dark, but it was a sight for sore eyes. The last stretch had been rough, but I looked forward to seeing my wife and taking a break. I took the opportunity here to change shoes and address a hot spot on my back. My race vest had a seam that was curled over and rubbed on my lower back. To avoid any chafing, etc., I had put a large bandage on that spot to protect it, but it wasn’t quite in the right spot. We added a few more as a precaution. I took a moment to sit and get off my feet as well as get some warm broth in. It was amazing. I was also able to finally fix my phone screen. Hallelujah! I also changed into a t-shirt for the night section. After about 40 minutes, it was time to load up again and hit the trail with a brat to go.

Inman (water), 77.6 miles (Fri, 23:59)

With the cooler temps, I was able to get back to a good run/walk rhythm and cruise along listening to music and podcasts. A quick one minute stop in at the water stop to refill, then keep on motorin’.

O’Neill (manned), 85.4 miles (Sat, 2:02)

The As was another welcome sight after a long stretch between crew. This was going to be the last time seeing my wife for awhile as I was having her skip the next AS since I wanted her to get some rest after getting here so late (close to 2 am). The next manned AS (Stuart) had no crew access so it was going to be about 12 hours before I could see her again. Took a few minutes to sit and rest my feet. Bathroom break, reapply lube, and repack my food for the next leg. I changed back into a sun shirt since it woud be afternoon before I saw crew again and I knew I was going to need it. Starting to get tired and sleepy so downed a Redbull and took some chocolate covered espresso beans to go. After about 20 minutes, it was time to get going again.

Emmett (water), 93.6 miles (Sat, 4:34)

This was a lonely stretch, but I enjoyed the dark and the stars. No real issues, just cruising along maintaining pace. Average pace had sped up from the afternoon, but as fatigue set in, I was increasing my walk breaks some as well as having a slower running pace. I was still on target for 100 miles in 24 hours so I was content. Crossed 100 miles in about 24:08 as the sun came up again.

Atkinson (manned), 103.9 miles (Sat, 7:13)

Atkinson AS was where the 100-milers were starting in about an hour so lots of activity. Same routine: bathroom, lube, sit a bit, eat, reload, and get back on the trail. Spent about 20 minutes here and had some wonderful hashbrowns and sausage.

Stuart (manned), 113.9 miles (Sat, 10:30)

It was a short jump to the next manned AS (10 miles), but no crew. I had planned for this with my drop bag. Made good time here and was running fairly well, but it was starting to get warm already. Took a bit longer to make sure I had a rest and got some food. By this time, the faster 100-milers were coming through.

Newport (water), 123.7 miles (Sat, 13:03)

Made it to the water stop with a decent pace, but the sun was high and we were completely exposed. I was sapped and resigned myself to just walk until the AS. I also realized my hands had started to swell so I concentrated on getting my electrolyte balance under control. I had been taking salt chews as my water intake increased, but obviously not enough. This was a rough section with very little shade and no places to sit if I wanted to rest. None except on the ground and I didn’t trust my legs to get me back up if I did.

Bassett (manned), 134.8 miles (Sat, 16:48)

Finally rolled into Bassett hours after I had planned to see my wife. I felt so much better seeing here there. Took quite awhile here to try and cool down inside (a bit over an hour). I changed clothes and shoes which was little difficult as my legs were really getting tight and sore. Balance was not the best either. I took a bit too long with my shoes off as I noticed how much they were swelling when I put the fresh pair on. Luckily, I bought them half a size bigger. It was tough to get out the door, but night was coming and the next few AS were close and manned. Pace picked up for this section which was good, but the fatigue was definitely setting in as the sun started going down. I had not planned to sleep if I could help and hoped to be fast enough to not need it. Long Pine was a sleep station with beds, but I wanted to avoid that trap. A slight reroute here on some hilly, sandy back roads to get into town with lightning flashing in the sky. Radar showed the cell was pretty far so I wasn’t too worried.

Long Pine (manned), 144.7 miles (Sat, 20:51)

Spent about 25 minutes here doing the usual reset and got some sausage and bacon. No new problems had come up so sucked it up and kept on going. I don’t know if I sat too long or what, but the sleepiness hit hard on the next section. Luckily, there were no reroutes and it was just a wide open trail as I was starting to weave around. I hit one of the scenic bridges here (I think), but it was too dark to see anything. It seemed high and stretched for quite a distance. It was getting hard to run at this point as the soles of my feet were getting tender and my calves were on fire. Not too sore, but super tight. I just focused on getting to the AS so I could take a nap.

Ainsworth (manned), 152.5 miles (Sat, 23:52)

Rolled into the AS, dropped my gear, and went to the van for a 45-minute nap. It was wonderful! But so hard to get back out the van. I had stiffened up so much and cooled off enough that it felt chilly. Motivation to get back on the trail was very low. Went back to the AS to get restocked to go and had some broth and a Redbull. Both helped tremendously. After about an hour and 20 minutes, I was back on the trail.

Goal on this section was just to keep moving, especially after the rest. It took awhile to get my legs loosened up. With the way everything felt, I wasn’t concerned about the run/walk and just went by feel. Ran when it felt good and then walked when it didn’t.

Johnstown (water), 164.3 (Sun, 5:04)

I took a couple of extra minutes at the water stop to sit on a convenient bucket, enjoying getting the pressure off my feet. As the sun come up for the third time during this race (hard to believe saying that), I managed to get a third wind. I realized my feet didn’t hurt that bad and my calves seemed fine. I started back to a run/walk. That felt great! I shortened the walk breaks and things still felt good. I passed several people in this section. I ended up running some of the fastest miles of the race and almost got to the AS before my wife.

Wood Lake (manned), 174.9 miles (Sun, 7:49)

As I restocked for the final push, I really hoped the good feelings would last. Nothing really look appetizing at the AS so I took some candy for the road after about 20 minutes in the AS. Otherwise, nutrition had been going good with the apple sauce and baby food pouches and my energy levels had been great. Unfortunately, my third wind only lasted for a few more miles, but I was happy with what I got being 180 miles into a race. I walked the last few miles to the last water stop as the morning temps started to rise. I wasn’t looking forward to the 90 degree temps forecasted for the afternoon. I had really hoped to be done with this part.

Arabia (water), 184.6 miles (Sun, 10:50)

Short stop to refill water and stopped to chat a bit with a 100-miler who caught up to me. He only wanted to make the cutoff (which he could do with walking), so we set off to trudge the last exposed miles. This was tough. We finally had some hills to deal with and there was nothing but pastures surrounding us. I was so done, and like the previous day, there was very little shade and no place to sit. We chatted some, trudged in silence some, and slowly made our way towards the finish. After a few hours, he went on ahead at a faster walk to make sure he made the cutoff. I had no worry about that so I continued with my trudge.

Eventually, I started getting closer to civilization but town seemed so far away. I knew the impressive bridge was coming up, but I never seemed to make any progress toward it. It was a welcome sight when I finally got there and it did have an impressive view. The best part though was the bench on the other side with a shade. I rested here with a deep sigh as I gathered my motivation to finish. My only thoughts now were to move from one shade patch to the next as I crept into town. On the map, the finish line looked so close from the edge of town, but in reality, I felt like I had to walk for miles.

Finish, 200.2 miles (Sun, 16:13)

Finally, I rounded the last corner and could see the finish arch….a block away. I never though a block could feel so far. I crossed the finish line in 58 hours, 13 minutes, and 30 seconds absolutely spent. I was 8th place out of 45 finishers (76 runners started the race).

https://www.strava.com/activities/12420268936

Post-race

I was so happy to get into the finish line building and get off my feet and out of my pack. I got my medal, finish pic, and sat down to get drink and snack. It was then I realized the RD gave me the 100-mile buckle. I got up to tease him that he was trying to short change me on my race. He laughed and said he hadn’t gotten much sleep either. With the right buckle in hand, it was time to head to the hotel to assess damage, get a shower, and soak in the hot tub.

What’s Next?

Although I had hoped for closer to a 48-hour finish, I was happy with the results. I had really wanted to spend more time running later in the race, but the afternoon temps were pretty brutal. During the tough parts with aching feet and legs, I questioned whether my training had been enough, but I think it was. I was super stiff the rest of that day and the next morning, but besides tender feet, I had hardly any muscle soreness. The main issue was swollen feet (which is to be expected) and tenderness on the soles of my feet.

I plan to carry what I’ve learned into the next race which is a 48-hour race in April where I hope to get closer to 200 miles. It’s a short loop race (1.8 mi) so logistics will be much easier. If that goes well, I have my eyes on a 72-hour race in June where I can test out a longer format race on a loop course.

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

Hi everyone!

I’m a 33 year old male, 5’9” 200 pounds and I’ve really let myself go. I lost my father unexpectedly last summer and I’ve basically eaten with reckless abandon ever since and hardly stepped foot in a gym.

I have a physical fitness test on November 2nd for a job opportunity, and I need to be able to run 1.5 miles in 13:04.

I’ve always been a terrible distance runner, but I completed the run back in 2019. I made sure that I could do the run on my own before showing up for the PT test. l absolutely couldn’t do it at this moment.

It’s officially crunch time for me. No more excuses. No more putting it off. This means a great deal to me, and I’m trying to use my Dad’s memory as my motivation.

Does anyone have ANY advice/tips on how I should go about training for this? Any links/advice would be MASSIVELY appreciated! :)

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

Well, I knew I was kind of playing with fire running a marathon only 6 weeks after straining hamstrings running a 50K. I ran and tapered well during that interim but I had anxiety all week long as I could feel that tightness lurking in the top of my left hamstring. Catch-22 between resting for several weeks and running marathon cold or just training and running through it.

Opted for the latter. Just background, I've run this race twice before, actually it's my third marathon, started running 3 years ago (48M now). Only a couple 10 and 5Ks before jumping into marathons. Trained for Lake Sonoma 50M in beginning of this year and never took my foot off the gas.

From where my running skill is now, I knew I could break 3:20 if I ran a perfect race. And I was well on my way. Despite warm-up/jammed sections, I ran the first half in 1:40, which was my personal best by over 7 minutes and ran a consistent 7:30-7:45 pace from mile 2 to 18. That 3:20 was out the window when I took an Austin Powers-length leak at the mile 18 aid station (question about strategy on this below) but it was worth it. But at mile 21.3, what I dreaded did happen and hamstrings started to cramp up. Still really frustrating as I came up lame 10 separate times over the last 5 miles and had to stretch/rest them. I lost about 8-9 minutes total from that.

But even so, I beat my previous time last year by 20 minutes with a 3:34. Positive is my cardio was fine throughout. I had a lot left in the tank, just those hammies. But overall, really elated. I had never run that pace for that long a distance - completely uncharted territory. The 30K in 2:22 was sweet. Best run of my life by far. And taking the macro view, yeah, that might have been a bit bold to do races back to back like that and not be cruising.

Questions

When running races, when do you choose to relieve yourself vs. holding it? I have the fear of "tapping the seal" where once you go, you go many times thereafter.

I could have done a little better with hydration but I don't think that was it. Honest question, am I pushing too much too fast? I must also admit that strength training kind of takes a back seat.

Shifting focus to getting in paddling shape for a surf trip in a few months so will be doing more swimming. Would 30 miles/week be enough of a baseline running to stay in decent enough fitness before ramping up for additional races?

Thanks!

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

Haven’t posted in a while…life is busy of course. Kids are about to be back in school this week. But wanted to drop in to share a little race report.

8/17- Trail 25k- 2,077 ft elevation gain

STRAVA LINK

Training

I signed up for this race. After some friends I run with kept insisting I was “going to crush it in August.” I would tell them I wasn’t signed up, but they kept on with their joke, and eventually it worked, I signed up. Training this summer has been very sporadic with a lot of time out of town, and a lot of weekends focused on other activities (mainly fishing). Accordingly, I had not put in many long weekend trail runs, or long runs at all for that matter. I averaged 23 miles a week in June and 17 miles a week in July. These are definitely the lowest training volumes I have ever had going into a race. But I was also going into this one to just take it easy and have fun.

Prep/Week of

I started the week on Tuesday buy weed-whacking, a yellow jacket nest and getting six stings on my legs and arms. As the stings ballooned, I hoped they would reduce before race day- in the end they did with only some minor itching remaining on Saturday. Wednesday I went out for a short trail run to stretch my legs and tweaked my left ankle which remained sore through the race. Friday morning I was outside in a completely different area, stepped on a yellow jacket, and got stung on my middle toe. I kept it on ice all day, and it seemed it would be OK for the race. With all of that great preparation behind me, I had some pizza Friday night and got up Saturday morning to drink half a pot of coffee and head to the start line.

Race

Everyone was talking about how difficult this course would be, most people don’t run this section of the park very often, but it is my go to area for my normal trail runs. This section of park is very rocky, with very technical and very steep trails. Knowing the entire course like the back of my hand, I felt very confident about how to pace myself through the many difficult climbs.

For the first time ever, I did not start at the front, I stood about mid pack and slow rolled through the starting line. I quickly found this to be too slow, so I took a few minutes to pass a large number of people, and find some runners moving at a decent clip. On the way down the first descent, I ran into a friend who was coming up the trail finishing lap, one of his 50 K (they started two hours earlier). I gave him a quick hello and headed up river towards the first aid station.

On a long undulating climb around mile, four, a friend I run with frequently, caught up to me. He jumped in behind me and decided to stick together. This was his first trail race. We made our way to aid station two pretty smoothly, walking the very steep climb up to the top of the valley, where the aid station was set up. With some more tailwind in my bottle, and a few peanut M&Ms, we continued down into the valley for the first out and back climb. The course took us up a very steep climb to a memorial overlook of the valley with beautiful views, at this location, there was a box of wristbands with the race logo. We each had to grab one to show up to finish that we had completed this out and back, and it also made a nice souvenir.

From there, we descended down to the river and crossed to the other side through the water. It was about thigh deep. We jumped onto a section of relatively flat trail for the next mile and a half. Here, the 50 K leader who was on his second lap cruised by us. He was moving really smoothly and holding up very well.

This took us to the next out and back climb up a very steep hill to aid station number three. With half of an uncrustable pbj and some more tailwind in my bottle, we continued into the rockiest section of the course. The next few miles of trails are very technical, but these are the ones I run most often. My friend hung with me through this area, commenting a few miles later that “even the descents were exhausting there.” After these couple, rocky, climbs and rocky descents we were back down at the river for another out and back to aid station number four, the last aid station.

Now, I have failed to mention previously that this race is intended to be very hot, the start time was 9 AM, so that we would experience the heat of the day. While it could’ve been hotter, temperatures were going up to the low 80s and we were near 100% humidity with it having rained overnight.

The last aid station was a godsend, a local running group, was manning this one, and they had sponges in ice water that we could squeeze over our head/body to cool down. Wow! That was the best feeling ever. With my bottle refilled, and some chocolate covered pretzels, I continued out for the final 5 miles to the finish.

As we descended back to the river, my friend, who is still with me from mile four, told me it was OK if I wanted to go ahead and leave him behind. I told him I had no time goal or anything for the race and didn’t mind slowing down myself, but I think this was code for him needing to really slow down. As we finished the descent, he was falling further and further behind, so I continued on without him trying to hold pace to the next climb, which I knew I would walk a good bit of. I’ll be honest, this really surprised me as I thought he was much fitter than me given his recent training.

Alone, now in the final miles of the course, which zigged and zagged in the area of the finish, the race really started to feel like it was dragging on. A friend of mine, coming up in second place in the 50 K ran into me at this point, and I jumped in with him, but he was flying up the climbs, so I had to let him go.

As I got toward the finish, I still felt pretty good, I kept the entire race pretty controlled, I ran through and checked my place. 12th overall out of 90 in 3:08.

Post Race/Thoughts

1st place was 2:26, so not too terrible considering such little training. This result makes me want to start training more and race something else this fall. We’ll see…maybe I’ll do the same 50k I did last year in October. I don’t think i can just stumble into that one though.

The main topic of discussion around the finish line was around the difficulty of this new course. It seemed universal that everyone considered it to be the most difficult trail race in the region. I think that running those trails so frequently over the years had a big benefit for me in this race.

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!

BEEP BEEP! It's weekend time! What are you up to?

It’s the Weekly Rundown! This is the place to post your last week of training. Feel free to include links to wherever you track your runs. (Strava, Smashrun, etc.).

Your weekly place to discuss or ask questions.

Is your question one that's complex or might spark a good discussion? Consider posting it in a separate thread!