Long Run New Orleans

Thanks to the advice of some fellow runners in New Orleans I found a scenic, but safe, route for my long run on Saturday. I was initially nervous running down the "neutral lane" which is the route for the trolley cars and, well, I didn't know if it was okay to cruise along between their rails. It just looks like I'm going to get hit. However, they move relatively slowly, stop frequently, and after I saw several people running the same route I realized I was neither risking being run down nor impeding the flow of New Orlean's mass transit system.

Most of my run took me through the Garden District, which had many old oak trees lining the streets and some beautiful old homes. I did a loop through Audubon Park and circled back to my hotel along a route that took me along the river and through a hip looking area on Magazine Street. It was a great way to see the city and I feel like I got to see a good cross section of a very interesting place.

I did complete my goal of 40 miles in New Orleans with a 20 mile run on Saturday and a 6 mile run on Friday. Saturday was HOT. I mean HOT. I nearly emptied my 70 ounce hydration pack, before stopping at a Walgreen's for 20 additional ounces of Gatorade and a Starbucks espresso doubleshot (I love those things). I also confirmed that Thermotabs (salt tablets) really can stop heat related nausea and, by mile 17 or so, was strongly regretting skipping the ice cone stand at the Audubon Park. While I felt a little flaky at the end of the run, the heat didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would (I didn't really discover salt tablets until the end of last summer) so I'm looking forward to a good summer of training.

Also, lest I forget to mention food. The fine folks who organized the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Conference came through with a very tasty "Seafood Extravaganza" held at the Mardi Gras Museum, which helped me to recover nicely from my long run.

Time for a plan

Okay, enough lamenting the amount of work I have to do and the lack of running that I've been doing. Time is running short. If I'm going to even make an attempt at a 100 miler this year, I need to make a plan and to stick with it. As before, my goal is to avoid getting injured and to train to finish. I'm putting in more miles/week then I was at this time when preparing for the 50 so I don't think it is too late to start getting serious. The problem is that I just haven't been putting in a regular pattern of long runs. So here it is:


I know, it kind of violates the old 10% rule, but I think if I avoid hills and update my shoes regularly, I think it will be okay. My plan is to max out my long runs with the Wild West 100k race in Lowell, MI. After a week of recovery, I'll try another 50 mile run on my own. I might do this as a regular 50 mile run, or a set of back to back 25 milers with one at night. I want to work a couple night runs in so that I can get acclimated to running while sleepy as I hear this is one of the differences in moving from a 50 to a 100. So there it is. Hopefully, having my training schedule out there will help me stick to it.

On a fundraising note, I'm still planning on posting a link for donations. I just haven't had time to get everything arranged and, I'm afraid, the way my summer is going I'm going to scale back my fundraising goals significantly. More later.

The year in review

I didn't think about doing this until I was checking out Dirt Dawg's blog. Here's 2007 in review:

Total distance run: 1,152.22 miles
Total time spent running: 196 hours 17 minutes
Calories burned: 124,795

Continuing to use McDonalds Big Mac value meals as a metric, I burned the equivalent calories of 107 value meals. Theoretically, that means I could have eaten a value meal approximately every 3.4 days and burned it off running (not a good idea for a variety of reasons).

Now that's pretty cool. That's also an underestimate since I only started logging miles at the beginning of March. It also only includes runs that involved my GPS, since I'm a computer geek and too lazy to log miles manually. I highly recommend the logging software that I use, which is Sport Tracks. It has some functions that the Garmin software doesn't, such as satellite views, and best of all, it's free! I also find the interface more intuitive.

Weekly Statistics

Well, I forgot to charge my Forerunner this week and, since I'm tapering, didn't bother charging it until today. Consequently, my total mileage is an estimate and I don't have any heart rate information.

Total mileage: 35 miles

Together, we have raised over $4,000 and we have one week to go! I have one check in my office and a few more verbal commitments for donations too. This is quite an impressive figure and I want to both thank those of you who have donated and thank those of you who have asked others to donate. This is an important cause and I couldn't have gotten where I have without all of your help.

Along those lines, I received another email this week from someone with lupus. It is a good reminder to me as to why I am doing this and wish her all the luck in the future.

Finally, I talked with the Mike Watson, the athletic director at SVSU, and he asked me if they could recognize my run between quarters at the October 13th football game against Michigan Tech. Not only is that very cool, but I think it will be a good opportunity to educate the SVSU community about lupus.

Weekly Statistics

It was my first official week of tapering and resting up for the race. I feel a little guilty not running so much, but it also has me realizing how much of the summer I spent trotting around town. Still, the timing of everything couldn't be better since last week was our first week of classes. Holli made reservations last week for our hotel in Manistee. There's no turning back now. I'm starting to try and eat more carbs. I hear that the night before carb-loading doesn't really work and its something that you need to build up over time. Less than two weeks to go!

Here are my stats (not as interesting as the last few weeks!):

Total mileage: 25 miles
Long run: 10 miles
Average pace: 9:47 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 151 beats/minute

35 mile video

Gosh, this job thing sure gets in the way of my running and blogging. :) It's nice to be tapering though. Ran a relaxed 5 miles yesterday. Here's the video from Sunday. It was too long for www.youtube.com to take as a single video so it appears in two parts. Enjoy!

Weekly Statistics

Did anyone else notice that the countdown clock on the site was like a day off? Maybe I'm the only one paying that much attention. :) Anyway, it's all fixed. Here are my stats for this week:

Total mileage: 52 miles
Long run: 35 miles
Average pace: 10:49 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 152 beats/minute

This officially begins my taper. My 35 mile long run went very well. Including breaks I averaged 11:30 minutes/mile. This has me completing the 50 mile run under 10 hours. That would be cool. Slow and steady finishes the race. I did the last testing of food and equipment and I'm pretty happy with my setup. I did use the video camera, but I'm a bit tired so I'll post the video later.

Belated weekly summary

Well, I would like to say that my slight slip in training was due to some planned recovery days. Unfortunately, it was just an issue of a busy week at work and some high heat and humidity early in the week. Anyway, here are my stats from last week:


Total mileage: 38 miles
Long run: 20 miles
Average pace: 10:05 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 149 beats/minute

I also bought a new pair of shoes yesterday. I went with a pair of Brooks Adrenoline GTS 7. I've been putting enough miles on my Saucony shoes that I want to make sure I switch shoes before they start breaking down and bothering my knee. I was also in East Lansing for a meeting and couldn't help but stop by Playmakers. I haven't had time to try them out, but will post a review later.

Carrollton Charity Road Race Marathon

I ran a marathon today. That's always a satisfying way to start a day. I'll give my impression of the marathon in a bit. First, here are my weekly stats:

Total mileage: 46 miles
Long run: 26.2 miles
Average pace: 9:31 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 152 beats/minute

Plus, as a bonus, here are my marathon stats:

Average pace: 9:43 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 155 beats/minute
Total time: 4:18

So, what did I think of the Carrollton Charity Road Race Marathon? As many other runners have posted on the web, it's a very pleasant small town event. I'm not great at estimating numbers and the event is so small that they don't even post final times for everyone. However, I would be surprised if there were more than 150 people in the 5k, 10k, 20k, and marathon combined. The race is well organized and the route is easy to follow even if the scenery, which is largely residential with some cornfields (ah, the midwest), is somewhat unremarkable. You start with a short 2 mile loop, which is followed by 8 longer loops. There were two aid stations although the only supplies provided were water at both and Gatorade at only one. No bananas, gels, or anything else was provided. However, since you go through the same place 8 times, it's easy to resupply on your own.

Surprisingly, I found the 8 loop set up rather enjoyable despite the less than remarkable scenery. You get to see the winners (I hear one guy was out shooting for the Olympic team and finished in 2:23) as well as a whole range of people on a regular basis as you pass each other frequently. With so few people running it creates a feeling of comradeship. Both runners and volunteers were very supportive, which made the event endearing. I found out at the end that a volunteer even gave Elliott a stuffed duck while he and Holli were waiting for me to finish! They also made up for the lack of food by providing Tim Horton donuts at the end. Mmmmmm.... donuts.

I'm happy, although not thrilled with my performance. It was nearly 30 minutes slower than my past marathon times (it's been 3 years). I had some nausea problems after slamming a Pediasure and my knee acted up briefly at mile 22. Still, I tested out the Nathan Fastdraw hand bottle and Thermocaps electrolyte capsules and was happy with how they worked. I was initially resistant to the idea of carrying a bottle the whole way, but without a dog or jogging stroller I sort of liked it. The walk/run combination also seemed to work well. Of course, I got caught up in the race and didn't really stick to it until after mile 10--bad idea. I'll start earlier next time. I also need to figure out a more convenient way to take the Thermocaps. Hey, I'm officially over half way to the 50 mile point!

The Carrollton Marathon made for a great training run. It's also a nice local road race that is well organized, albeit hardly extravagant. It's not worth going far to attend (although I did meet someone who came from Wisconsin), but if you are in the area, it's worth stopping by.

No running content

Okay, maybe there is a little running content. I had a great 10 mile run today. Feeling solid. Elliott woke up and pointed at all the cars and trucks that passed us.

More importantly, here is what I look like as a Simpsons character:
The website gave me some problems (for instance it kept making me a woman no matter how many times I hit the "dude" button--not a pretty sight). You can check it out here. If I can get the website to work better, I'm going to make a version of myself in running gear. The Simpsons rock.

54 days to go

The countdown clock on my blog seems to be broken. I'm sure that it is going too fast. I was in Meijer the other day and I noticed that they were putting out the back-to-school stuff. I thought about telling the clerks that it was still summer, but I guess they are probably just following orders. What happened to the summer? I'm sure this is just a corporate conspiracy to start the holiday season early.

I digress. Here are my stats for last week:

Total mileage: 40 miles
Long run: 20 miles
Average pace: 10:11 minutes/mile
Average heart rate: 154 beats/minute

With three runs around 20 miles under my belt, I'm feel pretty okay although at the end of my 20 miles yesterday I realized that I will need to run the same distance 1.5 times over again. Yikes. I think the marathon next week will be a good test as it will be over half the 50 mile distance. Didn't I read somewhere that most people can run in a race twice as far as they have run while training?

I'll offer these as inspiration to anyone else out there training for an ultramarathon. First, a quote by Karl King:

When my longest run was 13 miles, a marathon seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 26 miles, 50 miles seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 50 miles, 100 miles seemed nearly impossible.
When my longest run was 100 miles, 50 miles seemed like a nice, long training run.

Second, check out the blog of Kelly, an ultrarunner with Lupus. Seriously, she kicks ass.

Quick update

Had a good 10 mile run on Thursday. I'm taking a couple days off and then going to do another 20 on Sunday. I've decided to stay with the high mileage with lots of recovery days. I've been reading some reviews of the North Country Trail--some suggest hills other suggest it is mostly flat. I'm wondering if I should do at least a few hill workouts (around here that probably means going to a gym.)

I've decided to run the Carrollton Charity Marathon next week (July 29). I think it will be nice to do a race to mix things up a little and it is just about right for the mileage of my long run that week. It starts at 6:00 AM--ug. Of course, since Elliott's been born waking up early isn't as hard as it used to be. The race consists of 8 short loops and it is really a very small event, but that sounds perfect for a training run. The loop set up might be interesting. If anyone out there has run it, please post comments. I'll keep ya'll updated.

Recovery and speed

Had a great 10 mile run today. My knee is pretty much 100% back. I'm not at the mileage I'd hoped to be, although all the backpacking with Elliott kept me pretty close to on track, even if my mileage didn't increase as I had planned. Still, with no ill effects after my 20 miler on Sunday I'm in a pretty good mood about my progress.


The above chart is my average pace. Before the botched run in Victoria I was running 20 miles at a 9:30 pace (including rest breaks). There is a spike as I slowed, literally, to a walk for weeks. Even subsequently, I decided to mix in a significant amount of walking breaks as part of my recovery. First it was a one minute walk per five minutes running. Then it was a one minute walk per mile. Now, I walk about a minute for every two miles. You can see that this week I am starting to pull my times back under a 10:00 pace. Honestly, I probably won't try and go any faster than this since my goal is only to finish.

To keep things in perspective, I just read in Ultrarunning Magazine about some guy who ran the 1,079 miles of the Ice Age Trail over a 22 day period. That's 50 miles a day for over three weeks. Wow.

Running and MP3s

Check this out:

http://blog.jiwok.com/en/

It's a website with free mp3 based training programs. Basically, there is a combination of music and training advice. I haven't tried any of them yet, but they have some VO2 max tests and other things that would fit well into my mp3 related running addiction.

Quick update

20 miles yesterday with no ill results so I'm feeling pretty good about my training schedule. It roughly follows the 10% rule, keeps me home with my family, and appears to be keeping me injury free so far. Still, its a work in progress so I'm open to suggestions from anyone out there in cyber land. Heck, feel free to post your own schedules or email them to me and I'll post them. I've been tracking my internet traffic and some of my efforts have been paying off as I've gotten at least a few people who have wandered over here from external sources.

Anyway, I'm leaving on Wednesday for a conference in British Columbia and I need to get a paper finished, pack, and do all those other miscellanious things so that's all for today. The next post might be my first international missive!

How important is your base?

Holli and I were out of town celebrating our 5th anniversary so this post comes a bit late. I had a great 10 mile run on Thursday, which was nice since I was really feeling bad the previous day. I had some muscle soreness and was really tired so I'd started to wonder if I was ramping up my mileage too quickley. However, since a good night's sleep seems to have taken care of it, I'm not sure this was the problem. More likely it was the rash of push ups and sits ups I'd opted for a couple of days ago.

I've discovered a new blog, Philedippidations. It's largely about running by Steve Runner who does the podcast while running. Cool idea. I've only listened to two episodes, but I recommend checking it out. Go to http://www.steverunner.com/ for more info.

Steve's podcast got me wondering about the importance of having a strong base before starting training for a long distance race. He made a comment that he was working on building his base up to 50 miles before he starts marathon training. I realize that common knowledge lends itself towards this approach; however, to be honest, my base weekly mileage was in the order of 20 miles per week when I started ramping up my long runs in preparation for the race this fall. Furthermore, if you have been paying attention, I rarely run more than three days a week (although I will probably shift to four soon). I'll post a copy of my training plan soon, but I am currently not planning on running more than 20 miles or so in excess of my long run. This isn't a typical training plan.

I think that a great deal can be learned from reading about other people's training plans and particularly those of experts can be useful. That being said, I think that it is important to alter plans according to indvidual needs and goals. My two goals are to complete the ultra safely and to do so without sacrificing a great deal of time at home with my family. Time isn't really an issue. If I feel tired, I go more slowly. If I feel good, I run faster.

Steve, as well as many others, have much faster marathon times then I do and I would certainly not discredit their training plans. However, I think that it is important to keep those plans in the context of the goals of the individuals that generated those plans. Besides, if I had to build to 50 miles before starting this endeavor, I'd still be preparing. :)

I should note that I am fortunate in being able to recover well and have never suffered any serious injuries. I think that being able to bounce back quickly means that I haven't had as much trouble ramping up mileage on a smaller base. At least that's what I hope--nothing hurts yet. 20 miles tomorrow.