The Bunny Trophy

2011 Rockin' Rabbit Half Marathon 

I must admit I write this with a bit of humility still hanging over me. Two weeks ago I put forth my best effort in my goal race at Labor of Love 50 miler, coming up short at mile 22 with dual hip flexor injuries. I still question my decision to stop, and having given myself two weeks to recover I calculated the odds of returning to the game under the conditions of Rockin' Rabbit. The two races are hardly comparable but worth looking at the extreme differences. LOL started early at low elevation, in extremely cold weather, with a significant challenge of hills and elevation climbs at healthy grades all on paved road. RR did have a nice little climb within the first three miles then again at mile 7. The course was mostly paved road bike trail with the last three miles hard packed dirt trail through the infamous 6-Tunnels to Hoover Dam. The day was beautiful and the downhill course proved to be fast. But that's where I held to my concerns in not wanted to aggravate my hip flexors any more than I already had during LOL.

Debbie dropped me off at 0630 for my pre-race rituals. She drove on to the 5K start where four of our friends met her for the 5K. Back at the start for LOL, for some unknown reasons my HR kept leaping off the scale when I wasn't even running. Once I did start my HR only stayed at threshold regardless of all efforts to keep it down.  RR was a nice easy day with no excitement and even though we had a slight grade to our run my HR never increased beyond 160 until mile 10.

LOL turn-around point at mile 11 was the beginning of the end. Now moving in the direction of the start/finish I was on the downhill portion (mostly) and it was then my hip flexors began to ache. Nothing like muscle fatigue, but definitely right in the connective tissue on both sides. Thus, my concern at RR was the lengthy downhill from mile 7 to 10. Over three miles of heavy downhill grade threatened my injuries resulting in a loss once again. However, it wasn't to be. While I heard some faint cries from them, I didn't actually hit some fatigue until the dirt portion where I simply could not get the traction I wanted. 

Thus, during the race at LOL by the time I hit mile 12 I was pretty much doubled over, walking at every opportunity and by the time I hit mile 22 at the start/finish I knew I was thru. As for RR? Even though the dirt track gave my legs some resistance (ironic) I was still able to keep a pretty good pace through it and finish strong. To my amazement, due to the ladies wanting to hang around for the raffles, I eventually found out that I came in second place in my age group!

Anecdotes: During LOL i was visited frequently by fellow runners checking me to make sure I was okay and if I needed any help. This happened over a long series of miles and I was quite impressed with the quality of people at this race.

RR, on the other hand, gave me a souvenir. Somewhere between miles 3 and 5 I was slowly passed by a young 20-something-blonde-playing-on-her-cell-phone-as-she-ran type runner. I wasn't moving slow and the pass took a while, but she must have thought she left me behind as suddenly and without conducting the courteous over-the-shoulder headcheck, out of her right side nostril she blew out some foreign substances that whizzed past my shoulder simulating a rifle shot. The glob of goo narrowly missed my bright white and red Hammer running shirt and the main slug of destructive slime sailed off into the desert to feed some insects.

What I did get was not GUN-powder residue but RUN-powder residue. I viewed the fine white mist as its cloud caught a wind pattern and sought out my sponge-like existence. I immediately felt my temperature rise in a sad mixture of surprise and anger, yet the overspray gave me a little respite from the heat due to the cool shower of post-nasal drip mist. MMMM.....Deee-lish. I later thanked her for the present, to which she had not much to say. I am trying hard not to stereotype here, and in the interest of keeping myself on the mature side for a change, I will let it go and fall where it may. My apologies if it hits anyone.



So the Bunny Trophy wasn't the only trophy I came home with, and that's okay with me. My hip flexors are happy again, I have a new goal race scheduled for this weekend, and I get to go camping too. What more could a runner ask for except maybe a shower?

DNF

I hate those three letters. Despise them with a severe passion. Ask any athlete or competitor of any sport at any level and they will tell you they represent everything opposite to everything the athlete believes and holds as significant. This will exemplify the feelings I have this morning. Justified or not, DNF comes to represent gaps in my training program. The ultimate responsibility remains with me, so any consequences therein are mine as well. Keeping this in mind, my decision to not continue after mile 22 must be viewed as the right decision since the outcomes may have been extremely different. Right now I have the luxury of a pity party yet I have the availability to make the necessary corrections and continue on with my training focusing on my next race. Had I possessed the internal mechanisms to drive on in spite of what was occurring, I may have found myself unable to continue within any venue, let alone running. Hence, at mile 22 I made the decision to withdraw from the race and take my DNF.
What took place: The only thing I didn't anticipate yesterday was the wind. I knew it was going to be cold so I came fully prepared with all sorts of clothing. I knew the run was going to be challenging since I have completed this course on two other occasions. I had my entire fueling planned out to the hour including water. I even had a special shipment of fuel delivered just in time for the race so I would have all the nutrients ready. On top of that, I purchased a portable battery supply for my iPOD. I mean, I covered my bases! Except....there were issues. My HR monitor stopped in warm-up. Then it started again. Then it showed my HR pinging way over my max DURING WARM-UP! I was also not entirely focused prior to the start, not common for me. I usually find my zone pretty quickly, but this time I had 'too many minds' going on as a result of a very disturbing week.
I thought I did pretty well making the initial climb of 2000 feet or so even with my HR indicating a steady 160-165 rate. (Yes, that's too high.) I followed everything perfectly and even knew my pace was slow due to the climb, and even chalked up the HR to the climb. I hit the turn around at mile 11 and headed back down the mountain. It was the downhill that finally caught up with me and the adductors started signaling me of their impending collapse.
By the time I hit mile 16 where Deb was working the aid station, I was pretty much only walking, even though it was all down hill. I continued on as she drove to the next station which was at the 10K turn-around. By the time I reached her again, my adductors were as taught as violin strings and running only lasted 20 paces at a time. The last three miles to the start/finish took nearly an hour to complete, and by the time I arrived to check-in, I had pretty much determined that my day was done.
How did this happen? Where did I go wrong in my training? I thought about something on the way home and I don't believe it is coincidental. The same thing happened to me on 10OCT10 during the Hoover Dam Marathon. I signed up to run the full, but by the time I hit mile 10, my same muscles were screaming at me and I was only moving through a bent-over position. The fortunate circumstance to that race was the ability to have my time counted for the half marathon and I did not receive the infamous DNF. Then it happened again yesterday. The link? On both races I had completed the Army Physical Fitness Test only two days prior to the event.
Don't get me wrong....it wasn't the test itself that did me in. It was the lack of focused training the area of abdominals and hip flexors through strength and flexibility training that provided the conditions to be so ripe for injury during the runs themselves. And here again is where I get to take the responsibility for my injury. I had missed-trained these areas and focused so heavily on my running that my muscles were not used to the strain applied to them during the APFT and without sufficient time to recover before the race, the muscles simply didn't have sufficient endurance to complete the races.
So, I have a 50 mile sticker that won't get added to my truck just yet. I lost a significant amount of financial investment through race entry fees, products purchase, etc. Tough lessons to learn, and ones only I can assimilate. Upon occasion I wonder what people will think, but then I remember two very important principles: the ones who opinions count will only be those that support me, and those who criticize don't have to live in my body from now until the injury heals or for that matter, doesn't heal because I did too much damage. And really, do I really care what the negative fault-finder and the "I'm-better-than-you' type person thinks? That only shows a complete lack of empathy (being able to see from someone else's eyes.)
So what now? My training continues. It will be severely adjusted, but it will continue. My only responsibilities now include the two master degree classes I am taking so time is entirely on my side and the absence of negative criticism will only serve to benefit me in the long run(pun intended!) Yep, I am going to feel sorry for myself today. Poor me. Waaa waaa waaa
But then I am going look at other things in my life that remind me of who I am but WHOSE I am. And I will get back on my training wheel and be the little hamster I love to be.

Breaking Barriers

On March 26, 2011 I came to within two and half minutes of breaking through the four hour marathon barrier. This is important because in the last three years of running I have yet to do so. I now have 9 full marathons under my belt and just haven't been able to cross the finish line under four hours. And with those words I paint a very simple picture of a person who has in his path a barrier that seems impenetrable. However, in further inspection some certain facts come to light that provide a reasonable justification for the apparent failure that is, in fact, not a failure at all, but an extremely significant accomplishment in and of itself.
The most important component of this particular marathon can be found in the past four months of training. For that a bit of history is required. I hired my coach a year ago and my first goal with him was to run a marathon under four hours. The training plan he put me on worked on developing a specific energy system while additionally working on a specific muscle fiber. That being said, in several attempts to run a full my body refused to cooperate and each goal race I set ended up being lost due to illness. At the conclusion of the Las Vegas Marathon in December when I exploited my reserves within the first half resulting in a 4:30 time, I adjusted my goals and set my sights for priority number two: a 50 miler.
This training plan in progress since January has completely changed focus and e3verything has changed. All I do now is focused on the ability to run for an extended period of time. Okay, four hours is a long time too, but think about it. If 26 miles requires 4.5 hours, add another 24, take into consideration bodily degradation and you end up with a time like 10 full hours of running. This is simply not something you do over a course of a couple weeks. I have spent the last four months slowing my pace, working out details of long distance endurance running styles, and this style of running uses a full marathon as a TRAINING RUN.
Add to this a couple of life changing events and you have a race day that is somewhat clouded already that stand in the way of that 4-hour mark. These events include applying for a job in D.C. as well as leaving the current job in a week for full time schoolwork. Decisions decisions. And the irony of it all? The race was run in the rain.
Ultimately I missed my 4 hour mark once again, this time by only 2 and a half minutes. But my gain was so much more. I ran the entire race, something I have never done before. I didn't stop and I didn't quit. I will break my goal one day. Just gimme time. For now, the only time I need is that ten hours.

6 Tunnels to Hoover Dam 3rd Anniversary

Three years ago this race was my introduction into the world of long distance running. I have completed this course a total of five times now, so I know it pretty well. Each time I traversed this route, I have managed to shave a minute from the previous time, but the course has never been freindly to me. The long slow uphill of the first three miles followed by the return to the start line 3 miles played havoc with my stride and my HR. The result has always been a struggle during the dirt portion of the last 7 miles. Rocky and graveled the back 7 can be challening with street shoes, not to say its tough with trail shoes. Run it again I did though, this year having a special guest on board. I have been goading my OPS NCOIC to run a half marathon and he took me up on it. We had a great time. Ultimately, for his first half he did respectably well coming in 10th in his age group. Pretty darn good for a virgin marathoner.

From my side of things, I am not really sure what to say except during this run I was actually happy. Other races I have felt good, but this was the only one I can remember where I pretty much sang throughout the entire race. Not out loud for most of it, but there were times when I let my voice be heard! Suffice it to say the amount of stress I have been experiencing over the last few weeks have taken its toll until the day before the race when it finally came to a close. The ape was off my back called ATMS and I was free to run as I am intended: Burdenless.

I started out slowly enough at a 9:30 pace at least through mile 8 or even 9. But I suddenly realized I much energy I had and allowed my feet to springboard stride after stride. By the time I hit mile 10 I was steady at an 8:00 to 8:15, something I knew I should NOT be doing, but could resist. As I continue to train for my 50, a quicker pace is the opposite of what I want, but I just felt soooo goood!

Approaching the finish at maybe 200m out, I passed what I thought would be final kill. Yet, I heard his footsteps behind me, taunting me. I got mad and kicked it into high gear, his trailing laughter sealing the deal for me. Yet as I came within 20m of the finish he came out of nowhere and crossed the line just ahead of me!! I never did get his name but it was all in the spirit of fun competition as mutual congrat were echanged.

I later saw him crashed out next to his car. Hmmm....I wonder what it took for him to beat me?

Bottom line: It has been awhile since I felt that way, but I was happy and my run showed it. 8th in my age group, 104 out of 610. My time was 1:54:03. Amazing the difference a day makes when your heart is free from burdens and strife.

A Reply to Red Rock

The thought occurred to me yesterday that while I have posted my own assessments of my races and trainings as I have captured my thoughts in emails to my coach, I have yet to actually post one of his replies. So, upon completion of Red Rock and the response I received in return, I decided to post his reply. I have a couple topics to talk about with him further such as calorie burn, water loss through sweat, some minor cramping I experienced, but those are really simple mechanics of running.

As you read through his reply you will see corrections on this or that, but overall you should notice that he has discovered the secret of leadership. In all my interactions with him he has treated me with nothing but dignity and respect. Even during my times of utter failure (not Red Rock) he has been able to motivate me to actually WANT to be better. 

Contrary to Jared's methodologies we still do see the 'chair throwing' coaches that produce results. But at what cost? Does it really need to be that way? Consider for a moment: Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose details the account of Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne during WWII. The initial company commander was the latter of what I just described. As notorious a commander he was in all his legalistic brow-beating methods of leadership, he got results. But the question always remains: was it because of him or in spite of him? I think also of a certain college basketball coach who entertains the crowds through his courtside antics, but can you imagine being a member of his team?

 

At 44 years old my long distance running career has just started. I am 2 years into what I intend to be something I do for the remainder of my short time here on earth. And I want to enjoy it. My body doesn't recover quite as well as it used to and my energy levels have started their "after 40" slippage. So when ti comes to what I do now it matters to me that I actually enjoy what I do, and my coach has a lot to do with the environment in which I run. With his positive attitude and selfless desire to see success in my efforts, he can see where I have achieved when in my own perspective have only seen failure.

 

This is why I have him as my coach:

 

"You are an ultra runner if you complete the miles in a race over 26.2 miles...period.  Those types of people come in many types.  Flat and fast is one type.  Challenge hunters is another type.  Which type are you?  The answer is yours and yours alone.

 

CONGRATULATIONS on TAKING OFF 15 MINUTES FROM YOUR PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS ON THIS COURSE.  That cannot be overlooked.  Some of this email may seem negative but I assure that it is not.  It points out opportunities to add to your strengths.  You are a strong runner.  You want perfection and anything short is tough for you.  I get it, but please take the time to revel in your 15 MINUTE COURSE PR!

 

Now, the answer to why you lost energy is complex but understood.  You put in the training miles (on most weeks) but you do not live the “lifestyle”.  This is not a knock by any means.  You have a great life.  It is factual that it is not 100% dedicated to running.  You have a life outside of the road.  Unfortunately, the rest of your life is led in a way that counteracts some of the work that you do on the road.  You are changing that so let the changes in and you will be a better distance runner.  You need to lose weight to make running hills manageable.  These are the simple things. 

 

Now for the complex. . . your heart rate was elevated at the start.  After the amount of races that you have completed, this should not happen any more.  It took you over your threshold and kept you there for the opening hills.  You simply ran out of muscle glycogen and your body shut down.  Either your fuel is not getting through your GI tract fast enough or your choice of fuel is not compatible with glycogen production in your body.  If it is not getting through your GI tract fast enough then you may be eating foods within 48 hours of your race that are blocking race needed nutrition.  High fiber foods, alcohol, proteins, and saturated fats should all be avoided on the later half of race week.

 

Take off your watch for the half this weekend.  Or put tape over the face if you want the feedback.  Run by feel and let me know what you think.  It will dispel the nerves of trying to run to telemetry.   

 

The other issue could be with potassium and sodium levels.  Carrying extra weight up hills will stop your body from being able to keep the efficiency in your muscular system constant and will help put you out of balance in electrolytes.  As you run more, you will force your body to sweat more efficiently and you should notice less salt in your sweat. Until that happens, add a lot of powdered electrolytes to your racing regimen.  No capsules or flavored liquids.  Your liquid should be for water and unflavored electrolytes only until higher efficiency level are achieved.

 

On this topic, you have nothing to worry about.  You are doing fine.  This is a long metamorphosis that you are in the middle of.  It will change your life and you are at the right point to accept that.  You are the type of racer who will endure a challenge.  Hills may exist, but you will traverse them even if you have to crawl.  That is your persona and will be your persona as an ultra runner.  Do not confuse that with being the fastest ultra-runner out there.  You are not a flat and fast kind of guy.  That would probably bore you.  You will be better at beating the hills as your body changes. 

 

Stick with the schedule, fuel on every run, experiment with fueling and how it feels, and think of fueling as a lifestyle not a running issue.

 

Go out and enjoy.  You are doing great.  Congratulations again. . .you impressed me with that performance." -Jared Sweet.

Red Rock Marathon

Red Rock Marathon 2011 is un the books! I improved by 15 minutes from last year, but with all the training I have been doing, my time should have been better. However, my time is completely wrapped up in my performance, and as you will see everything we do and everything we are remain intertwined with each other. My pre-race talk from my coach included the comment that to an ultra runner Red Rock is a rolling terrain or basically flat. While I can see his point, my perspective from yesterday was not like that at all. So, my post is basically my email reply to him. Keep in mind that even now, a full day later I am still a bit fuzzy in the head!

Jared: I must not be an ultra-runner. I didnt find Red Rocks to be rolling or basically flat at all. I found my pace very easy to maintain starting out and worked the hills very well. They were steep and felt my breath leave me gasping, but I managed well. The long downhill from the peak elevations increased my pace, but it wast what I thought to be too much. I knew it would faster than 9:30, and I ended up around 8:30. I took two oz og gel at 0530 before the race, and at an hour I gel'ed, then again an hour later, which took me close to the turn-around area. The downhill towards the visitors center was where I took my beating. When I rounded the corner to make my two-laps near the welcome center, my legs didnt want to move. They felt like bricks. I made my two laps, headed back uphill, and after some calculating figured in the last 2.5 hours I only took in 180cal, so I gel'ed again. That was the last gel i took. Water was early, often and frequent hitting the bottle with a moutful at every mile, maybe a bit further. I thought the water was actually good.

The trip back around the loop took its toll. My energy levels were diminished and many times I had that tired feeling of wanting to sleep as described before. The hills I could only walk up at a slow gate. downhills were my normal pace, not anything near the first half. I finished at 4:30.

Effects after the race: I came home, took a shower, and went to sleep. I woke for a little while but again fell asleep around 2p.m. I have eaten waffles and bacon, but that's about it. Water has been around 64oz. My legs feel like noodles, and my insides are kinda mushy, like they are not working right, kinda like they are nervous. I had some dizzy spells too for awhile.

Here is what I think created this: Last Friday began the NASCAR mission and over the weekend I had some big ticket mission stuff, and then on Tuesday I had many big training events to coordinate. These had to deal with weapons etc which created some tasks of high importance. On top of that I still needed to complete my annual training meeting preps. 

SO......what ultimately happened was my nutrition suffered. I really couldn't tell you what I ate this week, not just for lunch, but dinner as well. I do think my water was good with my red hammer nalgene providing me a good measurement for quantity. But not having a sufficient amount of good nutrients hurt. On top of that, my sleep simply sucked.

Add to the mix my college class requirements and I simply did not have a good pre-race week.

Right now I am icing my legs, and my feet are killing me. Compression socks are on too.

The good news: Once next week is over, I will be on easy street. The first week in April is all off days, so I should be able to prepare myself appropriately for Labor.

I look forward to your eval too. I am really not sure if I evaluated it correctly. I so much want to know why it is I lose energy so easily on the second half.

Recent Gap

Wait....you mean I have a blog?

Death Valley was over two weeks ago and I have been absent from my duties since. Not good, so how about an update?

I'm not even really sure where to begin. Lets look at the training and see how its been going first: the week and weekend after my Death Valley Marathon put my body through some pretty good testing. I competed in the Mardi Gras 10K last Saturday, reversing my LSD from Saturday to Sunday. I was told to take the race seriously and I did. The result was a 3rd place finish and a new course PR, but the amount of stress I put on muscles really set me up for failure the next day on my long slow distance run. I was scheduled to hit it for 22 miles and to help set up my aid stations, I routed a loop around the house. After my first 7 mile lap, I refilled on water and fuel and set out for lap two. By the time I came back around for another refill, I was empty. I managed 14, but fell short of my goal by 8 miles. I can account for this by two factors: 1) the race the day before was pushed to hard at the end and 2)I was too close to home which made it really easy to stop. So...That was the week before.

Last week? Holy mackerel. The training schedule looked really good, but starting early Tuesday morning the unit had a two-day exercise that in planning looked like I was going to be able to continue to train, but in reality the events that took place ended up lasting over a significant amount of time. Tuesday was a 20hour day for me going from 0200-2000. Wednesday I got to repeat with a 16 hour day. Needless to say the training went out the window. Nutrition? What nutrition? Water? HA! Much to my own demise I sat on a case of MREs and water, but didn't make the time to stop and eat or drink. As a result my mileage was cut down from 22 to 18 for Saturday's run, which turned out well. Finally last night was an 8 miler that ended at 7 due to some upset tummy problems.

This week looks to be a good training schedule, full of challenges. I do have some speedwork, but the distance are a little shorter than they have been. But now here are some other things that have crept up on me and put some additional factors on which to think. My master's degree started back up again. Boo-koo reading and lots of typing. The question is: I have been counseled that following through with the degree and chaplain endorsement is going to be near improbable, if not impossible. What am I supposed to do with that? I can honestly say I am prepared to push it hard through this course of study, but I know full well that one misstep and I will miss my opportunity. What lurks on the horizon though is perhaps a way of escape and I don't think I can pass it up. I need to stop there and keep you in suspense. What matters is that I need to get to FEDEX and hope they are open today.