Heartland Training week 6

We'll here we go again. Now that I have started thinking about Heartland my obsessive compulsive disorder has kicked in. Have I done enough? Have I trained hard enough? Do I have enough time to get to where I want to be training wise? Do I have what it takes to complete another 100? I have more questions than answers right now. Today Monday 8-31-09 I decided after a long contemplation to take today off. After the hard training weekend my legs were a little trashed and I contemplated weather to run today and run like ass or take a day off (even though I just had Friday off) and get better runs this week? I'm not sure I made the right decision but only time will tell. Starting to get excited about Heartland and having my sister Darcy as a pacer, I've never had a pacer before so this will be great to have some company over night. Not sure she knows whats in store for her running all night with a cranky and tired runner. Got a good crew lined up also in Mom, Dad, Jarret, Shelby and of corse my wife, who is becoming a veteran in crewing for me.

This weeks training:

Monday 8-31-09: Took a rest day today to recover from the weekend long runs. Not a planed day off but a day off none the less.

Tuesday 9-1-09: 13 mile county road loop. Ran good today. My legs are still a little sore from
a hard training week last week. Went ahead and hit 13.1 miles 1/2 marathon distance in 1:39min.


Wednesday 9-2-09: 14 mile county road loop to Osage City and back. My legs are still a little sore but don't see them getting any better with all the hard training. Ran 7 miles at >7:15 pace and the final 7 at 8:15+/- pace. Finished 14 miles in 1:48 min.


Thursday 9-3-09: 13 mile county road loop. My legs are toast, wow my run today was less than impressive, but after a week of hard runs an easy run was in need. I think I may be trying to hard, and maybe need to back off every other day and save some wear and tear on my legs. Between running hard and squats and lunges my legs are screaming. 13 miles in 1:48min.

Friday 9-04-09: Rest Took a rest day today with back to back longs planned this weekend felt another rest day would benefit my weekend runs.

Saturday 9-5-09: 31 county road miles from home to Reading. The rest day yesterday paid off today, felt good on my run today. Went out a little easier than normal still ran marathon distance in 3:45 and did some run/walk the remaining 5 miles and ended 31 miles in 4:15min. Hope to get in another one tomorrow, felt really good after this run. Nice and easy long tomorrow for some miles on tired legs.

Sunday 9-6-09 25 miles run along the Levee and some county roads with friends Levi, Jim and Gary, all Trail Hawk Members. What a great and enjoyable run. Nice to get in a long one with friends. 25 miles 4:24?.

Week totals:
96 miles
700 push ups
180 P90X single leg squats, and lunges
Happy with this weeks training. Happy everything so far is going good. Feeling good about my training and runs and starting to look forward to Heartland. Don't want to jinks myself but feeling a lot better about this one than my first. But, we'll see only time will tell. Weekend runs went great, felt good and felt like I could of done more both days no problem. Everything so far has been going good and happy to be where I'm at at this point. Just hope it all pays off.

Heartland Training week 7

This blog is for my friends and family that often ask me how a guy trains to run 100 miles.

I will blog every week for the next couple months telling about my training and thoughts leading up to the Heartland 100 and after. Hopefully with some good training and some luck I can finish my 2nd 100 this year. I really enjoy the challenges of trying to run 100 and look forward to pushing my body and mind to extremes. So far I had not thought about the Heartland 100 much, I kept thinking I had plenty of time to train, and then all the sudden I look at the calender and it's 7 weeks away. I have had a good base of 60-70 miles a week, but have been lacking the back to back's that worked successfully for me at Rocky Raccoon. I still don't know what I'm doing, so far I have just winged it and did what I felt right at the time. I am not sure what others do to train for 100's but, I think the training is similar, although different things work for different people. Running 100 miles in a day is a huge challenge I don't care if you run, walk, skip, jump or slog your way to 100 miles 100 is still 100 miles, and finishing is a feeling like no other. A couple years ago I would of never imagined I would run 10 miles let alone 100. There is something about the 100 that really intrigues me and gets my blood pumping, I can hardly wait for Heartland and look forward to the challenges that lay ahead. Over the next couple months you can follow my progress and read my thoughts leading up to the Heartland 100.

So now for week 7 training.

Monday 8-24-09 16 miles county road run. Was a little warm today and I was still tired from Leadville the past weekend. Was defiantly not my best run and seemed extremely slow.

16 miles in 2:35 min. with a lot of walking at the end.

Tuesday 8-25-09 8.5 mile county road loop. Still not my best run and was hot and humid today. 8.5 miles in 1:04 min.

Wednesday 8-26-09 10 mile county road loop. Better run today took out a little slower but kept a steady pace for the whole 10 miles.
10 miles in 1:18min.

Thursday 8-27-09 13 mile county road loop. Felt really good today, was a lot cooler and the run was really enjoyable. Getting excited for the planned weekend long runs.
13 miles in 1:35 min.

Friday 8-28-09 Was the wife's birthday today so took the wife to dinner and took a needed rest day.

Saturday 8-29-09 28.5 county road loop. From home to Turkey Point to Eisenhower St. Park to home. Was a beautiful day and I ran extremely well, I ran an 8:15-8:30 pace most the way and was running even faster at the end around 7:30-8:00. Finished the 28.5 in 3:52min an 8:08 pace. Not to shabby for a training run. Felt good to have such a good run.

Sunday 8-30-09 17.25 county road loop. Took it a little easier today, the legs were a little shot from Saturday and the week. Still managed a good run. Fell really good about this week training. 17.25 miles in 2:27min.

93.25 miles this week, with 800 push-ups and 250 P90x single leg squats and lunges.
Just now starting to think about Heartland and the task at hand. I'm not sure how it snuck up on me so fast. Would of liked to have started ramping up several weeks ago. I think I'll still be O.K. since I have had a good base all summer, but you never know what's going to happen during a 100, so it's still a little nerve racking. My plan for Heartland is to run as many miles as possible and finish sub-24 at least. In my first 100 I walked the last 20+ as my legs and feet just wouldn't take it any more. My plan this time is to run more miles in training and hopefully it will increase my endurance and pay off in being able to run more at the end of Heartland.
More next week.

Leadville 100 notes

Here are just a few thing I learned from crewing/pacing at the Leadville 100.
1.) It is a brutal race with a 30 hour cut off.
2.) Be prepared to have some sort of problem nausea, diarrhea or both, cramping, fatigue, mental breakdowns, not being able to eat or drink or keep it down if you do. Even all of them at some point in the race.
3.) Be prepared to go extremely slow at times, maybe only making a mile an hour. And be glad to make 4 miles an hour.
4.) It is a race with 30-40 miles of running and 60-70 miles of power hiking. Note: don't spend a lot of time trying to train to run the hills spend the time training to power walk them. Unless you are some sort of good mountain runner.
5.) Be prepared to want to quit maybe even 3 or 4 times. And have a plan to know how to resist the urge to throw in the towel.
6.) When you think you want to quit, stop sit down and regroup and think about what you doing, and why you are there in the first place. You may half to do this one over and over again.
7.) Go into the race expecting to out there the entire 30 hrs.
8.) Never give up, no matter how bad things may seem. You can overcome everything, but and injury. As long as your ahead of the cut-off and they haven't cut your band for some medical reason , you can make it if you keep positive and keep moving in the right direction no matter how slow it may seem. (see also #7 again)
9.) Have a good crew and a good pacer or two line up to help you, without them it would almost be impossible. Tell your crew what to expect before hand so they know how to talk you out of quiting, and how to get you through the rough spots. (probably a good idea to thank your crew/pace over and over again after you complete the race for putting up with your cranky, tired and whinny ass.)
10.) NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

See you next year Leadville, I think it will be my turn to give it a shot.

Good training week

Had a good training week for the week after Psycho Psummer 50K. It's good to good to get back at it. It seems like when I don't have a big run to look forward to or to train for I get a little soft.
I still get my miles in but, don't seem to go at it as hard. This week I took Monday and Tuesday off to recover from Psycho, after I hit it for 12 the day after. I ramped it up the rest of the week and got in some good quality runs, faster than my normal pace. I also did a hill workout at the Gov's up and over the hill again and again for 4 miles after 5 on the trails. Saturday I hit a long run on county roads from Lyndon to Auburn for a total of 24 miles and change in 3:25. Was looking to get 20 in on Sunday but our good ol dog Salia passed away on Saturday night and had to take care of that first thing Sunday morning before the kid got up. So my Sunday morning run was pushed back to the late afternoon and by then was a little out of the mood but still had a good quick 10 miles 1:15. Ended the week with 5 runs and a total of 67 miles. Around my usual 70+/- a week in 6 days only this week did it in 5. Starting to look forward to Heartland 100, was trying not to ramp up to soon, so I think now is the time to start upping the miles with some back to back longs and putting in some quality runs. Also looking forward to going to Leadville next month and pacing Rick for 50 there, a little worried about running at that altitude, I really don't have any experience running at 10,000+ feet elevation. Going to hit some good back to backs with Rick over the next couple weekends so that will fun and be some good quality runs I'm sure. I think maybe I can keep up with him after he runs 50, but I will have fun trying to keep up with him off the get go.

Psycho Psummer 50K

Over the weekend I ran the Psummer Psycho 50K ultra marathon, at Wyandotte Co. lake park.

The race was put on by the Kansas City Trail Nerds and was as always a great event. I had heard rumors about how tough a course this was and it did not disappoint. Add in 85+ degrees and 90% humidity and it is even tougher. I went into the race wanting to run well but also knowing that it would be a challenge. The race started with a short paved section necking down to single track trail. I started close to the front and the pace at the beginning was brisk and steady, after we got strung out a bit the pace slowed to a more comfortable pace but still at a good clip. The first 5 or so miles are full of hills and I ran all but the steeper ones. So far so good, and the miles went by and my pace was still good. From the boy scout aid station there was a section of paved and gravel road that was very run able so I tried to make good time in this section. From there it was back to single track trail through the triangle and back to the start finish this section was not to bad hill wise but had some mud in spots to contend with. I finish the first loop in relatively good shape in 2:21 and around 5th place. The second lap I decided to take it easy on the first hilly section and save for running across the damn and the boy scout section. The heat and humidity were starting to take it toll and I started having some cramping problems in my calf's and even my thighs. I was carrying only one hand held which worked good for the first loop but was not near enough for the second adding to my cramping problems.

When I got to the boy scout aid station Lee Crane and Pat Perry took care of me like I was the president or something and got me another bottle to carry. The ice shower they had there was the bomb. From there I ran the paved/gravel section and picked off another runner or two. My calf's were still cramping but I was able to keep moving. The last section through the triangle and back to the start/finish I knew if I just kept moving I would secure a 3rd place finish. At the triangle aid station I was cramping bad again and Sophia ran back to the boy scout aid station to get me some more S caps while I ran the triangle, with some more S caps in me I was hoping I could run the last 4 or so to the finish. While I had some cramping the last few miles the closer I got the better it seemed to get knowing I was getting close to the finish. As I came out of the trail across the grass and to the finish the pace was good and the excitement of a good finish in sight. I crossed the finish line in 5:21 a good run for me and 3rd place overall. Ben Holmes came over to give me my finishers metal and congratulate me on a good race. The Kansas City Trail Nerds sure know how to put on a race and the volunteers are the best out there bar none.

Vacation here we come

Oh, it's been a long wait, but it's finally here, time for a few days away from work and lot's of fun.
We are headed to the North Shore on Lake Superior in Minnesota. I can't wait looking forward to getting some running and hiking in with the family on the SHT (superior hiking trail). They have a 100 there on the SHT and might half to give it a try sometime. We are also going to do a little canoing in the Boundary Waters so a wilderness vacation it will be. Except for a stop at the Mall of America on the way, not my cup of tea but the wife will enjoy it. I ran my ass off this week knowing I probably wont get in as much running as normal but some time off to heal up just might do me some good and we'll still be doing a lot of hiking and sightseeing so that will help. I still plan to get out early a couple times for some time on the trails. See you all in 10 days and will have a vacation report when we get back.

Weekly notes 6-7-09

Monday I hit the Governs mansion after work for a nice and easy 9 miles. Tuesday I took a off. Wednesday was another run at the Gov's I hit it for 3.5 miles then looped back around for 6 more with a few of the Topeka trailgators. Thursday I hit the Gov's after work for 4 miles solo then 3 more with Kevin from work. Friday I hit the Gov's again after work for another 5.5 miles. Saturday morning I meet Hunter Munns and John Knowles for a trip to Banner creek near Holton for a couple 14 mile loops around the lake and a total of 28. It was a great day for running and was great to get out with them for a run. Sunday I was going to rest again, and it was hard, I kept telling myself to go run so I had to stay busy to keep myself from going out. It was like I was cheating on my girlfriend or something. I had decided to cut back a bit for the next couple weeks and let the body heal from months and months of hard training. Since we are leaving on vacation Thursday night for 11 days I thought this would be a good time for a break.
I'm sure I'll half to get in a few runs over vacation so we'll see how good a break I get.
Weekly totals:
59 miles
930 push ups