30 August 2012

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My last "run" before Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Race in Dahlonega, GA this Saturday. I really just went out to shake my legs loose. 3.5 miles at a leisurely pace in humid conditions. Temps were in the low 80s and I caught a drizzle of rain here and there. I'm starting to get nervous about Saturday. Hopefully, my body will play along and it's going to be a good day. I've trained more than ever and while there are always things to improve upon, this is the best training cycle I've ever completed. It had its ups and downs, but overall, my mileage has been higher than ever before and I managed to get 100 feet of climbing on technical terrain for every training mile I've run. Let's see how I do on flat terrain for 24 hours. I have a couple of game plans depending on how the race develops. My main plan is to stay healthy and to have a good time.

29 August 2012

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After laying off both cross training and running for the last two days in an effort to allow my body to rest in anticipation of Merrill's Mile 24 Hour Race this weekend in Dahlonega, GA, I decided it was time to get a least a short run in. Rather than just take it easy as initially planned and going slightly longer, I went out short and fast. I went on my old UAH Loop and managed to squeeze out a new PR over the 4.3 mile loop of the university campus. I beat my previous best by over a minute and while it wasn't race pace, it still was another nice little confidence booster, which I have been in dire need of since my problems during Laurel Valley. Another short and easy loop either tonight and tomorrow and then it's taper all the way to Saturday:-) Oh, that's just two days you say?...Oh well;-)

25 August 2012

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Today was long run day and other than Laurel Valley 2 weeks ago, my long runs had been half marathons, which isn´t quite sufficient when you´re training for a 100 miler. I´ve been trying to make up for it by running higher mileage more frequently during the week and ¨getting my run on¨ at least 6 times a week. I decided to get at least 16 miles in by running my usual ranger station out and back and sandwiching about 6-8 miles in between by joining the WRH trail running group at the hiker´s parking lot at 7AM. Jason and I met at Richard´s house at 6AM and took off. I wanted to keep it an easy pace after last night´s hard run and Jason was kind enough to oblige.

We arrived at the hiker´s parking lot just in time to meet up with folks after refilling our bottles at the ranger station fountain.  was hoping that the pace would be ¨easy¨and once again, no one was in any particular hurry which was great, because it allowed me to chat with all of these guys, most of whom I´d seen out running before, but never met officially. Thanks again to all of you to letting me run with you. I made the run not only easier but also much more enjoyable.

After logging about 6 miles with the guys and arriving back in the parking lot, Jason and I took off to complete our run. It wasn´t pretty at this point. I was only too happy to go slow and Jason was too banged up to go fast, so we were running a for both of us agreeable slower pace than expected. Jason had rolled his ankle(s) multiple times and I wasn´t too motivated to push after last night´s effort. After all, not everything´s a race:-) We completed our training run in one piece...more or less...in just under 3 hours or so.

24 August 2012

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So I finally dragged my feet out this afternoon after work after deciding to sleep in this morning, since everyone else bailed on me...again.-( I decided to run with some tunes this time, which is very much unlike me these days. As it turned out, it was the right thing to do today. I felt sluggish when I took off for my run from Richard´s house, where I had parked my car to get my usual Ranger Station out & back run in. As I was running the first mile, I started to think back to when I tried to push myself on this run and realized that it has been a while. I know James started to doubt the last PR I had posted a few months ago, because we´ve been going much slower these days.

After logging the first mile at a flat 9 minute pace, I decided to go for it. I decided that I wouldn´t check my splits at all until I reached the Ranger Station atop Monte Sano. I was still feeling good when I crossed Fearn Street 3 miles in, but my lungs started to burn and I was starting to look forward to every little piece of flat trail section for a little bit of relief from pushing on the uphills. Just two more short steep climbs and I would reach the top, leaving me another .5 to .75 miles to go to the Ranger Station. Once I caught my breath and drank a sip from my bottle I pushed one final time to the turnaround point. I touched the concrete slab foundation of where the ranger station used to be before it burned down (official turnaround point according to James;-), looked at my watch for the first time to see 44 minutes (not bad at all, but I can remember at all how long it had taken me during my last PR), got some water from the fountain and continued my push back down the mountain.

I wasn´t worried about being able to go fast (well, what I call fast anyway), I was more concerned about my footing. An ankle twist at this stage of my 100 mile training would be devastating to my upcoming goal races. But no matter, I wanted to improve on my last PR. These types of pushes during training runs help me gauge my level of fitness as well as provide some confidence boosters when I´m not doing any real racing.

Other than having to break for a couple of dogs, nothing really prevented me from continuing to push my pace, but fatigue was starting to get the better of me as I was hitting the most technical parts of the Tollgate Trail as I tripped on a couple of rocks here and there, barely able to maintain my balance. I continued on, slowly gaining confidence that I would at least make it back before sunset. Oh yeah, I forgot the second reason for this PR push. I didn´t realize until after I took off on my run shortly after 6pm that the sun would set at 7:25pm. This meant anything short of a PR or close to it could leave me stranded on the trails in complete darkness. Nothing like the thought of getting stuck without a headlamp on some seriously technical trails to get your pace...and heart rate going.

I got back onto the Bankhead Parkway with about 1.5 miles to go. Time to try to pick up the pace again or at least keep it steady. When I arrived at the corner of Lacy and Pratt and hit my watch, it showed 1 hour 21 minutes and 31 seconds, a new PR by over 6 minutes. Wow, that felt great! Now it was time to get back, send my running crew a training update, get some food and liquids into my stomach and go to bed. My alarm was set for 5AM to run the mountain once again with Jason for a nice 16 miler to start off the weekend.

23 August 2012

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While I planned to do a speed workout on my own around the UAH campus (based on Shannon's most excellent "Need For Speed" workouts) this evening (which I still do), I decided to go for a tempo run this morning to get some extra mileage. I haven't been running as much as I should considering that it is crunch time for me with the Georgia Jewel 100 just 5 weeks out. I headed out just after 6AM and started with an easy 1 mile warm up. As soon as I hit the one mile mark, I decided to pick up the pace without keeping an eye on my watch. My pace felt comfortable and I decided to just check my splits instead of focusing on my pace the entire time. That worked great. I ended up with just under 8 miles at a 7:40ish per mile pace and got home in time to watch the news before heading to the office. Let's see what I've got left for tonight's training run:-)

I added another run this evening but decided against a speed workout. My legs were a little heavy from the tempo run this morning, so I opted for an easy 7 miler instead. I also did get to run a couple of miles with my wife along the way. It´s so much nicer to run with your favorite running partner than to run alone.

22 August 2012

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Hill repeats. I haven't started a training log with those two words in a while. Ed and I decided to head back to our favorite hill. Puke hill, part of the Cotton Row 10K road course, was our destination. After a 1 mile warm up, we started our 10 repeats. My first repeats was fairly slow, but considering I was still sore and that it had been a while, I wasn't too concerned. I just decided to pick it up a little on the next one.

The following paragraph contains blurbs from the conversation that took place inside my head after after my first repeat. "That was much better". I accelerated again on the third one and again on the fourth one. "Hmm, this is new. I'd never tried negative splits on any hill workout, let alone this hill. No way! I can't keep this going. How am I going to ensure I am going faster every time. What if I just go too fast too early?" The fifth and sixth repeats were faster yet again. "Alright, now I have to try! Now the 7th repeat, 1:03 minutes. OK, this is gonna suck. Scratch that, it already sucks! Number 8, 1:01 minutes. Numero 9, 58 seconds. This hurts, but what does everyone say? Your last repeat has to be the fastest one. Oh well, might as well go for broke. What was my fastest time before? 54 seconds? But I didn't run negative splits then, I took it easy and just ran even splits at a much slower pace than this! Here it goes...I think I'm gonna throw up...don't forget to push the split button when you reach the stop sign...press it...press it....dang! 50 seconds. That hurt my legs and my lungs! Does this mean I have to break 50 seconds next time?"

21 August 2012

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A nice and enjoyable easy 4.5 miler with my wife this afternoon after work was just what I needed. I really didn't want to go, but I am glad Anya dragged me out. I'm still sore from my first soccer march of the season last Sunday, but I can't afford to skip any runs. My mileage has been fairly low the last 2 weeks and it is time to crank it back up. 5 weeks until Georgia Jewel 100. The weather couldn't have been better for running, a slight overcast with very little heat and humidity. Fall is in the air...

20 August 2012

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Our view atop Monte Sano Mountain State Park this morning.
Another day and another fellow training partner has rejoined the running training after LV. I met up with Ed at 5AM this morning to get in our usual ranger station run. I was pretty sore from running and playing soccer yesterday, so I was only too happy to keep the pace slow. When Ed and I reached the top, we got a spectacular view from the mountain, but as usual, photos never do it justice. As we made our way back after stopping at the water fountain, the sun was rising. It was a beautiful red color and this was one of those moments again that I wished I had proper camera equipment. Regardless, it was a rewarding view half way through our run. In addition, the temps were perfect, low 60s with low humidity levels (at least as far as I could tell).

I am going to so some flat road running tomorrow, in an effort to give myself some "active recovery" before either hill repeats or some other challenging hilly run on Wednesday morning. Hopefully, most of my usual running crew will be eager to get running again by Wednesday.

19 August 2012

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I finally got one of my usual running crew to rejoin me in training. Richard and I met up at his house at an unusually late time (7AM) to do our usual ranger station 10 miler. We both wanted to sleep in somewhat and it worked out perfectly. The weather was perfect, a light sprinkle with temps much cooler than the previous month. We kept an easy pace as I had a soccer match coming up later that day and didn't want to burn myself out. Considering that we both took it easy, our total time for the 10 miles wasn't actually that bad at all. We'd definitely gone much slower before. I'll be doing this run again on tired legs tomorrow, hopefully in similar weather conditions.

18 August 2012

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While most of my usual running mates were still recovering/resting from the Laurel Valley White Water Run 35 Miler last weekend, I decided to take this opportunity to do a road run rather than the usual trail runs this Saturday morning and what better way to do that than to meet up with a bunch of WRH folks (incl. Cary, Kathy, Rob, Dana and many others I had the opportunity to meet). Some of us met at 6AM at Little Rosie's on Whitesburg Rd in order to run to the Bruegger's Bakery/Coffee place in Jones Valley were a large number of runners would meet up with us to continue on up and over Cecil Ashburn Drive to Hampton Cove  before turning back. This allowed for a 13 mile and an 8 mile option for all runners. All levels of pace were present and I think that's what made it enjoyable for all. There were clusters of runners stretching along Cecil Ashburn. I was pretty comfortable throughout my run and only the final quarter mile to the top of Cecil Ashburn really got my lungs burning. Very strange as my legs were fine and I couldn't remember the last time I felt that sensation. Getting back and over the Airport Rd hill seemed like a piece of cake after the continuous climbing on Cecil Ashburn. Next weekend I will be back on trails, but I look forward to another opportunity to run this route.

16 August 2012

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Instead of meeting the "Need For Speed" group for a Fartlek workout, I had to make up a solo workout instead, following Shannon's instructions. I ended up doing the workout on my trusty ol' UAH loop and while I struggled to get up to speed on the first 2 min interval, I managed to hit my goal pace on each following pick up. Then again, it was a fartlek workout and exact goal or target pace or length of intervals is not important at all. You gotta love a workout that doesn't allow you to fail because there is no such things as not hitting the goals of a fartlek workout...well, short of not running any pickup pace that is. Hopefully, I can arrange to meet up the Need For Speed folks again in the near future. It's much more fun to get beaten down together than alone.

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The first longish run of the week. After running 8 miles as part of the Summer Cross Country Race series last night, it was time again to do a longer run and hit some hills while at it. I met up with Rich at 5:30 AM and we headed to the dreaded Drake Ave hills. Richard proved to be smarter than me, turning around to head home after we reached the 3.5 mile mark at the corner of Drake and Garth. Unfortunately, I wasn't as smart, instead continuing on Drake Ave all the way to the top before turning left and looping back onto Garth and Drake before turning back to the Five Points area via Whitesburg and California. I ended up logging close to 10 miles at an easy pace. Thankfully, I had no problems and issues as a result of the LV ultra this weekend and so the 100 mile race training continues...

14 August 2012

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I'm a little teary eyed as today marked the final day of the 2012 Summer Cross Country Runs. This was the first year I participated and it has been a great addition to my training. Peer pressure is a great training tool:-) Knowing that there would be a bunch of others showing up to run got me out there even when I didn't necessarily feel like it due to heat, humidity or plain old disinterest. It also allowed me to measure my progress on a weekly basis all they way through the summer. For that matter, it kept me running through the summer. I would like to use this opportunity to thank Jennifer & Steve Carter, the Co-RDs of this awesome racing series. Once a week, I had the opportunity to meet up with fellow runners I would normally only see during the occasional race weekend. It allowed for friendly competition with my fellow racers on a weekly basis as well. Lot's of smack talk all in good fun and lots of XC PRs. I am looking forward to next year, hoping to see the same faces as we suffer together through the heat and humidity of an Alabama summer once again while staying in shape, getting in shape or training for the next big race.

11 August 2012

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I always wanted to run through 5 "Georges":-)
What an epic adventure....again! Just like 2 years ago, we were lucky once again to have Richard's and Mike's aunt and uncle allow us to stay at their vacation home during our trip to the beautiful North and South Carolina mountains for this year's edition of the Laurel Valley White Water 35 Mile Run. And when you're that lucky, you try to make the most of it, which is why most of our running group arrived in Highlands, NC on Thursday evening. While Highlands is about an hour's drive from the staring line of the Laurel Valley White Water Run, it is only 25 minutes from the finish line and therefore a perfect location for our home base for the weekend.

While Richard Trice and I both were able to bring along our better halves, the remainder of our group from Huntsville, Mike Trice, James Duncan, Ed Johnson and Jay Naves, traveled solo. Bri (Richard's girlfriend) and Anya (my wife) were extremely "patient", putting up with a bunch of runners who wouldn't talk about anything but ultra running and the Olympics and who ended up waking up the entire house on Saturday morning at 3:30 AM screaming and cheering at Olympic coverage on TV while getting ready for the race. Yet, Anya and Bri still decided to do most of the work around the house, getting everyone fed before and after the race. If I hadn't said it before, Rich and I are two very lucky guys indeed!

Six of us (5 runners, 1 crew) loaded up my car and left for the race start at 4:30AM, excited to have another opportunity to run this amazing race (the smiles in the pic below are proof of that). This was Ed's first attempt and my second, while the others were going for their third finish. Initially, I just wanted to finish and treat this as the training race it was, since I had the Georgia Jewel 100 coming up just 6 weeks from now. But as always, I changed my mind and decided to challenge myself, targeting a sub 8 hour finish.

We go to extreme lengths to get all runners in the picture, even if that means making one of us ride in the trunk:-)
Ed and James decided to run with me, while Mike and Richard decide to roll up the field from the back. As we arrived at the parking lot at the race start, I saw quite a few familiar faces, Dewayne Satterfield and Mike O'Melia, both finishers of multiple LVs from Huntsville, Christian Griffith and Mark Connolly, both guys ran Fuego Y Agua 100K in Nicaragua with me earlier in the year, and a few other faces I'd seen at ultras before.

Me briefly reminiscing with fellow Fuego Y Agua runner Mark Connolly at the start of LV.
Race director extraordinaire Claude Sinclair got the race under way just after 6AM. This year, everyone started at the same time with no early start for slower runners. James, Ed and I tried to line up with the faster runners just to get a head start out of the gate. For the uninitiated, this race starts with a single file climb up some stairs and goes straight onto some very nice single track trails. It is always amazing to see the headlamps of the ultra runner train moving up and down the side of the mountain in the dark during the early part of this race, but this train can also get you moving slower than you might like. Knowing that we would be moving extremely slow during the later stages of the race due to the challenging terrain, we wanted to get out of the gate a little faster than last time and it worked. For most of the first 20 miles, we pretty much ran in our own little group, only spotting the occasional runner once or twice.

Me crossing one of the many amazing bridges during the race.
I was packing a lot lighter this year than two years ago. I relied on energy gels and chews only for food and instead of a filter pump I opted for a military grade in-line water filter from MSR. Other than that, I was obviously using one of my headlamps for the first hour of the race. Along with these essential items, there were three more essential items I did not need to bring along on previous adventures. First, I had to bring along Zyrtec and an EpiPen. As it turns out, I am "slightly" allergic to hornet, wasp and bee stings as I had found out during one of my training runs on Monte Sano mountain 4 weeks earlier. Along with the pain of the stings came a slightly time delayed swelling of my face and lips as well as itchy hives and welds all over my upper body. Tests at the doctor confirmed my allergies, but I still maintain that the severity of my reaction was a direct result of me continuing on my strenuous trail run for another 90 minutes before ever taking any antihistamine to counter the swelling or pain. In any case, better safe than sorry, so now I always have to carry an EpiPen during my more remote adventures.

Finally, I had another change to my usual plan. Instead of SCaps, I had to use Salt Stick caps since my local running shop had run out of SCaps. While I was assured that they would work just as well, I should have known better than to use a new untested product during an ultra race. Well, once again I ended up learning this lesson the hard way.

The first waterfall sighting on our run.
Ed, James and I were moving well and before I knew it, I had filled up my 100 ounce hydration bladder for the the first time at about 13 miles in. Neither James nor Ed needed to top off their water and so we continued on after a brief 2 minute stop. Once again, I was going through water much faster than my fellow runners, but I know my sweat rate and I was quite certain I needed to keep hydrating. Even though the temperatures were cooler and the humidity levels lower than back home, I knew I would continue to sweat and I wanted to make sure I took care of my bodies needs. That's why I also took my first gel and my first 2 salt stick caps just 1 hour into the race. I would stick to this hourly schedule very strictly and even increase my salt intake (via salt stick caps) in an effort to stave off any onset of cramps. I had never had any problems with cramping during ultras and I wanted to keep it that way.

22 miles in and we were all still moving well. At this point, I refilled my hydration bladder for the second time and I made sure to fill it all the way. I even drank a bottle of Nuun electrolyte drink to ensure proper hydration and electrolyte levels along with the hourly gels and caps. However, about 25 miles into our journey, I started to feel slight twitches in my left quad. As soon as I felt it, I took another couple of salt stick caps. This was new territory for me. I had never had to deal with cramps during an ultra, let alone this early in a race. James handed me a bottle of Gatorade and I guzzled that down as fast as I could. I had been hydrating, I had been taking in gels and salt via salt stick caps on a regular basis, yet here I was, starting to have leg cramps. I continued to be hopeful that they would subside eventually.

Just as I mentioned my muscle cramps to James, he started to feel nauseated. After relieving himself of some of the culprits (James called it "feeling pukey", I call it "blowing chunks on the trail"), we stopped for a little break to let him recover. While James sat down on the side of the trail, my attempt to sit down was futile. My legs seized up on me and, very frustrated, I tried to lean on a tree instead. During this time, Ed came just flying by, encouraging us to "come on". We had left him behind on a climb a couple of miles earlier and here he was, running like the race just started.

James recovered soon after we stopped once more to get some water to mix us some more Gatorade. I, on the other hand, continued to get worse. Muscle cramps became more frequent, now affecting my toes, shins, calves, hamstrings and quads. I would try to stretch one muscle only to have another seize up on me. It wasn't pretty. A sub 8 hour finish goal quickly disappeared and even a sub 9 hour finish came and went. I now had approached the final climb of the race and my quads and hamstrings started to cramp with every single step. There were a couple of embarrassing moments (e.g. questions from hikers like "can we help you" and "have you done this before") as well as some moments of petty from fellow racers. They didn't say it but it was written all over their faces. I didn't blame them. I was laying on my back, my face and body contorted in pain just 25 yards from the top of the stairs, yet I was unable to continue. I must have laid there for almost 15-20 minutes, one racer after another passing me by, offering their assistance. But what could they do? I had water, I had Salt Stick caps, but my muscles would not stop cramping. Eventually, I managed to get my butt off the ground without my legs locking up and crawled to the top and ultimately the finish line. To describe my movement as "shuffling" would be too kind.

My Huntsville Ultra Running Crew at the finish line...everyone finished...and with a PR:-)
I finally crossed the finish line in 9 hours and 24 minutes. Thanks to Claude, who once again put on a premier ultra in one of the most beautiful locations in the Southeast. Thanks to all the friendly race volunteers at the finish and to Babette (Christian's wife) for hooking me up with the perfect recovery drink;-) I can't wait to register for next year! But I'll forego the Salt Stick caps and go for my trust SCaps, instead:-)

The print on the back of the race shirt says it all!
The elevation profile below is what makes this particular 35 mile ultra marathon run like a true 50 miler. However, it is some of the most amazing single track trails you will ever run.

You gotta love the elevation profile!

08 August 2012

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Heat training! Slow and easy 4.5 miles with my wife tonight definitely felt rough. Ver easy pace, but the humidity and heat just take it out of you. It feels like breathing while someone is standing on your chest. Here is hoping that the Laurel Valley Whitewater Run 35 Miler in North and South Carolina has some more accommodating weather to offer this weekend. The plan is to push the pace without going beyond a training effort. After all, I plan to do another run the Sunday morning after the race:-)

07 August 2012

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While I had planned to run 3-4 miles prior to the 3 and 2 mile distance races, I had to settle for 2 warm up miles instead. In addition, I knew I had to leave pretty much right after completing the 3 mile race and before running the 2 mile distance. Oh well, after the 20 mile day yesterday I was okay with a little less running today.

Instead, I dialed back my pace even more than usual during my warm up, allowing myself to chat with Cary Long without having to struggle for air while running and carrying on a conversation at the same time. Just when I had resigned to a slow and easy day, Cary told me that he would try to really push the pace during the 3 mile race today. Heck, I was going to run a lot less today that the previous weeks and I hadn't really pushed myself during the races in the last 2 weeks, so why not.

I lined up in the second row when RD Carter gave the signal..."GO". I had checked out the race results over the last few weeks and noticed that Duane Ricketts was pretty much a minute ahead of me every time. Since none of the usual suspects, my Tuesday night posse of nemeses (e.g. Jason, Mike and David) had made it to the races, I decided to latch on to Duane and see how long I can hold on. As it turned out, I was able to hold on all the way to the finish and if Duane had had a better day, I believe I could have broken 20 minutes (see how I managed someone else for my shortcoming there;-). Just kidding, I ended up finishing just behind Duane for a new PR on this course of 20:14 beating my previous PR on this cross country course by more than 30 seconds (Thanks very much Duane, I couldn't have done this without your pacing...yes, you were pacing me even though you didn't know it, sorry;-).

Since I'm not sure what shape I'll be in next Tuesday after running in this weekend's Laurel Valley Whitewater 35 Miler, I figured I'd go for broke during potentially my last chance to do so before the 2012 Summer Cross Country Racing Series comes to its conclusion next week. However, Jason, Mike, David, you know who you are, let's see if one of you can break 20 minutes next week as I failed to do so tonight. Good luck, I'll try to be there either way;-)

06 August 2012

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Since my stomach "situation" this weekend prevented me from doing any running, I had to make up for it today. I scheduled a long run this AM and plan to do something shorter and easier this evening. I ended up getting up at 3:50AM and running from my house to Richard's house to meet up with Ed (Rich had an early work engagement and James and Mike took off on a run at 4AM around their neighborhood) at 5AM for a run up to the ranger station and back. This would give me about 17 miles of some easy road running and some challenging trail running as well.

While I'm okay to put in the miles, I am getting annoyed with the humidity these days. I can't seem to stay dry at all. In fact, I am drenched just 2 miles into my runs and from that point on, its a consistent dribble of sweat from my hat, shirt and shorts. To call this feeling of completely being soaked for hours at a time uncomfortable is an understatement. While I have no issues with chafing or otherwise, I am looking forward to cooler or at least less humid days. Regardless, this training cycle through the middle of summer should really provide for some great fall races this season:-)

Anyway, I got my miles in and my training continues to go reasonably well so far. Hopefully, I can do something easy this afternoon as well. I plan to run the cross country races on Tuesday and another run up the mountain on Wednesday before taking it easy for a couple of days in anticipation of the Laurel Valley Whitewater Run 35 Miler in Pickens, SC. While I am treating LV as a training race, I do not want to toe the starting line depleted.

03 August 2012

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I met up with James and Richard for a nice road 10 miler starting at Pratt Ave and up Drake Ave and back. While the temps weren't quite as hot as in recent days, the humidity levels continue to be extremely high. We kept an easy pace, which was just fine with me after a couple of harder runs the day before. I continued to keep my training focus on mileage and training effort. While we aren't really running a hard pace, we are always making sure that there are some serious climbs or hills involved. I also continue to do hard efforts during the weekly cross country runs and the speed workouts. Overall, I believe the quality of my training has increased over previous training cycles. Hopefully, this will show in my performance during the next big event.

02 August 2012

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Part1: Not knowing whether I would be able to do the track workout with the "Need For Speed" group in the evening due to other family activities, I decided to get a quick 8 miler done in the morning. I opted for 2 figure 8 loops around the UAH campus. I kept my pace just above 8 minutes per mile as I needed to leave some in the reserve just in case I did do a speed workout in the evening. Before I knew it, the workout was over and I was drenched in sweat as usual these days in the hot and humid south.

Part 2: I ended up finding time to squeeze in a speed workout after all, but I ended up having to do it on my own rather than with the group at the Grissom High School track. Instead, I loaded the workout of the day into my Garmin Forerunner and took off from my house headed to UAH. I knew I'd get a nice 1 mile warm up and cool down to and from my house and I'd get just enough mileage around the UAH campus to get the 12x 400m float intervals done. I had to run 1 mile warm up followed by 12x 400m at 5k +15 seconds pace, where I had to run the first 300m hard followed by 100m easy. There would be no breaks until the 1 mile cool down. I was glad to get it done, just in time to pick up my son from his soccer practice:-)

01 August 2012

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Lunchtime run (also referred to as heat training) was on the menu today, but only a short 4.5 miler around the UAH campus. Temps had already climbed into the 90s when Richard and I met at my house. Richard's been struggling with the heat and today was no different. We ended up taking it easy, glad to get a few miles in instead of stuffing our faces with the usual lunchtime fare;-)

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