Within 2 Weeks

The day draws near. We fly out of London the day after tomorrow for Minnesota. Definitely excited to see my family and spend some time in the US. I'm pretty sure I've got everything needed for this run but will need to pick up a few things and get organized once in MN. 

I haven't been running much since my big mileage week. Been feeling tired but hey it's taper time! So, I'm not too worried about it. There are pretty much zero workouts that will make me faster so resting is the key. A friend from Oregon just ran the Waldo 100km and had been having injury issues in his calf. He ran a total of 40 minutes between two runs the two weeks prior to his race and finished just fine! This morning I was awake but had trouble motivating so I opted for coffee and meditation instead! 

There has been more and more action on the Superior Endurance Runs Facebook page. The finishers buckle is sick! You don't need a Facebook account to have a peek,

https://en-gb.facebook.com/superior100

 Everyone is pretty psyched I think. 

Final week of bigger miles is over

So last week ended as planned which I was very happy with. Topped out at 73 miles total and felt good. Saturday I banged out 17 miles before work and Sunday did 18 in the morning and then another 8 on the treadmill in the afternoon. Both days I averaged 7 to 7:20 minute miles. 

This morning got out for a fast 10 miles with a few miles around 530 pace. Feels good to go fast! Well faster at least! 

Finding time is everything in attempting to put in miles and be a family member. The early mornings work out well but can get tough. I'd love to be able to run 100 mile weeks or every weekend put in 3 plus hours running but there is no time. My max time frame available is normally 2 hours. Sunday I would have preferred to run for 4 to 5 hours at an easy pace but I don't have the time. So, despite it not being specific to my race, I get in what I can which ends up being faster paced medium length runs. This seems to work out ok in the grand scheme of things so we will see how it works for a 100 miler. 

Injury update. The achilles still is there but once I'm warmed up and stretch my calf it seems to fade. With my mileage now slowly receding I'm not too overly concerned about it. My hamstrings were better today, rolled them yesterday and I have been better about stretching. Just need to keep working at all of this so things don't get worse.

Logistics, logistics, logistics. Need to order some things such as food and maybe some clothes. Then need to figure out a race strategy and how I plan on directing any outside help during the race. I'd like to keep it simple. Give me this, make sure I do this, if this is happening recommend this. I'm pretty self sufficient but with people giving me what I need it could save time at aid stations. 

If you think about it, if a race has 10 aid stations and you stop for only 5 minutes at each you've lost nearly an hour standing around! Sure it is a necessity, fuelling up, making sure you've eaten, re-applied BodyGlide, take care of this or that. All of these things NEED to happen or you risk not finishing but in and out fast like at a car race is what's important. 

Granted early on when my mind is right the first half of the race I won't need much but later when I'm tired and it's dark, that's when it will be tough. 

So all things I need to work on over the next couple weeks.

Rejuvenation

Well I think I'm back in action. Not sure how, what, why but this week has been good so far.

The Achilles. I kept running, continued stretching, etc. and it is slowly going away.

Tiredness, fatigue, sluggishness. Yesterday I got up ran 8.5 miles then had the opportunity to hit the treadmill up for another 5 on the incline and it felt good, both runs. I hopped on the treadmill the day before as well for one long uphill and it went well too. 

Did I go too hard in the WOW and it took me this long to recover? Sure didn't feel like I worked that hard! 

Has the overall accumulation of mileage, chasing the little one, home life stress, strength routine added up so much I've finally caught up and recovered? I often wonder what kind of residual training effect I get from carrying the little one up and down stairs and generally being on my feet all day does. 

Has this high fat diet I've been experimenting with not only made me ripped (no modesty there sorry, the wife says I'm "hench", whatever that means!) but stripped my glycogen stores down that my body can't handle the endurance? 

I'm not sure what it is but I feel pretty good again. I did a little more research on this diet and could only find ultra runners, cross fitters, paleo freaks, etc. that are really into it. From a vanity standpoint, yeah it works, but for me no more. The majority of pro marathoners who put in 125 plus miles per week eat carbs. I think I'll eat carbs. I bumped my intake up from 150 to 250g to minimum 400g a day this past week. Still eating ultra healthy, limited wheat, but trying to get more carbs via quinoa and potatoes. 

It's actually hard to eat that many carbs when you cut out wheat! I'm very satiated in general with how much protein, fat, and vegetables I eat. So more fruit and as mentioned potatoes is the plan.

Got a new race vest from my buddy who owns Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City. Last week an Ultimate Direction AK Race Vest arrived. Great piece of gear. He's expecting a nice write up on it as I take it through the motions the next few months and I'll be sure to share. Rumor has it his shop is going online soon, support him, great people, great shop. 

Hoping for a good weekend of running, the it's time to slowly cut back until race day. 

Injury update

Well after a 55 mile week and some time on my trainer I'm feeling a bit more positive. After speaking with my boss at the running store my injury may not pose as much of a threat as I thought.

So there is no pain when I push and pinch my achilles which essentially means its not my achilles, the pain is referring from elsewhere, most likely a tight muscle somewhere on my lower leg or foot. We think the hallus longus maybe. After running over the weekend it does seem to be getting better. I little retail therapy with a new pair of Brooks Cadence helped a bit. The calf work may be helping. The eccentric calf drops can't hurt anyway and will help strengthen my legs for descending. I've become a little more thorough in massaging my entire lower leg and foot as well. The golf ball from my father in law is much more effective on my foot than the little one's odd toys! 

Anyway, despite less miles than I had hoped last week it was sufficient considering how tired I've been. This week I'm shooting for 70 miles including a 25 to 30 miler hopefully, then it's time to cut back on miles the following three weeks. It's best to come into a race under trained and rested than over trained, besides at this point there is little I can do to make a big difference in my result. Time to maintain and heal.

I'll focus on stretching and foam rolling, my bodyweight exercises, some cycling, and may add in some eccentric squats to strengthen my downhill muscles (same as the calf drops). I'll run about 50, 35, then 15 miles in the three weeks leading up to the race for taper. 

Then I need to figure out a race strategy and take care of some logistics. I need to get anything needed sorted out, gear, food, etc.. Figure out if anyone wants to meet me at any of the late night aid stations for moral support, do I want a drop bag anywhere, where can people meet up with a change of shoes, socks, BodyGlide, etc. I'd prefer to be fairly self supported but something's could be way easier if someone could meet me. 

It's coming up quick! 

Just too close now for an injury!

So this Achilles thing is still there and it seems to be getting worse which is bad. Very bad. I've started doing eccentric calf drops three times a day which supposedly strengthen the calf, reducing load on the tendon, and also re-injure the tendon in order for it to heal itself. Supposedly the founder of this technique was attempting to injure his Achilles to the point that he needed surgery but ended up healing itself! Of course more rolling as well to loosen up my calf as well.

looking towards Kidderminster above St. Leonard's Church

I've been running fairly conservatively but really wanted to get in a couple long runs. I don't think these will happen. Just to be on the safe side I may just try to get a couple 60 mile weeks in and skip the long runs I was planning two 30 milers. I'm so close to my taper that I think I'm going to fight out this injury another week before reducing miles. Kind of a gamble but as of now it feels fine if I keep my calf stretched. 

Overlooking Stourport near trig point in Ribbesford

I've also got the option of an elliptical and my bike in case I do need to actually stop running and have considered next week going every other day running and then one of these. In all honesty however I need that taper bad overall. My body it trashed, I'm still riding that red line for recovery. I'm sleeping better and my resting heart rate is lowering which is a good sign however.

Coney Green Farm, Stourport

That's about it for now. The stress is high around here, some personal things going on, a grumpy toddler refusing to go to bed, and then trying to train for an ultra at the early hours of the day sure adds up! This vacation to MN is much needed in more ways than one!