10 Weeks Is Not Enough

So here we are, about 10 weeks out from Lakeland 100. I have absolutely no idea how it will go! I'm down on miles. Feeling ok on average. Have a couple minor injuries but I'm not overly worried about them. I should be able to finish but any higher goals may be out the door.

I'm mostly concerned with my running mileage. Comparing it to my lead up to Superior last year I'm definitely behind. Life just seems to get in the away. No run this mornng, the little one must have had a nightmare. At 4 am I was awoken by the quiet worried version of "dada......dadaaaa.....dadaaaaa" which after four attempts at getting her back to sleep she finally went down about 530. By then I'm worried she'll do it again, despite being way down on sleep, and waking the pregnant wife. So, here I sit, typing with coffee wondering if I should've gotten out for even a short run. 

Well I can employ the jogging stroller later hopefully but I think our nice weather is on the way out once again. It makes me so mad when you read of these runners who have kids and a spouse and are able to put in solid training all the time. Race once a month. Their family is at all the races helping out. Their spouse trucks the kids everywhere during races to spectate. I'm so jealous of those people. Must be nice.

All I ask is for a solid opportunity to do one of these races at my full potential. I'm 37 so I'm not getting younger however it's not like masters athletes are slow in these races, many times they are just as fast as the younger guns. I guess if I can just hang on to my fitness, keep building on a long term base mileage as life allows me to, hopefully I'll have more time and opportunity after the little guy is born in October. When I mean after I mean like in a year! Maybe two! 

I think being a stay at home dad makes it even harder to find the time. There is no day care for the kid(s), I'm always with the little one so my running schedule depends on her. I prefer to get up early and run but if she decides she's up early like today, I don't run. I've toiled with the nighttime run after she's gone to sleep but it's difficult to motivate. The days done. Also the wife seems to think I'll get mugged at night. Ok?! Then why the hell do we live here! Yes, I mentioned the baby jogger but I only have the canal to run on which is fine but if the weather is bad it isn't the greatest.

Anyway. I'll get some photos up on here too, I'm going to monkey around on my computer in a bit. The timing for sunrise has been really good! 

Disappointed with a PR?

So last Thursday I pulled the cord and signed up for the Worcester Marathon. It was the final day to get in to it. I figured despite a couple odd injuries I'm dragging around I could use the mileage so even if I feel like crap it would end up 26.2 miles of experience managing feeling like crap! Not necessarily a bad thing. I even considered running without any food just to do some mental training and discomfort management.

I have still been trying to figure out this toe problem and for some reason an odd shin splint type pain in my right leg. Most likely from the two bigger weeks of running preceded by not enough, this "injury" disappeared before the race as expected. So, I had an easy week leading up to the marathon in order to heal up a bit and I guess it acted as a mini taper too. No amount of rest has helped the toe thing. It's there, doesn't get better or worse. I've been playing with my lacing on my shoe to see if that helps as it could be pressure on the top of my foot.

The Worcester Marathon is a relatively new race, I think this year was the 3rd running of it, along with the half marathon. The course starts at the Worcester Warriors rugby stadium and heads out a short spur and then two laps with an odd additional spur loop on the second time around. Despite two loops it was very scenic out on rural country lanes. I thought a very nice course despite the hills! Now the hills weren't that bad but they were enough for a road race. My Garmin clocked the course vertical at 900 vertical feet of gain I believe. Any hills at distance on the road hurt, especially when you aren't trained for them! 

Everyone started together. Marathon and half marathon. This was kind of annoying because you had no idea who you were running next to until the second loop. I had my watch ticking away and my pace was judged by my heart rate but it was still annoying. Funny thing was when we hit mile 13, on the second lap, three guys in front of me stopped and realized they had missed the half marathon cutoff! Nothing better than an extra 6 miles! 

We had good weather but when the sun came out it did get a little too hot for racing. No complaints I guess. A bit of a head wind in some parts but no big deal. All in all good. 

All this base training came in handy as my heart rate didn't drift too much until the final 6 miles or so and my pace never went over 7 minutes per mile except for when I stopped to take a piss and when I hit the wall for a bit. Otherwise it averaged 6:49 I believe. Fastest mile was 6:35, slowest 7:08.

I finished in 3:00.15 officially. My Garmin clocked the course at 26.44 miles and my marathon time at 26.22 as being 2:58.56! Grrrrr, unofficial. That piss I took. I should've held it in until it was reabsorbed and I could have broken 3 hours! So yes I am kind of disappointed. Should I be? Absolutely not! So I kind of laugh about it. 

My previous marathon best was 3:01.?? at Tucson in 2001. I got a new PR. I DIDN'T specifically train for the race, no speed work, no hills, no tempo runs, just straight up base mileage. I've never focused on a marathon for training, always just gone and did it. I decided to do a marathon four days before! I have no reason to complain, but it is funny! 

Overall it was just what I needed. I got a great run in. Good miles. I recognized the low points and mentally dealt with them in order to trick my brain into keeping up the pace.  And of course I got a big mental boost pertaining to the doubts I had about my fitness and my injuries I've been dragging around. 

Lakeland = 0 points towards UTMB!

Intended to post this last week but must have been distracted! 

Recently I saw some chat on the Lakeland 100 Fartbook group about whether or not it is a UTMB qualifier. When I registered it was, the LL100 webpage had the UTMB logos, the UTMB had it on the big list. 

I emailed the LL100 people to see what the exact deal was. Ends up LL100 no longer is worth any points towards UTMB! Looks as if the UTMB people are charging £100 to be a qualifying race and the guys at LL100 aren't into that. Understandably so I guess but kind of lame this happened now rather than four months ago when I was rushing to find a UTMB qualifier to register for!  

So now I need to scramble to find a race or races adding up to 3 points if I want a try at UTMB! I've got 4 from Superior and need 7. Nothing wrong with doing another race I guess but kind of fouls any plan I had for training and hopefully it works out with my family! 

This is added a few hours later-------

Just looked at the UTMB site. Looks like now you need 8 points, not 7 as well! So scramble for 4 points and be sure that the race is a qualifier. This seems to be in limbo still too. Many of the races that were qualifiers have a note next to them "to be checked". This should be "pending checks cashed". 

I guess UTMB may not happen. But who knows, maybe I can gobble together something.

Break on through

Despite being sick and having some odd toe injury, my fuck it and move on/push through mentality is sticking. The past two weeks have been my best two of running all year. They are right where I should be mileage-wise. 

Yes, I'm tired, but isn't that the name of the game? Dealing with being exhausted and trying to stay positive I feel is a huge part of the training. Obviously there is a fine line you ride tempting injury to come knocking, however, dealing with being uncomfortable is what it's about. 

Yesterday I felt like crap. The little one was up at night for an hour or so, I didn't get to sleep until 930pm, and the alarm went off at 4am. I initially changed my route reducing my mileage however I was up early and had the time to kill so I just kept going, exploring, got lost, worked on my "stinging nettle sensitivity", did a couple unintentional out and backs, and ended up at home with 16.5 miles considering killing another fifteen minutes just to sneak in a couple more. Oh, all well before the little one woke at 715am!

I felt like crap but moved on from that and got done what I needed to get done because I had the opportunity. Time is precious, I need to make the most of it. 

I had wanted to run the Worcester Marathon which is in a week. I wanted to race it and do well. I don't think I'm up for racing it. Running it yes. So, if it all works out with the family I'll most likely do it for the miles. Of course you never lose that race mentality so how I feel will be the judge of pace. I hate to do anything less than 3 hours but do I go for that goal, crash, burn, and get some experience in the pain cave? Or do I take it easy and enjoy it? I don't know. I don't even know if I can get in still! 

Positivity and confidence have been renewed.

One thing it's another!

I just can't seem to win this spring! After seemingly getting back in the groove I catch a cold! The wife is sick, the little one is sick, and of course I'm sick! Ran ten yesterday morning and felt ok but today opted to stay in with hopes of expediting the get better process. I think I should've ran. Oh well. I'll try tomorrow morning I guess. I seem to be feeling better today.

Saturday run

Managed nearly 17 miles this morning despite the little one waking at 3am for about a half hour. As much as the 4 am alarm clocks can be lame, once you're up and going it's awesome! I didn't hear one car for the initial few miles through town, just birds. Love it! Cold though, my phone said 34 F but along the River Severn and the low lying areas I run through I think it was below freezing.

setting moon along the River Severn near Arley

I was definitely sore as expected. My toe hurt too but didn't fluctuate much which was good I guess. Hips were sore again. I think the hip pain is from the recent addition of some gymnastics exercises, sure is annoying. Pretty mellow pace averaging around 7:50 minute miles, just need the miles so no worries about speed. 

Tomorrow shooting for 14 miles but we'll see. Could be a struggle but running when you feel like shit is ideal training as long as I'm not promoting injury. 

And one more photo of sunrise. I've got a few of these at different exposures, none of then turned out great but a little tweaking on my computer and they could be alright. Just need to find the time! 

sunrise over the Rifle Range/ Devil's Spittleful

   

Here we go again

So here we are. It's now or never to train.

After quite some time of poor quality training, injury, lack of motivation, and whatever other excuses I've got we are running again. Last week I took five solid days off and this week I decided to just push on through. And, it seems to be working.

moon setting over canal

The last three days I've knocked out 30 miles with hopes of another 30 over the weekend. The toe hurts but doesn't get worse. My hip is kind of sore on the iliac crest. Overall I am tired but motivated. 

So a little more of a focus on stretching and mobility hopefully will get me loosened up and another week of consistent running and then hopefully my only complaint will be tiredness. I like the sound of that.

It's amazing how the people's attitudes in your immediate life reflect on you. Positivity, motivation, and general well being seem to be directly influenced by those around you. Don't they say it's best to surround yourself with positive people? 

bridge along the Severn Way

I guess it's too soon to judge how I will feel in July for Lakeland after this nearly 2 month hiccup so I am going to mainly focus on getting in the miles to finish the race. The ultimate goal, outside of being safe and finishing, is hanging on to enough qualifying points for Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2015. With Superior 100 and Lakeland 100 this gets me there. Then I can have a second try at the lottery with a little help from not getting in for 2014. 

Depending on how I feel during Lakeland quitting is not an option however how much effort I put in to finishing in the front will be decided during the race. 

The light in the mornings is growing which has been great, time to carry the camera as the phone camera isn't sufficient as you can tell in the above photos!