50 Something Ultra Runner

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but they also work in lieu of toilet paper

2012-01-29T17:42:00.001-08:00

That means I got in a long trail run today.
I'm reporting for two weeks. Last week - life intervened. Life also intervened this week but I managed to get my workouts in for the most part.

Tue, 1/17 - 13 Turnbull Canyon hill repeats, 3k+ climb, 7.5 miles
Wed, 1/18 - Easy but hilly 4 at Signal Hill
Sun, 1/22 - 1 mile warmup, 14 in 1:57:50 at Cypress College - 8:25 pace. I did 8:34 pace for 8 miles last year (post-op) so this is improvement. I think I'll run on the track every other Thursday.

Mon, 1/23 - 2 easy in the park
Wed, 1/25 - 17 Turnbull hill repeats, 4k climb, 9.8 miles
Thu, 1/26 - 10 miles road. Right hip was bothering me so I cut the long run short.
Sat, 1/28 - 17 Turnbull hill repeats
Sun, 1/29 - Whittier/Schabarum trail loop - about 19 miles. I didn't bonk like the previous time but my pace was pretty pathetic at the end so I didn't lengthen it.

Back in the saddle - last two weeks

2012-01-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

I was still recovering at the beginning of last week but was on vacation this week and had plenty of opportunity to get in the workouts. And the workouts are going to change slightly to be like this:

Tue - Hill Repeats or possibly intervals
Wed - Easy 4
Thu - Long road run (17 miles) or long track run (16 miles)
Sat - Hill Repeats
Sun - Long trail run

The goal for both hill repeat workouts is 4k' climb in 10 miles.
The Thu run is going to stay at around 17 miles.
The Sun run hopefully is going to grow to 50k as preparation for 50 mile races.

Since John Davis proposed the Baldy Peaks 100 mile run and I started training for that, I've found that hill repeats not only prepare me for mountain running, they also improve my speed. And the other thing I'm finding these days is that you can run the next day.
So -

Tue 1/3/2012 - 2x2k in Twyla Reid park (I was still recovering)
Thu 1/5/2012 - 17 miles (Seal Beach run)
Sat 1/7/2012 - 4xS Ridge (2k' climb, 5 miles)
Sun 1/8/2012 - Whittier - Schabarum Park loop - 19 hilly miles (I bonked)
Tue 1/10/2012 - 5xS Ridge (2.5k' climb, 6.25 miles) - felt very comfortable. Could easily have done more.
Wed 1/11/2012 - 4 miles easy at Signal Hill (hilly)
Thu 1/12/2012 - Harding Truck Trail - first time in a long while, maybe a year. 3300' climb, 18.3 miles
Sat 1/14/2012 - 13xRose Hills Road (new and really like it). 3k+ climb, 7.8 miles
Sun 1/15/2012 - Seal Beach run - 17 miles. Probably cut about 1 min/mile off previous pace.

So obviously from the Sunday run, I'm feeling pretty good. I was pretty much over the cough from December until the 1/8 run. That brought it back.

The advantages of the new Rose Hill Road repeats are

Much less likely to get kicked out because the park is closed compared to S Ridge hill.
Nice surface, even climb. This plus the shorter distance allows me to run this repeat better than S Ridge, both up and down.
Not as popular as S Ridge. Minor advantage but this reduces distractions.

Rose Hills Road:

Harding Truck Trail (to 9.15 mile mark):

End the year - with a whimper

2012-01-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

I got sick - the same cold everyone has been getting. On 12/21 I tried going for a 6 mile jog. That run exhausted me to the point that I got chills. I started recovering a bit on Xmas when I ran 3 times this hill in Whittier. I think I should be mostly recovered this next week although I am going to slowly ramp up the interval workouts on Tuesday.

Gary and Pam Hilliard are the new RD's for the Orange Curtain races. These are scheduled for 3/3/2012 so I plan to run the 50k. I think I should be running 50k on the weekends by then if things go well.

I'm Blaming Last Week

2011-12-05T18:06:00.000-08:00

I missed my long run on Wednesday because of my typical sore ankle. I ran a quarter mile and then walked back home. So...

Monday - 2 miles easy plus the usual pushups, situps and pullups.
Tuesday - 5x2k in Twila Reid park - for the first time. The local Larwin park is torn up a bit after the city removed 3 trees - why, I don't know.
Wednesday - 0.25 and out.
skip to Saturday - 4 mile tempo on the track
Sunday - about 15 on Maple Springs Truck Trail (2.6k or so of elevation gain)

So I've reverted to run hard on Tue/Sat and long on Wed/Sun. I'll do another week or so at status quo and then lengthen the Sunday workout.

Not Perfect But Not Bad

2011-11-27T18:10:00.000-08:00

I missed my Tuesday workout and Sunday didn't go as hoped but not bad.

Monday - Usual easy 2 with calisthenics
Tuesday - Missed my 5x2k workout
Wednesday - 18 mile road run
Thursday - Easy 2 with calisthenics. Probably will double my pull-ups next week.
Friday - 4 mile tempo run
Saturday - 14 mile in mountains - Maple Springs Truck Trail
Sunday - (only) 7 in Whittier Hills. Quads were dead. I was adding this workout (replacing an extra easy day on Friday) and I hadn't run hills for a few weeks. So it isn't surprising that I struggled. When I've struggled like this in the past, often things go just fine the next week.

Google Earth view of Maple Springs Truck Trail (in red)

Plan for next week:

Weather is good so track should be in good shape for Tuesday. Looks like rain on Thursday so may do Friday workout in park by work (1k loop on firm grass). May explore a different park near home since the local park (Larwin) is a bit torn up due to removal of some trees. That makes it a little sketchy to run hard in the dark.
Don't know weekend weather yet but hope to run 14 on Saturday and 7 or so on Sunday, both with plenty of vertical.
Planning to do sets of 8 pull-ups and more push-ups.

I'm Happy

2011-11-21T20:57:00.000-08:00

Missed one of my long runs due to working long hours on Wed, but I'm still happy. Longest run yet - 18 miles.

Monday - 2 miles easy plus 3x16 pushups, situps, pullups
Tuesday - 5x2k on dirt loop in Irvine (hard on the flat, uphill, jogged downhill)
Wednesday & Friday - worked late, Thursday - went to happy hour (or so) for my departing boss.
Saturday - 4 mile tempo run
Sunday - 18 mile road run.

Weeks in review - 10/24/2011 through 11/13/2011

2011-11-13T16:34:00.001-08:00

Here's the last three weeks of workouts since I moved my long run from Thursday (where it wasn't working out) to Wednesday. This move made Tuesday/Wednesday and Saturday/Sunday both fast/long pairs of workouts (fast for me, that is).

10/24/2011 - 10/30/2011

Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps,3x4 pullups
Tuesday - 2 (warmup)+ 5x2k
Wednesday - 10 (road run) To El Dorado park
Friday - 2 easy
Saturday - 2+4 (tempo run)
Sunday - 14.2 on trails - Whittier 3 loops

10/31/2011 - 11/6/2011

Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps, 3x4 pullups
Tuesday - 2+5x2k
Wednesday - 12 (on river route) to Edison Park
Thursday - 4 easy
Saturday - 2+4+1
Sunday - 11.33 on trails - Rowland Heights (cut short because it was raining)

11/7/2011 - 11/13/2011

Monday - 2 easy pm, 3x16xpushups, situps,3x4 pullups
Tuesday - 5x2k at Larwin (10 total). (Running on) grass gets me to drive more.
Wednesday - 14 on river. Rolled lt ankle just before turn around but apparently no problem.
Thursday - 2 at lunch
Saturday - 2+3
Sunday - 16.6 on river - Left knee a little touchy, probably from running in grass

Negatives

I've been consistent about missing an easy workout on either Thursday or Friday.
I have not been doing pushups/situps/pullups on the second easy day of the week.
Sunday has been deviating from plan the last two weeks (partly due to weather).

Positives

This is really quite consistent for me, certainly more so than before I had heart problems.
I've dealt effectively with weather and conflicts (like today).
I'm increasing my workload roughly according to plan because the plan is based on how well I've been able to increase the workload.
I got the road run pretty much up to the full distance.

Adjustments

I'll try to cut the grass runs back to once per week for a while.
I'll focus on getting in the Sunday workout (keep it on trails and hills/mountains, coordinate in advance), especially since increasing that to the 19 to 20 mile range is the next change planned.

Here's the Google Earth image of my beach/river run. I ran to just the 8.3 mile point on Sunday (end of the bike path).

Running in Grass

2011-11-10T13:39:00.001-08:00

We're getting rain now and I run on dirt tracks so I've had to find an alternative. The nearest all-weather track at Cypress College is often crowded with walkers so I ran my 5x2k workout in the park the other night. One figure-8 lap around the park is 3/8ths of a mile so each interval was 3 laps plus. One thing I really liked about the workout is that I needed to drive more with my flexed leg in order to not wallow or lose form. I really liked that so I'm going to continue running sometimes in the grass. Some slightly negative aspects (although the first might be viewed as a positive) are 1) the ground is uneven - I try to route around major holes 2) I got a pin stuck in my shoe and 3) I got cat crap from the feral cats on the bottom of one shoe.
Last night, I ran 14 on the beach route. This ultimately will be 18 miles. I might have gone for 16 last night but just before the 14 mile turnaround, I stepped on the edge of the path and rolled my left ankle. However, it seems like no damage was done and it is not painful nor stiff at all today.

Consistency

2011-11-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

Things have been going well. I'm increasing my work load gradually and I have a schedule to which I've been able to adhere. Here are some things that have been keys for my return:

Rest - I take a nap after work,before my workout.
Walking at lunch
Stay hydrated - The trick I use is to drink plenty of non-caffeinated tea, like mint tea, ginger tea, rooibos tea.
Consistency - I don't change much from one week to the next.
Don't get exhausted - I used to have practice sessions which I would characterize as RTF - Run To Failure. Not anymore. Now I stay within myself.
Don't worry much about miles. Don't worry about missing a workout now and then. If I miss a workout, I don't try to make it up.
Don't stress out
Warmup - My warmup on Tuesday and Saturday is 2 miles. This starts pretty slowly.
Stretching - I'm trying to incorporate stretching AFTER workouts into my routine.
Soleus, Gastrocnemius, touch toes, quad, IT, piriformis
Schedule - I took a schedule from a book on Kenyan running and modified it a little to work around my schedule. The result is
- Monday - Easy (2 miles) plus pushups, situps and pullups.
- Tuesday - 5x2km intervals. Will eventually change to shorter intervals but I'm in no rush.
- Wednesday - Long run, currently on the road. This is the workout I'm increasing at the moment (by 2 miles per week). Once I get this to 18 miles, I may run it on the track at times.
- Thursday - Easy plus pushups, situps and pullups
- Friday - Easy
- Saturday - 4 mile tempo
- Sunday - Long trail (mountain or hills), currently 14 miles
So two sets of a more intense session followed by a longer session, separated by about 2 rest days.

Things I'm not doing

A lot of exercises like core, med ball, etc. I was lifting but that's not a priority now.
Hard stretches. I'm leaving hurdle stretches out for now.
Yoga. Not my thing.
Sprints or dragging the tire. I did some earlier and it seemed to bother my heart.
Two a days - I'm already getting up at 4:40 on weekdays. It's too much stress to get up earlier. I haven't bothered running in the afternoon on weekends.

Fin de semana

2011-07-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just watched the Obea Moore video again. His kick is unbelievable.
Just finished up my first week running and I'm taking today (Sunday) off. I ran 3x800,1x400 on Friday and a new (steep) hill loop on Saturday. In general, I was pleased with the week but clearly I have a lot of improvement to make - I hope. I'm going to simplify a little bit. 2.5 is the goal mileage for the entire week rather than incrementing in the middle. I'm planning on running on the track on MWF and on hills on TThSat.

Optimism Springs Eternal

2011-07-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

6th day running - This was my first day on the track. I wore my watch just because I wanted to track my progress. After riding my bike to Oxford Academy, I did some drills and then ran 100 barefoot. Something poked or stung my foot so I went back and put shoes on. It was a hot day and I had taken a nap so I was feeling rather lethargic (maybe the anemia - due to my medications - has something to do with that). Anyway, I took off on the first lap at a moderate pace - not really pushing it. 1:59. I ended up doing the planned 6 laps in 12:03. Running 8 minute pace on the first time out makes me very optimistic that I will be able to run 7:30 pace for 8 to 16 miles with not much of a problem. We'll see but this first workout makes me optimistic.

Running Again

2011-07-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is my 4th day running. I've been running doubles but only 1 mile at a time until today. The baseline workout is running to the local park and running laps. One lap of the park is 3/8ths of a mile. With the commute from my house, it's a mile. I'm adding a lap or 3/8ths of a mile every Monday and Friday, so adding 3/4 mile per week. Most of my running has been barefoot so far. My rib cage has been feeling pretty good, especially in the afternoon runs. That was what I expected to be the chief limiting factor. I tried running for a few days in mid-June and I had a rib get sore. Other than one little blip, no problems this time. When I'm warmed up, I have been running faster than the usual shuffle.
Also, since I started back to work, I've been napping when I get home. I'm going to continue to do that.
As the distance gets long enough to incorporate specific workouts, I'll start doing those. For instance, I expect to be able to run one hill (repeat) on Thursday. I'm anxious to get back to hills and trails.
My weight is still down at 145 so I didn't balloon up to 150 post-surgery.
So far, so good.

OK'd to run

2011-06-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm quite happy because my doctor told me "Start running" today. I'm going to start on 7/1 with 1 mile runs although I reserve the right to run twice per day. Also this past weekend, I got the GT Tequesta fixed gear bike fixed and rode 9 miles on that. It was great to get on a real bicycle again.

Heart Attack, Triple Bypass

2011-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

I had a heart attack on 3/12/2011, undiagnosed until 5/3/2011. I went in for an angiogram the next day. They woke me long enough from the angiogram to tell me that I needed a triple bypass and get my consent, then they put me back to sleep. I woke up in the ICU, gagging on a breathing tube. They took that out a little after I started breathing on my own. I spent a little less than 2 days in the ICU followed by 2 days in the Direct Observation Unit (DOU) and then got to go home. I've been recuperating at home since then and plan to go back to work next Wednesday, 4 weeks after my operation. I started walking once I got out of the ICU and didn't have cables attached. I had a couple of days where I got up to 8 miles of walking. However that seemed to have taxed me somewhat. So right now, I am walking 2 miles per day and getting on the stationary bike for 20 minutes. Otherwise, I am pretty useless around the house since I can't pick up anything heavier than 5 to 10 pounds and can't drive a car.

My cardiologist told me repeatedly that I don't know how lucky I am. He finally explained this by saying most people drop dead who run after having a heart attack (and with 2 coronary arteries 100% blocked and one 95% blocked). After having the heart attack I eventually ran the same workout where I got the attack. I ran 8 miles on Harding Truck Trail. I rode 24 miles home from work on my bike - twice. My last workout before the cardiologist appointment was 4x400 meters. However, we suspect that my running history helped me survive possibly by developing a somewhat redundant set of capillaries from other coronary arteries. Also my running history made it easier to operate on me (less than 4 hours where they sometimes take 6 hours) and helped my recovery. As to "Why me?", my cardiologist blames heredity (my father had a heart attack at 62 - but after decades of smoking) and I blame at least partially my affinity for stress.

I'm told that i have no other blockages other than those they fixed (bypassed). My ejection fraction was measured at 65% (normal) the day after my surgery. I never got an answer as to whether this (advanced atherosclerosis) could be detected without first having a heart attack.

My symptoms prior to the heart attack were

Decreasing running abilities over the last 3.5 to 5 years.
The general feeling that eating cheese strains my heart.
Pale at the end of runs (at least when I end at the house).
Angina (now I know what it is) 2 days prior to the heart attack.

Symptoms of my heart attack

Tightness across chest
Sense that it would be a really bad idea to keep running.
Immediate drop in cardiovascular capacity. I had to walk slowly back to the car with several stops to sit down.
General feeling of discomfort. The drive home was really a challenge.
Flu-like symptoms the next few days.

Symptoms after my heart attack.

Continued diminished cardiovascular capacity.
Wierd EKG - dips instead of peaks - once I had it taken (on 4/4).
Angina when jogging on flat ground. Oddly enough, I had light to no symptoms when riding a bike, running trails, running sprints up to 400 meters.
I definitely improved over time. A 10 mile bike ride early on was tiring whereas 18 and 24 mile bike rides later on were not a problem. I ran the same route that I had run when I had the heart attack without a problem.

Expectations and Hopes

Given my ejection fraction of 65% post-op and the fact that I could actually do something prior to my bypass, I expect my capabilities to return to what they were a few years ago.
I expect to have little anomalies with my chest like popping ribs (due to the operation) for at least a year.
I hope to be able to run by 8 weeks after the operation (end of June). I hope to be able to run hard 4 weeks after that.

Moral: Running does not prevent heart attacks but it did help me survive and recover faster.

Another disrupted week

2010-11-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

I went to Arizona last weekend to cleanup my brother's house. As a result, I didn't get a run in on Friday or Saturday and only a short one on Sunday. I'm going back for a week in two more weeks but will try to get a regular workout in then.

10/26 - 10
10/27 - 11.3 (10 on track, 1.3 in morning)
10/28 - 9.64 on trails, 1942 vertical
10/29 - 11.7 (10 on roads, I guess 1.7 in am)
10/31 - 3.6 roads

The last two weeks - life (and death) intervenes

2010-10-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

My mother and sister were visiting on the week on 10/4 since my niece was getting married out here. I just didn't feel like running on Tuesday of that week. That workout (long tempo on the track) has been suffering for a few weeks due to problems with my right soleus (see previous months) and disruptions (see previous weeks). I will be going to Arizona for 3 consecutive weekends starting Halloween weekend in order to clean up my brother's house. That will disrupt my long run on Saturday which has been progressing steadily. So I'm using this opportunity to move my workouts to more of a Lydiard schedule which I was pretty close to anyway. So the plan is to get the weekdays into that schedule over the 3 weeks when I will be in Arizona on weekends. Then I'll see where my long run is on the 3rd weekend in November. Hopefully I won't lose anything and I'll be able to resume with a long run around 26 miles.
So here are the last two weeks:

1st week
10/4 - 7, 5@7:34 pace
10/5 - 4 easy
10/6 - 2 just didn't feel like it.
10/7 - 11.33 on trails, 2308 vertical
10/8 - 8.38 on trails, 1405 vertical
10/9 - 24.25 on trails, 4929 vertical, 13:06 pace
10/10 - nothing (niece's wedding)
2nd week
10/11 - 7, 5@7:27 pace
10/12 - 4 easy
10/13 - 1.25 (soleus complaint)
10/14 - 7.56 on trails, 1378 vertical
10/15 - 1 easy
10/16 - 25.93, 5405 vertical, 14:11 pace
10/17 - nothing (memorial service for my brother)

September

2010-10-04T07:52:00.000-07:00

Summary:
I stopped struggling in September and started progressing. The keys to this were:

3 hill workouts per week
Consistent schedule of track workouts on Mon and Wed, trail on Thu, Sat and Sun, easy on Tue and Fri
Gradual increase of 1 mile per week for track workouts (combined) and 1 mile per week on long run.

Mon	Pace	Tue	Wed	Pace	Thu	Vert	Fri	Sat	Vert	Pace	Sun	Vert	Total	Vert
			4				5	16.93	2962	14:10	7.5	1378	48.5	5140
7	8:11	4	9	7:52	7.5	1378		18.18	3336	13:02	7.5	1378	53.3	6092
7	8:22	3.25	10	7:52	7.5	1378		19.86	3812	12:56	7.5	1378	55.2	6568
7	7:36	4	10	7:28	7.5	1378		21.88	4485	16:27	7.5	1378	58	7241
7	7:54	4			7.5	1378							49.7	7717

Note that I hit my goal pace of 7:30 for my long tempo run. Now all I have to do is double the distance.
Note also that I have 2 miles warmup/warmdown for my track workouts so the actual miles for Monday topped out at 5 and Wed at 8.

Weekly Update - 9/27 - 10/3

2010-10-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

Mon - (track) 7, 5 at 7:54
Tue - (park) Easy 4
Thu - (trails) 7.56 w/1378 vertical
Sat - (trails) 23.56 w/ 4961 vertical (14:04 pace)
Sun - (trails) 7.56 w/1378 vertical
Total - 49.68 w/7717 vertical

Saturday was 1.7 miles farther than last week and I ran it 25 minutes faster with no big drop in energy at the end. This was due to eating sweet potatoes during the run and probably some conditioning from last week.

When I came back from my run on Tuesday, my wife told me that my brother had hung himself. I spent Wednesday talking with my younger daughter.

Weekly Status - 9/20 to 9/26

2010-09-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Mon 7, 5 at 07:36 pace
Tue easy 4
Wed 10, 8 at 07:28 pace - Goal pace! mostly around 7:32 splits, last mile in 7:02
Thu 7.56, 1378 vert.
Fri off
Sat 21.88, 4485 vert. last 3 miles went from pathetic excuse for running to almost blacking out. 16:27 pace
Sun 7.56 1378 vert.
Total 58 miles, 7241 vertical

Found out I had not been counting one segment correctly, hence my long run increased by 2 miles, not one. I'm actually not worried about dying at the end of the long run. It was a hot day and I got low on water. Also, I kind of expect to have long runs that end like this while my body is getting reacquainted with running longer distances. Right achilles/calf was tight earlier in the week (from the 7:02 mile) but otherwise, legs have been performing well.
I was quite pleased to hit my goal pace - over 20 seconds faster pace than last week. The hill workouts are definitely driving the faster pace of track workouts.
On the track workouts, I've evolved into this format:

Ride bike two miles to track.
1 mile jog with maybe a stride at the end
Stretch (soleus, gastrocnemius, touch toes, quads, 2 hip stretches, hurdle stretches)
1 lap with two strides
Run tempo run
3 lap warmdown
Ride bike two miles home

Weekly Report - 9/13 - 9/19/2010

2010-09-19T18:22:00.000-07:00

9/13 7 miles, 3 at8:22 pace
9/14 3.25 miles (in flats - rt. soleus started bothering me)
9/15 10 miles, 8 at 7:52 pace
9/16 7.56 miles, 1378' vertical
9/17 0
9/18 19.02 miles, 3812 vertical, 13:30 pace
9/19 7.56 miles, 1378 vertical
Total 54.39 miles, 6568 vertical

I'm happy with the progress. For the trail workouts, my pace has been aggressive on the flats and uphills and prudent on the downhills. I'm very happy to be running this well on the trails. The track workouts are doing fine too.

Weekly Workouts

2010-09-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

Great week. Hit all workouts except Friday recovery (walked instead).
Actually 5 more miles than last week, vertical is up about 950'. Paces were faster too.

Mon - 5 on the track with 2 warmup.
Tue - 4 easy - tight spot on calf
Wed - 7 on the track with 2 warmup/warmdown. 7:52 pace, last mile in 7:12. Started conservatively with calf issue.
Thu - 7.5 on trail
Fri - Death of a friend - only walked
Sat - 18 on trails, 3300'+ vertical, faster pace than last week (14 to 13 min/mile)
Sun - 7.5 on trail - hauled on last uphill.
Total - 53.3 miles, 6092 vertical

Last Week

2010-09-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

8/30 - 2 mile warmup, 4 on track (8:15 pace)
8/31 - 2 mile warmup, 7 on track
9/1 - 4 barefoot easy in grass
9/2 - off - heel sore from running barefoot
9/3 - 5, about 800' vertical - El Modena Open Space - rocky and steep at times
9/4 - 16.93, 2962' vertical
9/5 - 7.56, 1378' vertical

August

2010-09-08T20:30:00.001-07:00

Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
8/1							11
8/2		9		7.5	4	19
8/9		6		7.5	4		0.5
8/16	0.5	1	8	7.5	2	14	9.5
8/23	6	1.5	8	7.5	0.5		15
8/30	6	9

July

2010-09-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
7/1					4	16
7/5	7	4	12.5			8.4	14
7/12	10		4.75			11	3.85
7/19		11	10	5	5		11.33
7/26	3.5	10.5	0.5	2.5

June

2010-07-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
5/31		8.75	8.6	8.6		6.25 2500'	8.5 9:16 pace
6/7	7	4.42	8.5	8.5		3	7.75 3000'
6/14	9.42	9.25 9:03	10	3.75 1500'		10 2500'	10 2000'
6/21	10.42	10 8:43	10	5 1400'	4	12 4000'	10 2000'
6/28	11.42	12 (11@8:36)	11

Issues during the month:

Inside right ankle pain (tendonitis) at first when running downhill. Seems to be going away toward end of month.
Foot pain (stone bruise? neuroma?) on right foot just behind index toe. Long standing problem getting worse. It's worst when running on pavement, for some reason worse in Pumas (softer). Started wearing NB XC flats when running in dirt where there are rocks. Also bought NB MT100 shoes on 7/2.
Dealt with being worn out twice. First response (which was correct) was to return to taking iron supplements. Second response (which also was correct) was to incorporate more rest once my mileage got up to 11 mile days.

Changes during month:

Started with 4 day rotation
Went to 7 day pattern
Incorporating more rest
Got out to the mountains - Hooray!
Reduced then eliminated pavement

I'm excited about my proposed workout schedule, as follows:

Mon: 4 miles easy (grass), possibly with non-running drills
Tue: Long tempo on track, building to 16 miles, reducing pace gradually with goal of 7:30
Wed: 4 miles easy - may incorporate a little speed work - strides at first, maybe some 150's
Thu: Hill repeats or possible interval workout at some time in the future.
Fri: 4 miles easy (grass), possibly with non-running drills
Sat: Mountains
Sun: Trail or mountains

I'm happy with how the long tempo has been going. I'm gradually increasing the length and gradually increasing the pace. I was pretty tired going into it this past week and was surprised to bring the average pace down.

I'm happy with how the weekend runs are going.
I'm determined to be patient with the Thursday night hill repeats. I want to get these up to 10 miles with about 2800' of gain, then keep it at 10 miles but increase the gain to 4000'. I think these will start improving with my new plan to have short recovery days on Mon/Wed/Fri.

If I feel I'm doing enough vertical on the weekends, I may convert the Thu workout to intervals.

As far as the problems are concerned (foot pain, ankle), I think it is important to come up with a plan, execute the plan and if it doesn't work, adjust the plan.

May Workouts

2010-06-09T20:29:00.001-07:00

Date	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
4/26	3.25 grass Bruised shin running stadiums	3.25 grass	3.25 grass	4 grass	4 grass	4 grass	4 dirt
5/3	4.75 grass	23 miles on bike Shin and ankle swollen See last Tue	4.86 dirt	4.75 grass	4.82 pavement	6.28 trail	5.49 grass
5/10	5.5 grass	5.5 track, 7:58 pace aggravated soleus	0	1 grass	2.5 grass	4 grass (17 on bike)	5.5
5/17	5.5@9:28	5.5@9:26	5.79@9:29	6.25@9:15	6.42@9:54	6.25, 2500' elev gain	6.28, 800' elev gain
5/24	7	7.42	6.89, rode 23	0 - sore rt heel (see Wed)	7@9:05	8, 700' elev gain	8.4
5/31	8, 800' elev gain

Hardship and Poverty

2010-05-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hardship and Poverty seem like they are often in the background of great distance runners. Somewhere I have a printout of a training manual authored by Gordon Pirie. As I recall, his father was a race promoter. I think he described a lot of the runners as young Welsh men who ran to escape the mines. I was reading about Joseph Ebuya who won the world cross country championships. He has a fascinating story. Part of it is that his family is nomadic goat herders. His family's goats were stolen by bandits, forcing them to move closer to the city where he survived by making charcoal. He was discovered when he could keep up with a group of professionals running in long pants and barefoot. Apparently just a few years ago, Tsegaye Kebede - whose last 3 marathons have been 2:05:20, 2:05:18 and 2:05:19 - was gathering firewood to survive, eating one meal per day. I was just reading that even Usain Bolt's home did not have running water when he was growing up. His strength is attributed to the fact that he had to carry water to his house. Even Greg McMillan - coach of McMillan Elite - talks about how suffering is a component of one's training.
Is suffering in of itself important, something like what Gary Cantrell calls "meaningless suffering without a point?" I don't think so, otherwise Cambodian survivors of Pol Pot would dominate endurance sports. My wife who is such a survivor is a hard worker and very strong-minded but does not have an athletic orientation. So there are some other factors. Greg McMillan talks about logging mileage consistently - year after year. We can see that in Haile Gebrselassie, running 10 km to school and another 10 km home for 10 years. I also recall reading that Shadrack Biwott would run 5 km to school, 5 km home for lunch, 5 km back to school, then 5 km back home every day. Even Ed Whitlock runs very consistently -about 20 miles per day. So I think the idea is to make it normal to run consistently every day as you would if you did it of necessity.
So my current plans are to stick to a plan of gradual increase in mileage, hopefully getting to a certain goal. But if I start having problems prior to that goal, I'll just back off and slow down progression of mileage at a maintainable level.

Recovery progressing well

2010-05-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

I started running again on April 15th, starting with 1.75 miles at a time. I've been running 4 days at one distance, then increasing the distance by .75 miles, so 1.75, 2.5, 3.25, 4, 4.75, and now 5.5. Since 4/20, I've only missed 2 days where I didn't run. I've been running most of it barefoot. All of it has been barefoot on grass until 5/2 when I ran 4 miles in dirt wearing shoes. I did my first trail run today which means the first time with any vertical (probably about 1000'). I did get hurt one more time when I tripped while running stadiums and really bruised my left shin (on 4/27). This hasn't affected my running much. I only skipped one day (on 5/4) when I rode my bike 23 miles and my leg looked pretty ugly - ankle swollen, a lot of discoloration from under my ankle to above my knee. The bruise has been improving recently as I've been trying a number of things to get the bruise to clear.
Today was the biggest deviation from the plan because I accidentally ran 6.25 miles instead of the planned 5.5. I did an extra out and back which accounted for .68 miles.
I'm planning on sticking with the increases until I get up to 16 miles per day. I'd also like to run a lot of it at 8:48 pace and try to run the Hotter Than Hell 6 hour on 8/14 in Cameron Park at that pace. I'll continue for a while at least to run about half of it barefoot and rotate surfaces between grass, dirt, track and pavement. But most of all I'm intensely listening to my body. If I get a little tingle in my soleus, I stop and massage it. If I start getting sore by the base of my heel, I make sure I warm up with a bike ride before my next run. And I've been doing plenty of cross training with core exercises and bike riding. I just got through a 16 count Pedestal core routine for the first time - woops - forgot the crunches. Actually, Trey Hardee and Diana Pickler really make these look easy - and they are TOUGH!

Amy Palmiero-Winters wins Sullivan Award

2010-05-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

USATF

AAU

I just heard the news. I bet this is the first ultra runner to win the Sullivan Award. A list of winners is at Wikipedia.

Congratulations Amy!

Latest Struggle/Action Plan

2010-04-04T15:46:00.000-07:00

I started timing my track workouts about a month ago. On March 4th, I did a disrupted workout where my pace for the last few miles was somewhere around 9:45 (bad). Then I got sick. On March 15th, I ran 6 miles in 50:45 - 8:28 pace. On March 18th, I started off not pushing it and came up with 7:46 for the first mile. My goal pace for my long tempo workouts is 7:30 so I'm thinking that I'm there as far as pace is concerned. Now I just need to build up to the distance. Within half a lap after that mile, my right achilles starts hurting. I stop within 30 yards, walk back to my bike and ride home. My old problem with the heel counters (or whatever those things are called) of shoes hitting my achilles is back. I was wearing a pair of flats which I hadn't modified. I thought I was over that problem but I guess not.
Ok, so I take the next day off and go for an easy trail run on Saturday. I'm tentative on the first long gradual climb but everything goes ok. The first downhill gets me to notice the achilles but nothing to worry about. Then I step in a little dip and bang; time to walk back to the car. This one was worse. I went to the chiro about it. It gradually got better day to day. So 3/29, I shuffled through 2 miles barefoot in the park. I was a little sore but not injured. So 4/2, I went for a easy little 4 mile run. Everything was going very smoothly until a little before 3 miles when I felt a little pop and started hopping on my left foot, then limped home. So 3 injuries in the same area in 2 weeks.
The first injury was some kind of bruising of my achilles tendon due to the top of the heel of my shoe hitting it. The second injury left the outside of the tendon and a spot up at the top sore. After the third injury, my achilles is not sore at all. The injury is up in the soleus. In fact, I've felt points of pain all along the full length of the right soleus along its centerline. The last two injuries are what I consider sympathetic injuries where compensation or tightness due to an initial injury results in a secondary injury in the same general location.
What to do...
Two days later, I think I can walk slowly without a limp but running on my right leg would really be stupid. Rest it? I did that yesterday so that's done. Rehab has started. I have been icing it in a bucket of ice water. I've decided to take the next 4 weeks to work it and the rest of my body hard but no running. Weak areas noted earlier include hip flexors and quads. I've been looking at the John Cook et al drills recently, so here was the work schedule for today
Note: ABC's means write the alphabet forwards and backwards with that part of the body

supine ankle ABC's
supine double leg ABC's - tough on the mid-section
supine single leg ABC's
supine leg toss
prone single leg ABC's (alphabet is upside down on these)

double calf raise (not very high - trying to avoid pain)
Single leg knee flex
Prisoner squats

I got in 5 sets w/o squats, then 5 more sets w/ squats.

1 hour/15 miles on the bike

2 hand standing overhead throw
Throw to the side
Place/Pick from desk in back of me (soccer drill)
2 hand kneeling overhead throw
Good mornings
Pike throw (I think) - go from lying on your back in a pike position to seated with an overhead throw forward.
Some twists

I think I'll alternate this with some routines that I saw on Flotrack (Pedestal, Waterloo) that work more on core and upper body strength.

So keep this up for 4 weeks and build up my strength. Maybe reacquaint myself with push-ups and certainly crunches.

Making the medicine ball:
I got an old soccer (rubber - really cheap) ball from the garage, worked the little receptacle for the air needle out of the ball (it is shaped like a cross in cross section), put about 8 pounds of uncooked rice in it and jammed the little air receptacle back in so the rice wouldn't fall out. I think similar medicine balls were on sale at Big 5 for about $10 but I like those little DIY projects because I learn something.

Struggling

2010-03-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

I'm still struggling to get to where I want to be. I think the only thing constant is constant struggle. I am making progress. I got through a 10 mile run on the track this week. I quit early the previous week with a very sore foot (because of callus). But now I'm working on that callus with a pumice stone - see - drug stores are good for something. Then I got sick on Friday from various sources of stress over the last two weeks. I tried chasing the sickness away with a workout on Saturday but what I really needed was rest which is what I got today. I revised my plans slightly to introduce a little more variety in my workouts (at least the locales) and maybe a little more routine. So this week, I hope I feel well enough to get out tomorrow and run some stadiums and maybe some drills. Keep struggling.

Barefoot in the Park

2010-02-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

10 miles per day - barefoot - for the last 3 days. Saturday was just after it stopped raining with standing water. Of course running in puddles is no fun with shoes and socks on but the real reason I took my shoes off was that my left knee was in pain. I was wearing the heavily armored New Balance flats which was probably part of the problem. Running through the puddles barefoot was a blast. The water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. The on Sunday, I was cruising at a pretty good pace. Tonight (Monday) I just wanted to see if everything still held up. Niece and nephew are here - later.

Weight

2010-02-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

First: I saw a reference to this article - while trolling Lets Run.. It occurred to me that I know what my optimum weight is. Back when I was running big miles, I found that if I went down to 142, I felt worn out. 143 was ok. 145 was ok for long periods of time.

Second: My weight seems to be a function of my mileage, not a function of how much I eat. If I run 100 miles/week, I drop down to 145. I am not running that much now because of various ongoing issues (see previous posts). My current weight is 151. I have backed off on how much I eat. I eat one bowl of cereal for breakfast instead of two. I'm eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. I typically have one helping at dinner, not 3.

151.

Third: I figure that some of my current problems are due to weighing 151. So how to ramp up miles to lose weight without picking up injuries (because I weigh too much)? I decided it's a combination of gradual increase along with running on soft surfaces. So anyway, I see a lot of 10 mile runs on grass in my immediate future.

Harding Truck Trail - 6 miles of snow

2010-01-27T20:13:00.001-08:00

I ran Harding Truck Trail on Saturday after a week of a lot of rain. Rain usually wreaks some havoc on forest roads but HTT was in pretty good shape considering. I noticed water completely bypassing one of the new drains put in since the fire. There were some debris flows especially between 4.5 and 5 miles. There was also one slide just before the 8 mile mark. But the most remarkable thing was that the road was covered completely with snow starting a little after the 6 mile mark. The elevation doesn't get much higher after the 6 mile mark but I think the road is a little more sheltered after 7 miles so the snow was deeper in that area. I think it was about 6 inches deep at the most. My foot would break the crust and compress the snow down so that my shoe was below the surface of the snow - but no post-holing. I don't see many animals on my HTT runs but with the snow, I saw a lot of tracks. It looked like maybe skunks and squirrels, rabbits and I think some coyotes. Have you noticed the peculiar way that coyotes leave their droppings prominently displayed? Before, I've seen where they pick out a rock in the middle of a dirt road and poop on that. I saw a few places where they pooped a little on the snow, I guess showing off to the other animals. Maybe coyotes mark their territory with poop instead of pee.

I got tired a little from breaking through the snow with my steps and walked in a few spots. After turning around and heading back down, I went through the series of my hip, then hip flexors, then knees (lower quads) hurting. And as with recent runs, I feel stronger a few days later. I scooped some snow in my water bottles just because. Unfortunately, that got my right hand in particular pretty numb. I finally got it warmed up again at about the 6 mile (to go) mark.

So another joyous day in the mountains.

POSE Method, heel strikes, and evil shoe companies

2010-01-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

This is a post of some comments I placed on the ultra list.

Since about March of 2009, I have not been able to run in shoes with the usual 1/2" elevation of the heel without really bothering my knees. I had run in cross country flats prior to this and a little bit barefoot but as of March, getting rid of my heels has become mandatory. Cross country flats work well on dirt tracks and trails but they are not flexible enough to run long distances on paved surfaces. I've used Mizuno Revolver "flats" in a road 50k. There is some heel build-up to them but not as much as the usual trainer. I've tried cutting off the heel of my trainers (as described by Anton Krupicka) but it is hard to get it right for road work and the shoe is still somewhat inflexible. Sidewalks are just too abrasive for me to run more than about 8 miles barefoot. Recently, I've had the best luck for road running with moccasins (from Tandy Leather Company - nfi) or water socks without the insoles (Body Glove, again nfi). The good thing about these choices is that they are cheap - $35 for the moccasin kit, $20 for the water socks. These are taking some getting used to. I ran 18 today in the moccasins and the skin on the ball of my foot is sore, particularly where I have some corns. FWIW, I do not like the five fingers. The first pair I had required me to wear socks and started falling apart. The second pair gave me a blister on the first run.

An earlier poster stated something to the effect that you can be a forefoot striker with heels. Certainly that is true but there is more tension in the ankle and knee and less shock absorption with higher heels. The same is true with running in flats - lack of flexibility in the sole means that flexing of the ankle needs to absorb shock that could have been absorbed by the foot. This seems to become an issue on paved surfaces but not dirt, at least for me.

I have a couple of pairs of racing shoes (the Mizunos and some Nike Zoom XC) which I'll reserve for racing but for practice runs, I'm going with the water socks and the moccasins and barefoot in the grass for recovery runs. I'm also trying to work on the strength of my knees.

Use It or Lose It

2010-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

WARNING! NEGATIVE COMMENTS FOLLOW!

2009 was a lousy year for me as far as running was concerned. I unexpectedly ran a pretty good road 50 mile at Ruth Anderson on November 1, 2008 - 7:42 for a course which we were told was a mile long. After that, I got a coach for 3 months who I thought wasn't having me work very hard. But the problems started before that. I used to work where it was convenient to run hills before work. It wasn't unusual for me to run hilly workouts 4 of the 5 weekdays. The other thing was that work location had showers and lockers which I used all of the time, sometimes getting in 4 quick miles (sub 7:00 pace) at lunch. Then my company moved their location to brand new buildings in which they declined to build any locker room, health club, etc. So the result was that I ran a lot less vertical and couldn't stop off for a run before work. This coincided with an interest of mine to run a road 100k. This prompted a mistaken belief in me that I could run lots of road workouts. The results suck. I ran 2 50k's in 2009 and that's it. I have been struggling with sore knees for the year.

POSITIVE SPIN FOLLOWS-

OK - I am resolved to

Run more vertical. This includes what has been 2000' of gain on stadiums on Tuesdays.
Work on strength in general. I've picked up some good exercises and drills from a Shannon Rowbury video on Flotrack.
Put in double workouts. Riding a stationary bike qualifies as a workout.
Stay off pavement. Current plan is to limit it to no more than one 18-22 mile run per week or possibly a 30 to 35 mile run every other week. Run on grass and later dirt tracks.
Ignore my weekly miles and even ignore weeks. Concentrate instead on getting in good workouts with recovery - first vertical and other strength related, then start working in intervals and tempo. Include work on the bike.
Base workouts on previous workouts. Try to improve on only one aspect of a workout from one to the next. So add work without going faster or keep the volume the same at a faster pace. List limitations encountered with a particular workout and figure out how to improve on those limitations. Setbacks/injuries also will feed into lessons learned. So for instance, I did a high intensity hill workout the other day and strained my hamstring on the third time up. So next time I plan to a) only go up twice and b) use The Stick to loosen up my hamstrings.
Don't over-do the high intensity work. Watching elites on Flotrack, I'm impressed by how little they do during these workouts, anywhere from a little over 2 miles to less than a mile. And stay relaxed.

Pura Vida - Costa Rica

2009-12-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a vacation in Costa Rica this week. My oldest daughter surfs and had visited the Mal Pais area in Costa Rica before so this time the rest of the family tagged along. Due to some misadventures, we spent over 3 days in transit on the way here so I didn't get much running done in the airports. Once we got to Santa Teresa (stayed at Casa Zen), I got out the shoes and ran up the road to Cobano which we traveled on the way into town. There was a light rain at the time so I was able to run at least 20k (which included a nice climb) without a water bottle in the afternoon. On the way back down, I stopped at a gas station which had a spigot and got a drink. The next day we went to Montezuma to ride the zip lines and I didn't get in a run although we hiked a hill that was pretty steep. However the day after that, I tried this road in town which looked pretty steep. Looks were not deceiving and it was a lot longer climb than I had hoped! I doubled that in the morning and had shorts that were completely soaked with sweat. I ran it again that night and again the next morning (today). We are now in Tamarindo and the hostel manager referred me to some routes just across the street from the hostel (Chocolate Hostel) so I just got in from a tour of those. I have seen some howler monkeys during my runs. They've just given off little barks when I see them. But at night and in the morning, they can be really loud. They sound something like a semi-truck skidding if you hear them at a distance. Anyway, Costa Rica has plenty of hill work available.

Harding Truck Trail

2009-12-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Harding Truck Trail is a jeep trail (5S08) which starts in Modjeska Canyon and climbs 3300' (so I'm told) over about 9.5 miles to the Main Divide Truck Trail which runs along the main ridge of the Santa Ana mountains. This is one of my favorite runs in Orange County. However, it has been closed since the 2007 fires. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, it reopened. I ran it 2 weeks back. The fire burned up to about the 6.5 mile point. The place it looks the most different is around Laurel Springs at 5 miles. There were a lot of trees (willows?) overhanging the trail in this area and of course those are all blackened skeletons now. In addition, some rocks which used to be hidden by the trees really stick out now. Nevertheless, I was happy to be out on the trail again. I caught myself dancing and smiling after I got back home just thinking about the run.

Then last weekend, I ran it again with my buddy Gus. I don't often run with someone else so I was a little surprised to find myself pushing hard enough where I was breathing about twice as hard as the week before, taking a breath every 3 or 4 steps instead of every 6 steps. I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep up the pace for the duration but it turned out just fine. The first mile might be the steepest, then there is a quarter mile downhill followed by 5 1/2 miles of pretty steady uphill. There is a gentle downhill starting at about 7 miles, past 8 miles and then a less steep climb up to the MDTT. So at the top, Gus ate a gel and I ate two and then we started back down. I was worried about the downhill because of my recent sore knees but then running with a buddy kicked in again and as a result we were moving pretty well on the downhill. On that 1/4 mile (now uphill) just before the 1 mile point, we decided to see what we had left. Gus accelerated faster than me and pulled ahead. We both died a little at about the same spot but kept pushing until we got to the top of the climb. Then it was just one mile until the end.

I took the next two days off because I had a funny feeling in a bad spot - right around where the soleus and achilles connect but two days later, my legs felt great. In fact my joke is that it used to be that my knees were sore - now that has improved so that all of my legs feel sore.

Stadiums - Urban Vertical

2009-11-26T11:06:00.001-08:00

I live in north-west Orange County in Southern California. I remember seeing "NWOC" graffiti along the river one time and thinking that at least they knew their geography. This area is basically a flood plain and very flat. So to run any vertical, I have to travel quite a ways. To the west, Signal Hill in Long Beach is 9 miles from my house and not suitable for the long uphills that I like. The Puente Hills north of me and Whittier in particular have excellent hills with lots of trails (Habitat Authority) and I have been running there weekly. It's a 30 minute drive from my house. But I tried running there after work last week and it gets dark just a little after I get there (and I start thinking and worrying too much). Peters Canyon is close to where I work (although still a 30 minute drive) and has one pretty steep hill but like Signal Hill, it isn't long enough for my tastes. Other than these locations, I might as well go to the mountains which are 60 to 75 minutes from the house.

So what to do on a weekday, especially during the winter? I like stadiums. It has that high school/college workout vibe and I don't mind doing what seems like mindless repetitions to others. Access however is an issue. The high schools around here like to lock up their stadiums, probably due to liability concerns or sumthin. The universities around here do not have the problem of access. I've run on the UCLA and Cal State Fullerton stadiums. CSUF is about 30 minutes from my house. Parking is an issue but that is a good prospect. However, I am a member of the Runner's High club which meets 5 miles from my house at Millikan High in Long Beach. Millikan has a stadium with about 26 rows. Without measuring, I figure that you climb approximately 25 ft per climb and with 8 aisles, 200 ft per stadium. 20 stadiums therefore yield 4000' of climb over a distance around 6 miles. So I think this is going to be my Tuesday night workout.

Addendum:
I have two additional points.

The obvious difference between stadiums and mountain running is the length and intensity of effort. Stadiums are MUCH shorter, allowing a greater intensity of effort. In addition, stadiums have steps, requiring a a certain level of effort on each step.
The level of effort depends on the stadium. A few weeks back, I was at UCLA watching my daughter compete in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We were next to Drake Stadium so I went over in my street shorts with my wallet, keys, etc. in my pocket and ran one set. A good workout but no problem. Today, I went to Cal State Fullerton's soccer/football stadium and ran a set. I knew I was in trouble after the first time up. Each row at CSUF (east side) is about 15 inches higher than the previous. This is several times higher than the amount I step up when running hill repeats.

There are 10 aisles at CSUF. The way I ran it there were 32 rows next to 8 of the aisles and 30 rows next to the two end aisles. This works out to being in the neighborhood of 395 feet elevation gain per set. So 10 sets would work out to the same vertical as 8 reps at my favorite hill in Whittier. If only that were possible. CSUF stadiums are very anaerobic and get my heartrate close to the maximum, whatever that is. One set was my limit today.

Addendum to the addendum:

Millikan High School:

The stadium has 28 rows of seats. Each row is 1 foot higher than the one below. The bottom row is 1.5 feet above the floor. So 28.5 feet of climb each time up. The stadium has 6 aisles. I decided to run up the seats on either side of each aisle so 12 times up per what I call a "stadium". Two of the middle climbs end one seat short because of the announcers box so the total climb for one "stadium" is 340 feet. I managed to get in 6 of these on Tuesday night so 2040 feet of climb. That at least is in the same neighborhood of my hill repeats - currently 3000 feet of climb in 2 hours. The stadiums are at a higher intensity since each step has to climb 1 foot. The intensity was such that I walked everything except going up. I didn't labor on the ups however. So this workout seems just right unlike CSUF (above).

So my hope with this workout (which I'll try to do weekly, at least for a while) is that it will strengthen my legs and improve my sore knees. The actual result of this workout was that my legs were sore in more than just the knees. My upper gastrocnemius in particular was pretty sore and the connective tissue around my hips and knees was worked.

July miles

2009-07-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

6/29 - 0
6/30 - 18 - Seal Beach Pier - Realized it's easier on my knees if I run faster or barefoot.
7/1 - 0
7/2 - 4 - 5x(32 pushups, 8 pullups) + 16 pushups
7/3 - 2 - Pull tire
7/4 - 6
7/5 - 12

7/6 - 1 - Pull tire, 2x32 pushups
7/7 - 6
7/8 - 0
7/9 - 6
7/10 - 6
7/11 - 11 including 6x6x40yds
7/12 - 4

7/13 - 6
7/14 - 8
7/15 - 6
7/16 - 8
7/17 - 6
7/18 - 8
7/19 - 8.5 (6 in huaraches)

7/20 - 6
7/21 - 10
7/22 - 4 - also cut grass (and watched Obama press conference)
7/23 - 10 (in huaraches)
7/24 - 6
7/25 - 12
7/26 - 10 (in huaraches)

7/27 - 8 (sidewalks)
7/28 - 12
7/29 - 6 (Brooks flats on sidewalks - yech!)
7/30 - 12 on track
7/31 - 16 (in Body Glove water socks)
8/1 - 0
8/2 - 18 (in Body Glove water socks)

Jack Daniels

2009-07-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about the coach, not the pain reliever.

I've been frustrated with the status of my running for a while now what with the injuries, a good performance followed by a bad performance, and generally chaos when it comes to having a plan. I think the thing that pushed me over the edge (besides my current recovery from sore knees) were comments on Todd Braje's Blog about "a last long run to lay down capillary beds" and "one long tempo workout to get in". These comments gave me the definite feeling that I was clueless. So I got out my Gordon Pirie paper and my Daniels Running Formula book which I had never studied very hard. Gordon Pirie tends to rage against convention which is my tendency as well but I feel like this attitude hasn't done me any good and now that I'm 53, maybe I shouldn't keep experimenting. So I started reading the Daniels Running Formula and charting out a course for the next races. I know that I still have plenty to learn but here are some of the things I get so far.

Don't add more than 10 miles per week.
The standard (marathon) plan takes you through 4 different phases of adaptation for 6 weeks each.
The workouts of one phase should not allow the benefits of previous phases to be lost.
Take a break after each cycle.

Furthermore, I'm going to set a guideline that the maximum weekly mileage in the base period is the maximum weekly mileage (100%) for the training period. At least with this first cycle, I'm going to refrain from any fast races during the base period. I do plan a 6 hour run at the end of the base period as a tune-up. Also, as far as exceptions are concerned, cutting a cycle down to 3 phases is probably ok as long as I don't omit the taper. I think I'll be running some of the same workouts as in the past but this time I'll have a plan on how often, how fast and for what purpose I'm running these workouts.

So far for building my base, I started out with a more or less 40 mile week, followed by a 50 mile week, and then this week which should be 60 miles (58 as I write). I'll post my workouts after I get in the 2 miles later today. The plan is to have 90 miles in the final week of the base period including a plan for 36 miles at the 6 hour run.

In the foreword, Joan Benoit-Samuelson mentions ten steps easy, ten steps hard, etc. I have yet to understand that although it sounds like fartleks. So more studying is in order.

Mis Huaraches

2009-07-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've had my huaraches for a while now but they are getting more use recently because of sore knees. Wearing regular (10 oz) trainers tends to exacerbate the knee problems. Why? Because they have heels, causing my foot to land wrong. Because they are heavier, thus slowing down turnover, thus causing me to push with greater force. I just got back from a 10 mile road run and feel quite a bit better than I did yesterday after running 12 on the track in (7 oz) flats. That's partly because I ran when it was cooler today.

I just recently trimmed the end of the strap so that it isn't so long. Between that and just getting in better shape, I can run better and faster in my huaraches now. I think getting rid of the extra will also result in less sand, etc getting in between the sandals and my feet.

In the middle of today's run, my right ankle was sore and my lower legs were hurting a little. But this went away and I was really cooking toward the end. The ball of my right foot can get sore too but this sort of stuff recovers pretty quickly.

Glucosamine Chondroitin

2009-07-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

I've been having problems with sore knees recently. Taking Glucosamine has seemed to make a real difference. After about 2 weeks of taking the recommended amount, I'm going back and forth between - just fine and still a little sore. As Jerry Pournelle would say - Recommended.

Tendonitis

2009-05-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

OK - so my chiropractor told me that I have overuse tendonitis in my knees. That's good news actually because I know what to do for that. The knees are getting better - just the left one has some remnants of an issue. I think the other problem and what probably led to the tendonitis is lack of strength. As a result, I'm going to emphasize building strength in my legs in my workouts. So going forward in the near future, I'm going to do one or two interval workouts per week, a tempo (10k) run, and a long run, preferably a 16 mile run on the track. I have a few other things in mind for building strength which I've done in the past: Riding the bike, running very short sprints up the side of levees, and dragging a tire. No lifting weights yet but that could be in the future.
The other thing was that I went to Roadrunner Sports and had them do the gait analysis. The main thing we noticed was my left ankle rolling lightly which they said indicated my arch was stretching too much. So I got the advised arch supports (which I just ran in) but also will try some arch strengthening exercises.

Ruth Anderson 100k 50 mile

2009-04-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is

I didn't hurt myself,
I kept the hip flexors under control and
I went past 50k finally at Ruth Anderson.

The bad news is I had the familiar drop in pace sometime after 20 miles from 9+ minute miles to 12+ minute miles. I wanted to get past my personal (2 times) 50k barrier at RA so kept going at that point (about 4:59). However, when I was getting close to 50 miles, I had a little chorus of pains singing from my right ankle and knees with a steady background accompaniment of pain from my quads and hip flexors. I was tentative going into the race because of my knees and didn't see much point in going on to complete a 11:30 or worse 100k so I quit at 50 miles.

I think the problem with the drop in pace is lack of conditioning via 30+ mile runs for the ultra distance. That didn't seem to bother me at Helen Klein though and I did have a problem in the past where 40+ practice road runs on consecutive weekends left me exhausted for a few weeks (iron deficiency?). So I'm planning to incorporate a 50k per week (but maybe no more than that for now) and I'm taking iron. My next race is a 6 hour (tentatively) so 50k should be plenty to prepare for that.

Sore Knees

2009-04-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

I got overly enthusiastic last weekend and ran 7500' of descent (and the same ascent). At the end of Monday's workout, my knees were pretty sore. Then on Tuesday, I ran a track workout with a 5 mile commute both ways. I was planning to run 20 miles from work to Park and Ride on Wednesday but my cooler head prevailed (I usually keep it locked in an ice chest but every so often it escapes) and I took the bus home. So nothing on Wednesday. Friday's workout got stopped on the last lap because things around my knees were acting up. I iced really well on Friday and iced one sore spot on Saturday. By Sunday, I put in the planned 16 mile (slow) run so I should be back to full workouts this next week.

Mon - 11 miles on trails with 2600' vertical (sore knees)
Tue - 13 miles including 1320 yds (4:39), then 6x440 yds
Wed - 0
Thu - 4 miles in grass
Fri - 13 miles (planned to do 16)
Sat - 4 miles barefoot in grass
Sun - 16 miles

Total - 61 miles

Clicking but not literally

2009-03-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

OK - things started working for me on Friday. Running became just a matter of my two quads alternating at pushing me along. That was on the beach run on Friday night. Saturday morning, I started off a bit tired but picked it up about midway through the run. Then when I heard that I was catching up to a couple of mtn bikers I had seen at the top of the previous downhill, I picked it up and zipped right by them, opening up a minute gap on them in about 5 minutes. Then on Sunday, I got the quads going both on the uphills and flats as well as the downhills. I managed the downhills by bringing my knees farther forward and then popping back and forth on my quads. So ended the week on a good note.

Mon - 12 sidewalks by the house
Tue - 0
Wed - 18 Beach Run to Seal Beach Pier - saw a seal
Thu - 5 on grass
Fri - 18 Beach Run to Seal Beach pier - saw the same seal
Sat - 9 Hills
Sun - 11 Hills
Total 73

Last Week

2009-03-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

That toe I hit on the rock during the race is still red two weeks later. It doesn't bother me much though. Here's my workouts for last week when I was sick. I decided on Saturday that I wasn't going to be sick anymore.

Day	Miles	Comments
Mon	0
Tue	10	Turtle Hill
Wed	10	Turtle Hill
Thu	0	sick
Fri	0	sick
Sat	20	to Belmont Shore in Long Beach
Sun	0

Total: 40

Sick - but not in a good way

2009-03-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

I came down with a cough and then phlegm which made me feel phlegmatic (my gosh, I love how those words are spelt). So I got in 10 miles on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, then another 20 on Saturday. Sunday was rainy and windy so I stayed inside. 40 miles

One thing that's going well is my ABC exercise. I can write the alphabet forwards and mirror image with my legs without stopping.

SJT50k

2009-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the San Juan Trail 50k this week. The conditions were great - sunny but cool for the whole day. I wanted to run the whole thing but then I hit the steep places and my right leg had already been freaking out since I haven't been doing much hill work. The folks at the aid station at the top of West Horsethief trail fixed up my leg with Kool and Fit or something like that. Also gave me a couple of gels and some pretzels which could help cramping. After I got the steep part of Trabuco (I hope I'm getting these names correct, I ran to the finish pretty strongly, passing one guy and almost another.

I had my best fall every during the race. About 8 miles in on a pretty level portion of trail, I caught my right foot on a rock. The right side in this section sloped down at an angle of about 30 degrees with plenty of brush growing on it. I managed to plant my left foot and dive into the brush back first instead of landing on the trail and possibly hitting some rocks. The brush was thick enough where I didn't even hit the ground.

My time and place weren't great but I thought I paced it about right and had plenty left at the end. I should have had more forefoot protection on a rocky course like that. Finally, I should have carried two water bottles just in case of falls.

Food as follows:
1st aid station: 2x1/4 PBJ, topped off Gatorade
2nd: Filled bottle with Gatorade, drank 3 half cups of Gatorade, ate 2x1/4 oranges and 2 cookies
3rd: Gel and pretzels. Ate another gel on the trail. Topped off Gatorade.
4th: Topped off with water.
5th: Topped off but didn't really need it.

Miles for the week

3/9/2009 - 7.5 6 reps of the hill in Whittier
3/10 - 8
3/11 - 19.5 5 laps from the house
3/13 - 4
3/14 - 31 SJT50k
3/15 - 11 behind Schabarum Park.

Workouts for week

2009-03-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

Date	Miles	Comments
3/2/2009	0.25	Signal Hill in 1:34 (once)
3/3/2009	22	Commute home
3/4/2009	4	recovery
3/5/2009	22	Commute home
3/6/2009	4	recovery
3/7/2009	31	50k in pieces: 18+2.5+2.5+8
3/8/2009		Nothing

Ran home from work a couple of times. Tuesday, my right hip started really hurting until about halfway when it stopped. Thursday, I carried my clothes (including shoes) in a backpack. Neither was fast.
Concerning the hip

I'm going to warmup before trying anymore intense sprints uphill.
I've started doing a whole array of stretches for my hips. The right hip has been a problem waiting to happen.

And why do I get such a big gap in front of an html table?

As Difficult as ABC

2009-03-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

When I get up in the morning, I do some leg exercises before I start walking around. I think this started with a bout of plantar fasciitis a few years back.

First I alternately flex and extend my ankles 192 (64x3) times, with one ankle flexed when the other is extended. Next I write the alphabet forwards with both feet, then backwards (mirror-image) with both feet at the same time.

I've had problems with my hip flexors in some races. I had been trying to figure out an effective means of strengthening this area by laying on the ground and waving my legs around one way or another. I finally made the connection and now write the alphabet forwards then backwards with my legs (both at the same time). So far, I haven't made it all of the way through without having to take a break. But if this ever gets too easy, I'm going to start writing the Khmer alphabet.

The 400 meter question

2009-03-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

Why can't I run 400 meters as fast as I could when I was 30 (54.5)?

If I try to run 400 meters fast now, I often strain my hip or hamstring. So for comparison purposes, I'll use my time up Signal Hill for which my ancient PR is 57 seconds. I ran Signal Hill tonight for the first time in a long time. I thought I was flying. My time was 1:33.94. That's 64% slower than I used to be. In contrast, my best for 2 miles is 11:01 (as a high school senior). A few years back, I ran a 5k in 19:20 which works out to 6:14 pace. That's only 13% slower than 11:01 and at a longer distance.

Speed is a product of turnover (strides per minute) and stride length.

Turnover

It used to take 50 steps for me to cover 100 meters in approximately 12.5 seconds (I think I might have got this down to 11.8 seconds). 50 steps in 12.5 seconds yields a turnover of 240 steps/minute. My PR for 400 meters was 54.5. I also had several 54.9 times.
Assuming that I had the same stride length as in the 100, a 55 second 400 works out to a turnover of 218. I recently timed my turnover at 196 going uphill on an uneven dirt trail at twilight. So I think turnover is still in the same ballpark, at least within 10%.

Stride Length

Stride length depends on two things: power and flexibility. I think
these two are what really limit my current 400m speed.

I don't do speedwork that often nor do I lift.
When I do, I prefer this to be slower than 7:00 minute pace because a faster pace gives me an upset stomach after about 5 miles of it and
Even if I do run faster, I don't like running less than 800m when running intervals because of a tendency to strain my hamstrings or hips.

Which brings me to flexibility. I do stretch but my stretch for hips and hamstrings is something like touching my toes. When I ran 400m, I'd do hurdle stretches and was able to get my chin to touch the bottom of my kneecap. I'm absolutely nowhere near that now.

Does this affect performance in ultras?

Lydiard training can be a lot like ultras yet Lydiard looked at long runs as a way to train for speed. Is it possible that the reverse is true? If one practices recruiting all of the muscle fibers at once (running uphill all out), will that build strength which can be used in an ultra? For the element of flexibility, a longer stride and strength to support that would obviously improve one's time in an ultra. So I'll assume that it is a good idea to go in pursuit of my lost youth and try to improve my 400m or short uphill time by increasing flexibility and power.

Workout changes

I'm willing to spend once a week (Monday night) running fast uphill sprints on Signal Hill. Back in the day, I could only manage one or two of these per workout and I could only manage one tonight.
Start working at hurdle stretches. These are the most painful stretch I can remember (probably why I haven't done them for years). Also, I remember that I used to cheat at them by letting the fore leg roll out so I'll watch that.
In addition, I probably need to do some hip stretches. Since my schedule is tight on Tue and Thu, I'll plan to do these on MWF and weekends.

Back to being me

2009-03-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

Date	Miles
2/24/2009	13	Team Runners High workout - 6x800 (and commute)
2/25/2009	4 Recovery
2/26/2009	7	5.25 on the track under 7:30 pace. Was supposed to have been 8 miles but left quad tightened up
2/27/2009	4	Recovery
2/28/2009	14	Whittier Hills - tough (hot)
3/1/2009	18	Rincon-Red Box Road
Total	74

I had a diversion for a couple of months including being a race director on 2/21 but now I'm back and building up my miles. So I'll be building the Thursday night track workout back to 16 miles over the next month or so. Also, my weekend miles should increase. I plan to alternate my weekend runs between trails with some vertical (like this week) and long road runs (next week).

Helen Klein 50 mile - 2008

2008-11-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

I ran the Helen Klein 50 mile race yesterday, finishing in 7:42:50, eighth overall, second in my age group. My optimistic goal was 7:30 and since the course was actually about 51 miles because of a trail detour around construction, I was pretty much right on my estimate.

It rained for most of the race but that didn't really cause any problems for me. I wore shorts and short RaceReady tights with Vaseline and then wore a garbage bag to protect my torso from getting soaked. That all worked pretty well, especially after I figured out to tuck the garbage bag inside my fanny pack in back. I also wore a Zombie Runner hat.

I made one mistake. I forgot my water bottle in the car. When I realized this at the starting line, I mentioned this to another Southern California runner - Fenton Cross. Luckily, he had stashed an extra 24 oz bottle by the start line - I guess to hydrate on the way to the start - and lent that to me. Thanks Fenton! The aid stations at Helen Klein were pretty close and it was a cool day so I think I could have done without but I was really glad that I didn't have to try.

I was most pleased with my pacing. I started easy, not wasting any energy trying to move through the pack. The trail detour started within the first mile. That resulted in a conga line and some walking. I did pass some folks eventually but without having to spend any extra energy. Anyway, we got back onto the bikepath in short order and then it became a matter of just getting in the right rhythm. I was wearing lighter shoes (Mizuno Revolver) and had a pretty light and quick turnover throughout the race. I pushed a little bit outbound but mostly just tried to stay in rhythm, eat something from each aid station (PB&J or potatoes), and not waste any time. At the turnaround, I started pushing harder but backed off to the previous pace after a couple of miles. I had a couple of little stomach problems in here too. The turnaround is pretty close to the previous aid station so I actually over ate and felt too full. I backed off the food for a bit. A little later, I noticed the fluid just sitting in my stomach so I got a good bit of salt on potatoes at the next stop and that fixed that. Starting at about 20 miles up to about 35 miles, I started catching people who were having problems of one sort or another. My own experience corroborated by race reports I've read led me to believe that if people were going to have problems, they'd probably encounter them by 35 miles. I found that to be true since I didn't pass anyone after about 35 miles and no one passed me. By the same token, I felt somewhat encouraged when I was just running like a clock at 30 and 35 miles. I thought at this point that all I needed to do from there on in was not to make any mistakes in the rest of the race - like failing to eat or pushing hard and getting worn out. That's how it worked too. This was so wierd or at least unusual for me - to feel like I was in control for once.

I had a few injuries about which I was worried. I had a slight strain of something on the inside of my left knee on Thursday before the race (not running related). I also had a start of shin splints about 2 weeks before the race. This enforced a taper since I didn't want those to ruin my race (and waste all the money). Thirdly, my left arch had been a little tight recently. I think each of those little problems cropped up briefly as little reminders in the first 5 miles and then went away for the rest of the race.

Despite being technically a road race, there was plenty of scenery and wildlife along the way. I saw deer, squirrels, wild turkeys (3 times), a pheasant, a coyote - which caught a squirrel, etc. I imagine that the weather cut down the number of other folks who were out on Saturday but we did see plenty of bicycles and other runners.

So anyway, I was very pleased with the result, especially being able to maintain a fairly even pace without much of a problem. It was the first time I had run a Norm Klein race so as a race director I was interested in seeing the organization. In fact, my wife quizzed me about the aid stations when I got home - in case we can learn something for our race. I got a clock for getting second in my age group and was worried about having that in my carry-on. Instead, they dinged me for having a bottle of orange juice inside my backpack. So I'm still getting over the post race wierdness and lack of appetite. My legs weren't too sore today. I think I may run home from work Tuesday so I think I'll recover ok.

P.S. Two more things: 1) I didn't go to the bathroom (number 1 or 2) the entire race. I imagine some people would be alarmed at this but I went right after the race (and everything was pretty normal) and actually had an urge at times during the race. So I don't think I got dehydrated at all. I just kind of maintained equilibrium. I've done this before on a 50k but not 50 mile. 2) I need to do more situps. My lower abdomen was pretty sore after the race. I use my mid-section quite a bit when running.

Long run in loafers

2008-10-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

My workouts have been going pretty well - about 70 miles per week is typical. I've wanted to bump that up though. This week, I planned to commute home from work on Tuesday because my carpool partner had to work late or something. So about 4:00 pm, I started grabbing my stuff to change clothes and get going. No shoes. I forgot my shoes at home! I was ticked! I started thinking of my options: run 22 miles barefoot or wear my work shoes. Actually, I was wearing my work shoes most amenable to running - some Timberland loafers. They worked out pretty well although I don't plan to run home in them again. I took it pretty easy at the start. That got frustrating since I was hitting all of the stoplights so after a few miles, I think I picked up the pace (and started running through lights). The soles of my forefeet started feeling bruised in the last two miles but I could "smell the barn" at that point.
I did the same run on Thursday with my regular Mizuno Wave Precisions and had a much more enjoyable run. So anyway, I might hit 100 miles this week. Now it's time to take a nap and then run.

Most of Mountains to Sea

2008-09-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

Orange County has a Mountains to the Sea trail although not as long as that of North Carolina. The Orange County one is 22 miles long including a loop in Weir Canyon. I ran the (mostly) paved portion of it between Chapman Ave (Irvine Park) and Newport Back Bay on Saturday. I parked at Harvard Park and ran two out and backs - 20 miles to the beach and 16 miles to the Taco Bell up at Chapman and Jamboree.
I wanted to bump up my long run to about 36 miles this week but I was still suffering a little from Wednesday's workout. Somehow a 36 mile run with only one stop back at the car seemed like the perfect solution. Actually, it worked out well. As long as I could get started on the second part, I just kept going until I stopped at Taco Bell for an iced tea, then I was forced to keep running, even if it was at 5 mph.
A bunch of volunteers were cleaning out trash from Newport Back Bay. One piece of trash was a mine (used to blow up submarines) apparently left from WWII. I heard on the news that morning that a WWII era bomb blew up in Europe so I told one of the volunteers that they might want to take it a little more seriously then just letting it sit by the side of the road. Does that mean I've turned into a boring old man? I saw what looked like a men's cross country team with some women too in Irvine. I assumed it was UCI and not Concordia since I didn't see Alma Escobar but now it looks like she's transferred to San Diego State.
Anyway, since I wanted to bump up miles but didn't feel like pushing the pace, I left my watch at home and did an exploration run. The result was an interesting day and I got in my miles.

16 miles under 2:00

2008-09-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

I hit one of my milestones for the year last night. I wanted to get my 16 mile run on the track under 2 hours. This is the same workout I skipped last week because my knee was sore. I ran this last night in 1:57:48 (7:22 average) with only one mile slower than 7:30. So anyway, my current schedule of 20+ road miles on Monday, 16 miles on track on Wednesday and 50k+ on Saturday has been yielding consistent improvements.

Bad week but two good workouts

2008-09-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Blah, blah, excuse, blah but I ran back to park and ride from work on Monday (21 miles) and was just cruising. Also ran 50k today (Saturday) again with very even splits and the last lap the fastest. And faster than last week by probably 15 minutes. My other big workout is on Wednesday. That's a track workout - 16 miles with a current goal of 2 hours. My fifth mile was 7:25 but my left knee started hurting on the last lap so I stopped. I'm blaming it on crashing my bike on the way to the track. I turned quickly, my pedal hit the ground and then I hit the ground. My bike is a fixed gear which means I can't coast. I also changed the crankset recently from 160 cm to 170 cm for mechanical reasons - that made me more prone to pedal strikes. Blah blah excuse blah.
I've decided to take iron after each of my big workouts. Iron seems to be my key for avoiding dead legs so I'll try to take it a little more often than once per week.

I'm back

2008-09-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the sense that my running is going well. Therefore, I'm posting again.
I got 100 miles last week. That didn't happen this week but my runs are improving steadily. In the weeks prior, I had been hitting 60 to 70 pretty regularly. This week was 78. My right foot was sore on Tuesday and my right knee today so I took those two days off.

I had lower leg issues for a while but those are pretty much gone. I'm being a little more cautious now to avoid injuries. I write the alphabet with each foot both forward and in mirror image each morning before getting out of bed. Also, when my right ankle was bothering me on a run, I'd rock it back and forth quickly when standing and that seemed to help. The other thing I'm doing consistently now which helps is stretching - soleus, gastrocnemius, hamstring hip and back, quadriceps.

I ran a 6 hour race a few weeks back which was my first race in 11 months. I was able to run the entire race despite the weather getting hot by dowsing my head every 1.25 mile lap with water.

Practices have been going well. I finally decided that I could run home from work so started doing that. Most of the time, I can get someone to take my laptop home but a couple of times, I've had to run home with it in a backpack. It's either 21 or 22 miles depending on whether I run to Park and Ride or home. So now I do a long road run on Mondays. Wednesdays are a 16 mile track run. The goal is to break 2 hours and my progression so far has been 2:11, 2:06 and just under 2:04. Saturday is a 50k (for now) road run. I faded towards the end on the first week. My legs were dead on the second week and I only finished 23 miles. This week I ran 50k at a very even pace, staying within 30 seconds of 36 minutes for a 6.25 km loop. I hope to speed it up but hitting an even pace is a first step.

The dead legs reminded me that I need to take iron when running more miles. I used to take one pill every week. I think I'll go with 2 pills per week for now.

So a few lessons learned and now some optimism about the coming races. I think the next is going to be Helen Klein on 11/1.

Happy trails,

Jay

Biking and Running

2008-06-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

I think I got in a little over 70 miles last week. I got over to Signal Hill for an urban hill workout on Wednesday, I think. Yesterday on Saturday, I tried riding up to Whittier to run trails. The ride actually went pretty well but I was dripping wet when I got there. My run was pretty much a shuffle but that may have been due to the 18 miles the previous night. The other problem was that this trailhead (Colima Road - Habitat Authority) doesn't have very good options - although I did see a 3 foot (not 3 footed) black snake with yellow stripes. Next time I'll try going to Whittier College and running my usual loop starting in the middle. I took a little spike back type backpack with me and put my biking shorts and shirt and helmet in that while I ran. It was pretty loose on my back until I found a little wire and twisted it around the cords in front of my sternum.

This coming week, I'm riding the bus and then the bike home on both Monday and Tuesday. I'm going to try to squeeze out 10 miles after those commutes. I'm planning to put in 18 on Wed. and Fri. but try to bike to Signal Hill on Thursday and run 4 reps of a 2.5 mile hilly loop. I'm taking my lights with me.

So right now, I'm trying to increase my running mileage from week to week but also throw in some biking. The combination makes for pretty good workouts. I'm trying to not get hung up about the mileage vs. goal as long as I keep improving little by little.

Better

2008-05-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

66 miles last week with a couple of 16 mile runs. My bursitis isn't bothering me much and my right ankle stays under control if I don't push the pace. So that's my guiding principle - to not push the pace and also to stretch before going on a run. I also warmup and write the alphabet forwards and backwards before stretching. I ran to Seal Beach Pier yesterday (18 miles) so that's a little bit better. Stuck my right foot in a bucket of ice water afterwards.
I notice I sleep better if I run in the evening than if I run in the morning. With my current commute (which is to leave early), that works out fine.
And now time for a 10 mile run. Hope to get 80 miles this week.

More excuses

2008-05-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

Had a rough week on prod support this week although that doesn't explain the low miles. After Saturday's 20 in the mountains, rode 32 miles on the Schwinn on Saturday. Ran 8 miles on the track on Monday and then 4 on Thursday - the day I got paged at 2:30 am and then worked all day (and the next) on the solution. The left heel started burning again on Thursday. I still think the problem is that I'm not running enough and tightening up in the big stretches between workouts. I'm trying to have each hard workout interleaved with a barefoot run. The heel doesn't bother me on the bike however. OK - I'm off to run barefoot in the park for a little. No mountains while I'm on prod support (and there is a lingering issue from last night).

P.S. If I post on a regular basis, maybe that will embarass me into sticking to plans.

Been a while

2008-04-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Uh... It's been a while.
The bursitis seems to have improved, especially if I stretch (stupido, tonto). I've also had a problem with my right ankle where some tendon hurts but that might be on the run - so to speak. It occurred to me that when I'm in shuffle mode, I tend to kick my right ankle with my left foot right around that location.
Ran 2 repeats of Thunder Mountain yesterday (by Mt. Baldy). The picture to the left was taken from the top with a view of Mt Baldy.

At this point, I'm hoping to be able to run Bishop in mid May. The right ankle hanging together is my chief concern. The altitude would be the second concern, hence my workout at altitude.

Injuries / Cross Training

2007-12-18T20:53:00.000-08:00

I've been nursing bursitis in my right heel for a while now. I'm not sure what caused it. Maybe wearing minimal shoes or barefoot. Maybe long slow runs on sidewalks. I don't know. I'm trying to work my way back into running now. I've cut most of the right heel out of a couple of pairs of shoes. The leather huaraches work too. No running on pavement right now. I'm just running on trails or on the track, mostly dirt tracks. The SoCal rain is cutting into the dirt track workouts now. I got a 11 mile trail run in this weekend and a solid 8 mile run on the track last weekend.

I went to my physical therapist about this and he gave me three (well maybe 4 now that I think of it) good pieces of advice:

Rest between workouts.
Intense workouts are what bring improvement.
To paraphrase, "Dance with what brung you to the dance", i.e. check your workouts from when I was setting pr's and go back to those sort of workouts.

He also told me to get on the bike.

OK, so I got a stationary bike AND bought a ten speed at the swap meet for $32 and converted it to a fixed gear (fixie). This could turn into a whole other preoccupation. The bike affects my legs in a completely different way. My quads get exhausted and my knees get stressed somewhat from slowing down on the fixie (it's geared really high - 52x16). But I'm not beating up my (lower) legs the way I do when running on pavement. So it seems as though the two forms of exercise complement each other to some extent although running after a hard bike ride is a different sensation. So I'm rationalizing that riding the bike or the stationary bike is resting insofar as running is concerned.

I'm limiting my running workouts to hills OR fast paced track workouts. This addresses his second and third points. Specifically, running hills and running 2 hour track runs brought me improvement in the past so that's what I plan to work on for now. So I've cut back to 3 or 4 running workouts per week for a while. Stay tuned and see how it turns out. I'm anxious to find out.

Southern California Fires - Santiago Canyon

2007-10-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

At this point, a lot of people know about the Southern California Fires. Since I live in Orange County, I'm going to comment on the one fire in Orange County, the Santiago Canyon fire and how it relates to ultra runners. This fire started October 21st, 2007 and is 90% contained as of October 31st, 2007.
The Orange County Fire Authority expects that it will be completely contained on November 4th.

Races

First off, the Saddleback Marathon and the first running of the Old Goat 50 miler are scheduled for November 10th. These are put on by Baz Hawley. I'm not sure of what the routes are but the race description says it "traverses the flanks of Silverado and Modjeska peaks, before returning to Blue Jay via the Main Divide road."
Since the fire map looks like the fire has burned within a mile of the Main Divide Truck Trail, it may be that the race course has not been burned but certainly will smell of smoke.

Jessica Deline's Twin Peaks Ultras which are already sold out will certainly be affected since both the 50k and 50 mile start and finish at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary which is now closed. The buildings at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary apparently were not damaged but the fire did make it onto the grounds, judging from the fire map and the pictures on the website. Also judging from the burn map, both sides of the first 7 or 8 miles of Harding Truck Trail are burned. Harding Truck Trail is used at both the start and finish of both races. If you check her photos of the course, you'll notice that this forest has/had trees, not just brush. Incidentally, judging from the fire map, I'm guessing that the fire burned up to the road that you see in this picture but maybe was stopped there by the firefighters.

Running

Harding Truck Trail is a favorite run of mine and of other ultra runners. I often see my neighbor Hwa Ja running up there and have seen a number of other ultra runners too. It is also a favorite of the more fit mountain bikers and hikers as well. I think that I'll stay off of it until a few rains have brought down the level of ash. I've also run in Silverado Canyon but HTT is just a little bit better because

There is a lot of parking available at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary.
There is water available at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary.
There is less driving once you get off the main road (Santiago Canyon Road).
HTT is all dirt and rocks whereas Silverado (Maple Springs Truck Trail) has some asphalt.
HTT is steeper and longer.

However, I have seen a salamander crossing the road in Silverado.

Wildlife

I have seen a mountain lion (once) and deer on HTT, but you really don't see much wildlife because there was so much brush in which to hide. Previously when there were big fires around San Diego, Orange County may have seen an increase in wildlife (mountain lions) which were displaced northwards.This year's fires will also displace some animals. During the fire, a resident in Silverado Canyon remarked that a lot of mice had shown up because of the fires, followed by coyotes. He expected mountain lions next and felt that wildlife were attracted to Silverado Canyon because it hadn't burned for 100 years.

Life in the OC during the fire

Everywhere was smokey during the fires. I work in Irvine and on Monday the 22nd, the fire was burning about 3 miles from work. We have a good view from work of Saddleback (Modjeska and Santiago peaks) and even on Tuesday when the fire was 9 days old, Modjeska peak was obscured because of the smoke rising from the fire. I didn't run hardly at all last week because of the smoke but still got a sore throat and sinus infection from breathing smoke.
In our neighborhood, a large tree was blown down into the main street (Valley View). I had to trim back one of our trees which was hitting our roof because of the winds - which lasted several days. Four of our trees had green leaves ripped off them by the wind.

As bad as the Santiago Fire was/is (23,000 acres burned), San Diego county had it much worse. The Witch fire looks like it will be over 200,000 acres with many more houses burned. My daughter and 4 of her friends came from UCSD to our house last week to escape the smoke from the fires. Her house was not evacuated but people were being evacuated as close as one freeway exit away from her. Also, fire season is not over. We are supposed to have another dangerous Santa Ana condition this weekend where hot dry winds blow here from the desert.

AC - DNF

2007-10-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well - it was inevitable. I woefully underestimated (forgot) the amount of physical and mental preparation necessary for Angeles Crest. Normally, I start hurting when driving past Rancho Cucamonga on the way to Wrightwood in anticipation of running the race or just simply going over Baden Powell and Mt. Williamson (and back). While I was walking from Eagles Roost to Cloudburst where I quit, I started making an inventory of the ways in which I should have been able to tell that I wasn't prepared to run AC. To make something positive of this, I've decided that in the future, I'll base my decision to race on objective criteria, specifically certain workout statistics over the last few months, as follows:

How many 100 mile weeks? 110 mile? etc
How many 10,000 ft (elevation gain) weeks
How many weekday 3000 ft (elevation gain) workouts? How many 4000 ft workouts?
How many 16 miles in 2 hour workouts
How many miles at a given pace (7:00/7:30/8:00/8:30 per mile)
How many Baldyx2 workouts? How about double double Baldy? (Mt Baldy is a 10,064 ft peak in So Cal. The typical run up is 4,000 ft gain in 8 miles.)
Is my weight at 145? 143?
Can I do 50 Pushups?
How many black or missing toenails do I have?
How many over and back over Baden Powell+
How many mountain 50 milers (Bishop, Leona Divide) in this year.

To follow up on a previous post, the USA men captured third place in the 100 km World Cup thanks to another solid top 10 performance from Howard Nippert and PR's from Greg Crowther and Chad Ricklefs. The USA women missed Anne Lundblad and Nikki Kimball but still finished 4th in the team standings. Devon Crosby-Helms seems to have had somewhat of a breakout performance, finishing as 2nd USA woman behind Kami Semick with a fine 8:06.

I would have liked to see the finish. 1 second separated the 2nd man (Japan) and the 3rd man (Russia). I was impressed by the splits of 13th place Takehiro Matsushita. In a race where most slow in the second half, Matsushita San ran mostly descending splits of 43:09 42:55 42:33 42:20 42:04 41:38 40:56 41:05 40:31 41:48. In fact the rate at which he accelerated was very consistent, racking up improvements of 14, 22, 13, 16, 26, 42, -9, 34, and -1:17. My guess is that he "shut it down" the last lap after he knew that he'd break 7:00 and wasn't going to score for his team.

IAU 100 km World Cup - 2007

2007-09-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

I'm anxious to see the results of the upcoming 100 km World Cup at Winschoten, Holland. The USA men's team though small has 3 guys (Howard Nippert, Greg Crowther, Bob Sweeney) with sub-7:00 credentials. Keep in mind that other teams like Japan and Russia have up to 6 guys with sub-7:00 PR's. But still, the US men in the past have run (apparently) a smart pace where others haven't had the same success. The other thing that's going on is the World Master's (WMA) 100 km champs. I had hoped to compete but an inability to finish a road 100 km has proven to have been a roadblock for me. The USA women's team has recently won the World Cup. We'll see how they do this year without Anne Lundblad and Nikki Kimball. Check back on Saturday for results.

BTW, Mexico looks like they are fielding a mother/daughter pairing in Silvia and Giselle Andonie.

AC - Oh no!

2007-09-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

Some guys who were getting ready to run AC wanted to do an overnight run of the last 42 miles of the course and somehow I got roped into running with them. I hadn't planned to run AC this year because I just didn't think I was in shape, in particular for the altitude. However, the overnight run went well for me and I wasn't very sore or anything so I decided to enter the race. I'm planning to approach this as a) a practice run for a later race and b) as Tracy Bahr says "Playing outside all day long." I think things might go ok if I don't start out at a stupid pace and if I make it to Cloudburst. At least I haven't had any significant injuries this year. Perhaps another quote (from a neighbor girl when I lived in Spain as a kid) is appropriate: "Stupido! Tonto!"

Another step toward running barefoot

2007-09-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

OK - first of all, I haven't been posting for a while. I intend to do a certain post then don't then put off other posts until I do the first post. Forget it!

A while back, I did a hard workout one day and then a recovery run the next. Some funny thing was going on with one leg which got more and more sore as the run progressed. At just about the midpoint of the run, I had to stop running. So I tried going barefoot and the pain went away immediately. I had another workout prior to this where I ran a 12 or 14 hour tempo run at 7:30 pace. When I got off the track, something started hurting right away. So I ran home barefoot on that occasion too.

There are several adaptations necessary for those going from shod to unshod running. The first thing is that your heel is going to drop farther and you'll give more work to your Achilles tendon. I think you should not try to run on the balls of your feet (i.e. your heels should come down and you should have a relatively relaxed calf when your foot is resting on the ground. The way to gradually get into this is by wearing flats or by running in grass. Another potential adaptation is to run with a more erect posture so your ankle doesn't need to flex as much.

Impact to your foot without that cushioned sole is also something to be managed. You can't land heel first on a hard surface and not hurt yourself. Landing heel first also seems to me to be a good way to sprain your ankle. So basically, I think you want your lower leg relaxed when it is off the ground, then land on the ball of your foot. This turns out to be close to flat-footed for me when I'm running on pavement. The other adaptation (which works well without the weight of the shoe) is to have faster turnover. This lessens the time that gravity has to accelerate your body toward the earth, thus lessening the impact when your foot does hit.

Finally - blisters. I can run 4 to 8 miles on concrete sidewalks without getting blisters but I will get a hot spot. Wearing moccasins is one good way I've found to avoid this.

2007-07-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

I went to Western States (as crew and pacer) for the first time two weeks back. I was supposed to pace the last 20 for Hwa Ja Andrade, an outstanding senior runner from Orange County. Hwa Ja was the oldest woman in the race and was just ahead of the cutoffs all day long. Then at 70 miles, she did a hard face plant, coming away with a black eye and scraped up arms and shins and that was it.

Western States is pretty different from all other ultras I've seen. The level of organization is just unbelievable. For instance they have 1500 volunteers. When runners get into aid stations, they try to provide them with their own volunteer in a way which I thought was a good way to organize the volunteers - the volunteers are in a line waiting for runners, like taxis at a taxi stand. The incredible logistics and planning employed for the race overwhelms me but I think I will try to incorporate the taxi stand approach to organizing the volunteers.

Western States uses horses (with riders) for course sweeps after dark. The riders have radios in their helmets. I was talking to one rider and she said that the horses see about 20% better than humans in the dark. She said that one time she came to a pitch black section where she couldn't see and the horse just took over. So she trusted her horse. I think her horse had run the Tevis Cup which is the 100 mile trail race which inspired the Western States race. These horses are on the small side which makes sense for an endurance racer.

We were at one aid station (I can't remember the names) when darkness fell. The mosquitos came out and so did the bats. I love to watch bats fly around so that provided some amusement for a while.

This race attracts the cream of the crop of US ultra runners with a strong international contingent as well. There was a substantial group from Australia. I was hanging around the finish on the second day of the race and heard them announce Paul Everly finishing. Paul was one of the finishers of the Trans-Australia race a few years back. So I introduced myself and talked to him for a bit. We also got to meet outstanding South Korean trail runner Sim Jae Duk by virtue of being on the crew of a Korean-American runner. We introduced him to Southern California's top ultra runner Jorge Pacheco whose name Jae recognized immediately.

Titus Van Rijn and Speed

2007-06-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

Andy Roth initiates a postal competition each year for a one hour run to be completed on a 440 yard or 400 meter track, more or less between Mother's Day and Father's Day each year. This competition is named after Rembrandt Van Rijn's son (who was often a subject of his father's paintings). I'm not sure why Andy names it this. Today (6/10/2007) was the last eligible day to complete the one hour run this year. So after the poor attempt at 100k, this was a good motivation to get me out to the track. It seems that I can't run intervals without straining my right hamstring so one hour to two hour runs have been my most effective speed workout. I got in 4 one hour workouts on the track this past week. On the first one, I struggled to break 8 miles (7:30 pace). I hauled on the second workout, running the last mile in 6:44, getting 8 1/4 miles plus about 50 yards. I backed off on the third workout, just getting 8 miles in 59:08. I wasn't quite sure what I'd get on my final attempt today. The first mile went in 6:43 but the effort turned out to be the reverse of the Tuesday workout, passing 8 1/4 in the same time of 59:49 and finishing with 52 meters in the last 11 seconds. So way off last year's total (9 1/8 miles) but it was nice to get back into the habit of running fast (at least fast for me).

I found an interesting interview on Cool Running. Don Allison interviewed Jim Garcia and Kevin McGovern prior to the 1997 World Challenge 100 km Championships in Winschoten, Holland. One interesting comment from Jim Garcia was that the critical miles for him in races are 30 to 35 miles. I find that interesting because all of my problem runs became a problem between about the marathon point and 50k. My thought (I wouldn't call it a conclusion) is that maybe if I can consistently get through this section and maybe a few more miles, that the rest of the race will follow suit.

Speaking of Jim Garcia, let me just apologize for not following his excellent advice to

Work on your speed.
Do back-to-back long runs on weekends.
Never wear the same shoes more than two days in a row.
Do sit-ups.

I'll try to make amends. But read the interview. His remarks are pretty funny.

Disappointment, Joy, and a Decent Workout

2007-06-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Disappointment:

The 100 km time trial (5/27/2007) didn't go so well. I noticed my right ankle flexor getting sore by 8 miles and my legs started getting sore in the 20's. Then the bugaboo which cropped last year at the Seattle Race and this year at Ruth Anderson (i.e. the two other times I've attempted 100 km), my hip flexors and groin got sore. At 50 km, I thought I'd keep going for another 25 km and then maybe another 25 km after that but my pace dropped to a ridiculous 12:00/mile and I quit at the end of the lap.

At first I was confused and frustrated as to why I'm so inconsistent from week to week. My pace on the 33 mile the previous weekend was very consistent and faster as was my pace on the 44 mile run. Eventually, I figured out from the sore spots that I put more tension than normal on the flexors by running with a more erect posture (heh heh, he said "erect"). But my posture was similar to the previous week as was everything else (except that I tapered - which I don't think is the problem). So I'm still a bit frustrated at my inconsistency.

As anyone who is a runner knows, you can always find any number of authorities and examples to tell you that what you are doing is wrong, i.e. you didn't taper enough, you've been running too many long runs, you should run long slow distance, you should work on your speed, you're running too many miles, you're not running enough miles. So I usually take advice with a grain of salt and rely more on an analysis of the problem. My frustration is that last year when I worked on my speed (9.12 miles in one hour, a number of runs of 18 miles where I was well under 7:30 pace) and this year when I've emphasized long runs (40, 44, 31, 33 miles), the result is the same for the same reason. So what to do?

I think my recent aim of trying to run 100k in 10 hours is too conservative. I should aim for more like 9 hours. But I still think that I need to work on longer runs. So I'm going to try going back to the 2+ hour fast track runs every other day and also try to get my 50k+ runs more consistent. I'm not sure if this means a long run every weekend or every other weekend but for now, working up to the 2 hour runs will take priority. My intermediate aim is to get my practice time for 50k close to 4 hours, on the track if necessary (I ran a practice 50k in about 4:11 last year). I also wonder if part of my problem running the 100 km is mental. In other words, why can I run 33, 44, 50 miles without a problem but when I attempt 100 km, the same old problem kicks in by 30 miles despite widely varying preparation?

Executive Summary: 100 km time trial BAD. Plan to run fast 2 hour track workouts a plenty with a few 50k plus workouts thrown in (and enjoy the trails or play piano on the off days).

Joy:

Kevin Gray (friend, local ultrarunner, ran the 50k of the 2006 edition of the Orange Curtain ultras, volunteered for the 2007 edition) broke his ankle while hiking Mt. Baldy, wasn't rescued for 4 days, and not only lived but appeared to be in pretty good shape (except for the ankle) and even cheerful when rescued.

Decent Workout:

Ran 8 miles on the Oxford track (6/2/2007), averaging about 7:29/mile. Not the 6:35/mile pace from last year but it is a decent first step. This is the time of year for the Titus Van Rijn One Hour competition. I have to put up some number in the next week for Andy Roth's annual postal competition for one hour on a track. I doubt that I'll get up to 9 miles this year but I'll see if I can liven up my legs and improve a bit on 8 miles over the next week.

100 mile week

2007-05-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I had a 100 mile week. It didn't hurt that I had vacation all of this week.
5/14 - 11 miles - S ridge/E ridge run in Whittier Hills - saw 3 deer
5/15 - 19 miles - New road loop I thought I'd try - won't try again since I picked up a lot of thorns running along an old railroad bed. I'll try the modified version next week.
5/16 - 8 miles - After staying up (working) the night before and then going into work in the morning, ran the 8 mile shortened Rowland Heights loop (mentioned before). Why shortened? I only had my Vibram Five Fingers and my heels have been sore (tendonitis-wise) so I cut out that one rocky hill.
5/17 - 18 miles - ran to the Seal Beach pier.
5/18 - 11 miles - full Rowland Heights loop - saw 1 deer. I think this took about 2 hours which isn't the usual leisurely pace (2:10).
5/19 - nothing - Niece's wedding.
5/20 - 33 miles - very evenly paced, 13 minutes faster than last week, no caffeine, only day old rice and some Clif Shots and water. With my heel soreness, I decided to stretch a little bit, just grabbing my feet with my hands (not using weight). Not much leg soreness, nothing was really hurting, not worn out, very pleased with the workout and pleased with the week.
I'll try my 100k time trial on one of the next two weekends. If the weather is supposed to heat up by 6/2, I'll try it on 5/26 or 5/27 instead.

That's better

2007-05-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

5/9 - Ran to Seal Beach pier (18 miles - road) with good energy level.
5/10 - 8 mile version of Schabarum Park loop at an aggressive pace. One slightly macabre note: saw the bottom 12" of a deer leg on the trail. Also met a woman who said she had just seen a bobcat. I have never seen one in the Habitat Authority.
... relatives visiting ...
5/13 - 50k completed (let's not talk about the time). The pace dropped off at the end. My goal was to complete the workout without any caffeine.
5/14 - slow 11 mile hilly run. Saw three deer and several tarantula hawks. One slightly amusing thing: I startled a ground squirrel and it ran across the dirt road. I also startled a rabbit which went flying past the squirrel.

On seeing the first rattlesnake in spring

2007-05-08T18:56:00.000-07:00

5/7/2007 - Forecast high for the day is 90.

Started on my 11 mile trail route on the south side of Schabarum Park in the Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority, wearing my old Montrail Masai's which I hadn't worn for at least a year. The sun was already out at 6:30 in the morning. The first little climb goes ok. I always have to warmup my lower legs in this area but today they're a little better than usual.

Next through the spot where there really isn't a trail - the wild mustard plants are just beaten down from a few folks passing through. I'm a little worried about stepping on a rattlesnake here when it gets warmer but usually rattlesnakes like to be exposed to the sun. This section drops down to the Skyline Trail, a.k.a.
Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail. As I curve around the first little ridge, I realize it's covered with wild mustard and its yellow flowers. The next ridge is covered with plants with purple and white flowers. Coming around this ridge, I see a skunk walking toward me on the trail, so I stop and say "Good morning." No reaction so I say it again. This time, the skunk looks up and sees me. Then it decides to continue foraging off the side of the trail. That works for me so I proceed on my way.

As I pass behind Schabarum Park, I see the horses. Someone is out feeding them this morning. I see the usual assortment of morning hikers, some of them familiar faces. Then comes the long climb back up to the ridge. I always say something to people as I'm coming up on them so they won't be startled. Sometimes they're startled anyways.

Up on the top of the ridge, I see a guy with a Boston Terrier and tell him about the skunk and let the dog sniff my hand. Then comes the long descent to the farthest point on the loop; the horse crossing by the Buddhist temple. The houses next to Hacienda Road have some dogs. I pass by the spaniel on the descent undetected but the German Shepherds notice me. After the turnaround, the German Shepherds are gone but the spaniel comes out and barks. If they weren't behind fences, they'd probably be a lot friendlier.

Now I'm on the last big climb. My legs have been dead recently and this is where I start to feel it. No wait, the previous climb was slow too.

Back on top of the ridge, I see a little 10 inch or so gopher snake. I check the tip of the tail first (no rattle) and then the head (not a triangle). It isn't interested in moving unlike the San Bernardino Ringneck snake I saw last week. I start counting curves on the trail so I can tell the guy with the terrier where the snake is. When I finally see them (4 left hand curves later - from their point of view), I tell him about the little snake but not the location.

Now I hit the turn where I take a different route back. There is a steep little climb and then the dirt road starts winding around before the long gentle descent starts. This is where I see the first rattlesnake this spring.
It's about the same size as the gopher snake and a similar color. I check the tip of the tail. It has a little amber rattle, about half the diameter of a pencil eraser. I check the head. It's a triangle. This snake doesn't want to move either. It's just trying to warm up in the morning. I see the tongue flicker out twice, then I continue on. I take it easy on the descent.

When I turn off the main road onto the last side road and start the last little climb, I enter my favorite part of the route. I'm not sure why this is my favorite but it's close to the end, it's shaded, and the surface and contours of the road are nice. I've run barefoot in this section before. When I get to the final downhill, I try to avoid stepping on the ants at an active anthole in the road. A couple of minutes later, I'm back at the car and find that I'm going to be late getting to work.

The nice thing about running trails is that even when the running isn't so good, the run itself can be rewarding.

I hate to be negative, but...

2007-05-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Had another disappointing workout today. Planned to run 35 and finished with a slow 16. I was just not up to it. The probable causes/excuses are hot weather and the last 2 weeks have been pretty poor. OK, but I still have 4 weeks left until my planned time trial. And I did the proper recovery after the run - eat/soak in a cold tub/nap. So I'll attempt to get back into it with the approach I used before Jed Smith when I ran an ok 50 mile race, specifically 2 to 3 20 mile runs per week plus a long run on the weekend and whatever on the other days. Wish me luck.
On the plus side, my daughter let me know that she has alternate plans if I don't run this 100k in Europe in September. She was planning on going along.

Starting a little past halfway

2007-05-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

ok so I've been running for a while. I continue to figure out new things and sometimes I remember them.
Some things I've learned are...
- I can avoid chafing by wearing shorts with no liner and Vaseline or Desitin on what Johnny Knoxville calls "the gooch." This works well enough for a marathon and for practice runs of up to about 20 miles. For longer runs, either long tights and Desitin in the aforementioned locale and where the seams contact the skin or quarter tights worn wrong side out w/ Desitin.
- Relax Balance Turnover as keys.
- Pick up my heels.
- Don't overstride/Keep feet under me.

Things I'm learning include
- Stretching correlates positively with lower leg injuries (i.e. it causes them).
- It looks advisable to put in runs at 60% to 70% of the target distance.
- Preliminary results indicate that tea with sugar and rice result in a smooth energy curve and no abdominal distress. Just read that Kenyans get about 23% of calories from ugali (corn meal), 20% from sugar, 14% from rice, 13% from milk (in the tea).
- I like long runs, up tempo runs up to maybe 20 miles, and hills.
- Intervals just don't agree with my right hip/hamstring.

I've hit PR's as recently as last year (9.12 miles in an hour, 8 times a 1 km, 500 ft hill in 1:59:57, my one marathon so by definition a PR, the only 5k time I can remember, etc.) but this year I'm kind of flat in spite of having fewer injuries. I'm interested in RUNNING 100 km on the road but without results so far. I'm planning to try a 100 km time trial in a month. Ran a 44 mile run a week and a half back and spent a good week afterwards feeling worn out. Ran 40 miles a week prior to that and had no such problems so I'm still running into little mysteries. So I think for now I'll try to limit my long runs to 40 miles, every other week and try to get in some up tempo runs and hill runs in between. One other factor (here comes the excuse) is that my work schedule has been all over the place the past few weeks. It should return to normal next week which means that I can run in the morning before work.