Last Major Long Run Before Hennepin

It's 20 days till the Hennepin Hundred and I got my last major run in this morning.  My goal was to run between five and six hours at a reasonable pace.  This was my last chance to test my run/walk strategy of 10/2 for an ultra distance.  It went very well, covering 32.4 miles in five hours and twenty-nine minutes for a 10:06 per mile average.  I stayed pretty steady throughout the run with miles ranging from 9:18 to 10:36 depending on when the walk occurred.  The last four miles were 9:18, 9:59, 10:02 and 10:13 (last one with Pepper, our dog).  I felt pretty decent for the whole run.  I had two stops to buy drinks and snacks for about another 10 minutes.  With this latest run, I have decided to go with the 10/2 strategy for as long as I can at the race and see where I end up before I have to adjust.  I am hoping to reach the halfway point without any major changes in the strategy.

Howl at the Moon 2015

Well it's been a few days since Howl at the Moon.  It was a very good day for me.  I ran very steady all day with the first half averaging about 9:50 miles and the 2nd have about 10:15 miles.  In fact, I was still running sub-10:00 minute miles after six hours.  I ended up covering 47.56 miles in the 8 hours.  My best run in 6 years.  This was my first year in the Superior division and I was hoping to win it, but in a big surprise, I actually ended up 3rd overall which eliminated me from the division awards.  Which I was extremely pleased with. It is the highest I have ever placed overall.  1st place was like 55 miles and 2nd was about 50.  So I was very happy.  Also, covering that much mileage, not doing a large taper and feeling pretty good the last few days has really helped my confidence in my training and fitness for the 100 mile in just one month from today.  In the four days after the Howl I have put in 30 miles with only a little soreness.  The plan is to put two more good weeks of training in with at least one 30 to 35 miler and then it will be time to actually have a good taper and let the body really get rested for the big one.  Oh, and Jennifer, my oldest daughter, managed to reach her first ultra with 31.11 miles.  I was so proud of her.

Good Long Run

Nice long run today.  I got my butt up nice and early and got started about 5:15 am.  It wasn't too warm and the humidity was decent. (70 to 79 by the finish).  My daughter and her husband were gone for the weekend on a camping/camping trip, so we were scheduled to let the dogs out this morning for them.  So instead of driving over to their place, my wife asked if I could run in that direction and let them out.  I thought it was a good idea and so that's where I headed.  It turned out to be a touch under nine miles one way.  But I wanted to do more than eighteen miles, so I took a round about way back home and ended up with a bit over 25 miles.  I then added another three miles with our dog, Pepper, for a total of 28+ mikes for the day and almost 5 hours on my feet.  Went with a run 10 minutes, walk 2 minutes strategy and it worked well.  Depending on how the walking breaks fell I stayed between about 9:30 and 10:40 miles.  Felt pretty good the whole run.  I will be going with this strategy again in a couple more long runs to be sure, but I'm pretty sure this is what I am going go with for the Hennepin Hundred.  It gives me a real nice pace, but still have rest periods.  I will try to keep it up for as long as possible and adjust when I need to.  This will probably be my last real long run until Howl in less than two weeks.  Oh, and I had no digestive problems. Yeah!!

Sundowner 5K

Good race tonight!  Sundowner 5K was tonight at 7:15.  About 80 degrees, partly cloudy.  After 28.5 miles at Christmas in July on Saturday and 24 miles on Tuesday wasn't sure what tonight would bring.  But things went very well.  Felt good and ran 21:33.  About as good a time as I have run the last couple of years for a 5K.  73rd overall and 1st in my age group.  Very happy with the results.  I guess I still have a little speed left.  And the Mafetone method definitely seems to be working for me.

A tough Christmas in July

It was a long night/morning at Christmas in July.  It started out pretty good, but by lap 3 my digestive system started to act up.  I had to take (putting this a bit crudely) a crap on lap 4.  Didn't really help with the issues.  They continued and progressed as the race went on.  Also, it rained for a most of the second and third hours.  By the third hour, I had to take a crap three more times.  For the last three hours, I was reduced to power walking.  Every time I tried to run, I ended up almost doubled over with pain.  And, of course, I had to take a crap three more times.  Unfortunately, I really don't know what caused this.  Maybe it was just the midnight starting time and having to eat during the day.  Or it just might have been one of those fluky things.  We'll see what happens at Howl in three weeks.

I have managed to pull some positives out of the experience.  First, I didn't quit.  I pushed through to the end of the six hours, even if it was only power walking.  Second, I did manage an ultra distance, which was a good workout being on my feet for 6 hours.  Third, it was night run, which I did need to fit in.  Fourth, I got in a lot of power walking practice.  And, finally, I think it strengthened me mentally working through everything.  All in all, I did get in 28.217 miles and finished 12th out of 50.  And I was the oldest runner in the race.

Good Training and the Upcoming Christmas In July 6 Hour

Haven't entered anything for awhile, but I have been having some very good training.  Two big weeks in a row including a 24/28 mile back-to-back weekend.  Had my 4th ever 100 mile week and a follow up 90 mile week.  I also started some hill training once a week.  I'm doing this with my weight vest of 10 pounds.  First week was a 40 minute hill session and a 50 minute session in week 2.  Both times I have felt pretty good the next day.  I want to continue these hill sessions up until the Hennepin Hundred.  

This coming weekend is my first big test to see just where I am at.  It is the Christmas In July 6 Hour.  It is also a night run starting at midnight.  Registration is closed until race day and they published the entrants list.  The weird thing is that it turns out I am the oldest runner in the race.  I am really surprised about that.  The 12 Hour has one person my age and the 24 Hour has two people my age plus a 74 year old and an 80 year old.  I really feel that if I run like I think I can, I could actually contend for the podium if the race goes anything like last year.  Third place ran 35 miles.  My top goal is 36 miles (6 miles per hour), so that put me right in the mix.  My middle goal would be 33 miles and my satisfaction goal would be to just get on 50K (31 miles).  So we will see.

An Interesting Week

A number of things this time around.  First, I got my new phone.  And I was pleasantly surprised that most of my data had been saved on iCloud.  In particular, my Docs-To-Go files.  Yeah!

I started this last weekend with the Lake Mingo Trail a Run on Saturday.  It's a 7.1 mile loop around Lake Mingo in Kennekuk Cove County Park near Danville.  Unlike Howl at the Moon, most of the trails are single track with lots of ups and downs.  And for the last three weeks, we have gotten rain almost everyday and some very heavy storms.  So the course was very wet and extremely muddy.  But I went into the race knowing this and was pretty well mentally prepared for it.  The morning started out humid and by race time it was 85 degrees and sunny.  No rain this morning, but quite oppressive.  Things went very well, except for forgetting to double knot my shoes.  Ended up stopping three times to tie them.  The first time was probably a good thing, because I probably went out to fast and it put me with a better group of runners entering the single track.  Stayed strong through the mud and hills and started passing people by the halfway point.  Ended up running 67:48 for 40th place and second in my age group (60-69).  I never really thought that I would be able to run sub-10 minutes in the conditions, so I was ecstatic to accomplish it.

I don't know if I did something during the race, but by bedtime that night my lower back on the right side was killing me.  It made it very hard to sleep.  In fact, it was worse by morning.  Although it loosened up a bit once I was up and moving around, I wasn't too sure what it would be like on my run.  It did get better by the midpoint of the run, but never went away completely.  And a few hours after the run it was back.  Took some ibuprofen and by the time I headed to bed, it felt much better.  Morning arrived and it was back.  Pretty much the same routine as the day before.  It just was hard to lay down.  Tuesday had some improvement, but it wasn't till today (Wednesday), that it seems to finally be lessening.  Still there, but much better while I am jotting this down.  What it boils down to, is that I haven't run as much as I had planned this week.  Hopefully, it will continue to get better.  Next race is Saturday.  The Dew It! Trail Half-Marathon in Griffith, IN.