One Last Bit of Introspection.

In my last post, I noted that in Bolivia I have the time and opportunity to train like I would like for a race like the Leadville 100.  Currently I'm too much of a softy to leave Deneb home with the maid to get out for a long mid-week run, but were he in day care, that wouldn't be an issue.  The real irony of having time to train in Bolivia is that, even while the time is there, it's the only thing I find attractive about being here.

This has put a huge strain on my relationship with my wife.  I often find myself regressing and becoming a person I very much dislike.

There's a further irony.  My wife is doing fabulously well career-wise here.  In fact, I find great pride in the fact that she is such an influential person.  In her current role, she has the capacity to actually make a difference for the environment.  I have uttered on many occasions the phrase, "The only thing I give a shit about when I cast my vote is who will be a better steward of our lands."  She would always have my vote, yet somehow finds herself essentially a dictator.

She is Executive Director of a small institute here which is looking for sustainable methods to harvest Bolivia's timber.  There's more, but if I told you, then I'd have to kill you...

Anyway, all of this complexity ties into why it's too much for me to even attempt Leadville right now.

[editor's note - somehow I forgot to sign off]
Thanks for reading, and sometimes there are just some things which are more important.
Jay

Gotta say something.

From crappie.com (really)...

Too much.

That's pretty much it.

Once Deneb is in school, I can easily find time here in Bolivia to train for Leadville (and perform the way I'd like), but right now, the pleas of, "Papa, peas don't go run." Are too much.  Can't do it.  Must sneak out during the nap.  And the naps are getting shorter.

There's much more, but I don't think I've got the guts to share "the more" in a public forum.  Suffice it to say, there's some heavy irony in the phrase "I can easily find time here in Bolivia to train for Leadville"...

As of today, I've revised my training goals to something I can get done during naptime and feel good about myself - a 50 miler. In Vermont.  Hopefully with Deneb pacing me for the last 50 meters.  We'll see about that...

Anyway, hopefully over the next year, the irony goes away and I can visit the Steamboat 100 in 2013 and qualify myself for UTMB.

Thanks for reading, and why bite anything if it's not too much?
Jay

Stuff that hurts.

I don't usually complain about things that hurt, well at least not publicly, but that's changing with this post.  I've got a number of nagging aches and pains that may end up derailing my Leadville 100 race day, and have to play into my LT100 race plan.

Rotator Cuff
I'm going to start with the oldest first and work forward chronologically from there - the oldest injury that seems to affect my running performance.

I crashed my bicycle during a crit in 1998 (I think).  I was fourth wheel in a 4 man break away and we were getting ready to lap the field.  I was in with a good shot to win the race but the idiot leading the break decided that he'd slam on his brakes because of a manhole cover.  That caused the 2 guys behind them to do the same with wheel 3 adding a swerve left into the mix.  His back wheel washed out my front one and I hit the deck going the better part of 30 miles per hour.  Strained rotator cuff.  I haven't even really thought about that injury for quite some time, but it's recently been bugging me on my longer runs - to the point where I just let my right arm hang limp at my side for a while.  I'm doing some strengthening exercises for it...

The Knee
In 2010 I ran the 25 mile race on Saturday and the 10 mile race on Sunday at the Desert RATS Trail Festival.  During the 10 mile race, I remember ticking through pretty good, even having one guy complement my pace.  Unfortunately, that came to an end during the second climb.  My knee started killing me and I had to drop to a walk.  I got some Vitamin I from an aid station worker and was able to grit out a finish, but ever since then I've had recurring flare ups in my knee.  Sometimes it's a very sharp pain, other times it's a dull long lasting ache.

I have no idea what the injury is, just that it comes and goes.  It's currently "on" in a dull long lasting ache form, but it also seems to be in a "waning" part of its life cycle.  It was much worse a few weeks ago.

The Ache-illes
I've also been dealing with Achilles pain for quite some time.  I don't remember specifically when it started, but I do believe I know what caused it.

Good running form is kind of like the dude in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy who figured out how to fly by falling and missing the ground.  You kind of want to lean forward to the point where you lose your balance and have to step forward to catch yourself.  With a bit of angular momentum in the upper body, all that's required to maintain forward motion is alternating knee lifts.  I have a habit where I push off with the balls of my feet and grip with my toes for a little extra speed and that messes me up.  I go through periods where I improve, but then fade back into my bad habits and have to start over.

It doesn't really bother me while I'm running, just before and after, but I'm nervous that'll change.  Right now I'm enjoying a "relearning" phase.  Ache-illes is aching.

The Lower Abdomen - Hip Flexor - Groin
This is my most recent injury.  I initially blamed Deneb because of a game which we (used to?) play called, "Deneb jump Papa." I now think it may have happened while defending myself from one of my bad dog friends.  The injury really flares when I try to kick a dog (I never in my life expected I'd write those words, but there it is).
This injury really makes it difficult for me to get started on a run.  Once started, it fades into the background, but it never quite goes away.  I think it's improving, but 2 weeks ago it was only the Lower Abdomen.  Then again, I had to kick a dog on Friday.  Ugh...

---

With the exception of the shoulder injury, all of these injuries are on my left side.  Fun.
Anyway.  This is the stuff that hurts, here's hoping it gets better.

Thanks for reading and lift up, don't push off...
Jay

A man with a plan.

Leadville 100.

Spending the better part of 2 weeks putting together a training plan for Leadville has gotten me in touch with the gravity of what I've chosen to undertake.  I ran the Steamboat 50 in 2010 with little in the way of a formal plan, just get out for a bunch of long runs, line up and hope to finish in daylight.

This year I had a bit of an expectation that I might run Imogene and Steamboat again. But when registration time came and went for those races, I wasn't able to commit and they both filled quickly.  I ended up with all of 1 race on my schedule this year - the Blues Cruise 50k.  I'll say that went well, but I've got some nagging regrets.

This coming year is going to be interesting.  The 80k in Argentina which was run in May last year is being run in September this year; a bit too late for any kind of a form check.  That means the possibility that the Ultramaraton de los Andes in Santaigo will be early in the year - perhaps I'll do that.  I'd really love a trip to the States April though (Fruita)...

Anyway I've outlined my training plan in greater detail.  While I look to preserve the peace at home, Sunday will always be a day off, and Saturday short and intense.  I have 3 key workouts per week and "3" more which represent ritual miles.  One of the key workouts is the long run which will be uninterupted.  The other 2 key workouts have guidelines attached - Interval session, tempo or hills.  Depending where I am though those guidelines will change.  If I'm in Cuevas:  I'll be running hills.

Here's a chart:

In the previous post where I shared a training chart, Brandon suggested I didn't have enough long runs scheduled. I decided he was likely right so I added another 3 week cycle of increasing mileage long runs, with the last a 50 miler, 6 weeks out from Leadville.

This is a daunting task ahead.  My longest mileage week ever will come on the 9th of April and I've got 5 weeks scheduled after that which are even longer.  Eeek.

All is subject to change and injury is going to be a very serious concern for me.  The good news is I can see myself completing the training.  Maybe that means I can see myself completing the race.

Thanks for reading and please let me know how I can make this better.
J

These guys aren't me, but...

Someday I'll line up for that race.  Look at those trails.  Beautiful.  Who knows, maybe in a few years I'll be able to hang off the back of their group for a while....

Today I got out for a 5 mile run with some intervals sprinkled in.  After 1.5 miles I hit the lap button on the GPS and went 88, 89, 88, 88, 86, 85 on 6 quarter mile efforts with 90 second walking breaks between sprints.  The first 2 were distinctly up hill and the last 2 were distinctly down....

I also laid out a training plan for Leadville in MS Excel.  Here's a chart:

The build is gradual.  No more than 10 percent mileage increase per week.  The long runs obviously spike, but that also means that there is a corresponding decrease in the length of my shorter runs during those weeks where I have a big long run scheduled.  One of those long runs will be a race and another will likely be a round trip to a waterfall accessible from Samaipata named La Pacha.  That's an 80km round trip.

Anyway thanks for reading, and perhaps in that video you can see some of why I enjoy this sport so much...
J

Quick Update

Those are regular sized apples.

I haven't posted in a while.

I've had a bit of a daunting post hanging over my keyboard for a while and I haven't mustered the courage to get on with it.  It has to do with potatoes and Cuevas.  We harvested a couple weeks ago and that was almost as cool and rewarding an experience as the Steamboat 50.  Hopefully I can get around to writing something about it within the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime...

I'm back to regular training.  I'd say the potato harvest marked my official return to regular workouts.  I wore my NB Minimus shoes for that and lugged an uncountable number of 75 lb bags of potatoes out of the field between Monday and Tuesday 2 weeks ago.  My fingers still hurt, but my feet are fine.  There was some complaining from my right foot on Monday, but Tuesday it didn't bother me at all.  If I had to guess, I hiked 10+miles on Monday and 25 more on Tuesday half of those miles with a bag of potatoes slung over my right shoulder.

I took the remainder of that week off, and returned to regular running workouts last week.  6 days in a row I went out and ran the same 4 mile loop.  I alternated days between clockwise and counter-clockwise.  While the loop stayed the same, I varied my effort such that my easiest day took almost 36 minutes to do the loop while my hardest I went under 28:30.  I hope to break 28 minutes this week, but I'll be more tired - we'll see.

My goals now are to build back to regular medium to long distance runs 6 days a week - Sunday is going to always be a day off (marital maintenance).  I am tentatively putting an ultra marathon on my calendar in either April or May.  Something to keep me moving forward - an intermediate goal on my way to my major goal of the Leadville 100.

Nataly was indeed PO'd by my suggestion of the Trail Festival in Fruita, but I hope she changes her mind.  We'll see.

Plan B (and not a terribly bad one at that) is a race I discovered while researching the global versions of The North Face Endurance Challenge(s).  Turns out that TNF has put on an ultra in Salta, Argentina each of the last 2 years.  For some reason, Nataly's more amenable to me taking on an ultra in a country where I need a whole new visa... A number of different distances, but if it comes to it (and the race is on) I'll register for the 80k.

I'm going to tack 3 more miles into my running this week and add a day of official interval training.  That will fall on my medium long day.  This week that means tomorrow.  I'll be doing 6x400 at max effort (whatever that is) with 90 second walking recovery breaks.  I'll repeat the hard effort of last Saturday too.  Friday will be my long day (6 miles-hehe)...

Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy the snow (or sun wherever you are)...
J

P.S.
Homey's running again too!  Friday last week and today...
Good Dog.
j

And...We're back...?

This past Sunday, I got out for my first workout since the Blues Cruise.  Sunday marked the 5 week anniversary of my injury.  It also marked my first workout in my new trail shoes - the Brooks Pure Grit.  I'll give them a review eventually, but my first impressions are positive (with the exception of the stupid strap over the top of the foot).

Unfortunately I don't have GPS on my workout from Sunday, but repeats on the course will become regular fare in my training for Leadville.  I had to make a call in the morning to Nataly to get some information for Cuevas, so I powerhiked up out of the valley to get some cell signal.

Since that specific trek is going to be featured often in this journal, I am giving the location the name Dissertation Ridge.  Nataly used a couple of locations above the waterfalls in Cuevas to investigate whether there was a connection between hillslope angle and nutrient availability.  I didn't understand much beyond that but...

What I do know is that the climb up to Dissertation Ridge gains 600 feet in less than a 1/2 mile.  That's a good grunt on any day.  A 5xDissertation Ridge workout would be a tremendous effort. I expect that'll be a goal as I prepare to prepare for Leadville.

I actually ran today too.  A short loop here in Kilometer 14.  My foot hurt.  It probably didn't help much that I wore my Bikilas, but the pain never got worse.  My conditioning is way off. It was hot.

We'll see how my foot is tomorrow.  It hurt during my power hike up to Dissertation Ridge on Sunday, but Monday felt much better than in many days preceding the effort.  I wonder if working the foot is what's best for it now.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your training.
J

Going to have to add a new tag: LT100

Holy crap what have I done.

Yesterday, I signed up for the Leadville 100.

That's not really the scary part.  What I find scary is the content behind the first link on this google search: "Splits for 25 hour LT100".

I'd read Brandon's account of what transpired for him during last years Leadville 100 and for some reason that only made me want to line up for the start more.  What I hadn't seen was his sister's tale: the race from the crew chief's perspective (the first link in the search above).  That's some compelling reading which drives home the magnitude of a 100 mile race; it's not just a huge undertaking for the racer, it's a huge undertaking for all around him.  Whew.

The finality of dropping the better part of 300 dollars on a race leaves very little option other than to begin thinking about training, thank everyone around me and apologize in advance for those times when I will offend someone.

In re: Training.  I've decided my foot wants 1 more week.

At this point I can balance on the ball of my foot and even do multiple sets of calf raises, but Monday while pacing out the fence-line, I stepped, with my bad foot, on a small stump (1.75 inches in diameter, 3 inches tall) while wearing my Minimus trail shoes.  That rewarded me with some stabbing pain and induced some new swelling.  The swelling was gone Tuesday morning and I've been walking confidently without a noticeable limp for the last several days (Monday excluded).  I can really feel that my foot is getting healthy.

I want a couple more days for it to heal up before testing it out though.  I'm thinking now that next Monday will be my first run post Blues Cruise.  I could go out today in all likelihood, but there are times where discretion truly is the better part of valor and I would think this is one of them.  Wouldn't want a lingering injury to keep me from making it to the start in August.

Thanks for reading, and wonder if a race takes 30 hours to cover 100 miles, is that really running?
Jay