So it appears FANS24 will happen at the same location as always in 2012.
The last 2 weeks of anti-taper were great FANS training and let's face it - FANS is the goal of all this training anyway. Plus I only have to endure 1 week of taper. My biggest dilemma is to think through training from 4/23 - 6/2 leading up to FANS. Some of this will depend on how beat up I am from this weekends marathon.
I am currently in running withdrawal with running distance and frequency that provide no satisfaction at all. I have not changed my eating - But since I was eating to slowly lose weight at 150-180 MPW, my glycogen stores are being properly replenished.
My hamstring is still unhappy - It let me know last night after I had finished a little speed workout to keep tension in my legs (3x3 minutes @ 5k pace). I think at the slower marathon pace it will hold out.
I am hopeful I can hit my sub 3 goal without running 100% effort - 95% would be nice and helpful for recovery. But if I have to go 100% to eek out a sub 3 I will ~ Silly old man goal.
I am looking forward to time with a few friends in Carmel. I have designated Saturday post race as a holiday from training and will enjoy alcohol for the 1st time in 68 days (65 days down - 3 to go).
I have this pipe dream that I will feel good enough when I wake up Sunday morning in Carmel, IN - To stop off at the Ice Age trail on the way home and get 4-5 hours in the Northern Kettle Moraine ... Not likely.
Good running to all!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Avoiding Taper Madness
Anytime I taper for a race after a big block of training it drives me nuts. The taper for the Carmel Marathon 4/21 has been easy ... because I have not started ... yet.
Week ended 4/8 160 miles in 21:32 - 14 runs. 43 miler and 2 moderate speed workouts.
Week ended 4/15 163 miles in 21:47 - 16 runs. 31 miler and 3 moderate speed workouts
We received some potential bad news from the FANS 24 hour race organization on Wednesday 4/4: "Minneapolis Parks and Rec have decided to reject all special permits that use parks between mid-night and 6am." They have had a serious lawsuit from a different event for trouble that happened during the overnight hours. Since they did not follow their own rules (closed 12-6) it appears to have added more "Negligence" to the Parks and Recs.
The news hit me like a sucker-punch! Starting in early February I had worked desperately to get in shape by June 2nd. I was out of shape and had 40# + to lose, so I need every day of it. I brooded over it for a day - I had a bad eating day Thursday full of negativity. Then the answer hit me = Ultras are all about dealing with unexpected adversity. Those that are able to trouble shoot mid-race are successful.
My new plan is to train as if I need to be ready to race May 12th at 3-days at the fair in NJ. This is a great race put on by Hasher-Rick = it will run smooth and be hassle free. Until May12th I will do everything I can to be as fit as possible = No taper for Carmel Marathon. My "old man" goal is to break 3 hours in a marathon every year. Carmel Marathon is my targeted race to hit the 8th consecutive year of breaking 3 hours.
We are all hopeful FANS 24 situtuation will be resolved, but I will be ready May 12 if need be.
I am planning on a 5 day taper to Carmel Marathon this week or call it a cut-back week in my Ultra-Training ... your choice. In the last 46 days I have run 1,165 miles or an average of 177 miler per week. So a recovery week with a 26.2 mile tempo works for me.
Good running to all!
Week ended 4/8 160 miles in 21:32 - 14 runs. 43 miler and 2 moderate speed workouts.
Week ended 4/15 163 miles in 21:47 - 16 runs. 31 miler and 3 moderate speed workouts
We received some potential bad news from the FANS 24 hour race organization on Wednesday 4/4: "Minneapolis Parks and Rec have decided to reject all special permits that use parks between mid-night and 6am." They have had a serious lawsuit from a different event for trouble that happened during the overnight hours. Since they did not follow their own rules (closed 12-6) it appears to have added more "Negligence" to the Parks and Recs.
The news hit me like a sucker-punch! Starting in early February I had worked desperately to get in shape by June 2nd. I was out of shape and had 40# + to lose, so I need every day of it. I brooded over it for a day - I had a bad eating day Thursday full of negativity. Then the answer hit me = Ultras are all about dealing with unexpected adversity. Those that are able to trouble shoot mid-race are successful.
My new plan is to train as if I need to be ready to race May 12th at 3-days at the fair in NJ. This is a great race put on by Hasher-Rick = it will run smooth and be hassle free. Until May12th I will do everything I can to be as fit as possible = No taper for Carmel Marathon. My "old man" goal is to break 3 hours in a marathon every year. Carmel Marathon is my targeted race to hit the 8th consecutive year of breaking 3 hours.
We are all hopeful FANS 24 situtuation will be resolved, but I will be ready May 12 if need be.
I am planning on a 5 day taper to Carmel Marathon this week or call it a cut-back week in my Ultra-Training ... your choice. In the last 46 days I have run 1,165 miles or an average of 177 miler per week. So a recovery week with a 26.2 mile tempo works for me.
Good running to all!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Week ended 4/1/12 - Mad City 50k Race Report
Total for week 181 miles in 24:22 (8:05 pace) - 14 runs
Mad City 50k (100k course when it host national championship) is a beautiful course - but a lot harder than I thought it would be. The course is never closed to traffic and has many corners - So its hard to run the correct tangents. There is one medium size hill and one long soul stealing hill (Probably not that bad - But I am very out of hill running shape) - The rest is a nice constant rolling course. This makes the times of the mad city 100k last year even more amazing to me.
2 people broke the previous course record of 3:08 - Zach Bitter ran a 3:03 and Patrick Russell (Previous course record holder) ran a 3:07 for 2nd.
Zach's blog is here (Big mileage guy) http://zachbitterrunning.blogspot.com/
I would think it is 1 minute penalty per 10k look compared to a flat course with few turns.
One of my secret goals was not get lapped by the winner - I was 1-2 minutes into my 5th and final lap when I heard the cheering for Zach's finish.
I played a little leap frog with Rolando Cruz (6th) OA - He pulled away from me on the hills, I would reel him back in on the rolling section and downs. The main reason I was able to pass Rolando 4-5 times was he was refilling a water bottle and I was just grabbing 2 cups of water and slamming them. I passed him under that same pretense at the start of the 5th lap and expected to be passed again on the ensuing hills. The pass back never happened, but this helped to drive me to run as hard as possible as I felt like a hunted animal.
I really love racing - even if it is mid-pack!
I ran my fastest lap the last and finish @ 3:44:20
I had a great race, for me, and beat my "A" goal, but I got beat by 42 minutes - damn I am slow. I think it works out to be @ 7:15 pace - I am thinking that with the diffculty on the course and that I ran at 181 miles this week - I dub myslef to currently be in 3:03 - 3:05 marathon pace. Still a wee bit of work to do to make sub 3 @ Carmel.
Full results
http://www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=12105WI&tab=a4&results=3507#dRlt
As you can see I was not in the same race as the top 4 - Although I did get 1st "Old fart".
Laps
1 45:36 (7:21)
2 45:40 (7:21)
3 45:16 (7:18)
4 44:44 (7:13)
5 43:04 (6:56)
Mad City 50k (100k course when it host national championship) is a beautiful course - but a lot harder than I thought it would be. The course is never closed to traffic and has many corners - So its hard to run the correct tangents. There is one medium size hill and one long soul stealing hill (Probably not that bad - But I am very out of hill running shape) - The rest is a nice constant rolling course. This makes the times of the mad city 100k last year even more amazing to me.
2 people broke the previous course record of 3:08 - Zach Bitter ran a 3:03 and Patrick Russell (Previous course record holder) ran a 3:07 for 2nd.
Zach's blog is here (Big mileage guy) http://zachbitterrunning.blogspot.com/
I would think it is 1 minute penalty per 10k look compared to a flat course with few turns.
One of my secret goals was not get lapped by the winner - I was 1-2 minutes into my 5th and final lap when I heard the cheering for Zach's finish.
I played a little leap frog with Rolando Cruz (6th) OA - He pulled away from me on the hills, I would reel him back in on the rolling section and downs. The main reason I was able to pass Rolando 4-5 times was he was refilling a water bottle and I was just grabbing 2 cups of water and slamming them. I passed him under that same pretense at the start of the 5th lap and expected to be passed again on the ensuing hills. The pass back never happened, but this helped to drive me to run as hard as possible as I felt like a hunted animal.
I really love racing - even if it is mid-pack!
I ran my fastest lap the last and finish @ 3:44:20
I had a great race, for me, and beat my "A" goal, but I got beat by 42 minutes - damn I am slow. I think it works out to be @ 7:15 pace - I am thinking that with the diffculty on the course and that I ran at 181 miles this week - I dub myslef to currently be in 3:03 - 3:05 marathon pace. Still a wee bit of work to do to make sub 3 @ Carmel.
Full results
http://www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=12105WI&tab=a4&results=3507#dRlt
As you can see I was not in the same race as the top 4 - Although I did get 1st "Old fart".
Laps
1 45:36 (7:21)
2 45:40 (7:21)
3 45:16 (7:18)
4 44:44 (7:13)
5 43:04 (6:56)
Monday, March 26, 2012
Week ended 3/25 Recovery Week
The statement "recover week" might seem odd - 159 miles on 12 runs - Total time 22:47.
I guess it was really more of a recovery weekend. I skipped Friday nights 30+ mile run, I only did a 4 mile run Saturday. Sunday was a nice 26 mile technical trail run with my friend Andy. I road down to the Ice Age trail with Andy and his wife Shannon. Shannon ran a few hours on the trail at her own pace while Andy and I ran Mauthe Lake to Parnell Tower and back. It's nice to share my favorite trail run with friends.
There are really 2 types of recovery: Recovery of the body and recovery of the mind and spirit. I feel I have accomplished both of these over the weekend. I was able to spend many hours playing inside and out with my family. Running beautiful technical trail with friends may leave you a bit physically tired - But it always brings a certain serenity to the mind and spirit.
I have run nothing but flatish roads, trails or treadmill since early November. My favorite trail run has left my quads and knees a bit banged up - But it is a pleasant soreness.
The original goal was to be > 200 miles this week and by that measuring stick it was a big fail. The overall goal of getting into good 24 hour race shape is still on track. In fact this was a needed reprieve from the constant grind of all out training.
This coming week is a little in flux. I would like to get in 110 miles in the 5 days before Mad City 50k. That would mean going long (Hard Day) tonight and Wednesday. I really do not like back to back hard days (Sun-Mon), but that would allow 2 easy days before Mad City.
Mad City 50k will be run at a good effort - But it will fall into more of a training run than race. If I feel good at the end I will try and get in 2 more 10k laps.
Good running to all -
I guess it was really more of a recovery weekend. I skipped Friday nights 30+ mile run, I only did a 4 mile run Saturday. Sunday was a nice 26 mile technical trail run with my friend Andy. I road down to the Ice Age trail with Andy and his wife Shannon. Shannon ran a few hours on the trail at her own pace while Andy and I ran Mauthe Lake to Parnell Tower and back. It's nice to share my favorite trail run with friends.
There are really 2 types of recovery: Recovery of the body and recovery of the mind and spirit. I feel I have accomplished both of these over the weekend. I was able to spend many hours playing inside and out with my family. Running beautiful technical trail with friends may leave you a bit physically tired - But it always brings a certain serenity to the mind and spirit.
I have run nothing but flatish roads, trails or treadmill since early November. My favorite trail run has left my quads and knees a bit banged up - But it is a pleasant soreness.
The original goal was to be > 200 miles this week and by that measuring stick it was a big fail. The overall goal of getting into good 24 hour race shape is still on track. In fact this was a needed reprieve from the constant grind of all out training.
This coming week is a little in flux. I would like to get in 110 miles in the 5 days before Mad City 50k. That would mean going long (Hard Day) tonight and Wednesday. I really do not like back to back hard days (Sun-Mon), but that would allow 2 easy days before Mad City.
Mad City 50k will be run at a good effort - But it will fall into more of a training run than race. If I feel good at the end I will try and get in 2 more 10k laps.
Good running to all -
Monday, March 19, 2012
Week ended 3/18
Another good foundation week - 182 miles on 16 runs - Total time 24:42 = 7.38 MPH.
I tapered 2 days, TH 10 mi /7mi & FR 6/5, for the Fox Cities Marathon - Backward. This is a fat-ass type event that my local running club (Appleton Pacesetters) puts on. It was nice to run with a few people; Mike, Anthony and Alisha for parts of the race. We started @ 8:00ish pace and rolled along - I wore my camelback and had 8 gels in my pockets. We broke apart mostly because of bathroom breaks ~ But Anthony and I ran to 17 together. At that point I am not sure what happened - did he had dropped something? but all of a sudden he was 20 seconds behind. I did not slow down and he did not catch up - At mile 22, I looked back and he was still 20 seconds behind, so I decided to push the last 4 miles and finished in 3:13:25.
Sunday I felt pretty good, so I did 32 easy trail miles in the afternoon and then foolishly did 8 more night time TM miles watching basketball. So I start this week a little crisp with a bit of over training going for me.
I am making good progress toward my 2 spring goals. Break 3 hours @ Carmel Marathon April 21st and be ready to run a decent 24 hour race @ FANS24 June 2-3.
As I sit here Monday morning, I still want to hit a big mileage week this week. I am just not sure how it will go. But I do look forward to a nice Technical 4+ hour trail run with a friend or a few friends this coming Sunday.
Weight this morning was a beat down, slight dehydrated and glycogen depleted 211#
I tapered 2 days, TH 10 mi /7mi & FR 6/5, for the Fox Cities Marathon - Backward. This is a fat-ass type event that my local running club (Appleton Pacesetters) puts on. It was nice to run with a few people; Mike, Anthony and Alisha for parts of the race. We started @ 8:00ish pace and rolled along - I wore my camelback and had 8 gels in my pockets. We broke apart mostly because of bathroom breaks ~ But Anthony and I ran to 17 together. At that point I am not sure what happened - did he had dropped something? but all of a sudden he was 20 seconds behind. I did not slow down and he did not catch up - At mile 22, I looked back and he was still 20 seconds behind, so I decided to push the last 4 miles and finished in 3:13:25.
Sunday I felt pretty good, so I did 32 easy trail miles in the afternoon and then foolishly did 8 more night time TM miles watching basketball. So I start this week a little crisp with a bit of over training going for me.
I am making good progress toward my 2 spring goals. Break 3 hours @ Carmel Marathon April 21st and be ready to run a decent 24 hour race @ FANS24 June 2-3.
As I sit here Monday morning, I still want to hit a big mileage week this week. I am just not sure how it will go. But I do look forward to a nice Technical 4+ hour trail run with a friend or a few friends this coming Sunday.
Weight this morning was a beat down, slight dehydrated and glycogen depleted 211#
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Foundation Week Ended 3/11/2012
Last week was hard. It was a lot of grinding out slow, fat burning miles. Building the aerobic engine, but more importantly burning calories.
My biggest concern for the FANS24 hour race in June is weight. By my estimation, each pound is worth 1-2 miles. Weight at the end of the week was 220# - Goal weight is to be below 200#.
I ran 203 miles in 16 runs. Saturday also included 10 hours of downhill skiing and Sunday a nice bike ride with my 6 year old daughter. I spent 28 hours and 38 minutes running = 7.08 Miles per Hour. Being slow sucks ... up a lot of time. The last time I tried to run this much I was running > 8 MPH avg.
I am looking forward to 2 easy days in a row this Thursday and Friday leading up to the Fox Cities Marathon - Backward. It is a training run that I plan to run with my friend Mike ~ Hopefully @ 7:30 pace. If I feel strong at the end I want to throw in an extra 15 miles.
I ran 320 miles in the 1st 11 days of March -
Sorry - Not time to write more ... I have to run - I am hoping for 35 tonight.
My biggest concern for the FANS24 hour race in June is weight. By my estimation, each pound is worth 1-2 miles. Weight at the end of the week was 220# - Goal weight is to be below 200#.
I ran 203 miles in 16 runs. Saturday also included 10 hours of downhill skiing and Sunday a nice bike ride with my 6 year old daughter. I spent 28 hours and 38 minutes running = 7.08 Miles per Hour. Being slow sucks ... up a lot of time. The last time I tried to run this much I was running > 8 MPH avg.
I am looking forward to 2 easy days in a row this Thursday and Friday leading up to the Fox Cities Marathon - Backward. It is a training run that I plan to run with my friend Mike ~ Hopefully @ 7:30 pace. If I feel strong at the end I want to throw in an extra 15 miles.
I ran 320 miles in the 1st 11 days of March -
Sorry - Not time to write more ... I have to run - I am hoping for 35 tonight.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
AWOL
I have been through the range of running emotions since I last posted.
November 11th I was at my DD#1 11th birthday party and had a "Why" moment. Why am I running? Why have I given up all the other things I love to do?
I could not answer the question - So I stopped running. To be fair, I started to run only 50-60 miles per week with no training focus. I drank (Booze) and ate what I wanted to. I played racketball, I downhill skied, I played volleyball and put on weight. By the time January 1st came around I weighed 242#. (+33 pounds)
Next up was the thought of running 10 hours or less a week and do all those other things I enjoy doing. I followed this for the month of January.
February 4th I ran the John Dick Crusty 50k - A beautiful, icey, sunny day to run on the trail. I was slow - But I smiled almost the whole time. I decided I miss being in shape, I miss running effortlessly for hours on end and finally ... I miss being competetive. Oh, I could have never beat Zach - But I mean in a general sense of competetive.
February 6th - I decided to start training ... But for what? I need to lose a bunch of weight = lots of miles. I can run more miles if I run slower ... So I decided to train for FANS24 hour race. With the caveat that I will not sign up for it or run it unless I am < 205#.
February 13th - I gave up alchohol (No not forever - But I am in training!).
February I ran 536 slow miles - Weight 2/29 = 224#
Last 3 weeks - All slow miles - A lot of walk breaks
Feb 13th - Feb 19th = 131 miles
Feb 20th - 26th = 171 miles
Feb 27th - Mar 4th = 168 miles
I will not post as much as I did before I lost my way - But I will track my weekly progress toward FANS24 - June 2-3rd.
If anyone is still out there - Thanks for reading.
November 11th I was at my DD#1 11th birthday party and had a "Why" moment. Why am I running? Why have I given up all the other things I love to do?
I could not answer the question - So I stopped running. To be fair, I started to run only 50-60 miles per week with no training focus. I drank (Booze) and ate what I wanted to. I played racketball, I downhill skied, I played volleyball and put on weight. By the time January 1st came around I weighed 242#. (+33 pounds)
Next up was the thought of running 10 hours or less a week and do all those other things I enjoy doing. I followed this for the month of January.
February 4th I ran the John Dick Crusty 50k - A beautiful, icey, sunny day to run on the trail. I was slow - But I smiled almost the whole time. I decided I miss being in shape, I miss running effortlessly for hours on end and finally ... I miss being competetive. Oh, I could have never beat Zach - But I mean in a general sense of competetive.
February 6th - I decided to start training ... But for what? I need to lose a bunch of weight = lots of miles. I can run more miles if I run slower ... So I decided to train for FANS24 hour race. With the caveat that I will not sign up for it or run it unless I am < 205#.
February 13th - I gave up alchohol (No not forever - But I am in training!).
February I ran 536 slow miles - Weight 2/29 = 224#
Last 3 weeks - All slow miles - A lot of walk breaks
Feb 13th - Feb 19th = 131 miles
Feb 20th - 26th = 171 miles
Feb 27th - Mar 4th = 168 miles
I will not post as much as I did before I lost my way - But I will track my weekly progress toward FANS24 - June 2-3rd.
If anyone is still out there - Thanks for reading.
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