March review

I started this month with a 30 day today of 158 miles. I ended the month with a 30 day total of 206. The main achievement was running at least 20 miles 4 times including a 28 and 30 miler. I guess officially I have run three non-official ultramarthons now (anything longer than 26.2 miles).

I seem to be on track for the 41.2 mile Strolling Jim. The long runs are going well. The biggest challenge will likely be the weather. I've been lucky in a way that the temperatures for my long runs have been cool. Hopefully it will be cool for the run but I tend to doubt that will happen in May. I may go out of my way to do some longer runs on warmer days.

This coming month should see me do at least two more 30 mile runs. I might go for three depending on how much time I have and how well I recover from the long runs. So far I seem to be recovering quickly.

20.1 miles: Finding hills

Today I ran 20.1 miles (2 liters water, 360 calories, 1 Endurolyte). It went fairly well considering I ran 30 miles 5 days ago. I knew I was going to run closer to twenty miles than thirty, so the goal was to run hills. We don't have great hills around here but I ran all the good hills I could find. I felt pretty good running up all of them. My legs did get tried starting around mile 17. I don't know if that was from the hills or from the big run a few days ago, likely both I guess.

By mile 19 I was considering going for 30. However, my shoes had gotten wet (it was raining on and off) and it felt like I had a few pre-blister hotspots developing. I really don't want to get a blister now and so I kept to the original plan and just ran the 20. I said this would be a down mileage week and I'm trying to stick to that plan. I know sometimes less is better but that is not always easy to believe.

Up next: Friday and Saturday likely 12 each and 5 on Sunday.

5 mile Starbucks run

Today I did the to Starbucks and back 5 mile free run (no gear, no water, no calories). I had a really good pace. My legs were not 100% but they were good enough to go fast for me.

I took yesterday off. In the morning, I didn't feel like running but by the afternoon I was itching to go but held off till this morning. It seems like that was a good idea as my legs appeared to have basically recovered from the 30 mile run.

30.3 miles: A great day for my first 30.

Photo: From around mile 5 in Franklin.

Today I ran 30.3 miles. It was rainy and cool (lower 40's), a perfect day for my first 30. I can't say I felt great at the end but was nowhere near dead. I could have run a few more miles I'm sure.

I took in 170 calories via gels, 2 endurolytes, 1 half sized turkey sub (500 calories?) and 1 coke (180 calories). I think I need to take in more calories during really long runs and this was the first attempt at eating something real. Internet sources suggest I burned between 4900-5100 calories during today's run. So clearly a few hundred empty calories in coke is not a problem.

It had no ill effects and I think it helped. I took about a 10 minute break to get the food from a store and eat it. The coke may seem out of place but a lot of ultrarunners will have a Coke during events and sometimes it is offered by the organizers of these events. I figured if the cool kids are doing it, I'd give it a try now in training. I don't want to make it a habit but now I know that if it's there during an ultra and I think it sounds good at the time, I'll have one.

Today's run was different in that I ran about 10 miles (miles 19-29.5 map) around a loop that is just under a mile at a local park. I generally hate running in circles but there were a number of reasons I did it today. 1) It was raining on and off and I was getting fairly cold (shorts and t-shirt) and if the wind picked up I may have had to call the run short. If this happened, I didn't want to be far from home. 2) My ability to process data at intersections decreases around mile 20. I didn't really want to have to think about cars. 3) I knew this park would be empty. It's closed to car traffic during the week and it was raining on and off. I had the place to myself the whole time. 4) It has a good clean bathroom in the center of the park. It seemed like a good idea to be close to a bathroom (it was).

Up next: I may make this upcoming week a down week mileage wise. I can then build again for about three weeks before entering the taper for the Ultra. I may just do a 5 mile run tomorrow. If my legs are dead. I might not run at all.

12.1 miles around the town

Photo: from around mile 4.5 on map below

I ran 12.1 miles today. I'm making Friday the really long run (20-30) this week. We are expecting afternoon thunderstorms here today, so I ran this morning and now I'm going to work. Friday should be sunny and 10 degrees cooler than day. Cooler and no thunderstorms sounded good to me. I took in 1.2 liters of water and 90 calories.

5 mile free Starbucks run

The normal 5 mile Sunday morning run got moved to today. It should reappear at its normal time next week. I didn't push the pace tonight because I plan on doing a long run tomorrow.

Up next: long runs Wednesday and Friday. I'm not sure yet which will be the really long run. It will depend on work and the weather.

12.1 miles

I ran 12.1 miles today. It was basically the same run as yesterday. For some odd reason, I felt pretty good. Today's run was a full minute per mile faster than Friday's run over the same distance and route. It's not like I was moving really fast today, just that I felt better than I did yesterday. It's good to know I can run 12 miles faster the day after running 12 miles. Today I took in 90 calories via one gel, 1 endurolyte, and 1.2 liters of water.

On a side note I've given up beer I pay for until the 40 mile event. What I mean by that is I will still take a free beer if someone offers me one. I was only drinking about six a week anyway but this 40 miler (really 41.2 I've learned) is no joke. If not drinking for a few weeks help me lose a pound or two I'll take it. I can imagine being at the starting line and someone asking me if I want to put an extra pound or two in my pack. I'm fairly sure I'd say no; that's the thinking behind this.

12 miles

Today I ran 12 miles. My legs were in much better shaped than I thought they might be from running 28 on Wednesday. It's not that they were 100% but they felt good enough for a 12 mile run. I'm still using Recoverite after all runs 12 miles or longer, maybe that is helping. I took in 1.8 liters of water and 90 calories via 1 gel.

I am really not looking forward to the summer heat. It was about 80 and sunny today during the run. This would be a great running day in the summer and I was not liking it already. I think my northern European blood would rather do it's work in the very cold weather over warm weather.

Up next: the typical 12 mile Saturday and 5 mile Sunday run.

28 miles: a good day to be outside

Today I went 28 miles. I took in about 4 liters of water, 450 calories via 5 gels and about 500 calories via solid food (a sports bar and some pretzels). It was not easy.

I think I was a bit sore from pushing the pace on Sunday during my five mile run. My legs were tired. Today at around mile 11 I felt like I had already run 20. My legs started to cramp a bit around mile 18. This was good and bad. Bad because it's not great for running, good because this is training and learning how to run (or keep going) while tired is very important.

Miles 18-28 were interesting. Some walking, some slow running and some normal long distance speed running. Miles 27 and 28 were better than miles 23-24, and that is good in that it shows you can get over rough patches and feel better.

Overall: This was a fun day and that is probably the most important thing. The running wasn't always going great today but I had fun the whole time. It was a nice spring day and I was able to spend most of it outside.

Map: The poor mapping program can't seem to handle today's run. It shows the miles but could not connect all the dots for the first 11.5 miles or so.

Sunday: 5 miles around the complex

Photo: A recent power dinner made by my wife: Fish, quinoa, garlic, and kiwi.

I ended up running 5 miles at night in the complex since it fit better into the family schedule (zero calories, no water). It was an interesting run. This is a run I did a lot last year but had not done for a few months. I was pushing the pace. I'm not sure how fast I was going but it was easy to tell my fitness level is MUCH deeper. It felt like I was barely scratching the surface of what was there. I don't think I was running really fast* but just that it taxed me much less than it would have in the past.

Up next: The current plan for Wednesday is to run from 9 a.m. t0 3 p.m. I'm going to take food and one or two 5-10 minute breaks to eat and maybe change socks. This is going to be a slow run for sure. I'll just see how far I end up going once I'm done.

*Really fast for me is less than a 9:30 pace. So not that fast either way.

11.6 miles

(Photo taken around mile 5 below)

Today I ran 11.6 miles (goal 12 +/- 0.5). Sadly, it was a reminder of what is coming. The sun, heat and humidity. The south is great for running in the winter, not so much the other months of the year. Today wasn't bad really but it was a reminder that summer running is much different. I took in 1.2 liters of water and 0 calories.

It was a good run after the first few miles. I was just lacking energy. I'm not much of an espresso person but I feel like a good shot of it would have helped. Hopefully, my body started burning longer term stored fuel after the first couple miles and that is why I started to feel normal. This was not a fast run but was faster than yesterday. I do plan to push the pace tomorrow.

Up next: Sunday the 5 mile free run.

12.3 miles

Today I ran 12.3 miles. It was about as average as a run can get. It went well, but I was not burning any extra speed today. I took in about 1 liter of water and 0 calories. It was sunny but not really warm enough to note the temperature.

Up next: Saturday 12 and 5 on Sunday is the plan.

12 miles and the buzzards

Today I ran 12 miles (0.6 liters of water, zero calories). A bit sore from Monday but not too bad. Legs a bit tired at first but they got going by mile 3. The most interesting thing was seeing a bunch of buzzards in a tree where I have not seen them before. I didn't see anything dead. Hopefully, they were not waiting on me.

23.2 miles

Today I ran 23.2 miles. It was cool and overcast. I took in 3.0 liters of water and 360 calories via 4 gels. The goal was to run at least 20 but less than 27, so I ended up just about in the middle.

It was a good run overall, no real problems. Photo below from a new road I've been hitting. It nice because there is little traffic. My new phone seems to have a better battery since it lasted without a problem instead of cutting out around 20 and so that's good. I'm a bit tired so I think I'll end this here.

11 miles

Running is a mental game once you are in decent shape and today I was off my game*. I ran 11 miles.

My wife left on a trip today, I didn't sleep well last night, I was worried my son's school would call and I would have to pick him up in the middle of a run (I had no reason to worry), I had not finished work before running, I had to clean the house some, etc. My mind was everywhere but running. It's not that I didn't want to run, it's that I under more mental stress than my normal low laid-back level.

Anyway, this coming weekend and week will be different than normal. I'm likely not running Saturday or Sunday. Monday our son is going to school so he can stay home on Friday when my wife gets back. Monday is an easy work day for me. So the new plan is to do the big run on Monday when I have more time and should have my mind back on running.

*I do know that I still ran 11 miles and that is decent.

6.7 miles

A quick 6.7 miles today. The toe is better but not 100%. It hurt a bit when pushing off. Hoping a short run today and a rest day tomorrow will be good for it. No water or calories today.

Up next: A run of a couple of hours on Friday.