Outer Limits moves

For purely aesthetic reasons, Outer Limits moves to wordpress.

Please update bookmarks/readers/blogrolls to

http://surpassinglimits.wordpress.com/

While all posts and comments have been transfered, there is an issue with some of the HTML code from individual posts that does not break lines between paragraphs (this is one reason one should rarely post to blogger using the "Compose" tab activated; "Edit HTML" tab is far superior). Although this is a minor issue, the issue will be taken care of in the "near" future.

Hope to see all of you there.

Mircea

Pains never end

The human body is definitely something to marvel at. No doubt about it. I find that it can be running as a smooth well oiled machine, then suddenly something small turns into something larger; like an outbreak of sorts. I find this said outbreak to be the latest case.

After my run on Saturday I noticed this area behind my knee to be a bit tight (okay, a lot tight) and a bit painful (okay, at times a lot painful). It feels like it's an extension of my calf muscle. I figured I'd take Sunday off and take it from there. Well, it's currently Thursday and still no running.

It's not so much that it's painful, but when I take stairs up and down I can still feel it enough to have me concerned about a casual run. Maybe some sort of cross-training like the elliptical machine, but, again, I don't want to strain anything a week before the race. It does indeed feel like if I would do the elliptical, I'd feel it afterwards. Hell, for that matter, even if I did the bike I'd feel the same way. I don't know for sure, but I'm just going off the feeling in that strained muscle.

If I don't get as many miles as I'd like this week, that's neither here nor there as far as I'm concerned. And besides, I should be tapering. I realize this doesn't mean "don't run," but if there's a pain that has me concerned, I won't take a chance. I'll do around 30 next week and see how it feels. But this will be an easy 30 for obvious reasons.

If the pain persists until late next week, I'll be really concerned about the race. I'll still run, but I may stop at the marathon length. I hope it doesn't have to get to that extreme. I really want to push through the 50 with only "normal" pains, not ones that I am bringing to the race with me.

Running for a cause

I'm a huge animal supporter, especially ones that are in shelters. I, along with millions of others, picked up my cat from a shelter and that was the best decision I have ever made. Honestly, if it weren't for them, my cat, Andy, wouldn't be around (he was terribly ill being several weeks old and alone in the world). Therefore, I've decided to make my running count towards something in this world that could perhaps help others. So the upcoming Free State 40M race in April will be for the Lawrence Humane Society. I've started a firstgiving fundraising site with a small goal of $200. You can read more about it at the site.

I hope this goal is possible. If not, that's fine. Anything will help those helpless little guys who deserve it. So if you'd like to give, that would be greatly appreciated. :-)

If I'm gonna suffer, I might as well make it count towards something useful.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have questions.

Stay strong,

Mircea

Taking one for myself

Friday was personally a rough day for me, in many ways. I never managed to get a run in, but I knew this weekend would be long runs so although I was upset, I didn't feel as bad as I may have.

When I have bad weeks, I need to get my aggression out in some way. I try to never get too angry in situations and sometimes I tend to hold it in until I feel like I'm going to explode. That said, running really helps me reorganize. However, I cannot do so with other people. I clear my mind and cleanse my soul out in nature on my own. So I did not run with the Nerds this morning for that reason. I hope nobody took it personally, but I needed my solo time.

I went into today's run knowing that I'm going to run until I hurt, simply because of my week. I feel when one has a bad week, go hard and get your aggression out without yelling or involving anyone else. I have never done a complete loop at Clinton and so I knew today was as good a day as any to discover the full loop. I'm not sure what the full distance is; maybe something like 24 or 24.5 miles. It did feel good going into unknown territory and having new scenery. The sun was nice and warm, but nothing excessive. I was able to maintain a moderate pace even though I got a little thrown off at a few point. One in particular is at the very end because it doesn't look like the end. So I kept on, which brought me up a hill to an apparent party zone. Not seeing any trails from that point, I knew that the point I had passed was the turn-around.

Another point was still on the west end when you follow the blue trail back and somehow it disappears and merges to white. This was no problem as I just took white back to an open road which you need to travel on to get back to blue anyway, so this wasn't too confusing.

As I closed in on reaching Land's End from blue, I came across a guy, Jonathan, who was out there for the first time and new to Lawrence. He just wanted to know where to go to get between 18-20 miles. After giving him directions and speaking for a few minutes, I was on my way.

When I reached LE, I took my break to have my Clif Bar and some water. I sat on the log for this and I think this was a bad move on my part. I usually never sit, but for some reason I did. When I got up I could feel some strain in my right calf but thought this would heal itself as I started running. Not so much. For a few extra suffering miles, I decided to take white trail back. Of the 6+ miles or so on white from LE, I walked about half of it because of that pain. It wasn't terrible, but I ran what I could on it just so I could make sure I suffer some but not wanting to get hurt. I'd say I was pretty successful since I was hurting, as I initially wanted to feel, but it wasn't anything serious. Most of it was probably my two days off again--yeah, again!

Overall, I ran about 26M and it felt really good to run to the point where you hurt. It's good for the soul, if you ask me. It's good for our well-being. I'll be out again tomorrow morning for another 12-15M but I don't plan on as much suffering since I feel much better after today's run. I've also gotta prepare for the April 4th Rockin K. I hope I feel as good for that race as I did for WyCo. Assuming all conditions normal, I think I've come up with a time to finish the race in: 9:45:00. I haven't had a time up to this point simply because I didn't know what to expect form myself and the course. I think my 9:45:00 is reasonable since that makes about 11:43 mile averages. Totally doable. But, again, assuming all conditions "normal" (with myself and the course).

I hope everyone had a better week than I did.

Go out hard.

Slumps and pains

Lately I've been in a rut. In my opinion, it's not so much body-related, but school. It's kinda mentally pulling me in weird directions and therefore throwing my schedule out-of-whack. I've been able to hit-up the treadmill and get at least decent workouts in, but it just doesn't feel right. Something is off. It's like I can't focus. I'm in a daze.

First I had a very small stress fracture in my right foot which has passed, but now there's a weird--and I mean weird--pain that comes and goes in the muscle that runs up my right leg starting around the ankle. It feels like it starts at (1) and moves on to (2), as marked on the chart.

The strange part is that it comes and goes! It's as if my leg wants to collapse when I get the pain while running--because it's not really a pain, although it kinda is, but more like the muscle is weakened and my right leg wants to collapse for a brief second (sometimes it slightly does). And because the pain comes and goes, I never know whether it's okay to go running or rest it for the day. My guess is to rest it because I don't want it to get any worse.

So I'm gonna rest today and run tomorrow morning instead of taking Friday's off. Then, the plan is to go long this weekend. The weather seems as if it will cooperate to follow through with that plan. I just need to do something because Rockin' K is right around the corner and I don't wanna go into it soft. And right now I feel soft. I'm afraid this feeling will persist until the end of the semester in early May. I hope not, but I have a terrible fear this is true.

Soft week, but stronger ending

This week has been crap-ola with regard to running. And it all started with having two days off last week, Friday and Saturday. Ran a little--though nothing like I had hoped to run--and then came yet another day off, Tuesday. Wow. Then thought I'll sorta catch up on Wednesday with almost 20. Yeah right. A little over 6 was tough enough to run because of time constraints. This thesis stuff is really a time killer^a. No joke. It's especially rough when you get to certain spots in the research because stopping will just make it that much worse, so you continue on but obviously your running will suffer. My main concern is the upcoming 50-miler on April 4th. I should be okay, but I need mileage. But I believe I'm not being careful enough with my time management. I'll tighten-up on that and should be able to still do at least 50-mile weeks.

All that gloomy news leads to slightly better news with today's run. Ran with the Nerds; Nick, Gary, Greg, Mark, and Pat. Brett was around, but was having foot issues early on so he laid back a bit. Great group. Greg, Nick, and I kicked it up a notch and sorta took off towards the end and I think that made today's run worth it. It's nice to have a variation in a run, sorta like running fartleks. We pulled off about 12 miles. And today was the first time I ran the red trail. Very technical and rocky--and beautiful, basically next to the lake. Great run with a great group today.

Not sure what's in store for tomorrow; I guess it depends on how this weather behaves. If it's not pouring tomorrow, I'll head out for at least another 10. But we'll see.

Hope everyone's healthy and strong.

____________

^a But I've also had this weird foot problem. I call it "weird," but it turns out it's a slight stress fracture. See, as I've said in a previous post: time off is seriously a killer for me. I can't have TWO days off. I just can't handle that. My body can't handle that. It needs the stress of running. But anyway, I think it's getting better. I can still feel the pain, but fortunately not when I'm running. Being idle is when I feel it more. But it's all good. Really. I should be in tip-top shape by Rockin' K.

Life's highs

One thing I enjoy about running is learning about myself and, (i) what I'm capable of, and (ii) what my body prefers. Of course (ii) will change as your fitness level changes, but it's nice to see this progress.

For example, one thing I learned this weekend is that my body does not really like "time off." My legs felt incredible going into today's easy hill workout on the treadmill, but a little into the run they felt a tad stiff in the shins. Mind you, this was only with two days off. With the increase of my runs lately, I haven't had this feeling in a while until today. I really prefer one day a week off (or, if two, then they really need to be spread out--like Sunday and Friday with a longer run on Saturday).

I guess this past weekend, having Friday and Saturday off from running I felt like a bum. No kidding. I actually felt lazy, which is something I can honestly say I haven't felt in a while. But you know what else I haven't felt in a while? The feeling of running again. Ooohh the joy. I felt like a crack-head who has been off crack for a week and finally got himself a new needle in his vein. I felt strong on the incline and I just wanted to go on for hours. But I knew I had two days off in a row and I didn't wanna push it too much, so one hour was sufficient for today. Super easy run, but I needed that to "get back into it."

Let's hope the weather will warm up and stay that way. We've been getting teased with high 60's then -6º wind chills. This is ridiculous. I'm ready for Spring and the shorts to be out for good.

Hope everyone's well.

A Leadville workout...?

I've been into training relatively hard on hills lately and I can only see it getting better as I'm getting stronger. For the past two weeks or so, I've been thinking of the best way to simulate a portion of Leadville 100 (the one that has something like a 4500' increase in elevation in about 4 miles or so). Given that all the treadmills on campus only go up to 15%, I decided that this was my only option. So after warming up a bit (10 minutes), I decided it was time to bring it on.

I increased the incline to 15% and kept it there for the remainder of the hour (50 minutes). I did several things at this incline. Going into it, I was thinking I will just speed-walk the entire hour. Yeah, right. I was feeling too good. So I cranked up the speed to about 4.5 and ran it for a half mile. Then I brought up back down to a brisk walking pace--between 3.4-3.5 pace. Did that for about 3/10 mile or so then back up to the run. This continued on for a bit until I remembered not to injure myself by going too much in one workout. Then I slowed it down a bit by walking a bit more than running, but still pushing for something definitely over 2000 ft in elevation.

When it was all said and done I had gained 2600 feet of elevation in this 50 minute workout. The mileage in this time was about 3.5 miles. So it appears that you cannot simulate the portion of Leadville with the mad incline. However, you can get close and the workout

itself isn't so bad. Once I get stronger, I'll run more of it. But for now, I'll workout out smartly and not get myself injured in the process.

And as a side note: I wore my Drymax Maximum Protection socks for this workout and they worked like a charm. I was sweating pretty profusely, but these socks kept my feet dry and feeling comfortable the entire time. These socks are the real-deal. These guys even offer a money back guarantee that this sock will keep your feet drier than any other sock. That kind of guarantee is just unheard of. I gladly stand behind this sock and will recommend it to anyone looking for a sock that will finally get the job done.

Lessons

I think it's easy for people (primarily trail runners; and to be fair, I suppose road runners as well) to take for granted the condition they're in.  As someone who is a runner, today I was able to step back for a moment and assess where I am and where I'm headed.  It wasn't a revelation by any means, but it just opened my eyes and helped me focus more on my goals.

Today we had a new runner join our Saturday morning Clinton Lake runs.  He's sorta a runner (meaning he's not hardcore who runs 50+ miles a week, or anywhere near that number as far as I know), but doesn't have a lot of trail experience.  He's got some, but it's just not extensive.  So today's group of people didn't really split up as much as I thought we would have, and therefore we sorta all ran together.  I don't mind this type of running because I take it to be my endurance days (easy pace but long distances).  I wasn't sure what today's mileage would be because I sometimes like to play it by ear and see who's going what distance.  So today's magic number was 15.  I was tempted by Mark's offer for 23 (one loop), but I had the car key and I knew Lisa was only doing 15 so I didn't wanna keep her waiting out in the brisk weather this morning.  

Anyway, the new guy seemed to be working out well for the first 6 miles or so.  He said felt strong/good and had a tiny blister start forming on his small toe.  He stretched out at Land's End, we briefly discussed whether he wanted to continue with us (15M) or head back.  He said he was fine so he proceeded to run with us.  Initially, he felt good and then slowly started falling behind at some point.  At what point exactly I don't know because Mark, James, and I sped up and left everyone else behind.  At the turn-around point for the 15 and full loop we decided to stop and slowly walk the blue trail hoping the other will catch up.  They finally did and the new dude seemed to be working out just fine (at this point I think the mileage was something like 10 miles).  When I reached Land's End I noticed he was the last to come up.  Again, I didn't think anything of it because this could be due to many things.

We usually break at Land's End but for some reason we didn't really stop and continued onward.  A few minutes into the continuation, I noticed the new guy is nowhere to be seen.  "Where's the dude?" I ask.  "He's back there walking."  Oh boy.  Don't freeze up on me now, boy.  We kept on and I kept checking back for him.  Still walking.  "He's got no water," someone says.  Crapola.  That's right.  Food?  Nope.  Oh well.  I waited up for him and decided he needed water so I gave him some Nuun and a Hammer Gel.  The dude was completely beaten up.  His legs were shot to hell.  He was claiming pains in his knees, groin, and thigh.  12 or so miles into this and he's wasted.  Completely spent.  He was barely walking properly.  So what do you do in this type of situation, especially when they've never been on the trail?  You walk with them and make sure they make it back safely.  But I didn't mind because Lisa was far behind us at this point so I knew she would eventually catch up to us.  She did, at about 14.5 mile so she joined us on the remainder of the walk.

So my point is this: even though it may appear we just go for a light run on the trails, it's not as easy as it seems.  But I can see how it would appear that way to someone.  "Oh, they're not going that fast.  I've never done even 10 miles, but this pace is easy.  I can do this easily."  Look, if you're body is not using to being beat up in this manner, you're gonna suffer.  And, as today showed me, suffer hard.  No questions asked.  It's something that you have to ease in to.  If it were that easy, we'd all be out there running an "easy" 50 miler.  But that doesn't work that way.  I agree that just about anyone willing can run 50 miles, but some will be hurting more than others.  Now, 100 is a different story.  I believe that takes some running ability.  But this is a different issue all together.  

After a brief recent email, he is indeed suffering.  Poor guy.  But maybe not so poor since he made a poor decision to run that far when his body is not used to such distances.  

Maybe next time, friend.  Don't be discouraged.  :-)

Stay strong,

Mircea

Training time

Like many others, I sometimes get frustrated at the amount of time I actually have to run.  Now, When I actually sit and reread that sentence, it reminds me that I'm being a baby.  If I really wanted to, I can be at the gym at 5:15 a.m. when it opens.  But do I?  No.  At the moment I say it's because it's too cold outside in the a.m. hours, especially that early.  But I'm not sure how much I believe that excuse.  

I don't really have a specific time I need to be in the lab, but I prefer being there by 9 a.m.  And by going through my morning routine, I figure that a gym time of 6:30 or 7 a.m. is way too late.  I never run any time shorter than 1 hour (this is my rule and it just seems to work better for my body).  Add in some stretches before and after the run and we're looking at probably 1:20:00 at least.  Let's forget about seeing someone I know and shooting the breeze with them for a moment!  That's outta the question, especially if I'm on a tight schedule.  If that does happen, add another 10 minutes.  1:30:00.  I live about 8 minutes or so from the gym when there's NO traffic (and in the a.m. hours on campus you can forget about no traffic).  So add another 12-15 minutes getting back home.  1:42:00-1:45:00.  See, without eating and showering we're already at 8:45 a.m.  When I sat down and figured this out a few weeks ago, I think the time which is somewhat comfortable is no later than 6 a.m.  I completely realize that this seems silly since I only run one hour (more or less--there are days when I feel like more, but let's assume the average morning is 1 hour) and want to be in the lab by 9!  Believe me, I totally realize this.  But when you sit down and do the math, it works against me, as I've demonstrated above.  

So the point is I'm stuck, at the moment, with running only once a day.  The plan is twice--once in the morning and again in the evening--but it seems to be quickly fading away.  And the primary reason can be summed up in one word: thesis.  For those who don't know, I'm trying to defend in May, and in order for that to happen, I've got a lot of work to do.  Unfortunately.  But I don't think it will ever get to the point where I'm not running at all, so I'm happy for that.  None of this has changed the fact that I'm working hard on hill workouts.  They're done on treadmills, but I think treadmills are brilliant in this way.  Need hills?  Hit the treadmill for one hour or longer between 7% and 15% incline.  Then hit the trails.  See the difference in power and endurance.

I'm trying to stay positive about training time.  I'm sure it'll all work out.  :-)

Shoes

I'm just wondering if anyone has any input for me on a pair of Vasque Blur SL's.  I ask because these are the pair that I won at a raffle after the race Saturday and have been wondering if I should (reluctantly!) give them a try.  I still think Salomon XT Wings cannot be touched, but that's my preference for my foot and my style of running (and also my limited experience with different types of shoes).  So I don't mean to dog on anyones shoes, seriously.  :-)  Even better would be if you have experience with both shoes and can tell me the biggest difference between the two.

So any input, or even advice on what I should do, would be awesome and greatly appreciated.  After all, they are a free pair of shoes, regardless of which I get.  

Thanks in advance to anyone who decides to chime in.

–MS

Psycho WyCo race report

So let me start by giving news that's not so surprising: I finished the 10 mile race I had sign up to do.  That's a no-brainer.  But, the 1:33:00 I had planned on did not pan out.  I was 9 minutes off.  I finally came in at 1:42:40 (the exact seconds may be off by a few; I don't remember).  But I'm not so down on myself because this was my first race after all and this was only the second time I've run the course.  So overall, this was a good performance for me.  Let's also keep in mind that I've only been seriously running trails for one month.  1:33:00 was a high goal to set and meet, but that's how I operate.  I set very high standards for myself and train hard to obtain that goal, but if it doesn't happen, it's totally not the end of the world.  And only being off my 9 minutes is good, too.  Again, I'm happy with myself and my performance.  Now I'm focusing on training hard for the 50-miler in April, then three weeks later a 40-miler.  I've gotten my feet wet with an easy 10 and now it's time to get serious.  A 100-miler is coming either by the end of summer or Fall (more on this topic, in general, coming soon).

As far as an actual race report, I don't have anything much to say about a 10M race.  It's short.  :-)  The conditions for one loop were perfect because it was in the low 20's so the mud was a bit frozen (frozen enough that it wasn't bad and slowing you down).  Some snow on the ground but nothing to hinder your runs.  The thing I was afraid of from the start was my line to my bladder freezing up.  Fortunately I was drinking often enough that this wasn't an issue.  

I started out really easy and was towards the back.  People were crackin' jokes and we'd laugh a bit, but once on the trail, this sort of diminished.  People weren't out-right serious, but there wasn't much of that going on, especially once the hills came.  Slowly I passed one person after another.  Next thing I knew, I was really up there.  There was a point where I couldn't even see anyone in front of me.  I felt like Superman today.  No joke.  I was strong as an ox.  I can only wish that every race was like this.  Could I have pushed harder and done my 1:33:00?  Who knows and who cares?  What's done is done and I ran my race and that's all that's important.  I'm not worried about could-have-beens.  Those are for the birds.  :-)  I just never came to a point where I was thinking, "Damn...I've gotta slow it down or I'll hit a wall."  

One thing I have learned, however, is that I'm really good at downhills.  I kill in downhills.  I have enough leg strength that I can control myself going down a steep hill at extreme speeds.  I mention this because I noticed many people are not this way.  I always assumed everyone was awesome on downhills (to me, I think, 'how can you not be?').  But now I know this is not as normal as I thought it was.  

Coming to open fields was another time for me to attack.  I passed many people this way.  Uphills, too.  People walked most of the uphills, especially the steeper ones.  I kept pushing through, though at a much slower pace, of course.  

Afterwards was an awesome time, as well.  I spoke to a few guys that I passed (they remembered me, not the other way around).  We had a crap-load of food and drink, and there was even a raffle that I killed as well!!  I won a pair of shoes!!!  Ha!  They're Vasque, but the guy saw I wore Salomon XT Wings and said I could possibly get a pair of them instead.  I was like, "Hell yeah, brother."  I'm actually in the market for another pair because they're so awesome!  I love those shoes.  Then I won again!  A visor, which I gave to Lisa.  Nick, who we were hanging out with, also won a fanny bottle pack which he exchanged with Lisa for the visor.  He said he had more use for it than the pack, since he already had one.  :-)  Good lookin' out, Nick!  So we all came out a winner.  

Anyway, I've got some photos but I'll post those later.  I don't have many, but I have two of Lisa finishing in 2:04:xx!!!!  I was so impressed that I wasn't believing what I was seeing even as I was watching it and processing what was happening!  It was truly amazing.  I was thining she'll get in around 2:15:00-2:20:00 or so.  She was shooting for a sub-2 finish, but four minutes off is nothing to be ashamed of at all!!  That was an amazing finish, Lisa.  No joke.  And this was her first race as well.  So we both kicked ass!  :-)

So that's my first race report.  Overall I was 10th in my age group and 25th overall.  Not bad for the first time.  Hey, I'm happy and focusing on the next objective.  :-)

Stay strong,

Mircea

< 11 hours

Tomorrow is my first running race.  The only other race I partook in was during my cycling days back in 2001 in Cali.  So this is pretty exciting for me.  

To be honest, I thought I'd be a bit more nervous about "a race," but I feel pretty calm about it.  Maybe it's because I'm only doing 10 miles.  But to be honest, I try not to think "Oh, this is only 10 miles so I really don't care about it as much as if I were running a 50K or longer."  I'm a pretty fair person and try to treat everything equally.  So when I am ready for my 50-miler in a few months, I'm gonna train for that as hard as I trained for this one.  I try not to train for the distance (since I train many miles per week anyway), but train for strength and endurance.  Besides, I really don't train in miles, but in hours.  I keep track of my miles, but I'm not as concerned about them as I am of my hours of training.

Or maybe my calmness is the fact that I ran the course last Saturday so I'm slightly familiar with it.  Dunno.  Either way, I feel confident and ready.  I'm just gonna go out there and run my race.  I'm gonna *try* and not care what goes on around me.  I primarily need to listen to my body.  My only concern is that I will push harder than I should be pushing for personal reasons, but since I'm aware of it I can possibly control it.

I suppose I'll post a race report, but I'll see if it's worth it.  Ah, what the hell.  I'll post something tomorrow.  Again, it's my first race!  So there must be something to say.  Oh, and Lisa is bringing the camera so I think I'll post some photos!

First test-run at WyCo

So there's exactly one week until the Psycho WyCo 10 mile race. Having never been out there, I didn't know what to expect. Sure, I heard a crap-load of stories about that trail, but everyone is different and "hard" is also different for everyone (unless we're talking about "hard" races that have been defined as hard by damn near every person who has run it, e.g., HURT 100). So, naturally, I had to run it today (one loop, 10 miles) just to taste the trail for the first time. I don't need to run hard my first time out, but I do need to taste the trail and know what I'm in for. This makes the visualization process that will happen this week that much easier for me. So here are some of my thoughts on it.

• WyCo is not Clinton Lake, but I also wouldn't agree with something I've heard, namely, "Running 10 at WyCo is roughly equivalent to running 20 at Clinton."  Huh?  What the hell does that mean, or what is it supposed to mean?  Completely untrue.  Sure, there are comparatively longer and steeper hills, but, personally, I did not feel any more exhausted (or just "different," for that matter) after 10 miles than I would have if I ran at Clinton this morning.  Moreover, the course is much more technical than Clinton so that will wear more people out when combined with the hills.  But to say that 20CL = 10WyCo is a complete misrepresentation.
• Ahhh, the (infamous) hills everyone has been referring to.  They're nice hills, I can tell you that for sure.  Some are even pretty steep (the very small ones are; you know, those annoying very short hills that are just there to be an obstacle because of their steepness).  But in general, I would say this course, and its hills, is "normal" (by what standard? I'm not sure, but let's think of a course that has "decent" hills and say something like that is "normal").  There is a hill that is the steepest of all which happens at the end, maybe a few miles from the 10 mile mark, that is relatively "mean," but nothing like, Oh my goodness!  How will I ever continuously run up that hill?  Not even close.  But it's a nice hill and I give it the props it deserves, no doubt about it.
• The muddiness.  All I ever heard about was all this mud that can accumulate at WyCo.  Guess what?  That was not a lie.  The place was pretty damn muddy in spots and I have my shoes as proof.  And I would say that today wasn't as bad as it could be.  I'd hate to see those spots when it's really muddy!  Good God.  I wouldn't even wanna think about that, let alone having to run through it.  Let me just say that today in some spots, my foot sank deep enough that when I went to pull it out in mid-run, I can feel a pretty hard tug on my shoe.  Since I'm inexperienced, to me that was pretty hardcore mud.  Again, imagine it muddier.  Forget it.  I wouldn't wuss out on running it, but I wouldn't be happy about it.

Overall it was a nice run with Lisa, Liz, and Pat.  We took an easy pace, as we didn't have a choice but to stick together since Pat was the only one familiar with the course, and this is one course that if you don't know your way, you will get lost for sure!  So, thank you to Pat once again for agreeing to run with us this morning.

I should mention that we've also got several of our Nerds in the Rocky Raccoon 100 today.  I'm keeping up on their status via Twitter and they all seem to be doing great.  The latest is several have made the 35 mile mark and they're doing good.  I hope they all run it sub-24!  Rock on, guys.

Here's to a good training week.  I'm not sure I'll taper much since I'm only running a 10M race.  I think I'll keep it a normal training week for now.  If I go "easy" at any point, it'll be Thursday and Friday.  

My prediction: I have to honestly say that it depends on the condition of the trails.  If it's muddy, ugh...well, still sub-2.  If it's relatively dry, then I still say sub-2 but I don't know how sub, really.  Can I make my bet with the guys?  It'd be tough, but I'll be close if not (perhaps something like 1:45:00).  We'll just have to wait and see.

Treadmills

Anybody know how to make a treadmill go longer than one hour? They always seem to go into "Cool down" mode at the one-hour mark. So even if I increase the speed and incline, after one minute it goes back down to a roughly 4.5 speed and 0 incline. Surely there must be a way to run on a treadmill for 2 or more hours, no?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Stay strong,
Mircea

Lonely trails

Another wonderful Saturday morning trail run with the Nerds. The only exception is that I really didn't run with them. I did however, end up running with three for a little while, but then we split up. It wasn't anything personal today, I just felt like I needed a faster run as the Psycho race is approaching (Feb. 14). I should probably run the course, but I figured I'll make the best of what I've got.

Everyone talks about the hills at the trail, so since Clinton apparently does not compete with WyCo in terms of hills, I decided to then push myself at Clinton. Everyone seemed to be in their own groove, anyway.

The upcoming race is only 10M, so today I ran roughly 11.3 or so at a faster than usual pace. I wasn't truckin' along, but it wasn't the usual take-it-easy pace we usually do on Saturday. Here's the GPS of today's run:

View Larger Map

Was a great run and made the best of it. And I'll go ahead and publicly say it here on the blog: the reason for going harder today was because at Wednesday's "beer run," I told a few Trail Nerds I'll do the WyCo 10M course in 1:33:00. Mind you, I've never been there and have only heard "horror stories" about the hills. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I've heard they're nothing like Clinton or River Front Park at all. So I don't know what to expect, except I can promise they won't be horrible hills, just more than I'm probably used to. All I'm saying is that I've been training for hills. :-)

Will I make 1:33:00? I hope so. I'm confident, but sometimes over-confidence is my weakness, if you will. But if not, I won't be mad at myself or feel as if I haven't reached a goal. I'm doing it for fun and it's a friendly bet (push-ups, I believe). Besides, these kinds of bets really fuel me when I'm feeling tired. So I cannot come out of that race saying I didn't have motivation, because the motivation is fully-on! Whatever the outcome, I'm expecting a great time. I'll have my first look at the course tomorrow as I'm volunteering for the Psycho 5K race, held at the same park. I might post something afterwards. Maybe a few thoughts about my observations.

Stay strong,
Mircea

Saturday morning trail run

Early this morning (7:15 a.m.) Lisa and I met the Trail Nerds at Clinton Lake for our weekly Saturday run. Lisa had planned for a leisurely 10-miler while I was in it for 20 miles with Nick, Laurie, Stuart (I think that was his name), another lady whose name escapes me, as well as another fellow whose name is also sailing away at the moment--names are my weakness; forgive me.

Here is the GPS info from today's run:

View Larger Map

Gary was supposed to follow along, but this morning the weather was in the single digits (6 or 7) and the wind chill put it at -6º F. From my understanding, Gary is not a huge fan of the cold, and there was an issue: his hose connected to his water bladder had froze, as did mine and just about everyone else's, so he decided since he didn't have water to take it easy and turn around at Land's End to make his run 10 miles.

I had shin issues early on in the race—roughly from about mile 2-6.2 (Land's End). The bitch of it is that it's not shin splnts; it's something terribly annoying on the inside of my shins and it's only in one specific area that's relatively small in size, but painful as heck nonetheless. And sure enough it happened in both of my shins. And any runner will agree with me when I say that this kind of pain can zap your energy in no time at all. But I had to push through this. I did, however, stop to stretch then out and caught up with everyone at Land's End.

The water issue luckily wasn't something that had worries me since I felt pretty good up until mile 11-12 or so. Then I felt like I really needed either a Clif Shot, which I need water to wash it down with afterwards, or an energy bar of sorts. Mind you, up until that point, I had had nothing to eat or drink. I could feel that if I didn't get something in my system soon, I would hit a wall for sure. So I decided on the Clif Bar. Problem though. It, too, was frozen solid! So I had asked Nick if we can stop for roughly one minute while I put my Water Pack inside my jacket in order to allow the frozen water to melt, and this would also allow my energy gel and bars to thaw as well. This worked, but it took about a good hour before I could get any water out of it through the tube. So what I had to do was when we got to our next rest point, I just drank from the bladder. To hell with it. I needed water, especially after having had a energy bar. When the ice in the tube finally melted, it tasted like ass, but it was water nonetheless. So I was happy.

When we made it to about mile 17, back at Land's End, we stopped once again to pee and hydrate/refuel for several minutes. I felt a little fatigued at this point, probably because I wasn't careful enough with my refueling methods. I'm sure having never run 20 miles before also had something to do with it, but there's always an exception (I don't have a lot of faith in these excuses, but it's plausible of course--more on this at some point in the future). When I feel like this and then have to start running again, it's always torture on my legs. But, again, I had to push through this and the pain gets placed in a special compartment where it doesn't matter to me anymore. At least my shin issue wasn't the only thing annoying me. But honestly, the shins at that point weren't even as bad as they were in the beginning of the run. As I was telling Nick and Laurie, I sometimes need like 4, 5, or even 6 miles to warm up before I can start really running. It's the strangest thing, really. It's not *always* like this, but quite often.

Coming back to the parking lot felt amazing, simply because I was glad to be done. Up until the point we finished, pain had not entered my mind, but I knew once I was done and stopped, it wouldn't be nice to me. When I finally reached the parking lot, I needed an immediate stretch because I could already feel leg pain coming on. Fortunately, it wasn't all that bad (very, very manageable), but once I got in the car, my face was burning because it was so cold out there. I did feel bad that Lisa had to wait an hour for me after she had finished running, but she didn't mind so that made me feel a tad better about it.

Overall a good run with good people. I always enjoy our Saturday runs and I can see my miles increasing. I may take tomorrow off to allow my legs time to recoup. However, after a bit of stretching , a great lunch at the Mirth, and some hydrating, my legs are already feeling pretty good. So I may wait until tomorrow to decide whether I'll run or not.

Stay strong,
Mircea

Wed. run and other matters

Last night was a great run with the group and also a great time post-run at Free State. I'm starting to look forward to Wednesday runs, regardless of the mileage (it's usually not bad anyway, but I'm just sayin'). I honestly couldn't ask for a better group of people to run with. Everyone is awesomely supportive and friendly. This kind of attitude, IMO, is necessary in a sport like endurance running because so much of it is mental that we all need a boost every now and again. And I couldn't ask for a boost from a better group of people.

Gary had sent me a link to insanely awesome photos from Hard Rock 100. With the physical aspect of the race aside, that race is AMAZING. Let me repeat: AMAZING! If you've never seen photos from the race, check them out and if you're at all an outdoors person, you'll immediately fall in love. Guaranteed.

Bringing the physical aspect back into perspective, this is a race I'd eventually like to run. I'm always up for these types of challenges. I've never been the type of person to take the "easy road/way out" (not that other 100M races are an "easy way out," but let's be honest, some are "easier" than others. Running a 100-miler will definitely test your soul; let's not kid ourselves. But there are some 100-milers that will test your soul to the absolute core and then come back for more just to really see who you are. It's these types of races that I'm somehow drawn to. I'm no doubt starting with what's manageable for me, but we should all have long-term goals, and these are mine. To me, running 100 miles is never about "Let me see if I can do this." No. I know it's possible and that I can do it (maybe not tomorrow, but, physically and mentally for me, it's possible at some later point). For me it's more about, "How far can I mentally and physically push myself before I find out who I truly am?" So I wouldn't walk away from a 100-miler saying, "Nice! I finished 100 Miles!!" Sure, it'd be amazingly awesome, no doubt, but it's more to me than simply the accomplishment of the finish. There's no mile limit to testing oneself.

Maybe it's how I'm wired, I don't know; but I'm never complacent in my achievements. There's always more I can be doing, or something better than could have been done. There's always another limit than can be pushed and overcome. This is my journey. This is who I am.

HURT 100 photos

Some photos from the recent HURT 100 race.

http://community.webshots.com/user/akabill

Stay strong,
Mircea

River Front run

What I had intended to do was add the GPS image of my full course run at River Front Park, but something strange is going on with the upload to MotionBased.com. Not sure what's going on. Anyway, today was my first full course run there. Usually I just use it to do a quick 5-6 miles, but had extra time to do the entire thing. From what I have seen in another map of the park, the course was something like 8.89 miles, but my Forerunner told me it was 8.3 (and I even had it set to get GPS info every second, so I'd imagine the accuracy is something like +/- .1). Someone's info is wrong, and I wish I knew whose it was. The only way to determine this is to run it again (or a few more times) and see if there are any discrepancies.

Anyway, the run was nice and the pace was pretty relaxed (1:28:00). I even stopped to look around a bit at the turn-around point at the end. I like seeing floating ice in rivers. Something peaceful about seeing water flow slowly and change in front of your eyes. And two of the same things (H2O and the solid form of H2O), yet in different states, together as one and working together moving into unknown territory. This, to me, is peace. After all, this is one of the reasons I trail run; to get away from it all and see and experience things that I probably would not have if I were either road running or not running at all. The trail was a bit muddy, but it feels good to go through the mud once in a while (especially since our instinct is to NOT go through mud in our daily routine).

This reminds me of an ad for Inov-8 shoes I saw today in Trail Runner magazine today that said, "Once it gets into your blood, off road running is a powerful narcotic..." How true this is. I sometimes wonder how I've gone on with my life without it in the past. How was I satisfied with myself? How did I really know who I was if I never pushed myself beyond my limits? How did I test my soul? I guess I really never knew myself in that sense. And, to be honest, I'm still learning about myself and I'm sure I'll continue to learn who I am and what my limits are (as I surpass them!).

Stay strong,
Mircea

H.U.R.T. 100 update

OK, so as of now, it looks as if Goggins will finish 4th in the H.U.R.T. 100 (unless something terribly drastic happens). I still can't believe how strong Geoff Roes finished (20 hours 28 minutes). The guy must've been running his heart out. What an extreme performance. Amazing work, Geoff.

Goggins has just under 7.2M to go. He, too, did an amazing job this year in the race. Way to go to Goggins as well.

Live updates to H.U.R.T 100

Before I turn in for the night, I wanted to put a link to the H.U.R.T 100. There's a link on the sidebar of my blog, but I thought I'd remind anyone reading to check live updates!

My call: Watch for David Goggins. He's not human, he's a beast. I don't think he'll win (possible, but I don't think so), but he'll be top 3. No questions asked.

Stay strong,
Mircea

Nice day off

I've decided to take a day off today since Saturdays are my long(er) runs. it seems to work well for me if I take the day off before a long run. I still try to stay as active as possible, but still relax at the same time. I typically hydrate and eat well so tomorrow I'm properly hydrated and fueled. Admittedly, I do feel lazy on these days, but I know they'll help me out in the long-run (no pun intended, really).

Having a running log is something interesting because when the week is almost over and you review the log, it's hard to fathom that you haven't run more than is logged. Not that this is bad, but for example this week I was looking over my log and thus far I've logged 17 miles. It's not that I feel terribly sore and therefore feel as if I should've logged more, but there's something about it that doesn't feel right. As if I should be at least at 25 miles or so. This number of course will increase dramatically with tomorrow's run and Sunday's lighter run, but it's still hard to believe I've logged so few miles. I wonder if anyone else encounters this issue, even if in reverse (you feel as if you've run fewer miles than the log states)?

One thing I started doing is not being so concerned about distance, but more so with time spent running. I recently picked up a book titled The Ultimate Guide to Trail Running and here's an interesting thing it noted, and why I started on this time and not distance kick:

The measure of time is often more meaningful than distance because, assuming a relatively constant level of exertion, unlike the constant of time, the distance covered will vary dramatically, depending on factors such as changes in grade, altitude, footing, and weather condition.

This is somewhat comforting for me since there are days when I go a bit easier with my running than others, and I would like a way to convert that time into something more meaningful. Trail running is invariably slower than road running, so this makes a lot of sense to me. I also highly recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it and has any plans of possibly converting to trail running. Great intro book.

Stay strong,
Mircea

Combining running and school

School starts soon and I always worry about training time. Of course training is a "priority," but it's important to me as it's part of me now. Moreover, I've grown even more addicted to trail running, and I worry about the early hours of running on the trail. I've got a headlamp, so I'm not sure why I worry about it. If anything, it should be a peaceful experience. Speaking of which, I think I need to see when they open the gates to the trail. The other option is just doing some training on the indoor track/treadmill at the gym on campus.

I think I worry a bit more than usual about my training because I'm planning on defending my thesis this semester. So, needless to say, I will need a lot of time to square that away. But on the bright side, I prefer running early in the morning and therefore can work throughout the day and into the early evenings. As long as I can get my mileage in, I don't care how long I stay in the lab. In fact, hard running in the morning will probably clear my mind and could in fact help me in writing my thesis (in theory, of course). But even theory aside, I feel better after hard/long runs.

Enough of that. I think this semester will be just fine. I just think I'll need to tighten my daily schedule and be a bit more rigid with it. All will be well. No doubt.

Trail latest

As mentioned in my last post, I've been running on trails this week. As a matter of fact, I even joined a local group called the Kansas City Trail Nerds. As their names implies, they're trail runners and they're a great bunch of people. They run the local trail here in Lawrence, River Front Park (RFP), on Wednesday nights and other trails around the KC area throughout the week. I'll join them at other trails when I can. One of those times will be tomorrow at Clinton Park, also here in Lawrence. Tomorrow will be my long run for the week: 10 miles.

Unlike RFP, the trail is supposedly much more technical and I think the hills are a bit meaner. But that's not necessarily a bad thing because I was convinced by Gary, a Nerd member, to do the 10-mile trail race in February (Valentines Day, actually). I haven't signed up yet, but I'm pretty sure I will (as long as I discuss this again with Lisa and make sure it really is OK to do it). I think Lisa was thinking of going to Springfield, Missouri for the weekend. But I think we can leave Saturday after the race, maybe around noon or so. Again, I need to recheck.

I do have to admit that since running trails, I'm feeling leg muscles I haven't felt in the past just running road or track at the gym. For one, my quads are a bit sore. Hamstrings--oh, hi...I forgot about you guys. And I'm still having shinsplint problems. This crap doesn't seem to go away. I'm really tired of it. And lately its been getting pretty extreme during any run, but 20 minutes after the run, it's as if nothing ever happened. After Wednesday's run with the group, I had a pretty rough time walking because of that pain (and we only ran about 7 miles or so). So I'm trying different exercises to strengthen my shins on all sides.

I hope tomorrow's run goes well and 10 trail miles won't kill me! Nah, I doubt it, but I hope I have fun (and stay warm because it's supposed to be about 20 degrees tomorrow morning!).

My first trail experience

I just got back from a terrific run on trails here in Lawrence. This was honestly my first run on trails and I must admit, I think I'm hooked. There's something about running in nature with nothing but you, your thoughts, and peacefulness. No iPod or other annoying everyday sounds to disturb you. It was amazing. I can't understand how we're all not hooked on trail running. Granted, it's a bit tougher and you have to be a little more alert, otherwise you can easily twist or even break an ankle. But to be in that type of environment running cannot be compared to any other experience. If anyone has never tried it, I highly recommend it.

The only problem is I don't know for sure how long it was, but my best guesstimate is 8.5 miles. Today is my long run/endurance day according to a schedule I had made on Runner's World. I look forward to soon purchasing a Garmin Forerunner 305, and that way I'll have a really good idea about my running distance on trails.

I hope to post many more of my experiences on trails on the near future. Tomorrow is my rest day, but perhaps Tuesday I'll head out there again! I'm totally sold on trails.

David Goggins - a true hero

This is my hero and someone who motivates me every day I run.

Issues with Blogger

I had to create another blog as Blogger still hasn't reinstated my blog.  Yeah, they thought/think it's a spam blog.  What the hell?  It's ridiculous.  I think once it is reinstated, I'll transfer it over to this blog.  I'm tired of these guys taking their sweet time.

Anyway, I think my Saucony Hurricane 10's are not as great of a fit for me as I thought.  They're excellent shoes, don't get me wrong, but I think they're giving me shin-splints.  I'm not entirely sure, but it's my guess.  I'll stick with them a little longer before I go over to Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's.  I tested one on each foot and I think there's a bit more cushioning in the forefoot of the Brooks shoes, and that's where I think the problem is starting and giving me the shin-splints.  The guy at the shoe store suggested I try some softer terrain such as trails, so I'll try that before I pick up the Brooks.  However, I think I'll still end up getting those shoes because they get awesome reviews and a lot of reviews say they're great shoes for trail running as well, which is something that I'm gonna get a little more into (not because the guy suggested it, but I think I'll like it since it's a way to be really close to nature).  

I'll post results of how I feel after running the shoes on the trail.