I'm working on putting together a post about my Badwater 135 crewing experience, so, in the meantime, enjoy this awesome snippet that the video crew put together and then played for us at the post race party on Wednesday. What an amazing experience!
Crash, out.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Oh, July
The month isn't even halfway through yet and I'm already wondering where it went! It's a busy one. I always feel better about my stuff when I've written things down and I can see them in front of me, rather than volleying everything around in my head, trying to make sense of it. We have one weekend at home this month. And that's a lot...
Badwater (holy eff!) is next week (and dominating two full weekends)! Geof and I are crewing along with Jim O'Brien, Ed Kelly and Terry Madl for our guy Adrian Belitu. This will be his second running of BW (last year he finished in 33 hours and some change), and this year he's got a faster goal in mind :) Looking forward to being a part of the mayhem. I'm also looking forward to doing a couple of training runs in the heat the weekend before the start of the race (Monday, July 12 @ 10a.m., for Adrian).
I'm not quite sure what to expect out of the Badwater experience, but I do know I plan on taking many a picture and soaking it all in (in spf 75+). I have no plans of attempting the Mt. Whitney summit (14,505') afterwards, but I will look forward to the stories that will surely follow from the others! I decided that, should the summit be a reality for Adrian, I don't want to be the one who puts a wrench in his plan by having my stomach or head explode at altitude, or get eaten by a mountain lion (or whatever awesomeness they have out there). That would suck. Plus, everyone else planning to summit are far fitter than I and I don't want to get left alone in the dust, on a mountain, being circled by vicious man-eating beasts, without water. That would really suck!
As soon as we return from the left coast, we have our final big training run: Minnesota Voyageur 50. I keep forgetting about this race! If all continues to go well, I still plan on running this one, but I'll decide that race morning :) Geof and I plan to run it together. Since I haven't raced since February, I'm already getting nervous about it. Last year I raced so much that I never really had the chance to get too jittery...I'm officially jittery!
You may well know that Wilderness Running Company is my favorite running retailer due to their very high level of awesome. In January, they published a write-up I did about Acadia National Park. And, THIS month, they decided to give me another go and published a write-up I did about Trail Running in Chicago, That was fun! I hope it's helpful for readers looking to get out-of-doors in the big bad city :)
Reading about Leadville is making my head spin. I need to stop. I already know what I'm doing and have an idea how I want to do it. Anything anyone else is doing is erroneous when it comes to my race, and I need to keep reminding myself of that. Not a lot of time stands between me and that finish line...WOW!
I got some 6 mile runs in this past weekend, and today, and all felt good. I'm going to hit up my PT, Brendan, for a screening though just to make sure all really is okay, and so I can get some better strengthening and stretching routines to incorporate.
I suppose that about does it for now. Today totally feels like a Monday, and the fact that it's really Tuesday makes me downright giddy :)
Crash, out.
Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times
Badwater (holy eff!) is next week (and dominating two full weekends)! Geof and I are crewing along with Jim O'Brien, Ed Kelly and Terry Madl for our guy Adrian Belitu. This will be his second running of BW (last year he finished in 33 hours and some change), and this year he's got a faster goal in mind :) Looking forward to being a part of the mayhem. I'm also looking forward to doing a couple of training runs in the heat the weekend before the start of the race (Monday, July 12 @ 10a.m., for Adrian).
I'm not quite sure what to expect out of the Badwater experience, but I do know I plan on taking many a picture and soaking it all in (in spf 75+). I have no plans of attempting the Mt. Whitney summit (14,505') afterwards, but I will look forward to the stories that will surely follow from the others! I decided that, should the summit be a reality for Adrian, I don't want to be the one who puts a wrench in his plan by having my stomach or head explode at altitude, or get eaten by a mountain lion (or whatever awesomeness they have out there). That would suck. Plus, everyone else planning to summit are far fitter than I and I don't want to get left alone in the dust, on a mountain, being circled by vicious man-eating beasts, without water. That would really suck!
As soon as we return from the left coast, we have our final big training run: Minnesota Voyageur 50. I keep forgetting about this race! If all continues to go well, I still plan on running this one, but I'll decide that race morning :) Geof and I plan to run it together. Since I haven't raced since February, I'm already getting nervous about it. Last year I raced so much that I never really had the chance to get too jittery...I'm officially jittery!
You may well know that Wilderness Running Company is my favorite running retailer due to their very high level of awesome. In January, they published a write-up I did about Acadia National Park. And, THIS month, they decided to give me another go and published a write-up I did about Trail Running in Chicago, That was fun! I hope it's helpful for readers looking to get out-of-doors in the big bad city :)
Reading about Leadville is making my head spin. I need to stop. I already know what I'm doing and have an idea how I want to do it. Anything anyone else is doing is erroneous when it comes to my race, and I need to keep reminding myself of that. Not a lot of time stands between me and that finish line...WOW!
I got some 6 mile runs in this past weekend, and today, and all felt good. I'm going to hit up my PT, Brendan, for a screening though just to make sure all really is okay, and so I can get some better strengthening and stretching routines to incorporate.
I suppose that about does it for now. Today totally feels like a Monday, and the fact that it's really Tuesday makes me downright giddy :)
Crash, out.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Leadville Training Update #2
So remember in my last post about my Leadville training, I stated that I need to remind myself that those aches and twinges are likely nothing? Well there are three things I will not play around with: hamstrings, bone pain and the achilles. If you eff around with those and don't let them recover, you can end up side-lined a lot longer than if you had just listened to your body in the first place. I decided to listen in on Friday, finally.
My long run the Saturday prior produced a funky achilles pain I had never felt before and after some quick stretching I was good to go, but I didn't forget about it. I paid attention to it in the following five days and decided maybe I should take it easy since it was still really tight. Perhaps it was a rash move, but I decided on Friday night that I would not be running any legs of the Beer Run 100 with my fellow CHUGs, but would instead play crew for the race. That pissed me off and set me off on the wrong foot to start the weekend, as I had really been looking forward to running this one. But, by about sunrise on Saturday morning as I sat in the truck at some unmarked intersection in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin waiting for our 100 mile runners to make it into the checkpoint, I decided I was very happy with my decision. I made a mental note that I would be taking the next seven days off of running and focus on pool running and cycling to give my achilles a rest. I laid out a plan in my mind and that's all it took. I also kept ice on the leg for 10 minutes every hour much of the day, stretched like nobody's business and generally enjoyed the experience and helping three peeps finish their 100 mile adventure (this being a first 100 mile run for two of our runners!).
Sunday, after waking up in the rain in a muddy campsite, swarming with enormous mosquitos, Geof and I drove home and immediately snapped to it cleaning the truck, unpacking, hand-cleaning all of our camping gear (what a task!), watering the plants, lifting weights and then heading out for an hour bike ride around Northerly Island.
Monday, I headed down to the pool for an hour pool run. I have been saying for almost a year now that if I can run 100 miles I can do anything. But now I have a new qualifier: if I can run in the pool, essentially in the same spot, for a full hour, with NO MUSIC, I can do anything! It was a very good workout...now if only I were as fast on land as I am running in the pool :)
Tuesday, I grabbed Geof's road bike (I still have yet to replace my kickass bike that was stolen almost two years ago...!) and headed out for an early a.m. 12 mile bike ride around Northerly Island. I did intervals around the 1.4 mile loop and my quads and hams were burnin' before I was done! Awesome ride.
Today, I went back down to the pool and did a new workout for 30 minutes. As soon as someone new learns I'm training for Leadville, the most common question is "how do you train for altitude?" Well, since I don't have two spare weeks to spend at altitude leading up to the race, I'm working on raising my VO2 max as much as possible, in order to be more efficient at altitude, and found a good link here with simple workouts to help boost your VO2 max. So easy, even I can do it :) I have used the 30/30 concept a handful of times before, not realizing what it was, and really like it, so once I'm back running I'll pick that up again. Today, however, I applied the 30/30 concept to my pool run: 30 seconds sprinting hard enough that I was gasping for air, followed by 30 seconds of easy recovery. Bam! That made the pool run fly by!
Earlier this week, I saw my podiatrist again, Dr. Chin, for a follow-up on the nodule on my left plantar fascia. It's much better! I mentioned my achilles issue. He checked it out and then decided it is most likely from tight calves, and agreed with me that it's also due to no longer having the extra heel lift from wearing orthotics all the time. So he gave me 1/8" heel pads to wear in my flat day-to-day shoes to take a little strain off the achilles, and a ProStretch doodad for some excellent calf stretching. Things are already looking up.
On another note, there's a new holiday for us trail runners to celebrate...the 2nd Annual National Trail Running Day is set for August 21, 2010! This works out perfect for moi as that's the same day as Leadville 100, so you can bet I'll be observing this most illustrious of trail holidays :) The website has a list of events being held that day, as well as trail running resources. A big thanks to Chris Barber at Serious Running for the information!
My long run the Saturday prior produced a funky achilles pain I had never felt before and after some quick stretching I was good to go, but I didn't forget about it. I paid attention to it in the following five days and decided maybe I should take it easy since it was still really tight. Perhaps it was a rash move, but I decided on Friday night that I would not be running any legs of the Beer Run 100 with my fellow CHUGs, but would instead play crew for the race. That pissed me off and set me off on the wrong foot to start the weekend, as I had really been looking forward to running this one. But, by about sunrise on Saturday morning as I sat in the truck at some unmarked intersection in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin waiting for our 100 mile runners to make it into the checkpoint, I decided I was very happy with my decision. I made a mental note that I would be taking the next seven days off of running and focus on pool running and cycling to give my achilles a rest. I laid out a plan in my mind and that's all it took. I also kept ice on the leg for 10 minutes every hour much of the day, stretched like nobody's business and generally enjoyed the experience and helping three peeps finish their 100 mile adventure (this being a first 100 mile run for two of our runners!).
Sunday, after waking up in the rain in a muddy campsite, swarming with enormous mosquitos, Geof and I drove home and immediately snapped to it cleaning the truck, unpacking, hand-cleaning all of our camping gear (what a task!), watering the plants, lifting weights and then heading out for an hour bike ride around Northerly Island.
Monday, I headed down to the pool for an hour pool run. I have been saying for almost a year now that if I can run 100 miles I can do anything. But now I have a new qualifier: if I can run in the pool, essentially in the same spot, for a full hour, with NO MUSIC, I can do anything! It was a very good workout...now if only I were as fast on land as I am running in the pool :)
Tuesday, I grabbed Geof's road bike (I still have yet to replace my kickass bike that was stolen almost two years ago...!) and headed out for an early a.m. 12 mile bike ride around Northerly Island. I did intervals around the 1.4 mile loop and my quads and hams were burnin' before I was done! Awesome ride.
Today, I went back down to the pool and did a new workout for 30 minutes. As soon as someone new learns I'm training for Leadville, the most common question is "how do you train for altitude?" Well, since I don't have two spare weeks to spend at altitude leading up to the race, I'm working on raising my VO2 max as much as possible, in order to be more efficient at altitude, and found a good link here with simple workouts to help boost your VO2 max. So easy, even I can do it :) I have used the 30/30 concept a handful of times before, not realizing what it was, and really like it, so once I'm back running I'll pick that up again. Today, however, I applied the 30/30 concept to my pool run: 30 seconds sprinting hard enough that I was gasping for air, followed by 30 seconds of easy recovery. Bam! That made the pool run fly by!
Earlier this week, I saw my podiatrist again, Dr. Chin, for a follow-up on the nodule on my left plantar fascia. It's much better! I mentioned my achilles issue. He checked it out and then decided it is most likely from tight calves, and agreed with me that it's also due to no longer having the extra heel lift from wearing orthotics all the time. So he gave me 1/8" heel pads to wear in my flat day-to-day shoes to take a little strain off the achilles, and a ProStretch doodad for some excellent calf stretching. Things are already looking up.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Leadville Training Update
Oh come ON, give me some credit, of course I'm going to train for this one :-)
Leadville is a bit of a grandaddy of hundred mile races, at least in my limited experience thus far. So, I'm paying my dues and respecting the distance as much as I can possibly fathom. I've learned lots of good stuff in my first two hundred mile finishes: I can 'get by' with low mileage; I can run through pain, intense discomfort and mental turmoil; I can bust out my fastest splits 90 miles into a race; power naps are one of the best ways to reenergize; running while sleeping is doable, but highly UNrecommended; I need to wear a light around my head and my waist to avoid feeling pukey; "drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry, walk before you're tired." Yada yada.
But, Leadville is a whole 'nother ball game. The things I've gotten away with thus far aren't really going to fly this time around. So, that means I need to approach this whole Race Across The Sky a little differently than in previous races. While I'm still running relatively low mileage (maxing out at 60mpw), it's still much higher than what I did going into Vermont and Rocky Raccoon. I'm also now following an honest-to-goodness training plan, courtesy of the ever wonderful, Geof Dunmore. I'm also taking a page from his book in posting a training update. Perhaps this will make me feel even more motivated than I already am?
Well, so far so good. Training started in earnest at the end of May. Though we've been running consistently prior to the plan beginning, it was just very unstructured.
Structure. Now there's a concept. One which I seem to have avoided in just about all of my running. I can't fully explain the cool Excel spreadsheet, complete with forumlas and periodization, that Geof made, but it's totally rockin. I love checking off the miles as I get them in and watching the weekly and monthly totals climb skyward in my Running Ahead log. Checking each night to see what I have lined up for the next day creates this pull for me, a need to get out there and do it.
My heart. I've been running with a heart rate monitor for just about every run now to make sure I'm staying within my arbitrary HR zone (220 minus my age, then working at 60-85% of my max HR; I'm curious what my actual HR zone is, though...I should get that tested). It's interesting. Clearly, I was working way outside of my 'zone' before I started wearing the monitor (it's either my Garmin 305 or a Polar, by the way)! Now I closely watch where I'm at and adjust accordingly. Humid days, I may as well walk, or crawl, my HR goes through the roof!
My feet. A few weeks ago I noticed a nodule on the bottom of my left foot. Weird. It didn't hurt, but I knew it wasn't supposed to be there. I noticed that my orthotics irritated it, so I took them out of my running shoes and have been running sans orthotics ever since (I was already kind of fazing them out anyhow). I decided to get it checked out to make sure I wasn't going to make things worse with my increased running. Dr. Chin at The Running Institute checked everything out, did some gait anayses, played with my orthotics, checked my shoes, then decided to do some ultrasound on my foot to get to the bottom of my mystery. The result: I have a bruised plantar fascia. Poor little guy. Know what caused it? My orthotics. Long story short, the left arch was too high, essentially punching the fascia everytime my foot hit the ground, and over time this caused the little nodule I now have. Fancy that! I noticed after long runs that my left arch always felt bruised from the orthotic, but never thought much of it. Not only that, but he thinks it's the cause of all that crazy peroneal tendinitis I was dealing with for so long. The best part, everything feels amazing now that I've stopped using the inserts. Hopefully, it stays that way. In an effort to make the transition smoother, I've been doing lots of lower leg and foot strengthening exercises. I would LOVE to not have to wear those things again :) Per doctor's orders, I've been applying arnica ice to my foot a few times a day to help with the healing process. It smells really nice :)
My legs. It's a funny thing, increasing mileage, intelligently. While there are random aches and owies here and there, they seem to go away within the day, and the next day it's something new. Me being me (meaning, borderline hypochondriac when it comes to my running...hey, no laughing!) I have to remind myself (and Geof finds himself reminding me as well) that it's probably nothing. Things are going to ache, I'm running a lot more than I ever have. My body is learning how to deal with it all and manage the increased load. I do get squirrly when I feel anything less than awesome in the achilles area, though, gives me the heeby jeebies. I am finding that I am recovering faster though. A day I cover 14-15 miles in two runs also seems to be far more beneficial than doing the full 14-15 in one shot. My body appreciates the recovery between those two runs :)
My body. I do feel stronger than I ever have before. Through all the PT exercises I do for my hips, core and balance, I feel like I'm armed with all the right tools to tackle Leadville properly. And that feels good my friends.
This was fun! I should do this again sometime. I think this is the first time I've ever posted any kind of training anything... Thus far, I've put in 159.4 miles in the last 30 days, including having my highest mileage (non-race) week ever, at a whopping 51.6 miles. Feels goooooooood.
Crash, out.
Leadville is a bit of a grandaddy of hundred mile races, at least in my limited experience thus far. So, I'm paying my dues and respecting the distance as much as I can possibly fathom. I've learned lots of good stuff in my first two hundred mile finishes: I can 'get by' with low mileage; I can run through pain, intense discomfort and mental turmoil; I can bust out my fastest splits 90 miles into a race; power naps are one of the best ways to reenergize; running while sleeping is doable, but highly UNrecommended; I need to wear a light around my head and my waist to avoid feeling pukey; "drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry, walk before you're tired." Yada yada.
But, Leadville is a whole 'nother ball game. The things I've gotten away with thus far aren't really going to fly this time around. So, that means I need to approach this whole Race Across The Sky a little differently than in previous races. While I'm still running relatively low mileage (maxing out at 60mpw), it's still much higher than what I did going into Vermont and Rocky Raccoon. I'm also now following an honest-to-goodness training plan, courtesy of the ever wonderful, Geof Dunmore. I'm also taking a page from his book in posting a training update. Perhaps this will make me feel even more motivated than I already am?
Well, so far so good. Training started in earnest at the end of May. Though we've been running consistently prior to the plan beginning, it was just very unstructured.
Structure. Now there's a concept. One which I seem to have avoided in just about all of my running. I can't fully explain the cool Excel spreadsheet, complete with forumlas and periodization, that Geof made, but it's totally rockin. I love checking off the miles as I get them in and watching the weekly and monthly totals climb skyward in my Running Ahead log. Checking each night to see what I have lined up for the next day creates this pull for me, a need to get out there and do it.
My heart. I've been running with a heart rate monitor for just about every run now to make sure I'm staying within my arbitrary HR zone (220 minus my age, then working at 60-85% of my max HR; I'm curious what my actual HR zone is, though...I should get that tested). It's interesting. Clearly, I was working way outside of my 'zone' before I started wearing the monitor (it's either my Garmin 305 or a Polar, by the way)! Now I closely watch where I'm at and adjust accordingly. Humid days, I may as well walk, or crawl, my HR goes through the roof!
My feet. A few weeks ago I noticed a nodule on the bottom of my left foot. Weird. It didn't hurt, but I knew it wasn't supposed to be there. I noticed that my orthotics irritated it, so I took them out of my running shoes and have been running sans orthotics ever since (I was already kind of fazing them out anyhow). I decided to get it checked out to make sure I wasn't going to make things worse with my increased running. Dr. Chin at The Running Institute checked everything out, did some gait anayses, played with my orthotics, checked my shoes, then decided to do some ultrasound on my foot to get to the bottom of my mystery. The result: I have a bruised plantar fascia. Poor little guy. Know what caused it? My orthotics. Long story short, the left arch was too high, essentially punching the fascia everytime my foot hit the ground, and over time this caused the little nodule I now have. Fancy that! I noticed after long runs that my left arch always felt bruised from the orthotic, but never thought much of it. Not only that, but he thinks it's the cause of all that crazy peroneal tendinitis I was dealing with for so long. The best part, everything feels amazing now that I've stopped using the inserts. Hopefully, it stays that way. In an effort to make the transition smoother, I've been doing lots of lower leg and foot strengthening exercises. I would LOVE to not have to wear those things again :) Per doctor's orders, I've been applying arnica ice to my foot a few times a day to help with the healing process. It smells really nice :)
My legs. It's a funny thing, increasing mileage, intelligently. While there are random aches and owies here and there, they seem to go away within the day, and the next day it's something new. Me being me (meaning, borderline hypochondriac when it comes to my running...hey, no laughing!) I have to remind myself (and Geof finds himself reminding me as well) that it's probably nothing. Things are going to ache, I'm running a lot more than I ever have. My body is learning how to deal with it all and manage the increased load. I do get squirrly when I feel anything less than awesome in the achilles area, though, gives me the heeby jeebies. I am finding that I am recovering faster though. A day I cover 14-15 miles in two runs also seems to be far more beneficial than doing the full 14-15 in one shot. My body appreciates the recovery between those two runs :)
My body. I do feel stronger than I ever have before. Through all the PT exercises I do for my hips, core and balance, I feel like I'm armed with all the right tools to tackle Leadville properly. And that feels good my friends.
This was fun! I should do this again sometime. I think this is the first time I've ever posted any kind of training anything... Thus far, I've put in 159.4 miles in the last 30 days, including having my highest mileage (non-race) week ever, at a whopping 51.6 miles. Feels goooooooood.
Crash, out.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Running To My Youth
Remember when you were growing up and you had summers off from school and obligations, and all you had to worry about were doing your chores, and making it home before sundown? Reward for completed chores in our house was dessert...picking out our favorite color Pop-Ice Popsicle after dinner and then sitting out on the back porch to savor its sugary bliss as it melted down our hand, forearm, and ultimately took up residence in our laps. Ah, summers of yore. Watermelon seed-spitting contests and tree climbing time trials with siblings were an everyday thing, as were racing up and down the block on a rusted-out tricycle while my older brother smoked me on his rusted-out banana seat bicycle until the sun went down.
As we made our way under Lake Shore Drive and headed south on the path, the rain picked up, pounding straight down on us. Feeling warmer we started to laugh and enjoy the sloppy mess we were running through. The path was almost entirely clear of people as we hoot-n-hollered, splashing in all the big puddles, laughing all the while. This was FUN! Rounding the curve below the Shedd Aquarium, the drainage pipes were bursting with water, drowning the lower path, and Geof plowed through each one, shouting as he went, "woohoo!" I was getting a stitch in my side from laughing so much. At the turn around, we headed back and marveled in how much fun we were having. Each puddle brought a surge of warm summery water into my shoes, squishing between my toes, not to mention the monsoon-like rain falling from above.
Almost home, we cut through the park across from our apartment. The park has these decorative fountains that shoot water out in big arcs down wide, decorative stairs. Geof ran through the fountains and I followed suit, feeling like a kid again! I always wanted to run through those :) Walking back into the lobby, we squished and squirted with each step, soaked completely through.
What stress? What woes? What sore muscles? I felt renewed.
Never underestimate the healing powers of a good run in the rain :)
Crash, out.
That's what summers were like growing up. I also remember whenever we had a warm summer rain shower, a few of us would huddle under the back porch overhang daring each other to run out into the now muddy backyard and play in the rain when mom wasn't looking ("No playing in the yard when there's lightening or thunder!").
I loved playing in the rain.
Doesn't this little guy look happy?!
The other night, Geof and I headed out for our second run of the day, looking for an easy five miles. As we stepped out onto the street, the drizzle began and it felt a little cooler than it was when we got home an hour earlier. We're not going to let a little water get in the way of our run :)
As we made our way under Lake Shore Drive and headed south on the path, the rain picked up, pounding straight down on us. Feeling warmer we started to laugh and enjoy the sloppy mess we were running through. The path was almost entirely clear of people as we hoot-n-hollered, splashing in all the big puddles, laughing all the while. This was FUN! Rounding the curve below the Shedd Aquarium, the drainage pipes were bursting with water, drowning the lower path, and Geof plowed through each one, shouting as he went, "woohoo!" I was getting a stitch in my side from laughing so much. At the turn around, we headed back and marveled in how much fun we were having. Each puddle brought a surge of warm summery water into my shoes, squishing between my toes, not to mention the monsoon-like rain falling from above.
What stress? What woes? What sore muscles? I felt renewed.
Never underestimate the healing powers of a good run in the rain :)
Crash, out.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Super Bowl of Ultrarunning
I'm not a bettin' woman, but I'm so pumped about this year's Western States 100 that I decided to partake in a little wager (of course, this doesn't involve me putting any money down on anything, or even winning any moola, but if I won it would be pretty sweet bragging rights!).
I've put in my choices for top 8 men and top 8 women overall finishers for the race, taking place on June 26 and 27, beginning in Squaw Valley, CA and ending in Auburn, CA. I can't wait to see what happens! I won't share who I picked (and did not pick), but I feel pretty confident about who's going to win, and who is going to drop out at mile 81 due to "dehydration" :)
If you are intrigued and decide you'd like to do some predicting of your own, check out iRunFar's latest contest:
Western States 100 Prediction Contest
It's like Big Ten brackets...for ultrarunners :)
I've put in my choices for top 8 men and top 8 women overall finishers for the race, taking place on June 26 and 27, beginning in Squaw Valley, CA and ending in Auburn, CA. I can't wait to see what happens! I won't share who I picked (and did not pick), but I feel pretty confident about who's going to win, and who is going to drop out at mile 81 due to "dehydration" :)
If you are intrigued and decide you'd like to do some predicting of your own, check out iRunFar's latest contest:
Western States 100 Prediction Contest
It's like Big Ten brackets...for ultrarunners :)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Hopping on the (Cross) Train
Somehow I managed to go over my weekday planned mileage this week (that's a first for me!), so in the interest of saving myself for the long run tomorrow (20-30 miles) I decided to forego my run today. Not an easy choice since I feel good and would have loved a little run this morning :) Time for a little change-up.
Instead, I suited up and headed down to the pool for the first time in a good long while! I haven't done a lick of cross-training since starting my Leadville training...and easily since April, oops.
I dusted off my one-piece Speedo, circa 2004...this is the first time I've ever worn it. I liked the one piece a lot better than the Speedo tankini I had been wearing, no yanking necessary :) So I warmed up with some half-drowning laps of whatever would keep my head above water the most, then clipped on the Aquajogger and took to the deep end. I like doing speedwork in the pool, makes me feel productive :) Since I had limited time today, I just did 4x2 minutes of fast-as-I-could-move water running, back and forth across the deep end, then recover for one minute and let the HR drop below beating-out-of-my-chest. Once I finished all that funness, I 'cooled' down (yea, I actually could feel myself breaking a sweat in the friggin' pool!) with some relaxed laps.
Twenty minutes in all. Felt good moving in a different way, and I actually enjoyed being in the pool again!
Remember back when I was on the DL and I promised I would keep up with the cross-training once I got back to running? Funny how we sell our souls when we're injured, but are so quick to forget about it once we're back on the trail. Baby steps. Maybe I'll think about going over my mileage again next week so that I can take a 'rest' day at the end of the week and go for a little swim. Who knows, it could happen; lightening has indeed struck twice before :-)
Crash, out.
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