Since we last spoke...

It's been just over a year since we last spoke...I figure my life is about to change pretty substantially and I might as well document it somewhere...

Just to catch up a little, in the last year I have:

- completed a 31-day NOLS Outdoor Educator Mountaineering & Rock Climbing Course
- spent a week climbing and backpacking in Yosemite
- nearly completed a very frustrating year teaching senior English at Memphis City Schools
- gotten my Wilderness First Responder Certification
- had 3 great trail running races (Wade's Big Adventure, Swamp Stomper 50k, & Sylamore 50k)
- qualified for the national championships of adventure racing with Renn Multisport
- turned 25
- signed up for the Leadville 100 trail race
- turned in my resignation form (as of May) for Memphis City Schools and signed with a job leading backpacking/climbing/biking/paddling trips out West this summer and facilitating school groups doing similar activities in North Carolina this fall
- made it a point to follow my passions rather than the pressure to do what others think is "normal"
- slept outside and lived on the road as much as possible
- had a substantial and meaningful impact on the life of a young person headed down the wrong track in life
- learned to make my own sushi
- continued my commitment to a vegetarian lifestyle
- graduated with a Master's degree
- seen Old Crow Medicine Show twice and Panic once
- learned how very important keeping a positive attitude in a negative environment is to success

So...lots has happened...the most substantial being the leaving of Memphis in June to embark upon a new career as I pursue my dream of working in outdoor education

I feel like I have learned a lot from teaching in the classroom this past year, but at this point in my life, it's just not for me....

Athletically, I have had a pretty good year...I set a 5k PR, pulled 2 podium finishes in trail races and 1 podium finish adventure racing, set a 50k PR, and greatly improved my rock climbing abilities...

I feel like things are going well...I know the future will bring both adventure and challenge in more ways than one....however, I have faith it's all gonna work out....

until next time...happy trails...

Back in the game...

Damn, just looked at how long it has been since I posted last...Seems like it was just the other day when I made the decision to skip out on Sylamore...

Anyway, I have been back on it pretty hard since taking a week or two off after the injury...3 weeks ago (Feb 18-24), I got around 34 miles...

Two weeks ago (Feb 25 - Mar 2), I got in 47 miles, most of which were pretty quality and even threw in an 18 miler...

This past week I got in 46 miles, a little less quality than the previous week, but still got in a 19 miler and a pretty fun 8 miler in the snow early Saturday morning...

I also had my first interview for a teaching position this past Friday...Things did not go quite as I would have liked, as they were looking for someone to fill a more immediate position than I could manage...however, I'm really glad I got to experience what a true interview is like, as I now know what to expect for next time...also, thanks to Holly (running twig), as she helped me a great deal when I was preparing for the interview....

This week I am hoping to keep it up, getting in some quality miles and another long run...I will have to knock most of them out during the week, as Lauren and I are going to Clarksville, TN this coming weekend to climb at King's Bluff...Should be fun...

Hope all is well with everyone...enjoy the time change!

FRUSTRATION

This is incredibly frustrating for me...

I went out on Sunday morning for a run at Shelby Farms...Ran one loop of the tour with Daniel in 52 min which is keeping a pretty solid pace...took off on the second loop and met up with Richard about halfway, flipped around and ran the rest with him...still kept a good pace up....on the last mile or so I was really pushing it and my knee was starting to bug me but I didn't thiink anything of it, as some IT pain is normal for me but I usually can stretch it out and be okay...all in all about 12 so nothing too unordinary

I went to work on Sunday and by the time I got home me knee was really hurting...I told Lauren when I got home from work, "My body feels like I ran a 50k today"...I figured it was just IT pain and it would work itself out but when I woke up Monday morning it was still hurting...not like intense pain but a throbbing when it went through a certain range of motion....Continued to bug me all day at work and at this piont I started to get a bit worried as my running pain is usually confined to running...very rarely, if ever do I remember something bugging me more than a day after a run when I'm just walking around(obviously not including muscular soreness from racing)...

No worries, I'll take a few days off from running and spin on my trainer....Sure enough, the same motion that bugs me walking really bugs me when I'm spinning...By Wednesday I'm gettin concerned as I haven't had an injury in this part of my knee before, let alone one that has lasted multiple days....I wanted to make sure that I had not done any real damage to myself so I got an appt. at OrthoMemphis today...

Went in and they took x-rays...all is good with cartiledge/meniscus and the actual knee joint so that was a relief...after some mobility testing by the Doc the diagnosis is that I hyperextended my knee...he gave me some strong anti-inflammatories and told me to lay off running until the pain subsided and then ease back into it...

well as you know, Sylamore is a week from Saturday so easing back into it (if the pain has even subsided by then) was not really going to be an option...but, I got to thinking about things and realized that it is more important to let this heal properly than to go to Sylamore and further aggravate my injury...That would just make me have to take more time off and right now my main goal is to be in really good shape for NOLS in May so I can't really afford that...

So I had to make a tough decision and make it a no go for Sylamore...I feel like a big puss and I wonder if I have made the right decision...but I really don't want to get over there and have to slog through the race and then take more time off because I just made it worse....

So this really sucks...Sylamore is probably my favorite 50k...the whole deal, teh race, the cabin, the post race bonfire...but no longer, at least not this year...

Gonna continue to take it easy...hopefully I will be able to at least get back on the bike soon and ease back into running in a week or so...

For all of you that are going, enjoy it...drink one for me at the fire...

Frusratedly yours,
Chris

Post Swamp Stomper

When I finally came down from my buzz from Swamp Stomper and tried to get back out on the trails I was greeted with funky pains resonating from various parts of my body...

this is to be expected, as I always am a bit funky for a run or two after a race of going all out....I ran about 6 the Thursday after Swampstomper and then I ran my one road 5k a year last Saturday...

I generally don't run road 5k's as the dollar/mile ratio is a bit high for my taste...(usually around $8-9 a mile) and it usually breaks my racing rule of "if it takes longer to drive to the race than it does to run it I don't do it," but this race is a benefit for a faculty member at St. Agnes/St. Dominic so my mom paid my entry fee...so I had to go make mom proud....

Ended up running 20:39, which earned my 1st St. Dominic alumni and 1st 20-24 age group...also a PR, as I'm not really, and don't necessarily dream about, being a fast 5k runner...

I spun for an hour on the trainer on Sunday and then spent the day chilling with Lauren...we went to my sister's pom exhibition before they go to nationals this weekend and then we went to eat with the fam. at Chile's....

About six months ago, I specifically remember saying to Lauren, "I could be perfectly okay with never eating at Chile's again for the rest of my life"...well, I wish I could have kept to my word, and I most certainly will be keeping to it from now on, as our Chile's experience was absolutely horrible...

Monday I snuck out of work an hour or so early and hit up Wolf River trails for a quick 8 miler, half of it being under the guiding light of my headlamp...Spun on wednesday for 45 minutes, did nothing but school work on Thursday, and got in an 8 miler yesterday on the Wolf River Trails....

Overall, feel okay but I have a soreness/tightness on the outside and to the back of my left knee...I think its ITB related so I have been stretching alot and doing my hip flexor exercises....

I'm really ready for it to get warm, it's so hard to get motivation to get up when its cold out...

on another note, I kicked full caffeine coffee again which is making a world of difference....and I'm about 200+ pages through No Country For Old Men which is an incredibly intense book...I refuse to see the movie until I finish it....

Swamp Stomper

I really did not particularly train for this race...I ran a 20 on thanksgiving day and a 22 a few weeks later....other than that I had a 13 miler and a 15 miler as my longest runs...

I kinda went into this race with a different attitude than I usually approach races with...usually, I'm pretty tense in the days leading up to the race...however, since I hadn't focused my training for Swampstomper, I went in to it with the mindset of "ill just got out and see what happens..."

I was surprisingly relaxed, even Saturday night...normally I start to get really tense the night before the race...however, Lauren and I cooked up a good dinner and even had a few beers, not really putting much thought into the next day's event....

my alarm went off at 4:30 Sunday (I have to get up three hours before race time) and I got up and moving and had my coffee....I was still feeling pretty relaxed, and remained this way up until about 30 min before the race started.....

My plan was to go out at a moderately hard pace and hold it for the remainder of the race...one that has worked pretty well for me the last few races...I knew this race would bottleneck hard about 1/4 mile in so I made it a point to get up front before the trailhead...I didn't want to get caught up running with the 25k sprinters so I let a few of them go ahead and dropped in behind some folks I knew were running the 50k....

First lap went pretty well...hit the turnaround at 1:23 and counted 11 runners, some of them 25k, in front of me....kept up with a pretty good pace back to the end of the first lap, hitting my split at 2:28...

I filled my pockets up with gels and picked up my ipod and I was off again...at this point I knew I was in about 5th or 6th place, which I was pretty happy with so I just wanted to maintain that position and I had this goal in the back of my mind of a 5 hour race...I knew this would be tough, as I didn't know if I could keep up the same pace on the second lap....

I got in a group with 2 guys from Missouri...we played leapfrog a few times...I didn't think I was ever going to be able to get around them for good...every time I would catch and pass them, they would catch and pass me a short while later.....Finally, one of the guys dropped off and it was just me and John from Springfield....

When we were about a mile from the turnaround, we spotted the girl that was running in 4th place...this gave me the extra push I needed to pick it up....we didnt end up catching her until the actual aid station at the turnaround, but it was here that I was able to see just how small of a gap there was between myself and 3rd place....

I hit the turnaround at 4:01 and it was on...I told John that we only had an hour left and we were going to get on it as hard as we could....we took off from the aid station hard..I was running about as hard as I could go at this point...about a mile or 2 from the turnaround we spotted the 3rd place runner...shortly thereafter, we passed him and John said to me, "I'm not going to contest you for third, you're doing all the work" which I was able to respond in between panting "we are going to catch the 2nd place guy so we can both place"....though I really didn't think this was giong to be possible as the second place runner was moving really fast when I saw him last....

but anyway, we put the hammer down, so hard that I ventured off course in the mini bamboo forest...a few expletives later, we were back on the trail and back at it....all of the sudden I saw the seoncd place runner about 100 yards ahead...he turned and saw us and then picked it up...we trailed hard for 5 minutes or so before finally catching up to him...at this point John said to me "second place is all yours"....I kept the pace up, knowing that first place was way out of reach,my goal was going to be to break five hours...I pushed as hard as I could, not bothering to stop at the final aid station....all was looking well for a 5 hour finish until I got to the final hill coming out of the woods...this hill was a beast and I could not force myself up it any faster....

Finally came out of the woods and hit the concrete...at this point I had built up a 30 second or so lead on John (though he wasn't going to contest for 2nd)....hit the road running hard but didn't quite make the 5 hour mark, crossing the line in 5:01 and som change....maybe even 5:02 (haven't sen the official results yet)....

overall, my best race to date....a big time PR and my first podium finish....

came home and Lauren took care of my sore legs before we feasted on Papa Johns and beer....

all in all a great run and a very big confidence booster for this spring....

too sore to run on Monday but I got on the trainer for 45 minutes tonite...pretty easy spinning, nothing intense....hoping to get in a run tomorrow but I have a blood blister on my toe that makes it painful to put on shoes so we will see.....

3 days, 3 runs

Continued with the running streak on Thursday, running for exactly 1 hour (6ish miles) after spinning for an hour on the trainer....

Took today off except for some bouldering on the wall at work to build some grip strength.....

Tomorrow's plan is to run a very easy 3-4 with Lauren just to keep the legs loose....

Feeling pretty good about Swampstomper despite the lack of running in the past 2 months...


its going to be cold, but at least it will be fairly dry....

I'm already thinking about my post-race pizza and beer....

2 in a row!

I ran two days in a row...I'm on a streak!

Got up this morning and ran for about 40 minutes on a heavy coffee buzz...first time I have run two days in a row in quite some time....

Plan on running tomorrow as well...at least an easy 45min to an hour run....If all goes well, combined with the mileage from Sunday's upcoming race I will hit my first 50 mile week of 2008....probably try and spin for a bit as well, though I'm not sure I'll have time as I have a lot of school work to do....

Lt. Rob and I discussed getting in some brick training for the Natchez Trace adventure race sometime in the near future...first brick day =
2 mile warmup run
1 hour canoe paddle on the lake I live on
10 miles from the house to the end of the Wolf River Trails
Ride from my house to Stanky, do a loop, and ride back
6 mile run
45 minute paddle
2 miles all out run to finish

we are racing in the 2 person any gender category and I'm pretty excited about it...in the past I have always been the strongest athlete on my adventure racing teams and pushing the pace has not really been possible because of other teammates...racing with Rob will provide the chance to really push it, as he is a strong athlete.....if we can actually read the map, we should do pretty well...

still alive...

I am still alive....I have classes until 10:15 every Monday through Friday and it is kicking my sleep schedule's ass...

I have not been running like I need to...have had no real "long" runs since early December...

I am racing Swampstomper 50k on Sunday and I'm not sure what to expect....

I have been to the Tuesday night track workout 2 straight weeks in a row....I'm getting faster in 08....

I plan on going to the track every Tuesday for the entire spring...

I am accepted and officially going to the National Outdoor Leadership School in Washington and B.C. Canada on May 19 for an Outdoor Educator course in mountaineering and rock climbing....

I'm climbing 2-3 times a week now....

I can't do all 3 days of Sylamo...I think I'm going to have to stick with the 50 miler only....

I'm coming out of adventure racing retirement on March 1 to do the Natchez Trace Adventure Race.....watch out

I want to average 50-60 miles a week for the spring....

I want to be in the best shape of my life for NOLS....

Life is good.....

Been on the trainer on the bike some too.....

New and broader focus...

Been a while since I have had a chance to write on the blogger....

after stumpjump I was really burned on running for speed...i was stressing myself out with my workouts trying to maintain a certain pace and honestly beating myself mentally when it came to my running....I took a week or so after stumpjump off in hopes of getting some rest but that really didn't change too much....By the time November got here it was time for Wade's Big Adventure and I really was not too excited about running it....although I hoped it would give me the motivation I needed to get back seriously running....

I had this big plan written out for SwampStomper training that I was going to try to follow...it was all about running long at race pace so it was very intense....I never could get amped for it so I scrapped it....the last two weeks or so my focus has been on running to enjoy running for running's sake...not to worry about my pace, not to think about my splits or anything like that...I had made running so that it was almost not enjoyable with all that type of stuff...I just wanted to run to run.....and man what a difference it has made...

I have also decided that I need to be a more well-rounded athlete...my focus has been to concerned with running...I love to ride and I have been neglecting that, I have a boat I completely have neglected paddling, I never do any upper body/core work all because I have been so focused on running....well, that is all going to change...I just needed the motivation to change it....

I have been wanting to shift my focus to be a more well-rounded athlete ever since Stumpjump but it was just last week that Lauren gave me the motivation I needed....she is doing her Physical Education program at U of Memphis and she really wants to incoporate outdoor education into her program and possibly work in the outdoor education field....so she found a course at Outward Bound specifically designed to teach youth outdoor skills....

So this brought up an old idea of mine that I have been tossing around for the last 2 years or so of doing an Outdoor Educator course at NOLS (National outdoor Leadership School)....basically, this if I took this course and got my Wilderness First Responder (medical) certification, I could teach outdoor education during my summers off....so, I researched programs and I think I found that one that I want to take...it's a 31 day mountaineering/rock climbing course in the Pacific Northwest....

This has completely changed my attitude towards my training...I want to be in the best shape possible now for this course, as it will make it that much more enjoyable.....I know I have a solid endurance base and I want to improve upon that....i still plan on running around 50 miles a week...but I'm going to make sure they are all quality miles...no longer going to go out and slog through miles simply so I can write them down in the log....I'm gonna focus on mixing lactate threshold efforts, anaerobic efforts, and endurance work so that I become more well-rounded....

the biggest change to my training is going to be incorporating upper body strength and core training to benefit my climbing...I am going to try and climb at work at least 2-3 times a week...also going to focus on pull-ups and core ball exercises....

all in all, the idea of NOLS has really helped me change my attitude and gotten me motivated to get back out running, riding, and strength training....and I think my running will probably improve just from the added LT, anaerobic, and endurance work....I guess as far as running goes, I'm still working hard at it, its just I have a whole new motivation as to why I am running...

happy running and share the road!

I run because....

I (trail) run because....

...walking takes too long
...I love the reaction I get when people say "how far do you run"
...those 26.2 stickers make me laugh
...there is too much to see in this life and not enough time to see it
...I find new things that make me smile every time I run
...I find new things that make me cuss every time I run
...running is the only time when I feel like I can actually slow my life down as one minute can feel like an hour whereas one month can feel like one hour in the rush of life...
...I can let me mind wander
...pavement sucks
...I can play Laserquest without getting winded...
...it makes my music sound that much better...
...the thought of being obese disgusts me....
...I see people sitting in traffic on Walnut Grove and think about how bad that must suck to be in their position....then I smile that I'm not
...I have solved the world's problems 10 times over
...I feel much better about sitting around doing nothing after a good run...
...the visitor center at Shelby Farms has pretty nice facilities
...I love to explore new places...
...passing a biker on the trail....
...I love to experience the transition from darkness to daylight on the trail
...I have yet to answer my question to myself of "how far can I go"
...post race pizza and beer...
...the good company I have met through running
...the solitude I sometimes find through running
...the dream of the Grand Slam
...the thought of being a good example to my students
...it helps bring meaning to my life...
...it helps define me as a person...
...my bike riding buddies wouldn't have anything to make fun of me about if I didn't...
...giving "the wave" to runners I see all the time yet don't know at all
...turning new people on to the trails...
...the continuing search for experiencing "a full range of life's emotions in one race"...
...I love the outdoors
...you really appreciate solid food after 5+ hours of gel
...it makes me a much more positive person
...a "singlet" is for wrestling
...it heavily influences my attitude in a positive manner in other realms of my life
...I couldn't imagine life without it...

How weird is this?

So apparently mother nature has it out for me during the month of October...

It all started 2 years ago (10/3/05 - I remember the date cause there was a Panic show the next day) when I was out riding my mountain bike on the Tour de Wolf...while I was cruising along I ran into a bee and it stung me in the forearm....no biggie for the rest of the day, but that night my arm swelled up big time...the sting was on the inside of my forearm about halfway down and it swelled all the way to right below my shoulder....made me look like I worked out...on one side at least...I went to the doctor as I had been stung a number of times before and never had a reaction like this one....he said everything was fine, that I am just a little more sensitive to stings than most, but it probably wouldn't hurt for me to carry an epi-pen just in case I got stung again I had a reaction that affected my breathing...


Almost a year to date later...I think the date was like 10/4/06 (the wednesday before I raced Stumpjump last year) and I was out running at Shelby Farms and somehow a bee got in my shoe and stung me....I was pretty freaked out as this was the first time I had been stung since the year before when I had that massive reaction....I rushed home and held off on poking myself with my epi-pen because I wasn't having any reaction to this one...turns out this one never really swelled up or anything

So yesterday I'm out cruising around the Buddy when I feel something smack me in the forehead....I thought it was probably a rock or something the car in front of me had thrown up...shortly thereafter I came to a red light and I noticed something crawling around inside my sunglasses....I ripped them off as fast as I could and right about that time I felt the sting in my eyelid....It hurt pretty bad but I was able to keep on riding...shortly after I stopped at Fleet Feet to take Lauren some lunch and looked at my eye for the first time in the mirror...it was starting to swell up....I rode from Fleet Feet to Outdoors and when I went in everyone's reaction was "what the hell happened to your eye?"....I could tell it was getting harder and harder to see so I called it a day on the buddy and went on home....by 6pm I could no longer open my eye due to the swelling...I was worried I was going to have to use the epi-pen but I wasn't going to as long as the swelling stayed local and did not spread from my eye....

so for the 3rd year in a row I got stung within the first 2 weeks of October...how weird is that...I woke up this morning and had to call in to work for the first time since I cracked my face open over 2 years ago because I could not open my eye at all...the swelling is still just around my eye, so I'm not gonna use the epi-pen...just poppin' the the benadryl and icing it....

here is what it looked like last night around 8pm..

note in this picture I am trying as hard as I can to open my eye as wide as possible.....

Also the first time I ever got stung when I was like 5 or 6 it was within the first couple of weeks of October because I remember my parents were getting the house ready for a Halloween party...strange...

As far as the rest of life is going...I did not run one time this week...I was planning on running today but needless to say that didn't happen...

I am super pumped about the Buddy....my mom was all about it, cruisin it up and down the street and what not...Lauren was a bit timid at first but she it is growing on her ...she still hasn't driven it yet....but then again we came from very different backgrounds..I grew up riding dirt bikes and my dad rides a Harley so I'm used to motorcycles....

check it out though....

rides like a dream....at 100 miles per gallon too!

happy running, share the road, and watch out for those bees...the are vicious in October...

Stumpjump...

I guess I'm a bit late on this post, as everyone else has already given their side of the story....

We arrived at our beautiful Marriot hotel just in time for the ladies to wait on me to pretty up so we could head over to Rock Creek for the pre race dinner and festivities...Rock Creek moved locations since the last time I have been to Chattanooga and I must say the new store is pretty awesome...very spread out and nothing is crammed on to the racks....they also support local teams (running, adventure racing, climbing....and more)...hmmm.....but anyways, great looking store with a true interest in the Chattanooga outdoor culture....

The dinner was good, I even got to get seconds....after the dinner we went back to the Marriot for the pre-race prep of filling gel flasks and all that kind of good stuff....

Arrived at the race about 6:30 for the 8am start...I'm kind of a freak about getting to races early as I want to make sure I have everything taken care of before the race starts....

When the RD got up to explain this years race he told us teh course was going to be a bit different than year's past, we were going to make an extra 2 mile loop on some non-technical gravel road on the way out before we hit the single track which I thought was a good thing as I remember the singletrack bottle necking hard last year....

The siren (or gun or whatever it was ) went off and I took off with the front 30 or so folks...The pace was fast right off and immediately my heart rate was up there and I was breathing pretty heavy....I wanted to slow it up a bit but I knew if I did I would get passed by a wave of people and then it would be really hard to pass once we got into the single track so I stuck with it, hoping the pace would chill out soon so I could fall into a groove....

We arrived at the aid station where the single track began (labeled mile 5.1) at 1:06...this is where I began to notice something was up with the distances....the guys I was running with were a bit stunned as well...1:06 and 5.1 miles...no way, we were rolling way faster than that...anyway, the singletrack began and it bombed us down a very steep hill which I was able to keep a good pace going down...that dropped us out on a road and another aid station not too far away where I refilled and kept on chugging...by this time the pack had spread out a bit and I was falling into a rhythm on the more runnable sections of trail but my rhythm was always disrupted by a climb within a few minutes of moving along...

I rolled through the drop bag aid station at mile 10 and got in my bag just long enough to grab some e-caps and switch out my gel flask...I was poppin e-caps like candy (2-3) an hour as it was really hot and I felt like i was on the verge of cramps all day, though thankfully they never struck...I got to the "mile 16" aid station at 3:06....I was getting frustrated at this point...3:06 at half is a 6:12 split on a good day...I was thinking there is no way I'm moving at this pace...the other guy I was running with said he ran a 5:11 last year and felt like he was in good enough shape to do it again and he was shocked at the time at 16 miles....

Whatever..I convinced myself that my time was going to be off from last year and that now my goal was to pass as many people as possible in the next 16 miles....after the race I learned that the 16 mile aid station ran out of water for later runners...I just want to say I'm sorry, if I had of known I would have only filled my bottle half way...In the next section I passed quite a few people that were beginning to feel the effects of the heat...I rolled into mile 20 where my drop bag was and picked up the ipod for some motivation to take it home...

I had a massive playlist set up so that I could just scroll through and leave it on whatever caught the mood but luckily I didn't have to mess with it too much as I fell into the groove with some Panic early on the playlist....the next 10 miles were all about passing....I would pass somebody, then run hard til I got someone in my sights to pass again.....I finally made it to the last aid station and I knew it was easy from here...I passed 2 more folks on the last 3 mile section before busting out of the woods and seeing the finish line...this was a huge relief as I was really starting to feel it....I ended up crossing the line in 5:44....good enough for 17th out of a hundred and seventy something finishers...I was very pleased with my effort...I felt like I had left everything I had out of the course...even though I started fast I didn't feel like I ever really gave out...I had energy throughout the entire race....I ran some hills that I would have ordinarily walked....

after finishing I found out the reason my times were off at the aid stations is that they were using the signs from last year and that this years course was actually 2 miles longer...I sat around and relaxed (and got sore) while waiting on the other Memphis crew to come in...Drew rolled in and we hung for a while and then Michael came rolling in...before too long Holly came rolling through followed very shortly by Lauren, then Elle, then Patrick and his mate....

Super pumped for all the 1st time Memphis finishers..you guys rocked it out and this was a very hard day on a very hard course!!! I'm pretty sure most of the Memphis crew has Sylamore on their minds now....for me I'm tossing Swampstomper in there in January and the aim for that one is to pick up some speed between then and now...

oh yeah..I bought a scooter today....a Genuine Scooter Company Buddy Italia....125cc that goes around 65 mph and gets 100mpg......but I'm pretty pumped..only thing is I have to drive to Chattanooga again this weekend to pick it up...

hope all is well...happy running and share the road (with bikes and scooters)!

life...

Had a great time with my friends and my band this past weekend....hard to get back in the swing of things after a weekend outta the routine but I'm doing what I can....

Today I went to Youth Villages school for some observation hours for my class....wow...this was really hard to see these kids with such severe emotional and behavioral difficulties....the teachers and counselors who work here have my utmost respect as this seems like it would be a very difficult place to work....I witnessed a child have to be restrained by 2 adults and that's when it really hit me how much most of these kids of probably seen in their young lives...it was a pretty intense and moving experience....

Got out for a quick 6 miler today just to keep the legs loose...probably gonna get up and do the same in the morning....

I haven't been excited to see a movie in ages...I think I have only seen 3 movies in the theater in the past 3 or 4 years...just not really my thing, but I really want to see Into the Wild....I read this book about two years ago and loved it...I hope the movie does the story justice....do yourself a favor and read the book before the movie if you have the chance...its not a terribly long read and it reads really fast....I was checking out Youtube for the trailer and ran across the some of the music by Eddie Vedder...pretty cool I must say....check it out....

hope all is well....happy running and share the road!

Panic Day!!!!!!

Today is Panic day! Have been pretty pumped about this one for a while....two nites at Fedex forum to rock out...got some good friends that I don't get to see alot coming in from out of town so I'm excited about that too....

Running this week has gone decent...sittin on 27 right now....gonna try and get in a run tomorrow mid day...def not gonna hit the early morning Shelby Farms crew.....I'll take 40 for the week and be satisfied....still feelin really good about Stumpjump!

happy running and share the trails!

Still Alive...

haven't posted on the blogger in a while...been meaning to, but keep getting sidetracked...all is well in running land....feeling really confident about Stumpjump...especially after a great weekend of running, camping, and good company at Sylamore where I was able to put up a 16 and a 28 back to back....

With the Sylamore trip I was able to get in right at 50 miles for the week before last and then this past week I did two hard days of speed work with an easy 10 miler to recover on Thursday...woke up Friday feeling really fatigued and lethargic so I have taken the last couple of days off....

School has really kicked in to gear as I am midway through my first 8 week semester...pretty busy with that but trying to find time to fit in all the rest....planning on knocking out one more long run tomorrow...I was originally concerned with going out for a fast one but at this point in the game I think I am just looking forward to taking a break from school work for a few hours as that's all I will be doing tomorrow so I'm not goo concerned about pace....

After this week the taper really kicks into gear as I will be getting fully prepped for Stumpjump which I am really really excited about....

happy running and share the road....

Another week down....

wow...seems I have been really busy the past two weeks...school is really starting to pick up and I'm having to spend more and more time outside of the classroom getting all my work done...however, still managed to get in pretty good mileage this past week....

Monday I woke up and went for a six miler that included 3 x 5 minute lactate threshold efforts with 1 minute of recovery between each....I was hurting by the last effort but definitely glad I was able to push myself through it.....

Tuesday I had a few hours in between getting off work and going to class so I took the opportunity to get out to the Farms and knock out 10....I started running at about 3:30 in the afternoon and even though it has gotten a little bit cooler, it was still reallly hot....I struggled through ten, pacing a bit slower than I normally would...

Ended up taking Wednesday off from running and riding completely...Thursday I planned to try and knock out a run but things didn't work out before work...I did end up riding in to and from work from Lauren's house which is about 7 each way...kept a pretty good pace so I at least got in some workout....

Friday I was off work and scheduled to do a long run...I usually knock out my long runs on Saturday but I had to work Saturday this weekend and its no fun to to stand on your feet all day after knocking out 20+ miles....The alarm went off at 4 am and I reluctantly rolled out of bed to start the run...I was starting out with Lauren and Elle as they were shooting for 18 for the day...I didn't have an exact number I was going for but I wanted it to be somewhere in the 24 range....

We took off from Elle's apartment (she lives in the apartments that back up to Shelby Farms) headlamps and all and knocked out a loop of the tour de wolf with the Patriot Lake trail thrown in...stopped back at Elle's apartment to refill and refuel and then took off for another loop of the Tour....Elle had to go to work so she left Lauren and I around 12ish (I think)....We finished our second loop of the Tour and then had 4 more miles for Lauren to reach her goal and longest run to date...We ran the back side of the Tour to get the next four and I was super proud of how Lauren pushed herself through those last two miles, as it was definitely a battle for her....

I was at 18 at that point and feeling super fresh so I refilled and refueled, threw some Panic on the ipod and took out for some more...I ran from the backside of the Tour to the paved Chickisaw loop (concrete = lame, but at that point I was looking for some variety)...hit the Chick loop, stopped off at the visitor center to refill and hit the Patriot loop and the rest of the Tour for a grand total of 27.5....

The entire run felt really good...the temperature on Friday morning was amazing...super cool...even when I finished it was pretty cool outside....came home took a nap, knocked out some school work and then refueled with massive quantities of chips and salsa at Los Compadres....

Ended the week with a total of 43.5 miles....not quite 50 but I'm pretty pumped about the long run feeling as good as it did....

Finally got my full suspension mountain bike in working order....met up with some guys from work Saturday morning before work out at Shelby Farms and got in its maiden ride...it was nothing short of amazing....a bit overkill for the trails of Memphis but I'm planning ahead with this one...I can't wait to test it out on some real trails....

Sunday I got out on the mountain bike again before work...rocked a couple of quick laps at the Tour...gotta wear the new out...

I was planning on racing the Six Hours of Herb Parsons mountain bike race this coming Saturday but I am off work on Friday and Saturday and there might be an opportunity to get in a good 2 day training stint at Sylamore where I can go long and get in some good hills running and take the bike to test it out on some real trails....hopefully it will pan out....I would much rather spend two days in the hills of Arkansas than six hours riding in in a circle in Fisherville....until next time...happy running and share the road!

The first week....

This past week marks what I am going to call the official start to my fall (though the temperature isn't quite there yet)....It was my first week of school at CBU and also the first week I have gotten back up in the 50 mile range in quite some time....

Started the week out last Sunday with an 8 miler in the midday heat on the Wolf River Trails...Monday I finally convinced myself to do some speed work...I actually live near a pretty big hill and from teh base of the hill to the very top is exactly 1/4 mile...the grade is pretty steep (for Memphis) except for the last .1 miles where it starts to level out a bit....I did 6 x .25 miles uphill and that was plenty for me....total of 2.5 miles with warm up, repeats, and cooldown....

Monday marked the first night of class and I was really tired going to school so I picked up an energy drink on the way....class went really well..I am really interested in what I am learning as it is what I want to do with my life....the difference between CBU and U of Memphis is incredible....I was not very impressed with my undergrad experience at U of M and I have been impressed from day 1 with CBU....however, after class (I go til 10:15 pm) I came home hoping to be able to fall asleep in order to wake up and ride to my Tuesday morning meeting.....not the case....the energy drink during class had me wired and I wasn't able to fall asleep until after 1 am sometime...


I took Tuesday completely off as I woke up feeling pretty tired...I also took Wednesday off because I had to take care of some classwork for Wednesday evening before going to work...

Thursday I don't work until 1pm and I don't have class so I slept in and I made the mistake of waiting until about 9 am to start my run....I knew from the start it was going to be a tough one but man, I was not expecting it to be that tough....I ended up slogging it out for 13 miles, probably walking at least 4 or so of those miles finishing the day with about a 12:40 pace but I was really more concerned with just covering the miles....

Friday I woke up at 4:45 because Lauren and her training partner Elle (both of whom will be rocking out their first 50k's at Stumpjump) were going on a long run and Lauren asked me if I would start out with them since it would be completely dark for the first hour....I agreed and they put me up front so I could knock out the massive spider webs with half dollar or bigger spiders in them on the Wolf River Trails....We ran from WRT and cut over to Shelby Farms to refill at the VC then we ran the Tour to the backside where we got on G'town parkway and ran back to the WRT traihead.....I stopped at 11.5 as I had to get ready to go to work and they kept on going for 15 or so.....

Saturday, I had another early morning, waking up at 4 am and starting my run about 4:45....I ran at Shelby Farms, as I thought there might be fewer spider webs than WRT, though there were still plenty for me to clear out for the later runners.....I ran one loop solo at a pretty slow pace then ran a loop with Daniel and we picked up the pace a bit....ran the third loop with Daniel as well but I dropped off pretty hard during the last two miles as I was pretty beat....Total mileage for the day was just over 20 which I am satisfied with....put my week at 55 miles which I hope to repeat again this week.....

Today I went out to cheer on Lauren at the Wolfpack Triathlon out at Shelby Farms....Her goal was to break and hour and to finish in the top 3 females overall...She did both, finishing in 57 minutes and some change and taking third female overall!

Today is filled with school work, possibly a late afternoon easy recovery run, but we will see...on a side note, my full suspension mountain bike is about halfway built...I am super excited and hopefully my bike mechanics at work will be able to help me finish it this week as I plan on racing it at the six hours of Herb Parsons in two weeks....

happy running and share the road!

week in recap

This week was kind of a recovery for me from Bartlett Park 50k...I took off Sunday and Monday completely, Tuesday I rode 12 miles to my store meeting which really felt like it helped me loosen up quite a bit....Wednesday I ran the mile from the house to the Wolf River Trails and met up with Lauren for a 4 mile loop..

I felt pretty good by Wednesday evening so I planned on getting in some decent distance on Thursday...plan was to run from home to the visitor center via G'town parkway and enter Shelby Farms by the abandoned farmhouse...right at 5 miles then meet up with Lauren for a loop of the Tour....I started out feeling really good and running was going well...got the the VC a few minutes before Lauren and I started feeling really queezy..I ate a few gels and sat down but the feeling didn't pass....Lauren rolled up and I had convinced myself that I was still going to run with her but when she got out of the car the first thing she said is "you look like hell"....so we sat around for a while before I decided that I wasn't going to run the loop because I knew if I ran it I would probably end up feeling bad for the rest of the day....

Friday I didn't run and then Saturday I got out for 10 at Shelby Farms...bringing the weeks total to right at 20 miles....ok by me for a recovery week....

Started this week off with an 8 miler on the Wolf River Trails around 10 am this morning...by that time it was really hot and all that rain we got yesterday made it extremely humid...I was soaked within a few minutes of the run and easily drained both bottles before the end of it.....

Last nite I was catching up on reading some blogs when I came across the news about Scott Jurek's post Hardrock interview on enduranceplanet.com where he knocks on Dean Karnazes.....basically, he (and a number of other ultrarunners I'm sure) is mad that the media is focused on Dean (a mediocre racer by elite ultra standards) because Dean has the financial and media ties because of his mega sponsorship by The North Face...he believes the attention should go to other athletes in the sports who are actually out winning races on a consistent basis (like himself and Karl Meltzer).....

I gotta say I agree with him....I believe Dean is a phenomenal runner, way better than I will ever be, but it is kind of ashamed that people who are actually far more deserving of media attention and big name sponsorship get passed up.....

other than the Dean comments, I found Jurek's interview extremely interesting....it contained alot about his diet (completely vegan) and his thoughts about diet in general which really interests me....I was also very surprised that his training mileage was as light as it is...I always figured that he would just be pumping out 100+ miles weeks all the time but turns out he says he usually averages about 50-60 per week and peaks out around 100-120 per week only occasionally when preparing for big races....

His training revolves around hard workouts followed by easier recovery runs...He said he typically does a hard speed workout once a week and a long run (25-35 miles) once a week that often incorporates some Lactate Threshold pickups in it....in between those runs he throws in some easier recovery runs and says he always takes at least 1 day a week completely off....he is also really into strength and flexibility training....

I have been reading a lot about incorporating Lactate Threshold training into the regimen and I think I'm going to go for it this week...I have messed aroudn with it before but I really think it will only really make a difference if I can be consistent with it....

so the plan this week is to do one speed workout day...either a straight up interval session or a 30 min LT session....I'm off work on Saturday and I'm looking to go long but we will see how that works out...

oh yeah, one final note, congrats to Les Jones, one of my Saturday morning running buddies who just finished his 6th Leadville 100 in 29:06!

happy running and share the road!

Bartlett Park Ultra

wow...that's all I can say about that one....this was definitely the hardest 50k I have run....up until this point Swampstomper back in January was the toughest because of how it was just a mud slog but the heat beats out the mud and even elevation gain in races like Stumpjump and Sylamore all day....

The race started great...it was relatively cool for the first lap and I took out with the lead group finishing the first lap in 1:06...I was feeling really good though I wasn't really feeling my premixed drink in my bottle....

I rolled through the aid station at the start\finish without stopping and tossed off one of my bottles as I still had one premixed one....second lap felt pretty good but by the time I got to the 4 mile aid station I was really glad to toss out my Hammer for some gatorade.....finished the second lap pretty strong...my total time was about 2:23 at that point....

From here my race went downhill....I took down some gel and refilled my water bottle at the beginning of lap 3 and about a mile into the lap the gel was not sitting well and I had almost completely drained my water...my pace slowed drastically and I was just hoping to come upon the 4 mile aid station soon I as I was really desperate for water...finally made it to teh 4 mile aid station, slammed a bottle or two of water and then got back on my way....now I was really starting to feel the heat...my pace dropped from running pretty quick miles to barely pushing out a pace that can be defnied as running...I even walked some of it.....felt like the lap was never going to end but finally I came up Mt. Bartlett and knew the end of the lap was in sight...

I was pretty sure I was going to have to sit down and take a break at the start finish line because I was hurting pretty bad....I sat down, ate a gel or so, slammed a few bottles of water and that's when I heard that the two of the 4 or 5 people in front of me had dropped from the race....that gave me a bit of a mental boost so I got back on the course as fast as I could...I think I actually hurt myself when I did this because I was pretty excited and I took out for the first mile at a really fast pace...by the 1 mile marker I was completely out of water....I was able to semi run to about 2 miles and that's when I really fell off...mile 26-28 was perhaps the hardest two mile section I have ever gone through....and I can't say run through cause I surely didn't run it....can't even say I power walked...I literally stumbled....I was extremely light headed and desperate for water at that point and I was having to take a break ever few hundred yards to sit down for a minute or so and get a grip on things....at this point in the race I didn't think I was going to be able to finish.....about a .25 mile or so out from the 4 mile aid station I took a seat right as a gentleman by the name of Darryl Green was coming up on me...i asked him if he had any extra water and he poured some of his camelbak into my bottle, saving me.....he also walked the rest of the way to the aid station with me just to make sure I made it....it's things like these that make trail ultras awesome!......

I got to the aid station at 4 miles and sat down for about 10 minutes...at this point finishing time had gone out the window and I was more concerned with simply being able to finish....I wasn't really wanted to drink any gatorade or take any gels at this point so I knew I needed some calories somehow....in the past I have always avoided this during races but for some reason Coke was sounding really good....I slammed 3 or 4 cups of it and within two minutes I was a completely new person....I was able to actually run the next 2 miles to get back to the aid station at mile 6 where I slammed 3 or 4 more cups of Coke....the last 2 miles I ran at a good pace and even felt like if I had to I could have kept going a little bit....so basically, Coke saved my day...without it, I don't know that I would ever have finished....

ended up finishing in 6:25...definitely not my best time and not near my goal time by any means...but I will take it, as it was a huge relief just to finish this one.....but I don't feel too bad as a guy in the lead pack I was running with has a sub 4 hour 50k PR and he finished over 5....

I am looking forward to the fall!!!...I can't deal with running long in these temps...it just totally drains your body....plan for this week is recovery for a day or two then getting back in it as Stumpjump is just under 2 months out.....

share the road and happy running...

week in review

Been kinda lazy the last week or so when it came to updating the running journal and blog....finished last week decent, struggled to pull out a decent long run at the Farms two Saturdays ago...

Monday I rocked out 10 from the house keeping a solid pace the whole time....Tuesday I rode to my work meeting at the warehouse and then rode 2 loops of the Tour de Wolf on my cyclocross bike (basically a beefed up road bike with slightly knobby tires)....

Wednesday I went on my 10 miles route from the house but I did sets of intervals along the way...I warmed up for two miles then put the hammer down for five minutes at near all out intensity followed by recovery for 3 minutes....I did four repeats of this and was pretty beat by the end but ended up with a pretty strong time for the total ten miles even though I was beat for the last two miles from my intervals...

Thursday, I went out for a semi-long run....hitting just over 16 for the day but keeping a good pace....hit 16 right at 2:20 which would put me at a 4:40 50k in a perfect world....but I have found that my splits usually aren't even at 50k distance...though they are getting closer (at Sylamore I was 8 minutes off a perfect split)....I'm pretty pumped for Saturday at Stanky and as of right now my goal for myself is to break 5 hours....

For Stanky, I think I'm going to start with 2 fastdraws each loaded with 200 calories worth of Gu2O and 2 hammer Endurolytes dumped in each one....that will be two hours worth of fuel so I won't have to stop for at least the first two hours...after that the plan is to ditch one of the bottles and use gel and water for the rest of the race....

Today, went out and ran 7.75 at Shelby Farms with Lauren....plan for the rest of the week is to ride tomorrow after work, run in the 6-8 range on Wednesday, and then do a really light 3 miles Friday just enough to keep the legs fresh....

other than that, all is well, tax free weekend was crazy busy as I expected...looking forward to starting school soon...and I got a new cookbook that I'm really pumped about...its called "The Passionate Vegetarian" and it has nearly 1000 recipes.....all I need now is the time to prepare my feast....

happy running and share the road!