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
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
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....
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....
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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.....
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.....
Saturday, January 19, 2008
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....
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....
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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...
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...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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.....
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.....
Sunday, November 18, 2007
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!
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!
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