clawin' my way back

Seems like it anyway. Maybe, I'm overtrained? Haven't recovered enough? Still only a couple of weeks into the speed build up. Barely able to hang on to the pack this morning for our long run in the hills. I fell off the back with the last 2 hills. Waved the fella's to go on without me, but they waited for me. Was able to squeak out a couple of semi-up tempo miles with BQ1, pulling and the rest of the guys biting at our heels.

At least the pace was better than last weeks effort at the Zoo run. I knew going into the race I didn't have any speed. It was supposed to be a chance for Dylan to race and me to drink some beer with the guys.

Tried to sabotage BQ1²'s race that didn't work. (Pale chaser on the way to the line) Tried to keep BQ1 in sight that didn't work. (800 meters and I was done) Tried to run tempo pace that didn't work. Tried to not get chicked by a grandmaster female, barely able to accomplish that one.

Dylan on the other hand, had a great race. He lined up with me up front and I pushed him back to the first kid his size behind us. Hard to tell him he ran a great race when he finished behind me, but he damn near caught me. Not to bad for a 10 year old. Unfortunately they changed the age groups and all of the older kids beat him to the line. He was the fastest 10 year old, but that didn't get him anything. Don't know if his disappointment will encourage him to actually start training or not.

No shortcuts to fast. Portion of an amusing spam email, below. Scarey that have I have become the target of emails to try and make me faster.

Yes, You want to run faster or

Yes, You know someone who wants to run faster or

Yes, You want to get fitter or lose weight or

Yes, There is a “NEW” answer to all these very statements - YES !!!

back to work

Recived this cryptic message from BQ1 about our sunday long run.

LBC @ 6:00.

Running this: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5252339

Since you want 13ish I thought maybe you could keep "the Fast Master" company for his first leg and turn around whenever you need to. I’m going to head straight down 96 to Milton and meet him at the Milton store (that old cajun restaurant that’s closed). I’ll be at mile 6, he’ll be at mile 9 so I’ll give you guys a 15 min head start so I don’t have to stand around in the cold. I’ll get 17 and change, he’ll get 20.

What the hell? We've all run pieces of others workouts to get want we wanted or to help them out on part of their long run. And they've done the same. Just took awhile for it to sink into my dense head that this was just one big 20 mile loop, versus the out and backs or double loops we've done in the past. Above is the elevation profile for BQ1's 20 mile route. (really just the first 9 miles and my piece back to LBC) I only ran the first 9 miles and then headed straight back to the car. He picked up the Fast Master at that point and escorted him the rest of the way home. Pretty cool way to run a long run. I ended up staying at a steady pace home, guess the downhill really helped with that. Plus, got close to 15 miles.

Time for me to get back to work on speed. I've recovered enough from the sub 3:00 attempt at the Rocket City marathon. Next goal is a sub 18:50 5k. Maybe at Purity or the Special Kids. Haven't thought out the race yet, just the work needed to get ready for the attempt. Going to start with hill repeats and some short road repeats for a couple of weeks before I hit the track. We've already got 2 weeks worth of hill repeats done. Looks like a couple of the guys will be able to tag along in the coming weeks. Only 6 more weeks of winter, give or take.

Backwards?

Supposed to meet the fella’s this morning for a run. Got up and it was raining hard. Checked the email and everyone had bowed out. I decided to run from the house, but waited to see if the hard rain would move out. Looked like it on the radar.

Running in the rain isn’t that big of a deal, especially only for 4-6 miles. The temperature was a balmy 55 degrees. Not so much fun when the wind is blowing and the temperatures are in the 40’s. I’ve raced a half marathon to a PR in a pretty hard rain. Run plenty of training runs in cold rain, pouring rain, sideways rain and rain with brilliant/bright/hair standing on end lightning.

Of course I didn’t have to run in the rain. It’s just easier to run in the morning versus waiting until the evening after work. Don’t want to join a gym or try and run on a treadmill at one of the fitness spots. That’s just not a good allocation of my time and I’m too cheap to buy a treadmill. Plus, I really don’t like running on treadmills.

Didn’t notice until the end of the driveway that my shorts were on backwards. Don’t know how I managed that maneuver. May have been my haste to lube everything because of the rain. I know the last lube spot was my inner thighs. Oh well, didn’t turn around and swap them around. Hell, I was going to get soaked anyway, what difference would having my shorts on backward make? Did notice the first couple of miles that my ass felt like it was bare, probably ‘cause it was the only dry spot till that point. Pretty strange feeling. Decided 5 miles was plenty, because the rain seemed to be getting harder and after the turnaround the wind was really blowing in my face.

The stupid/silly running streak didn’t really have much bearing on deciding whether or not to run this particular morning. Maybe when it’s colder, I’ll let it go.

Bucket List

Saw this on Naresh's blog and really liked his bucket list. I like the way he adds another item as one is checked off. Just as I figured lots on the interwebs about bucket lists. Basically a short list of things you'd like to do before you "kick the bucket". May help to think of them in categories: travel, adventure, helping others and self improvement. Nice blog entry here for the top 20.

Researching other lists, I discovered I've already done quite a bit that others have on their list. Makes sense that your list will be ever evolving depending on where you are in your life cycle. I'm currently in excellent health and "cough, cough", middle aged.

Some of the things, I've taken for granted but have already accomplished.

Travel: Germany, Berlin (before the wall fell and on the east side), Spain, Holland, France, Paris, Louvre, Notre Dame, Mexico, Bahamas', Grand Cayman Island, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, beaches

Adventure: run a 5k, 10k, 50k, Boston Marathon, half marathon

Two lists with probably one item on just about everyone's list.

"Seven man-made wonders of the world"

1. Machu Picchu, Peru
2. The Colisseum in Rome
3. Petra, Jordan
4. Christ Redeemer, Brazil
5. The Great Wall of China
6. Chichen Itza, Mexico
7. The Taj Mahal, India

"Seven natural wonders of the world"

1. Grand Canyon
2. The Great Barrier Reef
3. The Harbor at Rio de Janeiro
4. Mt. Everest
5. Northern Lights
6. Paricutin Volcano
7. Victoria Falls


My list
Africa, safari and Victoria Falls
Great Wall of China
Grand Canyon
New York, the city
Alaska
50 mile trail run somewhere out west in the mountains
deep sea fishing
stay healthy
clean up the Stones River Greenway


And when I do kick the bucket, cremation with the ashes scattered on the trails in Percy Warner Park.

6th Annual Dirk's Fat Ass 50k

Little scare first thing this morning. Weather radar showed one rain cell headed towards Murfreesboro. The only rain in the state of Tennessee, crap. Luckily, the rain ended about the time we started. Warm 60 degrees for the 33 runners who started. Only real concern with the weather was how much wind we'd get. Temperatures cooled to maybe 50 degrees. Awesome weather for a long run.

I don't consider myself an Ultra runner. So, it continues to amaze me listening to the different runners stories and races. That's one of the things that make the 50k a great distance. Lots of time to talk with lots of different runners. Only managed to get a few pictures, early. Really should have kept the camera for the second and third loops when the skies really cleared and the sun came out.

Only talked with Joseph a little before we started. He started early and had already run 15 hours. Wow. He ended up running 65 miles total for the day. What a way to start out the new year. (last year, 50k wasn't enough, he ran 33 miles with Lisa and Jennifer)

Lots of ultra veterans on hand again this year. Couple of hardy souls who ran the "Recovery from the Holidays 50k" Saturday and then today's 50k. (Rob, Mike Y.and Mike M.) Didn't realize David held the US 100 mile record for 50-59 year olds. Nor that Sue had run 91 miles in the same race where David just missed the 60 year old record for 100 miles. Seems at least half of the starters have at least 30 or more 50k to 100 mile races on their resume.

Tried to stick to my plan and not give up to much time at the aid station. Didn't do so well, in that regard, almost 15 minutes total, way to much time. Cost me the sub 5:00 hours I was shooting for, but did enable me to stay fueled enough that was able to run the last couple of miles with a little bit of gas in the tank. That's a damn good feeling, compared to some years.

Saw a GUTS sticker in the parking lot, but forgot to ask about it. Georgia plates, from Cobb county. Pretty sure it was Karen and Don. Unfortunately I failed to mention the way under the train tracks, should a train stop on the tracks or you didn't want to wait for it to pass.

Ideally I'd like to find a venue for this run where we could build a fire, have a little bit more shelter from the wind and that would allow beer. Not that I'm really even looking. Pretty hard to beat the logistics of having the start/finish/aid station within 2 miles of one loop and 3 miles of the other loop. The 3 loops aren't that bad. Most of the other Fat Ass races I found have 5 or more loops. Probably helps to keep the costs down and only have a single aid station.

17 finishers this year. David, Sue, Charlie, Dirk, Brittany(1st timer), Mike Y, Kevin, Karl, Paul, Mike G, Lisa, Jennifer, Justin(1st timer), Rob, Mike M, Karen and Don.