Stalking 50

Low HR Run: 9.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, warm. 53-64 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T. Fuel: Grape Nuts snack before, water during.

I've been trying to learn from my body and psyche over the past few days, and one of the possible conclusions I've drawn is that I might have pushed the intensity a little too much last week. So I've been trying to ease up a little on the intensity while keeping the distance more or less the same.

Today would have been 8 miles of hills, but instead I went out to Llama Ridge to see Larry and Moe (the alpaca posse wasn't around) and did a low-intensity 9 miles. There are some hills on this route, but Llama Ridge is pretty mild compared with what I have been doing.

I struggled a bit with my HR and pace at first, unable to find a comfortable, easy pace. After my turnaround I remembered a suggestion for barefoot and zero-drop running to keep the feet and lower legs relaxed. Just like that, my HR was below my target and I was at what felt like a sustainable, fairly relaxed level of effort. My pace fell a bit but I was more interested in feeling comfortable in the run than pushing it.

Walked first and last 5 (or so). Average HR for entire run: 133


Annd... to what should my wondering eyes should appear on the front step while I was out?



Yes! A wonderful treat from Michele! After tasting one, I promise that I'll never say anything bad about the Buckeyes again*!

Y-u-m-m-y! Thank you! You just made my week.

(*-Unless Oregon plays them, of course...)

Long Run: 22.26 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, mild, a shower. 51-54 degrees Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, jacket, hat. Fuel: Oatmeal and coffee before. Drank about 60 ounces of nuun in a handheld. 1 picky bar at 2 hours. 1 gu at 2:55, then another gu at about 3:30. S-Cap before every hour except at 3:00, when I forgot and paid for it.

I have a schedule conflict on Monday so I swapped my sorta-long and long runs this weekend. I was due for about 22 miles, and I decided to do them on the local roads and bike paths rather than hitting the dirt to save time and give me a slightly different stimulus. Running mostly constantly for 4+ hours feels a lot different than running and power hiking.

I got out before 5 a.m. and ran about 90 minutes on the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail (an asphalt bike path) before meeting up with my training partner. We did about 7 miles together on the trail before he headed off on his way and I left the greenway and went out to - and down - Llama Ridge.

No llamas out this morning, just cows in their field; but earlier, I did manage to startle a deer (doe), a coyote, a heron, an egret, and several bunnies. I must not be a very noisy runner, because I was close to them when they noticed me.

I held off fueling until 2 hours in, which worked pretty well. I kept refilling my handheld, which I'm getting used to, and I took S-Caps before the run and at hour 1 and hour 2. I forgot to take it at hour 3 -- until my legs started cramping in a way that reminded me a LOT of what happened at the Eugene Marathon exactly two years ago today. I took an S-Cap and kept going, and the cramping sensation eased up. Still a little sore, though. I also tried another trick from my last road marathon - I had some acid reflux and *almost* aspirated it. Luckily, I was able to cough it away from my windpipe.

Also, I forgot to restart my timer after a bottle refill, but didn't notice until I'd run almost exactly a mile. So adding it up and estimating the time was pretty easy.

All in all, a pretty satisfying run. I wished it had felt easier, but it was a different type of run than what I have been doing, on different surfaces... and I did 20 miles on Monday, so I really can't be surprised. If all goes well tomorrow, I hope to get in 10 miles to complete this back-to-back and slide into a stepback week.

Walked first 5 last 6 minutes. Average HR for the whole run: 135

Mark B wrote:Low HR Run: 9.1 miles

I struggled a bit with my HR and pace at first, unable to find a comfortable, easy pace. After my turnaround I remembered a suggestion for barefoot and zero-drop running to keep the feet and lower legs relaxed. Just like that, my HR was below my target and I was at what felt like a sustainable, fairly relaxed level of effort. My pace fell a bit but I was more interested in feeling comfortable in the run than pushing it.

Walked first and last 5 (or so). Average HR for entire run: 133


Annd... to what should my wondering eyes should appear on the front step while I was out?



Yes! A wonderful treat from Michele! After tasting one, I promise that I'll never say anything bad about the Buckeyes again*!

Y-u-m-m-y! Thank you! You just made my week.

(*-Unless Oregon plays them, of course...)

Mark, can you help me out with a little more explanation on relaxing the foot and lower leg, please?
Uh, say, Michele???? I abhor $50 bills.

Mark B wrote:Long Run: 22.26 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, mild, a shower. 51-54 degrees Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, jacket, hat. Fuel: Oatmeal and coffee before. Drank about 60 ounces of nuun in a handheld. 1 picky bar at 2 hours. 1 gu at 2:55, then another gu at about 3:30. S-Cap before every hour except at 3:00, when I forgot and paid for it.

I held off fueling until 2 hours in, which worked pretty well. I kept refilling my handheld, which I'm getting used to, and I took S-Caps before the run and at hour 1 and hour 2. I forgot to take it at hour 3 -- until my legs started cramping in a way that reminded me a LOT of what happened at the Eugene Marathon exactly two years ago today. I took an S-Cap and kept going, and the cramping sensation eased up. Still a little sore, though. I also tried another trick from my last road marathon - I had some acid reflux and *almost* aspirated it. Luckily, I was able to cough it away from my windpipe.

All in all, a pretty satisfying run. I wished it had felt easier, but it was a different type of run than what I have been doing, on different surfaces... and I did 20 miles on Monday, so I really can't be surprised. If all goes well tomorrow, I hope to get in 10 miles to complete this back-to-back and slide into a stepback week.

Walked first 5 last 6 minutes. Average HR for the whole run: 135

Can you help me out on the S-Cap and Nuun, please? You drank 60 oz of Nuun before you left, plus an S-Cap at hours 1 and 2, then after hour 3 you got cramps which resolved after taking the missed dose. So, why do you get cramps after so much stuff? Just curious.

I agree that was a pretty satisfying run. Nifty.

ounce wrote:Mark, can you help me out with a little more explanation on relaxing the foot and lower leg, please?

Let's see if I can try. It's all somewhat new to me, because I used to be more of a heel striker. As barefoot running and zero-drop shoes moved me more toward a lighter forefoot landing, I noticed that my surprisingly dainty deer-like calves have gained a tremendous amount of muscle mass. They actually get tight now, which is kind of a first for me.

So, to the relaxing bit. Barefoot running gurus and the folks who make Altra shoes talk a lot about landing in a relaxed form. If you land on your forefoot and never allow your heel to touch down, for example, you're not running... you're sprinting. That's not an efficient or sustainable running form over any significant distance. The same principle applies to the rest of the foot. You don't want to pound the pavement. If you do, your feet will never conform to the surface and you'll get hurt.

I read somewhere that loose muscles are stronger than tight ones. So by focusing on relaxing those lower leg and foot muscles, it makes it easier for your body to land gently, load the springs that are your feet and legs and then allow that energy to release as forward motion.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. So it's that voodoo barefoot stuff. But how do you actually do it?

That's the tricky part. I try to focus on making sure my heel touches (after the initial touchdown), that my ankle, knee and hip flexes and that I don't punch my foot into the ground. Silence is the goal. I don't always succeed, and it's easy to forget and start smacking the pavement. Running barefoot won't allow such naughtiness; shoes usually will.

ounce wrote:Can you help me out on the S-Cap and Nuun, please? You drank 60 oz of Nuun before you left, plus an S-Cap at hours 1 and 2, then after hour 3 you got cramps which resolved after taking the missed dose. So, why do you get cramps after so much stuff? Just curious.

I agree that was a pretty satisfying run. Nifty.

Okay, so I drank the 60 ounces (three bottles full) not before the run, but during the run. And yes, I also did the S-Caps, based on what they consider the average dose for medium sweat rates. And I was 30-40 minutes late on a capsule and started to cramp up. Is it real, or is it the withdrawal of a placebo, sort of like taking away Dumbo's black feather? I really don't know for sure.

To be clear, when I say "cramp," I am not talking about one of those huge muscle spasm cramps that stop you in your tracks. It's more of a crampy, almost "sour" feeling in my muscles. I experienced it, bigtime, in Eugene 2011, and it didn't stop muscle function... but it hurt like hell. So maybe "cramp" isn't the right word.

What I have noticed is that I haven't had a repeat of that while using Endurolytes or S-Caps. I find my legs go farther with less struggle in later miles if I keep up on it. As for the placebo question, all I can say is that it only dawned on me that I hadn't taken my 3-hour S-Cap while I was trying to figure out why my legs were starting to hurt so much. Taking the S-Cap seemed to help... but whether that was a placebo effect, I don't know.

As far as mineral loss goes, I do tend to sweat a lot, even at my relatively mild temperatures. Our heat and humidity here is nothing like the Gulf Coast or the Midwest, but it's still apparently enough to wring me out.

Thanks for the thoughts on the run. I hope to do my 10-miler tomorrow to complete the back-to-back.

One extra note: What with my shifting my normal Monday long run to Sunday, my training log shows a 7-day mileage total of 64.8 miles. Yowza! It'd be impressive if it wasn't a fluke.

Less a fluke: I have had seven 20-mile or 20+ mile days in my legs this year (from February to now), more in three months than ... well, actually, in any year ever. That's kind of amazing to see. I did that?

(And there's a half dozen more to come before I do whatever ultra I end up doing this summer.)

Try adding extra calcium, magnesium, and zinc to your diet as well. You will probably have to look at a supplement, but these minerals also help with cramping. I am a heavy sweater even in the Midwest and find that combination with s-caps works for me. And I get totally the feeling you described and the "solution". Might be in our heads, but hey, that is ok with me.

Since it appears that you're predominately running non-flat areas, how much easier (or speedier) would running a flat course like Chicago, New Orleans or Houston be for you, in theory?

Reason being is that I'm thinking of running many of my long runs in a more rolling environment, this Fall, so I can strengthen my legs and make the few non-flat pieces of the Houston course irrelevant.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Try adding extra calcium, magnesium, and zinc to your diet as well. You will probably have to look at a supplement, but these minerals also help with cramping. I am a heavy sweater even in the Midwest and find that combination with s-caps works for me. And I get totally the feeling you described and the "solution". Might be in our heads, but hey, that is ok with me.

Hm. Interesting. I notice that S-Caps are mostly sodium with a bit of potassium thrown in. Endurolytes, on the other hand, have far less sodium (341 mg in S-Caps vs 40 mg in Eudrolytes) but also include calcium, magnesium and a few other minerals. Yet the S-Caps are the ones that seem to get promoted most. I wonder why?

Supplements are a definite possibility but I'll have to look at natural sources of those minerals, too, just to see if they match up to some of the foods I tend to crave when my miles build up.

Funny that you say heavy sweating "even in the Midwest" - only somebody who has lived in the South can say that. I had the chance to run in the summer near Chicago a few years back the morning, and holy cow. It looked like I'd gone swimming when I was done! Crazy.

ounce wrote:Since it appears that you're predominately running non-flat areas, how much easier (or speedier) would running a flat course like Chicago, New Orleans or Houston be for you, in theory?

Reason being is that I'm thinking of running many of my long runs in a more rolling environment, this Fall, so I can strengthen my legs and make the few non-flat pieces of the Houston course irrelevant.

I can't say for sure, but I've noticed that the top runners in the world don't shy away from hills or rolling terrain. I also notice that my training partner, who lives in a hillier area than I do, can run a lot faster than I can when he's in good shape. There's probably a chicken-and-egg question in there, I suppose, but it suggests to me that training on hills builds strength that running only flats cannot.

So with that in mind, I guess I'd say that it would make it easier (and thereby a little faster) to run a super-flat marathon course. I think there's other challenges, of having to run at the same level of intensity, but I don't know that those challenges would negate the benefit of the additional strength.

I'd say, go for it. Find those hills! You don't need to sprint up them for them to help you.

Low HR Run: 85 minutes (7.5 miles) on treadmill

Weather: Indoors. 70 degrees Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts.

Rough day. This was originally scheduled for a 10-mile day, but events cut that time short. I did 7.5 miles at a low HR, in warm conditions indoors. Lower pace.

Now I need to get cleaned up so I can tell my kid that one of his cats is probably terminally ill.

Sorry about the cat - I see an opportunity for a great lesson though. Our first dog passed when my daughter was 8 - so, I understand.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Sorry about the cat - I see an opportunity for a great lesson though. Our first dog passed when my daughter was 8 - so, I understand.

Alas, this isn't the first for our son (or us). He's lost a grandmother, grandfather, great grandfather and two cats since he was born. He's much better acquainted with death than many kids his age.

Sigh. The best all of us can do is give her (she's still a kitten, really) as much love and spoiling as we can, for however much time we have with her. It's heartbreaking.

Mark I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I think she's the one that looks like my Allen I called her Allen's twin.

amyjoann wrote:Mark I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I think she's the one that looks like my Allen I called her Allen's twin.

Thanks. It's Callie, who is shy and sweet and loves to nibble on my fingers at 5 a.m.

Mark B wrote:

amyjoann wrote:Mark I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I think she's the one that looks like my Allen I called her Allen's twin.

Thanks. It's Callie, who is shy and sweet and loves to nibble on my fingers at 5 a.m.

That's weird as the dog of which I spoke was named Cally.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:

Mark B wrote:

amyjoann wrote:Mark I'm so sorry to hear about your cat I think she's the one that looks like my Allen I called her Allen's twin.

Thanks. It's Callie, who is shy and sweet and loves to nibble on my fingers at 5 a.m.

That's weird as the dog of which I spoke was named Cally.

Aww. So sorry.

Here's a photo of Callie:


And another:



There are many, many others.

Callie started off as a spunky (if shy) and playful kitten. Over time, she got less interested in play. Then her back legs stopped working very well. We thought she was hurt (as did her vet), and we tried medicine and rest. That helped a little but she kept getting weaker. She can still walk a bit, but she can't jump or climb anymore. Her legs splay out on smooth floors. It doesn't appear, however, that she's in pain.

A specialist today said the problem is neurological, unusual for a kitten Callie's age, and that these things usually end in death. We're going to have some tests done in the slim hope there might be something that can be done. (Tests for the normal diseases that could cause this have already come up negative, so it's a puzzle.) But we're expecting that the news, ultimately, will not be good and we'll have maybe another month or two with her before she's gone.

Sad to hear about it, Mark. Again, it's a shame there's not a "that sucks" button on these boards.

And thanks for the tips.

ounce wrote:Sad to hear about it, Mark. Again, it's a shame there's not a "that sucks" button on these boards.

And thanks for the tips.

Thanks, and you're welcome.

Walk: 4 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy and cool with an ill-timed shower. 49 degrees

It's a step-back week for me, but I have to keep moving. So I slipped out for a 4-mile walk at lunch. It was cool but it looked safe enough to leave my jacket (and umbrella) elsewhere. The doppler radar looked clear.

Mistake. It started raining lightly in the last mile. Made a jogging dash to some cover when it started raining harder, then took advantage of awnings to get the rest of the way back to the office. Oopsie.

Barefoot Run: About 4 miles

Weather: Sunny, mild. 59 degrees.

Met up with Joel Hare, who is visiting the Portland area on business, and went for a run on a bike path next to Marine Drive, a road that stretches for miles on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. I decided to do the run barefoot.

It was a nice run, but a better chat. Joel and I have corresponded online for years now, but have never met until today. Those sorts of meetings are always fun. We did about four miles (I don't have exact numbers because I left my Garmin at home) at a relatively easy pace. I tried to use my iPhone's Nike app, but accidentally turned it off partway into the run and lost chunk. Ah, technology. Joel (who was better prepared) had his Garmin, and it said 3.97 miles. I think the universe will forgive me for rounding up.

Joel, used to slogging through gawdawful heat and humidity in Houston, very much enjoyed the cooler weather.



A nice way to spend part of a sunny morning. Thanks, Joel!

Oh a quick update on Callie.

She spent the day yesterday at a specialist, who said he's now more hopeful than he was earlier this week. We're waiting for more test results to figure out exactly what's going on, but at least it doesn't appear that she's suffering from something that's going to take her from us soon.

The future is still uncertain, but we'll take whatever hope we can get.

Nice to meet Joel - he is a great guy and his family is wonderful. Glad to hear that Callie might be ok!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Nice to meet Joel - he is a great guy and his family is wonderful. Glad to hear that Callie might be ok!

Thanks, Michele! We're not out of the woods yet, but it's nice to see that there may be a path through it.

And yes, Joel is a great guy. He also has a great laugh, so I really enjoyed finding ways to crack him up.

(BTW, we finished the last of the buckeyes last night. Glad they don't sell them here. They are too tempting!)

I'm now four months in to my ultra preparation, so I suppose it's time to briefly revisit my overall training strategy and assess how it's gone as I move from my "build" to "peak" phase of my preparation.

Here's what I planned: A four-phase process: Base, Build, Peak and Taper/Race.

January-February: Base Period, long runs increasing from 12 currently to 20 miles.
March-April: Build Period, with long runs in the 20-22 mile range and an increased emphasis on hill running.
May-June: Peak Period, with long runs in the 24- to 31-mile range.
July: Taper/Race, cut back for race on Saturday, July 13 (?)

Base phase went well, as I worked my way up to 20 miles.

Build phase, which ended earlier this week, was challenging but solid. I got in three 20-mile runs, two 22-mile runs and one 24-mile run. Nearly all of those runs were back-to-backs, with runs of up to 10 miles the day before (and in one case after) the long run. That's working for me, especially with the two-hard, one-easy pattern for step-back weeks. My "hard" weeks are getting up into the 50s now, and recovery from the back-to-backs is getting faster. I also continued to do one barefoot run most weeks, and I've been making a point to run hilly routes on one of my midweek runs and on most of my long runs.

The 24-miler proved to be too soon for my body when I did it (lesson learned: don't overreach!) and I flirted with burnout when I got carried away and added in too much intensity just as the miles were getting long and life stress was ramping up (lesson learned: listen to the soul as well as the body!). But the consequences, while humbling, appear to be short-lived. I'll be smarter and wiser going forward.

So, overall, I think I should be pleased with this process. I have to give credit to the Ultraladies 50-mile plan suggested by Kevin a while back. Their plan seems to be working well for me, though it's difficult to make myself step back as much as they suggest. (Smarter and wiser. Smarter and wiser. Smarter and wiser. Come on, you can do this!)

Next up is the peak phase, with back-to-back long runs starting at 10-24 miles and extending out to 12-28 (per the Ultraladies plan) in the two peak mileage weeks. This part gets a bit dicey, because I still don't have a race yet. That has affected stress and motivation, but I hope that uncertainly will resolve itself before too much longer. I'll have to adjust the schedule a bit once I know, either building slightly more slowly to the longest runs, or toying with going a little longer.

In any case, I'll have to keep building on the hill work I've done, especially if I might end up at White River.

Onward!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Nice to meet Joel - he is a great guy and his family is wonderful. Glad to hear that Callie might be ok!

+1. Gosh, you just might have to come to Houston or something.

Does your training plan suggest running any races or just to build up on your own?