Building A Better Bumblebee

Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, 66° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

Tapering down this week, aiming for maximum proprioception in these last two runs before my ULTRAhalf.

This one is my standard 5K worth of laps around the block. It's been unusually hot lately, so it was a lot warmer than usual even early in the morning. I could feel the heat of the sun... at least the pavement hadn't heated up yet!

This can't be counted as a low HR run. I let my HR go up a bit this time. But even so, I was happy to see my pace fall below the 11-minute barrier, even "cheating" the HR target. I didn't quite get under 11 for the third mile, but that's okay.

Funny encounter with a man walking, shaking his head at the sight of me. He brought up glass, nails, screws... luckily, I don't run through the bins at a hardware store.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:90 degrees is hot, no matter the location. 

But I think that it's more TAPER MADNESS!!!!!!

There, there.  It'll all be over soon and you'll need some Fluff lovin'.

Well, it's a mini taper for a "half-ultra" ("ultra-half?"), so I think all caps might be a bit much. Still, it has been a while since I did a race... and I have weird aches and pains...

Oh, what the heck: Tally-ho!

Oh, c'mon.  People running their first 5K wonder if they should carbo-load!

TAPER MADNESS!!!!!! is a state of mind in the runner to be exploited, teased, and mocked by other runners.

Half-ultra?  Could be.  How about a 500% 5K!?!  By the way, I hold the world record on this message board for a 25K race.  So, good luck!  But I hope you come in second to my time. 
I also hold the world record on this message board for a 3/5ths Ultra, too.

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, 66° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

Tapering down this week, aiming for maximum proprioception in these last two runs before my ULTRAhalf.

This one is my standard 5K worth of laps around the block. It's been unusually hot lately, so it was a lot warmer than usual even early in the morning. I could feel the heat of the sun... at least the pavement hadn't heated up yet!

This can't be counted as a low HR run. I let my HR go up a bit this time. But even so, I was happy to see my pace fall below the 11-minute barrier, even "cheating" the HR target. I didn't quite get under 11 for the third mile, but that's okay.

Funny encounter with a man walking, shaking his head at the sight of me. He brought up glass, nails, screws... luckily, I don't run through the bins at a hardware store.

Or a construction site or new subdivision.

So what's the weather forecast for the race, Chip?

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:90 degrees is hot, no matter the location. 

But I think that it's more TAPER MADNESS!!!!!!

There, there.  It'll all be over soon and you'll need some Fluff lovin'.

Well, it's a mini taper for a "half-ultra" ("ultra-half?"), so I think all caps might be a bit much. Still, it has been a while since I did a race... and I have weird aches and pains...

Oh, what the heck: Tally-ho!

Oh, c'mon.  People running their first 5K wonder if they should carbo-load!

TAPER MADNESS!!!!!! is a state of mind in the runner to be exploited, teased, and mocked by other runners.

Half-ultra?  Could be.  How about a 500% 5K!?!  By the way, I hold the world record on this message board for a 25K race.  So, good luck!  But I hope you come in second to my time. 
I also hold the world record on this message board for a 3/5ths Ultra, too.

Tease away. I've crave the attention.

So what is your 25K time? Considering that I'm scaling two mountains in this run, your record is probably safe. 

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, 66° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

Tapering down this week, aiming for maximum proprioception in these last two runs before my ULTRAhalf.

This one is my standard 5K worth of laps around the block. It's been unusually hot lately, so it was a lot warmer than usual even early in the morning. I could feel the heat of the sun... at least the pavement hadn't heated up yet!

This can't be counted as a low HR run. I let my HR go up a bit this time. But even so, I was happy to see my pace fall below the 11-minute barrier, even "cheating" the HR target. I didn't quite get under 11 for the third mile, but that's okay.

Funny encounter with a man walking, shaking his head at the sight of me. He brought up glass, nails, screws... luckily, I don't run through the bins at a hardware store.

Or a construction site or new subdivision.

So what's the weather forecast for the race, Chip?

The NWS forecast is predicting a temp 50° at the 9 a.m. start, with 34% cloud cover and 81% humidity. Warming to 65° at noon, clearing to 6% sky cover and 58% humidity. It'll crack 70° by 2 p.m. (hopefully I'll be done by then), with a high for the day of 78 degrees at 5 p.m.  Winds from the W to WSW of 5-6 mph all day. 

All in all, not bad, though it'll get warm for the 50K runners. I'm going to use my smaller (50 ounce) Camelbak rather than mess with bottles. I'd need two to cover the distance/time between the aid stations, considering the time spent climbing. Besides, I'd like to keep my hands free, because I'll need 'em in a couple of of the trickier spots. 

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:90 degrees is hot, no matter the location. 

But I think that it's more TAPER MADNESS!!!!!!

There, there.  It'll all be over soon and you'll need some Fluff lovin'.

Well, it's a mini taper for a "half-ultra" ("ultra-half?"), so I think all caps might be a bit much. Still, it has been a while since I did a race... and I have weird aches and pains...

Oh, what the heck: Tally-ho!

Oh, c'mon.  People running their first 5K wonder if they should carbo-load!

TAPER MADNESS!!!!!! is a state of mind in the runner to be exploited, teased, and mocked by other runners.

Half-ultra?  Could be.  How about a 500% 5K!?!  By the way, I hold the world record on this message board for a 25K race.  So, good luck!  But I hope you come in second to my time. 
I also hold the world record on this message board for a 3/5ths Ultra, too.

Tease away. I've crave the attention.

So what is your 25K time? Considering that I'm scaling two mountains in this run, your record is probably safe. 

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Sunny, 66° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

Tapering down this week, aiming for maximum proprioception in these last two runs before my ULTRAhalf.

This one is my standard 5K worth of laps around the block. It's been unusually hot lately, so it was a lot warmer than usual even early in the morning. I could feel the heat of the sun... at least the pavement hadn't heated up yet!

This can't be counted as a low HR run. I let my HR go up a bit this time. But even so, I was happy to see my pace fall below the 11-minute barrier, even "cheating" the HR target. I didn't quite get under 11 for the third mile, but that's okay.

Funny encounter with a man walking, shaking his head at the sight of me. He brought up glass, nails, screws... luckily, I don't run through the bins at a hardware store.

Or a construction site or new subdivision.

So what's the weather forecast for the race, Chip?

The NWS forecast is predicting a temp 50° at the 9 a.m. start, with 34% cloud cover and 81% humidity. Warming to 65° at noon, clearing to 6% sky cover and 58% humidity. It'll crack 70° by 2 p.m. (hopefully I'll be done by then), with a high for the day of 78 degrees at 5 p.m.  Winds from the W to WSW of 5-6 mph all day. 

All in all, not bad, though it'll get warm for the 50K runners. I'm going to use my smaller (50 ounce) Camelbak rather than mess with bottles. I'd need two to cover the distance/time between the aid stations, considering the time spent climbing. Besides, I'd like to keep my hands free, because I'll need 'em in a couple of of the trickier spots. 

Thanks, Chip.  I guess the temps might be different with regard to whether you're in the sun or hidden by a mountain, until the sun gets high enough to obliterate every human racing. 


And the 365runners.com message boards world record is 3:05:29 (11:55 pace) in 2013.  A low bar to jump.

ounce wrote:The 365runners.com message boards world record is 3:05:29 (11:55 pace) in 2013.  A low bar to jump.

Except that jump has to be about 3,700 feet high. (Amount of vertical in this race.)



Your record will stand. Whether I will be able to stand afterward remains an open question.

And the excitement builds...

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:The 365runners.com message boards world record is 3:05:29 (11:55 pace) in 2013.  A low bar to jump.

Except that jump has to be about 3,700 feet high. (Amount of vertical in this race.)



Your record will stand. Whether I will be able to afterward remains an open question.

What's the big deal???  I had an overpass I had to scale 3 times during the race.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:The 365runners.com message boards world record is 3:05:29 (11:55 pace) in 2013.  A low bar to jump.

Except that jump has to be about 3,700 feet high. (Amount of vertical in this race.)



Your record will stand. Whether I will be able to afterward remains an open question.

What's the big deal???  I had an overpass I had to scale 3 times during the race.

You never mentioned that before! Poor thing.

Barefoot Run: 2.07 zippy miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, a breeze. 55° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

My last run before the Beacon Rock 25K on Saturday, and I decided it would be a good time to do a quick comparison of how fast I'd be running if I used my old heart rate target of 139-143. (The 143, I'm now told, is supposedly my lactate threshold...) I figured two miles of slightly up-tempo running wouldn't do any harm, and would probably be fun.

So I started out targeting that 139-143 range. It felt good. I hit the first mile with an average HR of 141 and a pace of 9:08. Not bad! Still, I wanted sub-9. I picked up the pace a bit and stopped paying so much attention to the HR monitor -- and on the last lap, I switched over to the chronometer to make sure I went sub-18 for two miles. Mile 2 pace: 8:25, average HR 157. Success. Ha!

I pushed a bit more to finish off in front of my house and hit my "max" heart rate of 172. I stopped the timer and walked the HR back down to around 100 in four of five minutes.

That was fun.

(Edit to add: Um... I just checked my logs to see how this pace compared with the past, and it appears that these were the fastest two miles I've run barefoot, like... ever? Really? Huh. How about that?)

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 2.07 zippy miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, a breeze. 55° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

My last run before the Beacon Rock 25K on Saturday, and I decided it would be a good time to do a quick comparison of how fast I'd be running if I used my old heart rate target of 139-143. (The 143, I'm now told, is supposedly my lactate threshold...) I figured two miles of slightly up-tempo running wouldn't do any harm, and would probably be fun.

So I started out targeting that 139-143 range. It felt good. I hit the first mile with an average HR of 141 and a pace of 9:08. Not bad! Still, I wanted sub-9. I picked up the pace a bit and stopped paying so much attention to the HR monitor -- and on the last lap, I switched over to the chronometer to make sure I went sub-18 for two miles. Mile 2 pace: 8:25, average HR 157. Success. Ha!

I pushed a bit more to finish off in front of my house and hit my "max" heart rate of 172. I stopped the timer and walked the HR back down to around 100 in four of five minutes.

That was fun.

(Edit to add: Um... I just checked my logs to see how this pace compared with the past, and it appears that these were the fastest two miles I've run barefoot, like... ever? Really? Huh. How about that?)

I believe that qualifies as a PR!

Tim C wrote:

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 2.07 zippy miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, a breeze. 55° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

My last run before the Beacon Rock 25K on Saturday, and I decided it would be a good time to do a quick comparison of how fast I'd be running if I used my old heart rate target of 139-143. (The 143, I'm now told, is supposedly my lactate threshold...) I figured two miles of slightly up-tempo running wouldn't do any harm, and would probably be fun.

So I started out targeting that 139-143 range. It felt good. I hit the first mile with an average HR of 141 and a pace of 9:08. Not bad! Still, I wanted sub-9. I picked up the pace a bit and stopped paying so much attention to the HR monitor -- and on the last lap, I switched over to the chronometer to make sure I went sub-18 for two miles. Mile 2 pace: 8:25, average HR 157. Success. Ha!

I pushed a bit more to finish off in front of my house and hit my "max" heart rate of 172. I stopped the timer and walked the HR back down to around 100 in four of five minutes.

That was fun.

(Edit to add: Um... I just checked my logs to see how this pace compared with the past, and it appears that these were the fastest two miles I've run barefoot, like... ever? Really? Huh. How about that?)

I believe that qualifies as a PR!

At least barefoot! And in my new AG... Hm. Maybe this getting older has some benefits after all...

Mark B wrote:

Tim C wrote:

Mark B wrote:Barefoot Run: 2.07 zippy miles

Weather: Mostly cloudy, mild, a breeze. 55° Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T.

My last run before the Beacon Rock 25K on Saturday, and I decided it would be a good time to do a quick comparison of how fast I'd be running if I used my old heart rate target of 139-143. (The 143, I'm now told, is supposedly my lactate threshold...) I figured two miles of slightly up-tempo running wouldn't do any harm, and would probably be fun.

So I started out targeting that 139-143 range. It felt good. I hit the first mile with an average HR of 141 and a pace of 9:08. Not bad! Still, I wanted sub-9. I picked up the pace a bit and stopped paying so much attention to the HR monitor -- and on the last lap, I switched over to the chronometer to make sure I went sub-18 for two miles. Mile 2 pace: 8:25, average HR 157. Success. Ha!

I pushed a bit more to finish off in front of my house and hit my "max" heart rate of 172. I stopped the timer and walked the HR back down to around 100 in four of five minutes.

That was fun.

(Edit to add: Um... I just checked my logs to see how this pace compared with the past, and it appears that these were the fastest two miles I've run barefoot, like... ever? Really? Huh. How about that?)

I believe that qualifies as a PR!

At least barefoot! And in my new AG... Hm. Maybe this getting older has some benefits after all...

It does.

Oh, and you KNOW your max HR is much higher than 172 plus there's no telling how much of a handicap wearing shoes lowers your max HR.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:
Hm. Maybe this getting older has some benefits after all...

It does.

Oh, and you KNOW your max HR is much higher than 172 plus there's no telling how much of a handicap wearing shoes lowers your max HR.

I did notice the feeling of running out of gas -- as in, the sense I might not be able to push much higher -- when I was at about 172, so I'm wondering if my max HR has actually fallen over time. I've read some physiology people say that as aerobic fitness increases, the HRmax falls. Maybe as the VO2max increases? I suppose there might be some logic in that...

Anyway, today is a rest day, but it wasn't very restful. I ate something that disagreed with my guts, and it felt like I had a pine cone in my lower intestines all morning. It's getting better now, but still a bit on edge. Glad this didn't happen Saturday morning! (And I don't *think* it's taper nerves, though I suppose it's possible.)

I'm headed off to NY tomorrow so may not have time to check in.  Good luck this weekend!

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:
Hm. Maybe this getting older has some benefits after all...

It does.

Oh, and you KNOW your max HR is much higher than 172 plus there's no telling how much of a handicap wearing shoes lowers your max HR.

I did notice the feeling of running out of gas -- as in, the sense I might not be able to push much higher -- when I was at about 172, so I'm wondering if my max HR has actually fallen over time. I've read some physiology people say that as aerobic fitness increases, the HRmax falls. Maybe as the VO2max increases? I suppose there might be some logic in that...

Anyway, today is a rest day, but it wasn't very restful. I ate something that disagreed with my guts, and it felt like I had a pine cone in my lower intestines all morning. It's getting better now, but still a bit on edge. Glad this didn't happen Saturday morning! (And I don't *think* it's taper nerves, though I suppose it's possible.)

May I recommend eating at a Chinese buffet place, tonight.  That'll start the process of packing it in.  It'd probably help you on retaining water, too.  And have a bowl of soft serve ice cream, too, on the house!

And just so we're clear, ANYTHING out of the norm that happens during tapering time is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS [size=24]TAPER MAAAAAAAAAAAADNESSSS!!!!![/size]


(I'm nothing if not predicable.)

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:I'm headed off to NY tomorrow so may not have time to check in.  Good luck this weekend!

Thanks, Michele! It's actually been a while since I actually made it to the start line of a race, so I'm kind of excited.  

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:
Hm. Maybe this getting older has some benefits after all...

It does.

Oh, and you KNOW your max HR is much higher than 172 plus there's no telling how much of a handicap wearing shoes lowers your max HR.

I did notice the feeling of running out of gas -- as in, the sense I might not be able to push much higher -- when I was at about 172, so I'm wondering if my max HR has actually fallen over time. I've read some physiology people say that as aerobic fitness increases, the HRmax falls. Maybe as the VO2max increases? I suppose there might be some logic in that...

Anyway, today is a rest day, but it wasn't very restful. I ate something that disagreed with my guts, and it felt like I had a pine cone in my lower intestines all morning. It's getting better now, but still a bit on edge. Glad this didn't happen Saturday morning! (And I don't *think* it's taper nerves, though I suppose it's possible.)

May I recommend eating at a Chinese buffet place, tonight.  That'll start the process of packing it in.  It'd probably help you on retaining water, too.  And have a bowl of soft serve ice cream, too, on the house!

And just so we're clear, ANYTHING out of the norm that happens during tapering time is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS TAPER MAAAAAAAAAAAADNESSSS!!!!!


(I'm nothing if not predicable.)

You're as predictable as taper madness, that's for sure.   <-Ounce

A Chinese buffet sounds good but a bit filling. We may be having some Thai food tomorrow, though.

FWIW, I have long since learned that the worst pre-race food for me is pizza. :shudders:

Have a great race Mark.  Hope the weather cooperates...it's supposed to be warm here but not HOT.  Have fun, enjoy the views and be careful.  Looking forward to hearing how it goes...

Thanks, Nancy! I took today off so I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn after a night shift, so I've been happily carbo-loading all morning and afternoon. All my stuff is clean and nearly ready to go, so all we need to do is get a book for Alita for the times when she's not working as a race volunteer. I even picked up a pizza for Alec so he can graze on it while we're away. (We really do need to teach him how to cook one of these days...)

The last time I did this race, back in 2011, I finished in about 4:30. I'm hoping to finish a little quicker this time -- last time I was hobbling the last few miles thanks to footwear that wasn't sufficient for the terrain -- but I'm not going to dwell on it. My goal for this is go out, have fun and enjoy the challenge and company out there.

The high is supposed to reach the mid-70s tomorrow, but that won't be until late afternoon. It should be in the mid-50s and partly cloudy with a 0% chance of rain when my race starts at 9 a.m. It shouldn't even crack 70 until 2 p.m. That'll do nicely, thank you.

Also: There won't be any tracking up updates until this is all done with. There's no cell service at the start/finish or on about 95% of the course. Off the grid!

Off the grid???? Can you survive that?  I guess it really doesn't matter.

Good luck!!!!

ounce wrote:Off the grid???? Can you survive that?  I guess it really doesn't matter.

Good luck!!!!

Good luck!!!!

ounce wrote:

ounce wrote:Off the grid???? Can you survive that?  I guess it really doesn't matter.

Good luck!!!!

Good luck!!!!

Good luck!!!!

(this is an SCZ while he's off to a race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

A-hem. The race is within driving distance tomorrow morning.

Nice try, bucko.

(The going off the grid thing is bad only in losing contact with our offspring in the longest he'll have been left to his own devices. Luckily for us, his devices are an iPad and a MacBook Pro.)

Thanks for the well-wishes. Getting a little antsy now. But I'm sure it'll be great.

Mark B wrote:A-hem. The race is within driving distance tomorrow morning.

Nice try, bucko.

(The going off the grid thing is bad only in losing contact with our offspring in the longest he'll have been left to his own devices. Luckily for us, his devices are an iPad and a MacBook Pro.)

Thanks for the well-wishes. Getting a little antsy now. But I'm sure it'll be great.

Oh, the offspring will be fine with fun Uncle Oz around!  He won't remember a thing!

Beacon Rock 25K

Weather: Sunny. Temperature rising from mid-50s at start to mid-70s later in day. Gear: Altra Lone Peak 2.0, shorts, T, small (50oz) Camelbak. Fuel: LaraBar every 45 minutes as long as I could stand it (which was 3.5 bars), then a Gu. Also a few shots of Mountain Dew, E-Caps every 30 minutes to start, switching to every 20 later.

Quick report on a race that was significantly free from drama.

The race went well. I didn't have any big problems, though I worked pretty hard getting up those mountains. My HR, which is supposedly at my lactate threshold at 143, averaged 150 for the whole race. There were entire miles where I nearly averaged 160, and that was power hiking, not running. Those trails are steep.

I was cautious on the downhills and in rocky areas, trying to stay relaxed and loose -- and avoid torquing my foot on anything. I knew any time I could make up would be on the last few downhill miles as I came off the mountain. That's where I was slowed to a walk in 2011, and I wanted to avoid that. I did, which was great.

I'd thought it'd mean I'd finish faster than I did, but I remembered out on the trail that I did the event in 2011 a couple of months after completing a training cycle for a marathon that I ended up jogging half of after I blew up. So I had many more miles in my legs last time. I nearly matched the time, so that's good enough. It was what I am capable of right now.

And I was so pleased that I dropped down to the 25K. I wouldn't have enjoyed a second lap.

The event was great. Alita volunteered at check-in and serving food after the race. The organizers create tough courses but end the events with a bluegrass band, pizza cooked in a woodfired oven, free adult beverages, etc., etc. They even set up a giant slip-and-slide for the kids (and some of the adults).


All in all, it was very satisfying..