Trails and Travails

Hold on to 24 as long as you can, Mike! Things can get a lot less spontaneous once that prefrontal cortex ripens up in your mid 20s.

Mark - It's strange, this spontaneity, considering I never really felt it until recently (the past couple years). Shrug, I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

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7.54 today, 4.5 of which were at the 'new and improved' MP... Or what I thought it was. As some (many?) of you know, I'm going for sub-3 next time, and I'm hoping to dabble around in the 6:30-6:50 pace range throughout the summer/fall as a way to build comfort and efficiency at that pace until I'm ready to tackle another road marathon. I thought I remembered my goal MP as something around 6:45, but apparently it's closer to 6:48. I averaged 6:41 for my 4.5 miles. A little speedy, yeah, mainly because I finally found some motivation after the first two pace miles and found myself cruising around 6:30-6:35 at the same effort level. I'll take it. Effort was moderate to moderate+, so a little higher than I'd like, but I'm coming off that huge weekend as well as a long day in the sun (and saddle) yesterday. Overall, a really nice introduction to that pace range.

So this is what an interesting blog looks like. I'll have to remember that next time I post. Of course, I have a mundane mid-30s life to post about, so it won't have the same effect.

It seems like you are doing well and enjoying your training. That's always a good way to improve at something: enjoy doing it. Keep up the good work.

I'm no nutritional expert, and I respect your decision to be a vegan. My wife is a vegetarian so I understand the difficulties it can cause at family parties.

But I know some things about running high mileage. I can ensure you that to maintain high mileage, you have to be prepared to eat your face off. If you're anywhere near a caloric deficit on a daily basis, you won't be able to maintain the milelage and doubles very long.

Mike, when are you scheduled to make the move up to the Sac area? You might want to give some thought to running Napa Valley in March as there is usually a decent showing of the team there - and it is a fast course.

Matt W wrote:
So this is what an interesting blog looks like. I'll have to remember that next time I post. Of course, I have a mundane mid-30s life to post about, so it won't have the same effect.

It seems like you are doing well and enjoying your training. That's always a good way to improve at something: enjoy doing it. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for stopping in Matt. I'm not sure that I'd describe most of this as "interesting," as I'll often stop mid-post and wonder who the hell actually cares about this stuff (the non-running-related stuff) other than me. Still, as the majority of my "structure" right now is focused on training - a lot - it follows suit that my day-to-day life, including my relationships, are somehow all connected to it.

And hey, some of us who don't have, you know, "real responsibilities" like reading about them and learning how to juggle a running schedule like yours with a career.

Dave-O wrote:I'm no nutritional expert, and I respect your decision to be a vegan. My wife is a vegetarian so I understand the difficulties it can cause at family parties.

But I know some things about running high mileage. I can ensure you that to maintain high mileage, you have to be prepared to eat your face off. If you're anywhere near a caloric deficit on a daily basis, you won't be able to maintain the milelage and doubles very long.

I've noticed that, as well, Dave, especially since I've been ramping up to such huge volumes (for me) of training. When I was peaking for my last marathon, I was only doing ~9hrs/week, just under 70 miles, and now I'm up to the mid-60s PLUS 5-7hrs/week cycling. So those deficits quickly add up and let me know, usually in the form of an insatiable appetite. I'm not shooting for a deficit or to lose any weight, I'm just wanting to refuel with good food, and making that transition is what's leading to the recent deficits. Getting better at breaking even, though.

Tom H wrote:Mike, when are you scheduled to make the move up to the Sac area? You might want to give some thought to running Napa Valley in March as there is usually a decent showing of the team there - and it is a fast course.

Tom, that's actually a really, really good idea. I'll be up there by the end of August, so there'd be no problem for me to get to Napa. My only concern, at the moment, is that after my early December (3 or 4, I can't remember which) 50-miler, I plan on taking a pretty solid month "off." So that'd give me... 6 solid weeks of training before taper kicks in for Napa. Maybe add 2, since I'm sure I'll be keeping a decent base through December, so 8. Four base, 2 build, 2 peak? Death wish? I'll keep this one in mind, for sure.

Hey, if nothing else join us for the pre-race lunch.

speaking of rest ...

Damn nice run today.

Tom - I'll definitely be there for the lunch, at the very least. I'm giving serious thought to running it, too; just not positive if I'll be shooting to PR or just have fun.

John - Thanks! Along with the theme of rest: just looked at my workout history, and my last complete rest day was 6/17. Interestingly, I'm not too much worse for wear.

Which isn't to say that I wasn't tired yesterday. After a semi-successful nap around 2, I just never quite woke up. I went to the gym and did an upper body/core workout, but even then, I was pretty zombied out. Coffee afterwards didn't help. Nor did the Chai latte last night. All that did is make my brain go crazy once I settled into bed. But in accordance with my newly strengthened conviction to pursue only those things that will help me become who I want to be (or, as Kenny would say, who I already am), I resisted the temptation to counteract the caffeine with alcohol and/or an insulin crash.

I was a little tired this morning, but less so than yesterday, and after breakfast, I felt quite a bit better than yesterday after breakfast. Which was good news, considering I had a 12 mile @ 8:00 pace run on the schedule.

The run was virtually flawless, felt extremely relaxed and easy the entire time, and finished only thirty seconds fast. Basically, the first 4.5 miles of the route are a net downhill of 275' with a single 50' uphill and a few very small lumps on the way down. The next 4 miles are a net gain of just over 275' with zero sections that could be considered downhill. Flat, or maybe -.5%, sure. More than 1% downhill? None. The final 4.5 are split between a 125' downhill and a 125' uphill.

...That wasn't so basic. Doooooown, uuuuuuup, down-up. There we go.

12.03 @ 7:58 pace. Tomorrow will be 45 minutes recovery, a killer core workout, and an hour and a half easy on the bike. Then 45 minutes GA Friday, a rest day (say what?) Saturday, 30 minutes easy Sunday, and hopefully a PR on the 10k Monday.

Mark B wrote:Hold on to 24 as long as you can, Mike! .

You mean 16... I knew you were a Mellencamp fan once you posted the picture of the quarry.

Rest day on Saturday? What the hell are you going to do? I mean I could give you a couple of ideas

If I don't say it before, good luck Monday! You're going to be great!

Natalie Wolf wrote:

Mark B wrote:Hold on to 24 as long as you can, Mike! .

You mean 16... I knew you were a Mellencamp fan once you posted the picture of the quarry.

It's best to adjust your targets over time, Natalie.

You do realize, don't you, that Mike wasn't even born when "Pink Houses" came out, don't you? Makes me feel ancient!

Good luck in that 10K on Monday, Mike.

Natalie Wolf wrote:

Mark B wrote:Hold on to 24 as long as you can, Mike! .

You mean 16... I knew you were a Mellencamp fan once you posted the picture of the quarry.

Mark B wrote:

Natalie Wolf wrote:

Mark B wrote:Hold on to 24 as long as you can, Mike! .

You mean 16... I knew you were a Mellencamp fan once you posted the picture of the quarry.

It's best to adjust your targets over time, Natalie.

You do realize, don't you, that Mike wasn't even born when "Pink Houses" came out, don't you? Makes me feel ancient!

Good luck in that 10K on Monday, Mike.

...I had to Google "Pink Houses." And I only know Mellencamp by name; couldn't tell you what his music sounds like.

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45 minute recovery run today. Legs felt like lead weights. Pretty funny in a not-so-ha-ha way. Likely due to another night of not much sleep and yesterday's very minimal dinner... Didn't come prepared to Aileen's and had to scavenge for veggies, hummus, and bread.

About to head out and go spear-fishing in a half hour or so. Yes, you read that correctly. The vegan is going spear-fishing. And will eat the catch. Should be an interesting day, to say the least.

There's a possible hour-and-forty-five bike ride this afternoon pending a few things.

Spear fishing sounds like fun and I love fresh fish, and by fresh, I mean freshly-caught.

I could tell you an interesting story about the MTV Pink House contest back in, I think it was 1983, but I'm not sure Mike would appreciate the hijack.

Oh, well... he routinely hijacks his own blog with stories about 24 year old hi-jinks, so....

Little known fact: MTV held a contest to give away the pink house from the video which was shot near Bloomington, because John Cougar Mellencamp lived around those parts (and still does, I believe). The manager of the restaurant I worked at owned that house, so it was pretty exciting. Well, wouldn't you know it...? A survey of the property revealed the presence of PCBs and that particular house was scratched from the contest.

Oh, hey! Looky what I found:
Story of the Pink House contest

Natalie - Hijack accepted, simply because I learned something today. I had assumed, given the time period and fact that it was music-related, PCBs were drug related. Oh, ignorance. Now I know.

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Update on spearfishing: no catch. Sad. Forgot that my fins make my feet cramp, so that sucked, but other than that, it was really nice to be back in the water (I used to SCUBA dive pretty regularly) and among fish. And a paddlesurfer(boarder?) near the reef we were fishing pointed out two dolphins, which subsequently made a pass about 5' from my face. With visibility at 10', seeing two huge (everything's 25% larger underwater due to light refraction with the water surface/mask) silver/grey things slip by my nose was a pretty big rush. They moseyed on out after that.

No bike ride either.

Going spearfishing again at 6:30 in the morning. This time, my neighbor has said he'll spear anything that's legal and edible, even if it's not his favorite (he prefers sheephead/calico bass as opposed to zebra perch/whatever else) so we can make some fish tacos or something after. Probably a 5-6mile GA run and/or an hour on the bike (moderate/hard) after fishing.

Spearfishing that sounds like a lot of fun! Man you have a busy blog going on these days. So your first 50 is going to be in Dec? Just saw it is the North Face 50 miler. Is that in Muir Woods? They have one in Madison in Sep. to close to Chicago for me.

I know I should get a blog up and going! I should work on it.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Natalie - Hijack accepted, simply because I learned something today. I had assumed, given the time period and fact that it was music-related, PCBs were drug related. Oh, ignorance. Now I know.

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You're thinking PCP...

Fins make my feet cramp too.

Natalie Wolf wrote:

Mike MacLellan wrote:Natalie - Hijack accepted, simply because I learned something today. I had assumed, given the time period and fact that it was music-related, PCBs were drug related. Oh, ignorance. Now I know.

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You're thinking PCP...

Fins make my feet cramp too.

PCP wow I have heard that drug talked about in a long time!

Nah, I knew what PCP was; my dad was a Berkeley kid in the 60s I just assume 3-letter acronyms are drugs.

In other news, this came out today:

http://www2.thenorthface.com/endurancechallenge/content/guides/2011/2011_CA_Participant_Guide.pdf

10k+' gain? No problem.

No run/bike yet. But there's this:

Natalie Wolf wrote:Spear fishing sounds like fun and I love fresh fish, and by fresh, I mean freshly-caught.

I could tell you an interesting story about the MTV Pink House contest back in, I think it was 1983, but I'm not sure Mike would appreciate the hijack.

Oh, well... he routinely hijacks his own blog with stories about 24 year old hi-jinks, so....

Little known fact: MTV held a contest to give away the pink house from the video which was shot near Bloomington, because John Cougar Mellencamp lived around those parts (and still does, I believe). The manager of the restaurant I worked at owned that house, so it was pretty exciting. Well, wouldn't you know it...? A survey of the property revealed the presence of PCBs and that particular house was scratched from the contest.

Oh, hey! Looky what I found:
Story of the Pink House contest

He lived/lives in Indiana? Why didn't I know that? Hm.

Props to you for knowing his other secret name (which comes as no surprise). Class of 81 rules!

Gratuitous nod to owner of hijacked thread: Nice fish, Mike! Did it up up a fight? And more importantly, how'd it taste?

OMG! Check out that fish!!! What is it? That's incredible! And then, of course, you ate it!

"Cougar" is secret? That was his first name! Johnny Cougar aka John Cougar aka John Cougar Mellencamp aka John Mellencamp is the first P. Diddy! (I mean with the name indecisiveness thing).

Mike, that certainly looks like a 5 star race, LOL... except for the technicality, which only looks like a 2 star race, but in my opinion, it depends on who you're asking. Better you than me!

Nice sheephead!

Mark B wrote:Gratuitous nod to owner of hijacked thread: Nice fish, Mike! Did it up up a fight? And more importantly, how'd it taste?

I didn't shoot it, hence not being allowed to take the "big boy" shot with the fingers in its gills and holding its tail up. But because of the low shot (pretty rare to hit one that low), it dove for a cave and had my neighbor taking a few deep breaths to get down and pull it out. Killing it was a whole other beast altogether, and I won't really go into the gruesome details other than the fact that the hump in its head protects the brain pretty well.

It's a lot less fatty than most fish I've eaten before (1g fat/3oz serving), so it was drier than expected. But otherwise, relatively mild and really tasty. I was picking the leftovers out of the pot afterwards so my neighbor gave me them, plus my fillet.

Natalie Wolf wrote:OMG! Check out that fish!!! What is it? That's incredible! And then, of course, you ate it!
Mike, that certainly looks like a 5 star race, LOL... except for the technicality, which only looks like a 2 star race, but in my opinion, it depends on who you're asking. Better you than me!

Re: the race... Yeah, I'm surprised by how much stuff they're offering and how well organized it looks. And the scenery should be absolutely breathtaking. I'm not sure I even want to "race" this for fear of missing the views. I've gotta find out what the WS100 qualifying time is and just try to make it in under that. I think it's 10-11 hours.

See below for the fish's identity.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Nice sheephead!

Ding ding! I forget that most people have no idea what a sheepshead is, since I grew up snorkeling and SCUBA diving in the southern California kelp forests/reefs. I got a lot of "what the hell is that thing?!" from friends and my mom.

I get the lower jaw once it bleaches completely (digging it out of the gelatinized, barbecued head was pretty disgusting) as a memento.

Pretty exciting morning, definitely a new experience to be a part of catching/killing/cleaning the animal, as well as eating it. May the last 8.5 years of my life rest in peace.

Sounds like fun - I'm pretty sure the nearshore fish community will survive and the vegan community will still claim you as one of your own! You went old school today!