Back on the trail~

This morning, I ran on the Mt. Bike Trail 5.5 mi. course.  It has been almost two months since I’ve run on it because of work travel and deadlines.  I’ve tried for balance between my work and my running, but I haven’t figured it out yet.  Throw eating plans, or lack there of, and you have a real mixed up training program.

The run took a little longer than usual because I haven’t been on the trail in a while.  Still, it was great to be back running in the woods.  I know I’ll remember every little turn and nuance of the trail as I settle into a little more of a routine.

Tomorrow, I’ll be on a paved trail for six miles. 

It’s good to have a running maintenance program again.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner

The hay is in the barn... Big Butts 50K is tomorrow~

The hay is in the barn and I’m finished with my training for the BIG BUTTS 50K!   I’ve done all the work, lost 15 lbs and I’m ready.  I’ve even run 28 of the 31 miles on the BIG BUTTS course.

My main concern now is not my body, but in my head.  I’ll need to run a smart race and not get caught up in the “stampeding crowd.”  By that I mean I should run the way I’ve trained and not let any competitor get inside my head and I choose to run faster. 

I’ve trained at around a 13:00/mile pace and that’s where I want to keep it!  If everything goes according to plan, I should finish in at 6 ½ hours or, with an 8:00 a.m. start time, around 2:30 p.m.

Today is a day of rest and preparation.

I think I’m ready.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.

Root hooks foot = face plant~

Big Butts 50K and I’m well into my taper.

Today’s final trail run of 9.5 miles was supposed to be an easy maintenance run.  For most of the run, it was just that.  However, with about half a mile left, my foot caught a root that been broken off and the raised sharp end faced in my direction. 

The root caught my right shoe and punctured the shoe’s top mesh and stayed.  I was literally hooked.  I went down without the root moving and my body briefly hung in mid air parallel to the ground just before as I bit the dirt.

The picture to the left shows my Brooks Cascadia shoes with the left shoe punctured near the little toe.  Fortunately, the root did not hit my foot and there was no scraping or injury.

It did however surprise and scare me.  I had to sit up and back the left foot out from the root to get free.  Although I had been running on the trail for over an hour and a half and my leg muscles were loose and warm, I knew my body would ache later.

I was lucky nothing else hurt and I had not injured myself here one week before BB50K! 

The remainder of my tapering will be run on paved roads to reduce any chance of injury from trail running.  My legs are conditioned for the 50K.  The next few days will be only maintained low mileage.

I think I’m ready.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.

Snake Jumping~

Recently, while running in the afternoon on the mountain bike trail, I was wondering how the run was going to go on a hot day.  I have been running on the dirt trail at least once a week as I train for the Big Butts 50K on July 28^th.

My theory is that if you train on the surface that the event is going to be run on, you’ll do better.  I think this theory is widely accepted as reasonable.  Especially on a dirt trail where there are rocks, roots, ditches, and gulleys on the trail.  In other words, an uneven ground with other variables makes for a very bumpy run.

The way the uneven ground makes the foot, ankle and leg muscles make constant adjustments and movements, the need to be flexible is important.  While training on these trails, the connective tissues and muscles slowly build up strength over time.

As you can tell, I really do like to run on dirt trails.  The animals are up close and there is something around every turn.  This brings me to the back to an experience I had this week running on the trail in the woods. Snakes.  Not just little bitties, I mean three to four foot snakes that were making their way across the trail when I came up on them.  There were three snakes, not at the same time.

I know that you are supposed to stop and back up whenever you see a snake.  That’s the safe thing to do.  But I was running along at a good clip.  When I saw each snake, I was already about to step on them.  All I could do was jump.  So, I hurdled each snake and high-stepped it down the trail, afraid that the snake would come after me.  This happened three times in one day. Maybe the snakes like the afternoon heat.  I’ll need to do some more research.

The trail offers up these kinds of adventures every time.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.

Testing (and tasting) sweat~

With summer now a week old, the Big Butts 50K a little over a month away, the next three weeks are going to be very intensive leading up to a two week taper beginning July 15^th.

The heat is definitely becoming a factor in my training as was evident in today’s run from 12 noon until about 2:30 in 93º heat.  The sun’s radiant heat is what zaps you and I was running the neighbor hood on asphalt with houses reflecting the heat as well.

The picture to the left says it all.  The sun was directly overhead and beating down on me!  I’ll have to admit that I only ran 10 miles instead of the planned 12 because it was just taking so long and my conditioning was lacking for that kind of radiant heat and little shade.

But, I guess that’s what the training and experimenting is all about.  I only took a 20oz. bottle with NUUN in it with me this time.  Bad idea.  I ran out of water within the first forty –five minutes.  From now on, I’ll be wearing my hydration vest with a 70 oz. bladder on ALL my training runs.

When I look at the pictures of all the runners in those 100 mile endurance races, they all have the little hand held 20 oz. bottles to carry and sip water.  I guess I’ll look like a newbie with my hydration vest on at the BB50K, but that’s ok.  It’s gonna be hot and I don’t want to run out of water.

The rest of the week looks like more of the same although I’ll be running in the morning on most of the other days.  48 miles to go for the week according to the training plan.

I’ll try to update this blog more often as the BB50K draws near.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.

A month of running~

I’ve not written in the pages for over a month, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been running.  The weather here in June is beginning to heat up and my acclimation preparation has been paying off.

I’ve done several long runs on the mountain bike trail as well as the Butts Park., Big Butts 50k course.  The first time I ran on the Big Butts course was a few weeks back with Race Director/Owner, John Brower.  My goal was 22 miles, approximately 3 ½ loops on the 6 mile course. 

To get the full effect of the heat, we started out at noon with the temperature around

80.

As I started out on the first loop, I now realize that I started out too fast.  My goal was to run 12:00/mile to try to finish the event in a little over 6 hrs.  After the first two loops, my body was feeling pretty achy.  

That was all John wanted to run for that day because he had just finished a 100 miler a couple of weeks before and was just then getting back to running. 

So we finished two loops at 12 miles and I was to go on alone.  As I mentioned before, I could only go for another 6 miles. When I got back to my cooler at the start, I knew I was done for the day.  My body was feeling kind of sore and my lower legs were tightening up.  I was cooked.

Last week, my goal was to run the 4 loops on the Big Butts course in good form in the afternoon.  So I started out slow.  With all the acclimation, training and work I’ve been doing, it’s beginning to pay off.  I kept my pace around 13:00 and finished the 24 miles in 4:40.  That was better than I expected.

The next time run the BB course is in about a week.  I know it will be getting hotter because I’ll be running not only in June, but in the afternoon in June.  I know the acclimation is working because the heat isn’t bothering me so much.  Especially the humidity!  I’m just used to it, I guess.

Sprinkled in between these long runs have been my maintenance runs of 5, 8 and 10 mile runs.  The mileage will become longer as the event date approaches.  Right now, I’m feeling pretty good.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.

Monster 20.5 mile heat of the day run~

Today was a monster run.  Twenty miles on the trail.  Trail running is not road/street running.  As I have described before, there are hills, gulleys, roots, rocks and trees that you have to get over.  So much more of the body is used in balancing and striding.  It’s a little tougher on the body!

Today’s run started at 12 noon so that I would get the full impact of the heat of the day.  I had filled my hydration vest bladder with 70 oz. of water and NUUN, the electrolyte supplement and off I went.

To be on the safe side, I packed a small cooler with more water/NUUN and food and placed it at the trailhead as a back up.  It would be needed later.

I didn’t realize how much water I would suck down.  At the 13-mile mark, I ran out of water.  I couldn’t believe it.  With two more miles to go, I didn’t have enough water.  I began to get a little dehydrated as I continued, but I pushed on.

When I got back to the trailhead to begin the final 5 ½ mile loop, I filled the bladder with my last bottle of back up water.

As I sucked down more water, my stomach got a little queasy.  I ate a Honey Zinger waffle to get something in my stomach other than water/NUUN.  By that time, the bagel and peanut butter I had for breakfast had long been processed and used for energy.

I thought about stopping, but I knew that soon, the energy from the waffle and the water would soon settle my stomach and I’d be good.  I walked a lot during those miles, but began to feel better.  I started to half run, half walk.

Soon, my stride began to lengthen and I was feeling better, running.  I pushed on through the final few miles, but ran out water again within two miles of the finish.

I stayed with it and didn’t quit and completed my 20 ½ mile run for the day.

I started at 12 noon and finished at 4:15 p.m.  Good training for a heated race.

Luckily, I had the day off and was able to recover.

Long runs are part of the training.  Today’s run was epic.

Gotta run,

Chuck

The Vagabond Runner.