Saturday, July 23, 2011

10 miles @103!

Today's run was....well, hot! Even with a full bladder of water in my Nathan hydro vest, I still ran out of H20 aroung mile eight, which made for a rather interesting last 2 miles. Got back to the car at the trail head and was greeted with this:
Post run hyration included Rapid Recharge, water, diet coke and FRS. I actually felt better than I expected after the run, which was a good thing since I had to go to the bike shop, Fleet Feet and Whole Foods!

The rather dazed post run cool down!




But it's a moist heat!

Triple digit heat has made both work and training a bit of a challenge this week.

Yep, that is 10:42PM. 91 degrees. I had to resort to two runs on the treadmill this week. Thankfully it was some light mileage. (4 miles each session)  Only had to teach one spin class, so I could go to gym in the morning, get a run in, and then chill at the pool with daughter Jillian. We didn't last too long at poolside due to the heat.
This morning I got off work at 4am, came home and took a nice power nap, then headed out at 10:30am for a quick bike ride with my friend Amy. I had not ridden with her in ages, so it was great to be back out on the road with her! We scouted the bike course for the upcoming tri at the gym. I "volunteered" to do a bike leg of the tri, even though it is a sprint tri.   I will be riding a massive 11.4 miles, so I will have to work in some sprint intervals on the bike into my training program as well. The route has a few hills, and it was hot, but we still averaged 18.3 mph. Not too bad for  only being on the bike a handful of times this year.

Tomorrow is a 10 miler, then planning to run on the trails with some friends early Sunday morning.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

50K training, week one

Got the 50K traing off to a good start this past week. Of course it was a hectic week at work and I was also scheduled to teach at the gym three times as well, so I had to resort to some creative scheduling to fit it all in. The most fun of the week was our night time trail run on Friday night. Cooler temps and a full moon helped to move us along the trail for nine miles!

Finished up today with a long run of 16 miles. 39 miles for the week. Rest/recovery day tomorrow. May get out on the road bike tomorrow and spin the legs a bit.
Have a great week everybody!!!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Humbled by the Rumble

I completed my third half marathon of the year yesterday and the Uwharrie Rumble was the most difficult race of them all! High humidity, 4,729 ft of elevation gain, large rock fire roads followed by technical single track made for quite a long morning. The 8K race went off at 8am. There were maybe eight people running. This is why I love trail races. There were maybe 50 or so of us running the half. Very laid back and casual.

  As I said, the humidity was insane! By mile four I was drenched, head to toe. The wide roads changed to a run of single track at around mile five, complete with a brutal uphill segment. Cresting the top of that bad boy is when I started having trouble catching my breath. You could chew the air. The good thing was, despite all the rain we had been having, the trails were not too muddy.

I would spend the rest of the run trying to catch my breath. I had to resort to walking up the hills, and running the flats. Aroung mile eight I was really starting to lose it. I felt exhausted. I was running pretty much by myself at this point, and it was a struggle just to keep moving on. I realized it was going to be my mind that got me to the finish today, not my body.

  I got myself together and dug in. Using the mantra "relentless forward progress", I found myself back on the "Super Tree" trail and headed for the home stretch. At one point, I had stopped and hunched over to try and catch my breath, only to notice that my compression sleeves on my calves now had salt streaks on them from sweating so damn much!
Of course, the last mile seemed to take forever, but I rounded a turn and there it was. I was never so happy to stop running in my life. Although there were no race photos, this is pretty much the way I looked/felt at the finish line. I was waiting for someone to yell: "Elias!!!!!!!!"
I made it. And after all is said and done, I can't wait to do it again!!!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Getting Ready to Rumble

Today is a rest/travel/organization day before the half tomorrow. Even though the race is only two hours away, at this point in my life I do not feel like getting in a car and driving two hours and THEN run. So I will seek comfort at the Days Inn in Biscoe, NC, about seven miles from the Trailhead.
  I have a feeling the "Continental" breakfast will not be too vegan friendly (nor the local restaurants) so as usual I will be bringing my own nutrition. (and some other essentials!)
 
I'm sure, now that there is a Subway in every town in America, we can always opt for the foot long veggie sub on whole wheat.
The Nathan pack, extra socks and some motivational reading too!

  Chores around the house are completed, and I was able to mow the lawn in between thunderstorms yesterday as well. It has rained rather heavily the past several days, so it should be interesting to see what shape the trail is in. We will get into town around 3pm, so I plan on going out to the trailhead and take a quick walk through to check things out. Parts of the trail are pretty tough, so I hope to get through without being too slow!
Since all the rain has done NOTHING to ease the high temps/humidity, I will be hydrating all day and have the Nathan filled to the top tomorrow. One last cup of coffee before I start hitting the H20!

That's all for now, Have a great weekend!!! 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

The 4th, vacation and my upcoming half

I had a nice relaxing weekend. Friday I hit the gym with my daughter for a run on the treadmill. While I am not a huge fan of the "mill", I do use it from time to time. By.the time I got my "mojo" working, it was 2pm, and it was just too freakin' hot to run outside. Got four miles in and then ran one mile barefoot around the small track at the gym, getting some strange looks from folks in the process!
   Saturday morning I ran eight miles on the American Tobacco Trail with my friends Hannah and Heather. We got to the trail at 8am, which was a good thing, 'cause by the time we finished up, the trail was filled with walkers, runners and a ton of bikers! (Also came across two folks riding horses!) Then I spent the rest of the day lounging about the house.
  Sunday I spent chillin' in the morning over coffee and the newspaper, along with twitter, FB and email. Finally got our butts in gear and Hannah and I set out for a run at Lake Johnson.
     We got in two loops around the lake (6 miles). Then we went to Whole Foods and Fleet Feet. A great afternoon!
  No run on the fourth. We hit the bikes instead, inspired by Tyler Farrarr's win in stage 3 of the TDF.
  Happy Fourth everyone!!!

I am on vacation this week, and I will also be tapering (somewhat) for my trail half on Saturday July 9th. I have scouted the course, and it is challenging, to say the least. The 8:30am start concerns me a little bit, hope it is not too hot/humid. Got some Nuun hydration tablets, Vespa CV 25 and Honey Stinger gels for the journey. I also went out and bought some CW-X compression calf sleeves, not only for compression, but to help absorb some sweat off my legs so I do not drench my socks since I sweat like a f'ing pig!!!

Run hard, Run happy!