Freedom Friday

This morning I took one of my newer runners out for her 8 mile long run. She is fairly new to running but has made some really nice progress and we have built up her base mileage nice and slow. The 8 miler would be a distance PR for her. The other challenge this morning was the wonderfully brisk 30 degree weather, which wasn't bad except for the steady 10 mph wind out of the south, which made it feel more like 20. I always make it a point to focus on the mental side of running with my athletes, preaching to them to "Stay present" and "Stay in the moment" I have even gotten a few of them to run without their music and to focus on their breathing and their body while they run instead of tuning it out!

The other day I listened to a great podcast on mastering mindfulness in sports and life with Rich Roll  featuring Micheal Gervais. Here is the link:  Rich Roll Podcast

Another great source for me has been "Brain Training for Runners" by Matt Fitzgerald.

I had the pleasure of hearing Matt speak at the "Running Summit East" last year in New Jersey. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to expand the mental side of their running.

So I always end up peppering my runners with phrases and proprioceptive cues during our runs, but when all else fails I resort to my favorite, time honored, P Funk inspired phrase: "Free your mind... and your ass will follow."

Works every time!

Happy (Freedom) Friday!!

 

Road Trip

Today I brought my daughter back to school at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, which is about a 3.5 hour drive west of where we live. We left at 6am. It was a brisk 12 degrees at home, and when we arrived at Boone it was 5 degrees with a light coating of snow, which made the hilly approach to her dorm quite interesting! My little front wheel drive Suzuki SX performed admirably, probably due to the weight of all the food that her mom packed for her to take back.

I had wanted to go out to Moses Cone State Park, which was near the University, to run some trail. I wove my way through town and got onto the back mountain road that takes you to the park, only to find it covered with snow and some really slick spots too. I abandoned the attempt about one mile into the four mile trip, not wanting to test the limit of the car's  winter mountain capabilities. I got back to the highway and headed east towards home. I did have a back up trail, which was in the town of Wilkesboro, NC, about 30 minutes east of Boone. The W. Kerr Scott Reservoir has some really nice single track trail, and it was right on my way home. When I arrived there it was a balmy 16 degrees and I had the entire trail system to myself! I got in a nice easy 4.5 mile run along the Dark Mountain trail and parts of the Over Mountain Victory Trail as well.

Saint Ultra?

I often wonder if my ability to run long distances stems from the fact I was raised Catholic. We Catholics love to suffer. I remember my dad would have to be completely incapacitated and near death before he would even consider seeking medical attention, all the while waving us off and telling us he was fine. I also recall the incredulous looks my mother would give me when I proclaimed I was sick and could not go to school. "You're not sick! Now get up and get your butt to school!"Anyway, it wasn't anything a little Vicks Vapor Rub and aspirin couldn't cure. (even the aspirin , Saint Joesph's, was Catholic themed!)

I think those early experiences have helped me manage pain and fatigue, and through the miracle of the Catholic Church, even embrace it! Throw in some classic Catholic guilt on top of that ("I will let everyone down if I don't finish) and you have a recipe for ultra success.

As I became older, it became less about speed and more about how FAR I could run. I still get brief flashes of panic that I will never be able to run at an 8 minute per mile pace ever again, which usually manifests itself in a neighborhood "tempo run" where I take off like a jackass and try to make 24 minutes for my 3 mile loop. I can still do it, but damn, it hurts!

I am happy being a "grinder". Give me a difficult course with lots of rocks and elevation gain and I am a happy boy. The trail is my church now.

Today's plummeting temps called for something hearty and warm for dinner. I whipped up a "southwest" Tofu scramble with potato.
 2 medium potatoes, Diced
1 small onion, diced
1 lb of firm tofu, cubed

1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 Cup of Medium or hot salsa
Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
Ground Pepper
Daiya Cheddar style shreds (optional)

Saute the potatoes in a few Tablespoons of Olive or coconut oil until tender and slightly browned. Add onion and continue to saute for several more minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the tofu, turmeric and cumin and stir gently to combine. Stir in Salsa and heat everything through. Season with salt and pepper. As an option, you can top it with some Daiya cheddar shreds!

Progress through Consistency

Being a fitness instructor at a gym, this time of year is what we call the "Silly Season". The gym is overrun  with  whole crop of fresh faced members, who are pumped up to make serious changes in the new year and to get in shape. Sadly, by Valentine's Day, the gym reverts back to normal and the"Resolutionists" disappear and the regulars settle back in to their normal routines and regain  access to all their favorite equipment.

  With the people I train and the runners I coach, the successful ones are the consistent ones. It is the same for my running. I always strive to maintain a base throughout the year, with peak training times and also recovery time as well. Hence the term "Progress through Consistency". The old catch phrase " New Year, New You" has the word "Year" in it, not "month", so be consistent and don't "flame out" by Valentine's Day!

Some of my "Regulars" at my 5:30am boot camp!

I was quite excited to find some dandelion greens on sale at my local Kroger supermarket the other day. I am trying to incorporate a nice big salad each day for lunch into my routine, and this find certainly helped motivate me!

kale, romaine, dandelion greens, broccoli, roasted red pepper, chic peas and walnuts. A pinch of pink Himalayan salt and some ground pepper. Dressed with some extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.

Write and Run 31 Challenge

So I stumbled across this great idea on the No Meat Athlete page called the Write and Run 31 Challenge. http://www.writeandrun31.com/   One month. Two simple things. Every single day. Basically, you commit to running a certain amount each day and writing ( either on a blog, journal etc.) for a specific amount of time or words.  The run thing is not a problem for me. The writing (as you can tell from my lack of updates) will be the real challenge.

 I figured I would start today with a brief update on the second half on 2014, so here goes.

The highlight of my year was completing the Grindstone 100 (101.85 miles actually) Trail Race.

The race started on Friday October 3rd at 6pm, so you got to run over TWO nights, not just one. We started in the rain, it got dark quickly. we ran an extra mile and a half when a group of us missed a turn. Because of that, I almost missed one of the first hard cutoffs. Scared shitless from that, I ran like a madman and got 1 hour ahead of the cutoff two aid stations later. I ran through the rest of the first night without incident, and was happy to see daybreak still feeling pretty good.

 I hit the turn around point at about 10:30am, which was a huge mental boost. I would pick up my first pacer at mile 65 and I was looking forward to having some company. I Got through the second night thanks to the awesome help of my pacers Hannah and Mo. Hannah ran with me from mile 65 to 80 and my ultra buddy Mo took me home the last 20 miles. It got really cold that second night, with some howling winds smacking us along the exposed ridge lines and summits. The huge and endless rocks, combined with the 23,000 feet of climbing had me wore out by the last 10 miles, but I stumbled my way over the rocks to the finish line in 35:54:19. This race typically has around a 30% drop out rate, so surviving this beast was a huge victory for me!

Post race, in the car. Delirious but Happy!

 
One week later (like an idiot) I was part of a 12 person relay team for the "Tuna 200", a relay race starting from Raleigh, NC and ending at the ocean at Atlantic Beach, NC. Mercifully, I had only three legs to run, 4.6 miles, 5.4 and 3 miles. I did not run a step in between Grindstone and the relay, so the first leg I ran was quite interesting! It was in the afternoon, and it had gotten quite hot. It was not pretty! I rebounded and had a better second leg, which was at night when the temps were cooler. The last three mile run was basically an exhausted stagger near the beach. Thank God I had speedy teammates! Our team completed the 200 miles in 29 hours, 28 minutes, for an average pace of 8:48 min/mile.

Staggering through the heat on my first leg.

Bling!!

 

I finished up the year with two more races, a 50K in November and a 24 hour run in December. It was a good year!

Mizuno Wave Rider 18 Review

I was very excited to be asked to review the new Mizuno Wave Rider 18. I had just come off completing the Grindstone 100 mile trail race, which I had been training for all summer on both road and trails, and I was desperately in need of some new road shoes! I had run in The Wave Rider 17 and also the Sayonara previously, and really liked both.
The Wave Rider 18 is a light, (9.2 oz for the Men's) neutral shoe, great for daily training. A few changes had been made from the Wave Rider 17, such as a updated sock liner and new outsole design. I thought the Wave Rider 17 felt just a bit "Boxy", but I knew the moment I slipped on the 18's that would not be an issue. They felt great right out of the box, and were light and comfortable. There was plenty of room in the toe box, which I really like!

The first few runs I took in the 18's were with some clients I coach. These were easy runs of about 3-4 miles. What immediately impressed me was that for a light shoe, the Wave Rider 18 provided some really nice cushioning. The drop on the 18's is 12mm, a bit higher than I prefer, but it did not take away from the overall performance of the shoe for me. After some of these easy 5am runs, I was ready to drop the hammer and see how the 18's did on a few harder intensity runs.

Ready to roll at 5am!

The first run was a rather "unplanned" 4 mile tempo run with some friends. After a nice easy first mile warm up at 12:06 pace, we went 10:04, 9:39 and 8:22 for the last mile. I really like the responsiveness of the shoe at the higher intensity. Great cushioning even with hammering the last mile.

The following day I made a 2 hour trip to Wilmington, NC to run with a client of mine who I train online but try to visit with once a month in person. She just so happened to have a 45 minute tempo run scheduled for that day! Off we went again. We got in a good negative split run, 9:33, 9:14, 9:06, 8:50 and 8:43. The beach, of course, was flat and fast and the 18's really felt good at the sustained pace.



I returned from the beach that evening and the next morning (Saturday) I got up early and ran a nice little 5 mile recovery run at zone 2 in the 18's.

I highly recommend the Wave Rider 18 for anyone looking for a light, neutral every day training shoe. They feel great and respond well whether you are doing a long slow run or running tempo or track workouts.

For more information on Mizuno and the Wave Rider 18, check out their website:  http://www.mizunousa.com/running



This is a sponsored post for Mizuno on behalf of Fitfluential LLC.

August Adventures

I cannot believe we are heading into Labor Day weekend already. August flew by! I picked up a few more coaching clients this month, including an old client that has gotten back into running. (yay!)

I was on the road a bit as well. August 9th I went up to Abingdon, Virginia to run in my friend Jen's 10K race along the Virginia Creeper Trail. It is a memorial race to honor the memory of her brother, who died in a mining accident. We decided to camp out that weekend at Beartree campground, just outside of Damascus, Virginia. Leaving Friday morning, we drove up in the rain. It was still raining when we got to the campground, so I set up the tent in the rain. Then it rained all night. The tent held up great, but everything was just......moist. We woke up that morning to some additional showers but headed into town to stop at one of my favorite coffee shops, Mojoe's Trailside Coffeehouse, in Damascus. http://www.mojoestrailsidecoffee.com/ My large coffee with soy milk really got the day off to a good start! The 10K race did not start until 6pm that evening, so we had time to hang out in Damascus, ride over to Abingdon, then head over to Bristol to stop in at Mountain Sports Limited, another one of my "must stop" places on my visits to Virginia. http://mountainsportsltd.com/


We returned to the campground early in the afternoon and rested up. We drove back out to Abingdon and arrived to get our bibs and shirts around 5pm. The weather had cleared up, although it was still quite humid. We would be running out and back on the Creeper trail. At 6pm we took off! The first three miles I felt really good. I was running at a good pace and my breathing was controlled, but I was also going out way to fast! By the turn around at 3.1 miles I was drenched with sweat. I could feel myself slowing down. The only good thing was that it seemed like everyone else went out too hard and was fading too! I was able to pass a few more people on the last two miles of the race, but it was a struggle. I staggered across the line with an official time of 56:11, which was good enough for first in my age group ( Thank goodness for small races!)

Mercifully, it did not rain on us Saturday night at camp. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out to the Elk Garden Trail head to run some of the Appalachian Trail. We wound up running 12 miles on the AT, six out and six back. It was slow going. We had close to 3,000 feet of elevation and the legs were pretty trashed by the time we got back to the car.

On the rocks in the mist!

 We then drove back to camp, broke everything down and headed back home. More rain on the drive back made it yet another challenge, but we made it!

The next weekend was a much smaller road trip to Southern Pines, NC for the Gamelands 50K. The event was being put on by The Southern Pines Ultra Runners, and they did a great job! The course consisted of three 10.3 mile loops, along flat, sandy trail on private land. The goal was just to make this a nice long training run. Mid way through the first lap I hooked up with my friend Susan and we wound up running the rest of the race together. I was glad for the company. The first lap it was extremely humid, but overcast. By the second lap the humidity came down, but the cloud cover left as well. There were a lot of exposed areas along the trail, so by the third lap it had gotten really hot! Susan and I crossed the line in 6:51:27. I was soaked with sweat from head to toe! I must have ate 10 slices of watermelon after I finished. I stopped off on the drive home and treated myself to an ice cold Diet Coke. Heaven!

Grinding it out!

The next adventure was The "Running of the Camels" 5K at Campbell University the following Tuesday. I had been comp'd an entry by a friend who works at the university, so how could I say no? The race started at 8am, and it was already quite warm. There were several hundred people running, mostly students and staff. After a few opening remarks the gun went off, and I took off like a jackass.  My first mile was 7:56, then I came to my senses and ran an 8:27 and 8:28 after that. 25:30 for 5K.

The rest of the month has been a succession of hot, humid runs, gulping water with my Elete add-in and lubricating my moving parts with Red11Sport. I seem to be doing a load of workout clothes once a day, and my poor car smells completely like ass. I wound up with 179 miles of running for the month, which is high for me. I'll take it.

Here to a cooler, maybe not so humid September!!