Sunday Run Day

Today I was out early to Umstead State Park to meet up for a run with two of the runners that I coach. When we met in the parking lot at 8am it was a crisp 17 degrees! We did a quick warm up and off we went. We ran the Reedy Creek/Turkey Creek Bridle trails, which are a wide crushed gravel trail with lots of really nice hills on the second half of the 9 mile-ish loop. We had a great run, with Meghan and Ted both thrashing the old coach, which made me very proud indeed.

Giddy students after kicking their coach's butt!

After the run I stopped at Starbucks for my post run Grande Pike with soy. Members of my family, which know my proclivity for post run coffee, texted their order in as well.

Riding with the fam's precious take out order!

Lunch was a nice big salad, and the afternoon was spent putting together next week's training for all my runners, setting the agenda for the Roadrunners Club executive committee meeting and catching some NFL playoff action. A fine way to finish out the week!

Staying Green and Mean in 2015!

Meet and Greet

Full day today. I taught boot camp class this morning at 8am, then spin class at 9am.Both classes were full and people were motivated and ready to get to work! After the gym I then went into downtown Raleigh to meet up with some fellow No Meat Athlete folks  for brunch at the Irregardless Cafe.   http://www.irregardless.com/.

 I had a great time getting to meet and talk with other plant based athletes! Great conversation and food. It was interesting to hear every one's journey to a plant based life style. It reminded of what it must be like when refugees from another country finally get together and can converse in their native tongue. In this case the language was plants. ( and running too!)

Inspired by this meet up, I got home and got into some running gear, ready to tackle a short run to keep my #writeandrun31 streak alive. The run was delayed however, by my daughter's arrival at the house and her announcement that one of her tires on her car was making a "hissing" noise. That "hissing" noise was air rapidly leaving the tire. We quickly took the car to the local (5 minutes away, thankfully) tire shop and got her two slightly used tires to replace the completely worn out ones on the front of her car. I should mention here that she was supposed to have done this a week ago, but it would seem she has inherited her father's fondness for procrastination. To add to the challenge, she was supposed to be at work at 3pm, and this all occurred at 2:30.

With that crisis averted, I returned home and got in a quick 3 mile run from the house.

Post run I took the dog outside for some well deserved play time. I got in a good round of stretching and foam rolling too. With the temps dipping, I headed to the kitchen to whip up some lentil soup. The recipe was easy, and it only took about a half an hour to make.  http://www.chow.com/recipes/29342-basic-lentil-soup

I will be heading to Umstead Park in the morning to run some trail!

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!