Week of 4/9 (and other updates)

Great training week last week, with my biggest mileage to date: 48.4 miles and I feel VERY good (considering the miles, at least). This past weekend also featured my first back-to-back long runs—a hallmark of training for ultras. By not giving your body any appreciable recovery time between long runs you force your body (and mind) to deal with running on very tired, achey, and otherwise disgruntled legs. My training plan called for a 12 miler on Saturday and a 10 miler on Sunday, but I decided to indulge myself and up the ante just a bit.

For my first long run of the weekend, I ran with my buddy Paul, an ethics prof and all around great guy. We did 16.16 miles...(comfortably?) hard (9:28/mile) on Saturday evening. Then I woke up at 7am on Sunday and put in 15.27 miles at 10:55/mile, which felt like a pretty good clip on my heavy legs. I think I'm beginning to fine tune nutrition on these runs, which, for this distance involves mainly liquid carbs (with some fats) and tons of water. I've also learned that I really, REALLY hate hydration vests. Give me a handheld any day of the week.

Here's last week's total....

Since it's been awhile since my last update, I've also included the past several weeks. Numbers never lie and I want to be completely transparent. I've gotta log the miles if I want to succeed at PD50 and CC110!

4/9/2012 — 4/15/2012:  48.4 mi    7:44:57  
4/2/2012 — 4/8/2012:    47 mi       7:48:44
3/26/2012 — 4/1/2012:  20.8 mi    3:18:27
3/19/2012 — 3/25/2012: 42.7 mi   7:19:55
3/12/2012 — 3/18/2012: 42 mi      7:01:28

Training Log: 2/13 to 2/19

Last week was a good week. I've learned a lot about my body. I've been running 8:30 miles for most of my training for the past month or so—and my knee has been having a difficult time getting rid of this nagging tightness. So, for my 14 mile long run, I decided to scale things WAY back and ran about 10:57 miles. I also ran it on the treadmill, which was much easier on my knees (and a good mental workout).

I've been kicking around trying PT on my knee, but I think that I just needed to slow down a bit for the bulk of my training—at least for a while.

Also, I registered today for the Pandora's Box of Rox Endurance Trail Run (marathon) on May 5 in Burnet, TX. My friend (and prof) Paul Martens is going to run it with me, I think. Should be epic.

And the treadmill is WAY better than the road...

Happy trails!

Week Stats Total Distance (mi) 36.00   Total Calories 5161   Total Time 06:18   Workouts 6

The One Thing That Has Made All The Difference

One thing can be found at the foundation of all that I have accomplished over the past 8 months or so, going from overweight and out of shape to a finely tuned (newbie) runner on his way to his first ultra. What is that one thing you might ask? The support of Rachel, my beautiful and lovely wife.

Rachel and me at the finish line of the Rocky Raccoon 25k—she volunteered at the start/finish line

It takes a lot of commitment to live and love a person who (1) radically changes his diet in ways that have not always been palatable and (2) spends a good tons of time running or studying (I'm also a PhD student)—especially with my long runs on Saturday, which is otherwise dedicated to time together.

Though she is not herself a runner, she still shares my excitement and supports the totally insane idea of me running for 31 or 50 or 60 or 100(+) miles at one time. I couldn't do this without her by my side, nor would I want to.

So, here's to you, my love. Thanks for all of your support. I hope that this year will find you enjoying your dreams to the hilt—and that my support is felt every step of the way.

Training Log: 2/6 to 2/12

This week marks the first week of my training in earnest for the Palo Duro Trail 50 to be run on Oct 20, 2012. Having built my base fitness up with a tailored plan devised by my awesome coach, I'm now moving to a modified version of one of the plans found in the great book by iRunFar's Bryon Powell, Relentless Forward Progress. Here's my digits:

Total Distance (mi) 35.16 Total Calories 4186 Total Time 05:05 Workouts 6

My long run this week was 12 miles (at an 8:49 pace) in the frigid and gusty cold (22º wind chill). The run was good and I felt great, with plenty left in the tank.

My knee keeps getting better (though today it is a bit stiff—3 out of 10 with dull pain). Over the past four weeks, I've averaged an 8:38 pace for 100 miles total. I didn't realize things have been picking up for that long. Since all of those miles have been on runs between 5-12 miles, I'm pretty happy with pace. Actually, I couldn't be happier. Now, I need to focus on continuing to get healthier and paying careful attention to my body.

Palo Duro 50, here I come!

Dealing with Injury

As I mentioned earlier, I've been dealing with an injury. Airrosti has helped a TON, but I was maintaining my mileage as normal. It was incredible that I was able to do that with tendonitis in my right knee, but, after a great run with my Jason in Barton Creek (in Austin), I became convinced that I needed to hang back a bit and let things rest. In the end, rest is the best medicine.

So I continued Airrosti, even amped it up a bit, but scaled back the activity level, opting for the elliptical instead of real running, and hoped for the best. Fortunately, one week was all that was necessary.

By Friday of two weeks ago, I was barefooting 7 or 8 miles, really working on my form—short steps, 180 spm cadence, light on my feet.

The payoff?

On this Saturday, I ran a ~25 min PR on my 10 mile training run. BOOM! Then, on this Monday I ran it a few minutes faster. Then yesterday, faster still. Before I was injured I was running about a 11 min/mile for 10 miles. But yesterday, I averaged 8:19 min/mile with my final mile at 7:56—and plenty left in the tank.

The lesson? REST. REST. REST. REST. Rest whenever you are injured or feel an injury coming on. It pays huge dividends in the longrun (literally). This is even more amplified when you are training for an Ultra. The name of the game is to avoid injury. Do that, and you chances of success go through the roof. Plus, in my case, I want to run big miles on trails as long as my legs will turn over. For me, that means I *must* keep the big picture in mind, which almost always means that resting is the right move.

Injury Update (OR Why Airrosti is AWESOME)

Over the past 3 weeks or so I've been nursing tendonitis in my right knee. After my impromptu 18-mile run, both my knees were (predictably) aching. What I didn't expect was that my right knee would continue to ache for most of the month. Icing and rest helped some, but not much. Meanwhile, I was going crazy from not running (imagine that!).


Enter Airrosti.


Applied
Integration (for the)
Rapid
Recovery
Of
Soft
Tissue
Injuries


What is Airrosti? Basically, it works with the soft tissue (usually the fascia) to bring rapid recovery to certain injuries. According to their website, it is "a highly effective treatment model for resolving back and neck pain, knee pain, hip pain, carpal tunnel, frozen shoulder, pulls and strains, and many other soft tissue/joint conditions." Usually patients only need 3 visits before they are good to go. Best part? They ask you to keep training! I ran six miles after my first treatment—with significantly less pain than my four miler that same morning.


If you have a soft tissue injury, do yourself a favor and go to Airrosti. Tomorrow. Seriously. They are that good.


It is easily the best health care visit I've ever had. Each visit includes (according to their website):

• Expert Diagnosis — Your Airrosti Certified Provider will perform a thorough clinical assessment to evaluate your condition and determine the root cause of the pain/injury
• Manual Therapy — A non-invasive, hands-on treatment will work out any distortions in the muscles/joints and surrounding connective tissue
• Active Rehab Program — A customized program of stretches and exercises helps speed recovery and prevents future injuries

Plus, it's covered by most major insurance providers! BOOM!

Go. You won't regret it.

My Journey So Far: 2011 in Review

I know this is a day late, but I thought I'd post a bit on the last year. Two thousand eleven was host to a lot of changes for me (and Rachel). We bought our first house, got our first dog, and I put away another two semesters in my PhD program at Baylor, where I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to both learn and contribute to the scholarly discussion with the best people imaginable, both personally and professionally. I also started running again.

In June, I weighed about 190 pounds and (as a result) was starting to feel the effects my sedentary lifestyle. That led to my adopting a vegan diet and starting to run...my first consistent physical activity in the last decade. That combo made the pounds fall off like water off a ducks back. (A few months back, I started incorporating some low fat dairy into my diet [full vegan is tough to manage in Waco].)

That was six months ago. Since then I've run 678 miles, lost ~35 pounds, and enjoyed countless smoothies. I've also officially begun training for the Lean Horse Hundred with the ever-present help of my friend and coach, Jason Ballard.

Over the last six months I've been consistently amazed at what the human body can do when put under stress, especially when one gives it the high quality whole food fuel it needs. Running has a been such a blessing to me this past year as life in grad school is particularly full stress and trail running offers a consistent release of pressure that can build and build until you crack.

Since this blog is about a formerly sedentary guy's journey into the utter insanity of ultrarunning, I thought I should end on a note about the enjoyment of running. I was looking back on my training log and was struck at how hellish it was when I began. Now, the fact that I started running in one of, if not the, hottest summers in Texas history definitely contributed to the misery, but—bottom line—coming off of a lifestyle that consisted of sitting at a desk and eating garbage for the past ten years isn't ever going to be pleasant. But... as weeks turned into months, I started to notice that I began to crave the sweltering heat out on the trails, where I could be alone with my thoughts and test my mettle against rugged trails of Cameron Park.

As we close the door on 2011, I can't imagine not trail running. I'm hooked!