BUILD OFF OF IT

I’m up to 48 miles in the last 7 days. Nothing spectacular, but I have to start somewhere. The important thing is to build off of it. When training isn’t going that well, I find it very easy to skip the only hard workouts that I typically do; tempos and marathon paced runs. Once that cycle starts, it’s easy to continue. Usually, I’m able to justify it by tell myself I’m not fit enough to do a workout. I figure if I can’t improve upon the last workout, why do it. Well, now I don’t care how bad my workout times are, I need to start somewhere. So this week I did a 3 mile tempo at 6:54 pace. Sure, that’s a lot slower than “normal”, but things haven’t been “normal” for awhile. This is the new me for right now and, as with my mileage, I’ll build off of it.

Last weekend were the U.S. Track & Field Championships. I really didn’t follow along until the meet was over. Then I went to Letsrun.com for their recap and was able to watch some videos. Here are my random thoughts. Jen Rhines continues to impress. I don’t have her info handy, but she must be 36 or so. She been an Olympian at 5K, 10K and the marathon. Last weekend she made like her 10th U.S. team. She never seems to get a lot of recognition, perhaps because she’s always solid, but never spectacular. Just looked it up, she’ll be 37 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to one of my favorite runners!

On the other hand there’s Christin Wurth-Thomas. I don’t know a lot about her, but every time I see her race she zooms right to the front and then gets passed by everyone. Last weekend was no different. She built a HUGE lead and then was passed by 3 women in the last 100 meters. She finished 4th, 0.01 seconds from qualifying. What really bugged me was summed up nicely by Pre’s Mustache. In her post race interview she talked about food poisoning and lack of sleep and then said “But I’m not making excuses.” Umm, yes you are.

With sites like Flotrack, Runnerspace, etc. all interviewing these runners after their races, fans are getting a lot more exposure to these athletes. Of course, this can be either good or bad and what they say can leave lasting impressions on the relatively small fan-base surrounding track & field. While runners like Wurth-Thomas and Will Leer made excuses, youngster Matt Centrowitz said all the right things and made some fans along the way.

Quote of the Day;

"I don't think it's set in yet. Taking a victory lap with guys like Lagat and Leo Manzano is just exciting and just to be running alongside of them and to be mentioned with them is an honor. I'm pumped." – Matt Centrowitz, after winning the U.S 1500 meter title

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

First off today, happy 13th anniversary to my wife – that means we’ve been together 16 years total. Hard to believe anyone could put up with me for so long. Even my parents could see the light at the end of the tunnel after 16 years.

I’ve talked about being fired up lately and getting more serious about my training. As always, it all starts with getting out the door on a consistent basis. Luckily, my knee is feeling better, so that makes being consistent a little easier. Who would have thought running 26.2 miles would help make the pain go away?

Since I don’t have much going on right now, I wanted to share a couple of other websites that you might enjoy. Dave Elger’s site is one of those sites I always forget I have saved in my favorites. Yet every time I go back, I tend to find some little nugget. Toni Reavis is one of the best promoters of our sport around. You may happen to remember the Runnerville Podcast that I enjoyed awhile ago. Toni was a big part of those.

Big weekend in running with the U.S. Championships as well as Western States. I hope to share some thoughts on those later this week.

Quote of the Day;

“There's something intensely satisfying about racing and pushing yourself as far as you can but it's not necessarily fun at the time, especially if you fail at your goal, whatever it may be. That's why I couldn't let the hard day's work go to waste.” - Ian Sharman talking about his 10th place finish at Western States

ON THE BEATEN PATH

I'm going to close out the week by sharing an article I recently wrote for MDRA.

On the beaten path by Chad Austin

For as long as I can remember I’ve been a road runner. Sure, I do a fair amount of my training on trails and I’ll jump in a trail race or two during the year. But for the most part I stick to the roads and races ranging from 5K to marathons. Like most roadies, thoughts of running an ultra marathon have been the furthest thing from my mind. I’ve been too consumed with finding flat, fast courses in order to lower my times as far as possible. However, somewhere along the line the order of importance for me has shifted from setting PRs to experiencing new things. I’m guessing this is a natural progression that occurs as we age and PRs become fewer and farther between. One thing I haven’t experienced is running more than 26.2 miles. So now that I’ve set the last of my road PRs, I find thoughts of trying an ultra marathon creeping into my head.

Over the last couple of years I’ve had the pleasure of running once a week with some of the best local ultra marathoners. Earlier this spring I was fortunate enough to travel with many of these guys to Arizona where we ran the Grand Canyon. While this wasn’t a race, the experience gave me an inside look into the ultra world. During this trip I couldn’t help by think about the difference between roadies and trail runners. For example, road racers put a lot of emphasis on their pace per mile. In fact, as little as 5-10 seconds per mile, faster or slower, is often the difference between a great race and a terrible race. Given the variability of trails, little to no importance is placed on mile splits. Instead, these runners focus more on being in-tune with their body and how it’s responding to the stresses placed upon it. Another example, marathoners try to avoid bonking at all costs. We know once a bonk arrives, it can be a miserable shuffle the rest of the way. The only thing we can do is watch our mile splits get slower and slower. The ultra marathoners I ran with know a bonk, or two, is coming and they almost look forward to them. They place bets on who will reach Bonk City first and joke about 3 bonks and you’re out. Their lighthearted approach is due to the fact that they know they have time to refuel on the run and can pull themselves out of a bonk. Finally, I even think the camaraderie between the two groups is different. Post-road race conversations are typically about finish time and place. Roadies will go into minute detail about ever mile split along the course and tell you who they beat and didn’t beat. On the other hand, the trail runners seem more genuinely concerned with everyone’s experience; how they felt, what they thought of the course, how was their nutrition, etc. It’s hard to explain, but it reminds me of my time in boot camp where everyone looks out for everyone else.

I’m not sure what each group thinks of the other, but I get the sense that roadies think they are better runners. The sheer number of roadies almost guarantees that they’re faster, however, the trails have their fair share of fast runners too. For example, three-time XTERRA Trail Champion, Max King has run 14:23 for 5K. And earlier this spring California resident Ian Sharman ran 100 miles in 12 hours and 44 minutes, that’s 7:51 pace. Another way to look at it, he ran 24:20 for 5K 32 times in a row.

Of course, the two groups aren’t mutually exclusive, former Team USA Minnesota runner, Chris Lundstrom who boasts a 2:17 marathon, is also one of the most successful trail runners around. As for Lundstrom’s love of the trails, he says, “Trail races, particularly ultras, are less about competing with other runners and more about testing yourself and your own fortitude. There are a lot more variables than in road racing. You may encounter a wide variety of conditions and challenges, such as poor footing, down trees, heat and humidity or snow and cold, dehydration and energy depletion...the list goes on and on. Ultimately these events are about continuing to move forward to the best of your ability, despite the challenges. They're also about appreciating some of the beautiful natural areas that we have around us. A great trail race is one where you aren't thinking about racing, but rather are simply cruising along, enjoying the trail and the natural surroundings.” For more reasons to hit the trails, see the sidebar.

If your interest in trail and/or ultra running is piqued, you can learn more on the Upper Midwest Trail Runners website. There you’ll find at least a dozen ultras between Minnesota and Wisconsin. They also have a variety of different series events that you can enter. Two consist entirely of all ultras, another ranges from 10K to the marathon, and they even have a 5K trail series for those looking to get away from the roads and on the beaten path.

SIDEBAR
My buddy Joe Uhan is fairly new to ultras. He recently posted the top 10 reasons he loves ultra marathons on his blog.

10. Best of All Worlds - It combines my three favorite things: running, being surrounded by nature, and eating!

9. Nutrition, Hydration, Electrolytes - It's more than just running. You ultimately have to manage these things well in order to do your best.

8. Youth - In a sport where the average competitor is 40+, it's fun to be "the young guy" again.

7. Resiliency & Forgiveness - The ability to run a hard 50-mile race, then be able to come back the next day and run an "easy 14" without consequence.

6. Race Reports - In what other sport does the individual competitor provide their blow-by-blow account? Reading their blogs is a fascinating perspective into their race.

5. Sustainability of pace, of training, of body - Success, both short and long-term, in ultra running depends on sustainability, of the stride, of fueling, of training. To learn sustainability is to learn to love the feel of effortless running.

4. Race Dynamics - The marathon comes close, but only in ultra running can you be at death's door and be resurrected. The ability of both body and spirit to "turn the tide" makes the battle, of the competition and of self, so rewarding.

3. It's a "Pure Sport" - Challenging oneself, and challenging your competitors by giving them your best. Your best is achieved only through your competitor giving their best.

2. Mentorship & Stewardship - The sport has plenty of guys who are not only mentors to us "young road guys", but models for stewardship of the competition, the arena, and the competitive spirit.

1. Camaraderie & Community - Pre-race, post-race and in-between. Top guys will hang around at the finish to ask us middle-of-the-pack runners how it went. The true spirit of running, as a sport, is through community, including communal sacrifice, support, and celebration.

REVITALIZED

Too many people ran well at Grandma’s to cover them all in one post. Congrats to Erin who inspired this article. I don’t know if she followed my advice or not, but I’m happy to take credit for her 11-minute, Boston-qualifying PR. While Kelly didn’t inspire an article, her 1:15 (that’s 1 hour and 15 minutes) PR is nothing short of spectacular. Had I know she’d run 3:27, I’d have been looking over my shoulder. Finally, congrats to my roommate for the weekend, Jared. The 69-year-old negative split a 3:17 and won his age-group by 27 minutes. That’s not supposed to happen when you’re at the far end of your age group.

As I alluded to in my last post, I’m feeling pretty fired up lately. Maybe it’s because I got to hang out with so many people that had such great performances on Saturday. Thinking about it some more, I really miss the whole process of setting a goal and training for it. I miss everything from planning tune-up races, dealing with nagging injuries, trying to peak on race day, worrying about the weather, developing a race strategy and then watching the race unfold in front of you. At the end of the day, this is what I really miss – the race times are just the icing on the cake.

With all that said, I’m going to see if I can become a “competitive” runner again. For me that means getting back into to a lifestyle that involves paying attention to weekly and monthly mileage, taking planned days offs, setting some goals, blogging regularly and so on. I don’t know if they body can hold up, or the mind, but I’m willing to give it another shot.

I haven’t set any goals yet but I’m kicking around the idea of jumping in a shorter race, just so I’m able to see some improvement between now and the fall. Perhaps I’ll find a fall half marathon to run too. We’ll see…

Before I forget, here’s a nice Q&A with Matt Gabrielson who always provides good quotes. With all the talk of Grandma’s lately, here’s a nice video by Carrie Tollefson that summarizes the weekend in a nutshell.



Quote of the Day;

“This most recent run on Old Hwy 61 [Grandma’s Marathon] has revitalized my entire career. It's like I've been given a fresh shot.” – Matt Gabrielson

GRANDMA'S MARATHON RACE REPORT

Well, that didn’t last long. Three days after posting that I may not race in 2011, I jumped into Grandma’s Marathon. At the time I knew I was going to run it, but I didn’t plan on racing it. NOTE: I use the term “race” VERY loosely here. This was my 17th marathon and only 2 have been slower.

My plan was to meet up with a friend at the start and run with him while he tried to keep his string of running every Grandma’s intact. Since I couldn’t find him, I decided to run with Jared for as long as possible. That lasted until about mile 11 when I had to stop and go to the bathroom for the third time. The first two were quick pee breaks alongside the road and I was able to catch back up within a mile or two. This time it was a full on stop with sitting involved. There was no catching up after that.

During that stop the 3:20 group went by and I decided to hang a little ways back from them. I went through the half in 1:40:43 and was pretty confident that I would not be negative splitting. About 3 miles later I could already feel the pounding in my legs. I have 3 reasons for this; 1) lack of mileage, 2) long runs being on dirt, and 3) wearing too light of a shoe. I thought about wearing a heavier trainer, but all my non-trail trainers have 500+ miles on them. I didn’t think it’d be smart to wear them in a marathon.

Grandma’s is far and away my favorite marathon. I especially like the section from just after mile 18. From that point there’s a long gradual downhill and then there seem to be plenty of key points to look forward to; London Road, mile 20, the college kids with their beer, Lemon Drop Hill, Superior Street, Fitger’s, Lake Street, and mile 25 before making that final turn towards the DECC, William Irvin and the finish line. During this stretch I told myself to keep things under 8:00 pace for as long as possible. This lasted through mile 22, before Lemon Drop resulted in an 8:05. I think 24 and 25 were slightly over 8s too. At mile 25 I was pretty confident I could sneak under 3:25. I seriously couldn’t remember if my BQ was 3:20 or 3:25 (it’s 3:20), so I thought I’d at least try to get under 3:25. Yes, I know Boston gives you an extra 59 seconds. I hung on and crossed the line in 3:24:43.

If you haven’t heard, conditions were nearly perfect. Temps never got much over 50 degrees and it was cloudy with a nice tailwind. As you can imagine it was a regular PR-fest. Congrats to Matt on his 4-minute PR (2:13:28) that earned him 7th place, Jennifer who dropped dropping roughly 90 seconds to lower her PR to 2:33:01, Jenna on her 2-minute PR (2:40:45), her fiancé Chris who PR’d by 6 minutes (2:38:27), Nichole who’s dropped her PR from 3:03:08 to 2:44:46 in the last 2.5 years and earned a spot in the Oly Trials, and all the other runners that had great races.

I will say, while I’m more sore than I’ve ever been after any marathon, for some reason I’m feeling more fired up than I have in a long time. Maybe it’s due to the fact that so many people ran so well on a day when I didn’t. Whatever the reason, I’m going to see if I can feed off of it and get back into the swing of things – after I recover, of course.

Finally, as promised, here’s my latest interview.

Quote of the Day;

“As luck would have it, the year when I don't feel like I'm in the best shape is the year with the best conditions you could hope to find.” – Chris Lundstrom

FORCING MOTIVATION

I've been joking that I need to find some slower friends before I run the Grand Canyon again. However, really I just need to put forth a little more effort in my training. Sure our group included awesome runners like Brian, Joe, Tony, and John who's won this event three times, but I should be capable of hanging with the other guys in the group.

I wrote an article recently where I stated, "somewhere along the line the order of importance for me has shifted from setting PRs to experiencing new things." That's all fine and good, but that doesn't mean I can't try to excel at these new things too. I've been at this long enough to know you can't force motivation. I don't know how to get it back, but I know you can't force it.

All of this is moot right now as I try to figure out my right knee. It's to the point where I either want it to break or heal because it's in just enough pain to make running no fun. I was considering running a 50K and 50 miler this year, but now those are out the window. 2011 could seriously be the first time I don't race in like 15 years.

I will end with some good news. Frequent commentor, Double, who I interviewed here has (finally) started a blog. If he blogs like he comments, I think you'll find it enjoyable. And, finally, speaking of interviews, I'm happy to announce that they'll be back shortly. I can't believe it's been over year since my last one. There are too many interesting people out there to let it die. So I'm hoping to pump new life into the site.

Quote of the day;

"When all is said and done, I believe I am a 2:12 marathoner on my absolutely greatest, most perfect day. That result may or may not happen in a week, but I will go into this sucker with a smart race plan and nothing but positive energy flowing through the veins." - Matt Gabrielson

RIM-2-RIM-2-RIM

If you’ve been reading along for awhile you probably realize that my training for rim-to-rim-to-rim has mainly consisted of a few back-to-back long runs and 90 minutes of hill repeats at the local ski hill. Almost all of this training was done at around 1,000 feet and I’m sure it was not above 40 degrees on many occasions. I topped off my training in the last couple of weeks by catching up on episodes of Dual Survival, where Dave and Cody remind me how quickly heat can kill, which bark I can eat for carbs and how to filter water through my dirty, sweaty sock. I’ve got 44 miles ahead of me, along with 10,000 feet of climbing and descending and temps sure to be in the 90s. I’m set!

This is a mandatory image for all rim-cubed blog postings.

The trip includes 14 guys that will split into two groups. I’ll be in the first group with 7 other guys who will begin our trek at 4:30 AM. The second group will start an hour later and probably catch us near the North Rim. As we check into the lodge they tell us Friday’s forecast calls for 33 degrees in the morning on the South Rim with highs in the canyon around 90.

Thursday evening before our journey.

At 4:31 we fired up our headlamps and begin heading down the South Kaibab Trail. Not concerned with my time, I don’t start my stopwatch. Instead I set the Timer to go off every 15 minutes, which will remind me to eat and/or drink throughout the day. Within minutes we all realize it never got down to 33 degrees. Temps are probably 10 degrees warmer and we soon stop to shed our long sleeves.
It’s a little weird heading into the canyon in the dark, but it’s also really cool. Within 30 minutes the sun begins creeping up over the horizon. While it’s not as spectacular as what you’d see in a book, seeing it first-hand makes up for it. With the added sunlight a few of us take out our cameras and begin taking pictures. Unfortunately, every time we stop the main pack pulls away. Early on it’s easy to catch up, but that doesn’t last long.


Fairly early on we pass a hiker coming up the canyon and all he says to me is “You signed up for this?” My only response is “ask me again in 10 hours.”

After about 1:40 of constant downhill running we reach Phantom Ranch in the base of the canyon. Here we stop to fill up our water bottles, eat some calories and point out the way to Bright Angel Trail, which we’ll take on our return trip. For some reason things feel rushed – at least more rushed than I thought they’d be. I think maybe it’s just due to the gnats and flies swarming all over us.

We head out of Phantom Ranch on the North Kaibab Trail. The trail gradually begins to rise and our next stop, Cottonwood, is roughly 6 miles away. It doesn’t take long before I begin to fall off the back. Although it’s probably important to stick together, I figure it’s equally important to stay within myself. Beside, I know the second group will be coming along soon – in fact, sooner than I thought. As I pull into Cottonwood, the first group is about to leave. I tell them I’m fine and am just going at my own pace. Five minutes later the second group arrives – and leaves within minutes. I head out with them, but that companionship is short lived and I’m soon alone again.


Roaring Springs is only about 2 miles away and the stretch goes by quickly. This is the last water stop before the North Rim. With 5 miles still to go to the North Rim, that means this water will need to last a total of 10 miles. And I’m not talking about the 10 miles you cover during a normal day. I’m talking a 10-mile stretch that probably includes 4,000 feet of climbing and descending. To make matters worse, things are heating up quickly and there’s not a cloud in the sky. I filled up my 50 oz. Camelbak, along with a 20 oz. bottle in my waist pack and set off up the trail. As I forge on, I think about what the veterans have said; monitor your body, eat, drink, CFM (constant forward motion) and, most importantly, before you commit to the top, be sure of yourself because at the point you’re “all in”.

I’ve already walked quite a bit so far, but now all I’m doing is walking. For the first time I break out my iPod thinking somehow it will magically propel me to the top. It doesn’t propel me at all. I’m probably about 2 miles beyond Roaring Springs and when I find one of the few shaded areas, I decide to take a break and refuel. I shut my iPod off and the silence is refreshing. It’s time to reassess the situation.


My main concern is that I’m already in “last place”. Being last doesn’t bother me, but if I continue my way to the top, the others will soon be making their way back down. Not having anyone from my party around for the return trip would definitely be concerning and probably a huge mistake. If I turn back now I’ll have the advantage of being caught and at least being able to check in with the group. Heck, we may even be able to “run” up the South Rim together. I’m nearly 5 hours into the trip and the decision to turn back is made. I take one last photo from my northern most point, pack things up, and head back towards the South Rim.

This is as close as I got.

Obviously, the return trip to Roaring Springs is downhill and it goes by in 30 minutes. To my surprise, just before I arrive, I find myself sucking air out of my Camelbak. With only 10 ounces left in my bottle, there’s no way I could have made it to the North Rim and back without running out of fluids. Later I find out a bunch of guys did in fact run out of water during this stretch.

By now I’ve gone from walking any uphill to also walking all of the rocky sections. The last thing I want is to fall down out here by myself. The stretch to Cottonwood is a relatively quick 2 miles. After a quick break I’m looking forward to the smoother, more gradual, trail leading back to Phantom Ranch. There’s not much traffic on the North Kaibab Trail and I try to calculate when I’ll start seeing the other guys. I figure I’ll see them at Phantom Ranch where I plan on taking a longer break before heading back out of the canyon.

I seem to be making good progress along this stretch, but all of the sudden, I’m sucking air out of my pack again. Shit! I only have about 6-8 ounces of fluid left. I’m pretty sure I left Cottonwood about an hour ago. Since it’s only about a 6-mile stretch, I figure I must be getting close to Phantom Ranch. I finish off my bottle and decide to walk it the rest of the way to the ranch. It’s frustrating because I’m on some of the most runnable trail all day and I’m reduced to walking. However, it’s brutally hot and sunny and I’m all alone. I make sure to do a quick assessment. I feel fine and mentally aware of what’s going on. I’m confident I can make it to water without much difficulty.

To make things more frustrating, every turn looks like the previous one. I constantly think the ranch is around the next corner, but it never seems to materialize. Finally, I see a hiker and he says I’m about a mile out. Sure enough, a few minutes later I see a ¾ mile sign. By the time I reach Phantom Ranch my timer has gone off twice and I’ve been without nutrition or liquids for close to 45 minutes. Not good!

I monitor myself again and seem fine – despite my mistake. I find it hard to believe I blew through 70 oz. during that stretch. I can only guess that I must not have filled my pack all the way up to the top. I guzzle half a bottle of water before refilling it with 20 oz of Gatorade. I vow to suck down the entire bottle and consume a 300-calorie “brownie” before I leave. Luckily, the gnats and flies that were driving us crazy five hours earlier have disappeared and I’m able to eat my “lunch” in peace. I take my time knowing that it’s all up hill from here – plus I’m half hoping I’ll see someone I know. I wait until 1 PM, but no one arrives. I decide to start the 9.7-mile ascent up Bright Angel Trail by myself.




I see more hikers during the first 15 minutes on Bright Angel than I saw during 5 hours on North Kaibab – or at least it seems that way. Maybe I’m craving social interaction because I try to make friendly banter with everyone I see. I even ran into a group from Minnesota. One of the guys was “nice” enough to tell me that I had a long way to go. He spent the last 7 hours coming down the trail. That’s not what I wanted to hear at this point.

I have no idea where the water stops are on this trail. Not wanting to run out again, I begin asking the hikers coming down how far away the next water stop is. They’re all concerned that I’ve run out, but I tell them I just want to ration my supplies accordingly. Before I know it I’m at Indian Garden. A map tells me I’m now only 4.7 miles from the top and a thermometer tells me it’s 90 degrees in the shade. Later it was reported to be 105 degrees in the canyon – a far cry from what I’ve been training in back home.

After another 15-minute break I decided to push on. I try to write “Chad 2:50” in the dirt with a rock – a message to my friends representing the time I took off - but it’s unreadable. I put my iPod on for the second time today and head up the trail. For some reason I take one last look back and I happen to see Joe and Brian coming into Indian Garden. It’s great to finally see some familiar faces and get some details on what’s happening with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, it sounded like things weren’t going very smoothly – more on that in another post.



The three of us leave Indian Garden together. With my own interest in mind, I’m happy to find out that they’re only able to power hike. I’m able to stick with them for about a mile and am awed by these tremendous athletes. To be able to watch them in action at this point of their “race” is one of my highlights from the trip. With 4 miles to go Brian is trying to convince Joe that they can get under his time from two years about if they “just” maintain 20-minute miles. Joe’s not buying Brian’s motivational tactics today.

By the time we reach the 3 Mile Rest House, those guys have begun to pull away. I stop for water and find four hikers that have been struggling in the heat. I’m able to share some salt capsules and my final Nuun electrolyte tablet. For some reason I forget to offer some of the energy bars or Shot Bloks that I still have in my pack. They’re grateful anyway and I press on.

I throw my iPod on again and this time Disturbed hits the spot, especially songs like Divide and Indestructible.

The stretch to the 1.5 Mile Rest House takes a long time, but it’s relatively uneventful. As I near the top, the trail is becoming more and more crowded – both with people making there way out as well as those coming down to see the canyon in the few remaining hours of sunlight. At one point I cross paths with some teenage boys that are actually sprinting down the trail at full speed. I can only picture them clipping a rock and sailing through the air, head first. I never heard any screaming behind me, so apparently that didn’t happen.

I think to myself that I have to be getting close to the top. As a hiker approaches, I make the mistake of saying something like “I must be getting close” only to hear “You still have a ways to go” in return. Damn it! I continue to trudge on but have reached the point where I don’t want to eat anything else. I continue drinking, but that’s about all I can manage. Finally, I crossed the “finish line” around 5:15 PM – 12:45 after setting off on this crazy adventure.


Overall, I believe I covered about 38 miles. I’m guessing only half of those were done while running. Although I was probably only 3 miles from the North Rim, I later found out that that stretch included another 3,000 feet of climbing. Thinking back to how I felt during that last mile, I’m so glad I turned back early. Maybe some will consider that a DNF, but given the circumstances, I'm fine with my decision. Of course, I would have loved making it to the North Rim, but I’ll just have to save that for another day.

There are so many other aspects of this trip that I want to write about and photos that I want to post, but I’ll wrap this up now and save those for another day. There are also a bunch of quotes that could be used to wrap up this post. I happened to come across this one on the plane ride home that seems to some things up.

Quote of the day;

“We swung north to the Arizona mountains, Flagstaff, clifftowns. I had a book with me… but I preferred reading the American landscape as we went along. Every bump, rise, and stretch in it mystified my longing.” – Jack Kerouac, On the Road

WELL AWARE

It’s been awhile. A couple of weeks ago I had a bunch to say, but no time to get things written. Last week I had time, but forgot all the things I wanted to say. In any case, “race week” is upon us. The current group sits at 14 and we are flying out on Thursday. If nothing else, I’m looking forward to running in shorts. Seriously, it’s May 2nd and during this morning’s run it was 36 degrees. I had on pants, a jacket, a winter hat and mittens – and I wasn’t over dressed. The only thing worse than the weather, locally, is the play of our beloved Minnesota Twins. If you don’t follow baseball, I won’t bore you with the details. If you do, then you probably already know the story.

I haven't done much Canyon-specific training since my last post. The only “real” workout I’ve done was 90 minutes worth of hill repeats at the Hyland ski hill. Other than that it’s all been maintenance runs. I thought about doing one of two separate 50K races, but family things got in the way. I thought about another solo long run, but that never happened either. I’ve been a little concerned about my right knee lately. I’ve had some chronic pain that flares up from time to time. It’s been “active” the last few weeks. I’m sure running down Hyland didn’t help matters. So far it doesn’t get any worse, so we’ll see what happens.

Two weeks ago I was really freaked out and worried about this whole adventure. However, I figured sitting around worrying about it for 3 weeks wouldn’t help anything, so I’ve just accepted where I’m at. I’ll enjoy the adventure and deal with things on “race day”.

One thing I wish I’d have done differently is kept my mouth shut at work. I mention the trip to a co-worker that runs and now a bunch of people keep asking me about it. You’d think that someone who (occasionally) blogs would be okay with talking about this stuff, but I’d rather keep it to myself. I mean, who wants to hear about how crazy this thing sounds from other people. I’m well aware.

Speaking of crazy, I recently picked up a copy of Outdoor magazine and they had a list of like 10 people doing really crazy stuff, like spending over 2 years walking 4,000 miles through the Amazon. Each one of the people made running 44 miles through the Grand Canyon seem like a cake walk. I’m going to re-read their adventures on the plane and keep them in mind while I run.

Quote of the Day;

“If I’m looking better than he is, then he must be dead.” – Jeff Tinley racing Scott Molina

NIFTY 50

While it feels like I aged 8.5 years over the weekend, the title of this post doesn’t refer to me turning 50. I’m referring to the 50 miles I ran over the WEEKEND.

With less than 5 weeks remaining until our Grand Canyon adventure, I was beginning to get a little worried that my training wasn’t sufficient – especially after WEEKS of 38 and 28 miles. Looking at the calendar, I really only have two big weekends of training left, so figured I’d better get serious.

Saturday we had a group of nearly a dozen runners meet at 5:30 AM. We all basically ran the first 20 mile somewhat “together”. After refueling, Scott and I ended up adding on another 10 miles on the flat path out to Hopkins. Overall, we covered 30 miles in a total time of 4:37, which includes bathroom and refueling breaks.

While 30 miles is great, it’s nowhere near the 44 miles needed to cover the Canyon. Plus, I was feeling a little guilty about running the last 10 miles on Saturday over pancake-flat terrain. With all that running around in my head, I decided to head out Sunday for a hilly 20-mile run. I immediately cursed the fact that our “spring” weather (or lack thereof) relegated Saturday’s run to the roads and bike paths – rather than the nice soft trails. As a result, my legs were much more sore than I would have liked. I just adjusted by slowing the pace way down and just focusing on time on my feet. In the end, the 20 miles took me 3:17, including about 5.5 miles of climbing.

So that weekend’s training gives me a lot more confidence that I can cover the distance. Now I can turn my attention to worrying about the altitude, heat, hills, fueling, etc.

Here are a few things I’ve learned from some of my recent long runs. 1) Just because the manufacturer says that you can double the recommended strength of their sports drink, doesn’t make it a good idea – especially if it’s the first time you ever use their product. I learned that a week ago after walking the last 3 miles of a 20 miler because my stomach was upset. 2) When drinking gels from a flask, take twice as much as you think. I learned this on Sunday when I took 3 gels, only to find out later than I only consumed 1.5 gels. 3) There’s definitely something wrong with my left foot, namely the nerves running through the middle toe. I’ve known this for probably a couple of years. After the Canyon I may have to have it checked out.

Quote of the Day;

“She’ll come in handy when I need knee replacements.” – Keith Brantly on his marriage to an orthopedic surgeon

IN MY ABSENCE

I’m trying to determine if it’s good or bad that I don’t have some massive weekend of training to report. On one hand it’s probably a good thing because I’m sure my body can’t handle mileage like last weekend over and over. Plus, I’m guessing that type of training is not needed every weekend. However, spring break starts this Friday for our family. With a Disney cruise on the horizon, that shoots the next 2 weekends in the foot. The best I can hope for is a long run the day after returning.

In any case, I’m not going to worry too much. I’m already feeling a lot fitter than just a couple of months ago when I was about 6-8 pounds heavier. Once I return I’ll have about 6 weeks until R-cubed. That’ll be enough for two more big weekends.

In my absence, here are some blogs I’ve come across recently.

Former Gopher, Andrew Carlson, who’s back with Team USA Minnesota for a second stint. He has some of the best interviews on Flotrack and his blog is pretty good too.

My good friend Jenna Boren looks to be putting her Dr. skills to the test and blog about injury diagnosis, treatments, etc. Note: you may have to shift through some stuff about some team called the Packers. Feel free to reach out to her and tell her to blog more often.

Finally, back in February, Ian Sharman, ran the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler in 12:44:33.

I’ll give you a minute to do the math.

Yes, that’s 7:50/mile!!! If you read his (long) race report, you’d think he just won a local 5K in 20 minutes.

And how did he follow up that race? He simply set a marathon World Record for super heroes when he ran 2:40 dressed as Spiderman at Napa Valley. Unfortunately, that only lasted a week because Michael Wardian ran 2:35 last weekend.

Quote of the Day;

“Some might say that it’s easier to be the runner than the runner’s family.” – Rob de Castella

COMFORT ZONE

It's pretty clear that I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing to train for this adventure. However, I think it's pretty important to get outside of my comfort zone and do things I've never done before. It's safe to say I did that this weekend.

Saturday's run started at 6 AM, 2 hours before my running buddies showed up at Ft. Snelling. I spent those 2 hours running snow-covered hill repeats from the trail near Pike Island to the dog park and back. Then I'd run up the steep hill leading to the Fort. Once my buddies showed up, I did a 14+ mile loop with Paul, which took another 2 hours. Hard to tell how far I ran on the snow-covered trails, so I'm calling it a conservative 27 mile day.

Is it bad when 50% of your weekly mileage is done in one run?

The last time I did a 4 hour run, I preceded it with a 2 hour run the day before. This time I decided to follow up my 4 hour run with a 'normal' long run the day after. Today that meant 17 miles in 2:33. After 5 easy miles I included 5 hill repeats up McAndrews hill near County Rd 5. That took me to about mile 12. It was the 3 mile gradual downhill stretch after that, when running down hill felt like running up hill, that told me I was outside my comfort zone. I finished the run off by running up the steep Camp Sacajawea hill 3 times.

All told that's 44 miles and over 6 /12 hours in 2 days. I was actually surprised by how good my legs felt this morning. Makes me wonder if I have a knack for all this running long and slow stuff.

Quote of the day;

"At the Canyon you will see so much and at times you have to remind yourself why you are there. At times it seems like this isn't a big deal endurance wise, but at other times you are reminded how serious you have to be there." - Double

WHAT YOU GET

You’ve heard of “You get what you pay for.” Well after skiing last weekend’s Birkie, I realized it’s really “You get what you train for.”

As soon as I put R-cubed on my calendar I knew this year’s Birkie experience would suffer. There’s only 10 weeks between the two events. If I focused on skiing all winter, there wouldn’t be enough time to build up towards R-cubed. Hopefully the tradeoff is that I suffered for nearly 3.5 hours on February 26th instead of suffering for 12+ hours on May 6th.

The good news is that I’ve been running quite a bit lately. I’ve run as far as 26 miles and have put together weekly mileage in the low 60s. So I should be able to ratchet things up rather quickly for the next 2 months.

Even though I had a lackluster ski season, I’m still learning a bunch of things about the sport. For example, I’m starting to realize that runners and skier have different mindsets. My coach explained it this way; runners tend to pour out their energy evenly throughout the course of an event, whereas skiers (and bikers) tend to go hard over and over while recovering on the downhills or while drafting. That’s something I’m going to have to work on in the future. If I want to perform any better I can’t ski scared for 47K and then pick up the pace when I hit the flat final 3K.

This may tie in with the previous lesson, but I think I have to be more explosive, which means I have to work on my upper body strength. Perhaps adding a double-pole workout once a week would be enough.

I wonder what I could do if I actually laid out a training plan that included tempo and marathon-paced type workouts. And I definitely need to race more prior to my goal race. Without these things prior to the Birkie, it’s a recipe for conservatism – and slow times.

Quote of the Day;

“That's why it is a great trip. The anticipation, the planning, the what if? When you’re out there, you are the people they want to talk to. It was my best adventure of all time.” – ‘Double’ on R-cubed

SHIFTED PRIORITIES

My recent MPW build-up looks like this; 20, 43, 48, 61, 53. I was feeling pretty tired last week, so I had no problems backing down to 33 miles (along with some skiing). Saturday I went out for a solo 14 miler and bumped into Evan. We were able to run together for about 5 miles before we had to split up. I followed that up yesterday with my longest non-marathon run ever. Distance-wise it was probably only 22 miles. However, since I was running on snow-packed trails for 4 hours, effort-wise, it was more like 26 miles. And that’s what I called it in my logbook – sue me if you’d like.

Nothing like a 40 mile weekEND! I think I held up pretty well although my hip flexors were killing me the last 90 minutes. As they say, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

Of course, the bad news is that my skiing is suffering. With 3 weeks to the Birkie, I have a single session over 2 hours. Hopefully I can get 1-2 more long skis in. Either way, I’m not too worried about my time/place this year because I realize my priorities have shifted. That’s what happens when you run for 4 hours and realized you probably still have 8 hours to go to reach your main goal.

Thanks to Scott for forwarding this video;



Quote of the Day;

“There are only 2 hills.” – Dave ‘Double’ Dehart

ALL SET

I came across this interesting tidbit the other day;

“Only ten miles from rim to rim as the crow flies, the North Rim is 215 miles (about 4 1/2 hours) from the South Rim by car.”

I guess there won’t be any quitting halfway.

After only running 35 miles in December, I started 2011 off with a solid 213 miles, plus another 118K of skiing. I also managed 9 core workouts during the month. I’d like to do 3 per week, but I’ve only been doing 2. Honestly though, I’d rather do 2 per week up until R-cubed, rather than 3 per week for a month or two.

I had some solid back-to-back workouts during the month too. The most impressive was last Friday when I ran 5 miles, took an hour ski lesson and then after grabbing a cup of coffee I skied 20 miles. The next day I ran 20 miles. That was like 7 hours of training in 2 day.

Now if I can just double that in half the amount of time, I’ll be all set.

Quote of the Day;

“Running is about defeating death, not inflicting it.” – John Jerome

DOUBLE-CROSSING

I’m so out of touch with my blog that I can’t remember what I’ve written lately. As Beth pointed out, my reference to R-cubed wasn’t very clear in my last post. R-cubed is also known as R2R2R or rim-to-rim-to-rim. It’s a double-crossing of the Grand Canyon. I tried to find it on Wikipedia, but it’s not there. However, you can Google rim-to-rim-to-rim and come up with some links, including some youtube videos.

This will definitely require a drastic change in my approach to training. No longer will my focus be on weekly mileage and pace. Instead I’ll focus on time on my feet and nutrition. “Time on my feet” will largely be affected by back-to-back long runs over the weekend. For example, Saturday night I ran on the treadmill for 2 hours and then Sunday I hit some trails for 2:45. I’m sure I wasn’t very fast at all on the trails, but that wasn’t my concern. Goal #1 was to build strength and goal #2 was to see how my body could handle eating a PBJ sandwich during a run. I think both goals were achieved.

For the week I had 48 miles of running, 33K of skiing, and two sessions of core workouts. For my core workouts, I’ve been following along with McMillan’s DVDs. They are one of those things I wanted, but didn’t want to pay for – so I asked for them for Christmas. I like them because they show me exactly what to do and they’re less than 30 minutes. My goal is to follow along 2-3 times per week. Hopefully it’ll be enough to make me look good in my speedo.

Quote of the Day;

“Be the hero of your own life story.” – Jodie Foster in Nim’s Island

IT'S ON

Well, it’s on. After my initial trepidation, I signed up for R-cubed. And by “signed up” I mean bought a plane ticket.

Immediately after doing so, I realized how much over my head I really am. In addition to the mileage, we’re talking about 10,000 feet of descending and climbing and temps that could be in the 100s. This all sounds right up my alley given that I’m a terrible hill climber and heat runner.

And coming off of an injury doesn’t really help either. Last Saturday I ran 14 miles and felt pretty good about that. Then I checked emails and found out that the other guys running R-cubed with me ran between 20 and 31 miles. Hopefully I made up a little bit of ground by getting in 15 miles the next day.

Sure, going from 0 to 50 MPW may not be the smartest training plan, but nobody ever said I was smart.

Anyway, with all that said, I’m super excited. It’s one of those goals that you can’t stop thinking about. Morning, noon, and night my mind thinks about R-cubed. Of course, I have a ton of work to do before May 6th, however, that’s part of the appeal.

Quote of the Day;

“It’s not a race, but you will need to be pretty fit to be able to at least enjoy most of it.” – Tony Kocanda, regarding R-cubed

RECONSIDERING

With a new year on the horizon, I’ve decided to reconsider pulling the plug on R-cubed. If there’s one thing I learned in 2010, it’s that life is too short to sit around and watch it go by. So my plan is to take the rest of 2010 off from running – that’ll be six weeks from when the pain was at its peak. Then I’ll spend 4 months focused on building up my training in order to complete R-cubed.

Part of my trepidation last week is that this trip will be with some very accomplished ultramarathoners. Running 44-miles is practically an every weekend occurrence for these guys. Plus, they’re fast. So heading into uncharted waters, undertrained, is not the best idea.

I was wondering the other day, if I make this thing, does that mean I’m an ultramarthoner? I mean, there won’t be any medal or t-shirt afterwards. That’s how you distinguish between events that matter and those that don’t, right?

Quote of the Day;

“I like hills because you can see the top. I know that sounds glib, but you know that the hill is not going to keep appearing; it’s there and once you get to the top it’s behind you, and you feel as though you have conquered something.” – Rob de Castella

ICING ON THE CAKE

I made it 23 miles in my first week back and then my shin started to feel weird again, so I decided to shut running down for awhile. The good news is that after receiving 16” or more of snow last weekend, we now have a nice base for x-c skiing. When it comes to skiing, I started a new rule this year; if it’s below 10 degrees – don’t bother skiing. That’s mainly due to lack of glide rather than being a wuss, but I’m not positive. Anyway, now we just need to temps to warm up a little in order to get out and enjoy all that new snow.

Since I can’t run and haven’t been skiing, I’ve “made friends” with the local elliptical machine. I don’t know how fit the elliptical will keep me – I’m just trying to stop the weight gain at 8 pounds. I’ve actually been doing a decent job of including some strength training, drill, and stretching afterwards. The drills include stuff like lunges, butt kicks, high knees, straight leg march (I use the term “straight” very loosely), etc. One thing I’ve noticed about doing these drills is how far removed I’ve been from doing anything other than running or skiing. It’s been years since I’ve had a physical education class. I don’t play any other sports, like basketball, soccer, softball, etc. AND I CAN TELL!!! Holy cow, every non-running movement is new, awkward and incredible hard – at least at first. After doing them 3-4 different days, things feel a lot better. I’m not sure how much these types of things will help my running. Frankly, that’s not the reason I’ve included them. I’m doing them because I need to, if for no other reasons than increased coordination, better balance, increased range of motion, etc. It just makes me feel good. Increased power, improved running form, injury prevention, etc. will just be icing on the cake.

Not being able to run makes me think that R-cubed will have to until another time. Hopefully there will be other opportunities.

Quote of the Day;

“I don’t know how the creative process works, but it always seems, as I’m running, that thoughts start coming in; sentences start coming in.” – Robert A. Caro, biographer

ON THE HORIZON

With the shin problems, Thanksgiving, and busy time at work, I ended up taking a week-and-a-half off. The good news is that the shin feels fine. The bad news is that I feel fat and out of shape. I just seemed to be getting in some decent mileage, along with some good tempo runs. Then the next thing I know, all thoughts of 200-250 miles in November went out the window. Anyway, I’m slowly building back up – emphasis on “slowly” as my first run back was literally 3 miles.

Friday and Saturday we got about 8” on snow dumped on us. I hadn’t even really thought about skiing yet – and ski racing was the furthest thing from my mind. Then I got an email from the Birkie stating that my wave only had 50 open spots remaining. Needless to say, I couldn’t afford to wait and I broke out my credit card. So I at least have one race on the horizon.

I used my down time to go through all the magazines that tend to pile up over time. I came this article that asks the question, “Is it time to get over the marathon?” It has some great points and has me seriously considering skipping another marathon in 2011.

I also compiled all the drills and strength-training articles I could find. I want to give this type of training some serious consideration in the upcoming year. After years of telling myself that “just running” is enough, I’m pretty sure that there are gains to be made with these types of exercises. At least I intent to find out.

Finally, here’s another article I came across regarding R-cubed. I’m still not sure if I’ll do this in 2011 or not.

Quote of the Day;

“Conventional wisdom views the progression of distances, from 5K to 10K, on to the half marathon and the marathon, as a progression of ability and seriousness.” – Jonathan Beverly

BETTER LATE...

This time of year is always busy for me at work and this year has been no different. I've had lots on my mind, but not much time to write anything down.

I could have mentioned how winter arrived overnight, literally, a couple of weeks ago. We went from 68 degrees to 6" of snow in the span of about 36 hours. I don't think the temp has been much over 30 degrees since. Right now it's 9 degrees outside. It's November 23rd! If this keeps up it's going to be a long winter.

I wanted to mention that after writing that base building article I was fired up again and managed weeks of 50 and 60 miles. Now my shin has flared up. I've never had shin splits or a stress fracture, so I don't know if it's one or the other - or neither. In either case, I need to figure it out soon before I put on 50 pounds before the holidays even arrive.

I was going to ask what everyone does with all their medals. As I was laying around, not exercising, I decided to go through a bunch of stuff. I never realized how many medals I had just sitting in boxes and drawers. Maybe that's the best place for them, but I was wondering if anyone does anything special with theirs?

Finally, here are some photos from Halloween. We hosted a party for the kids and it turned out to be a very busy day for me;