Saturday, October 29, 2011

Injuries and Ultras

Well it seems official that I am injured. Not the kind of injury that my people(endurance junkies) like either. The type of injury that is there but kinda not really. Basically the long and short of it is some sort of ankle injury which I can not even pin point when it happened. My best guess is that it occured during my double race weekend on Oct 1st and 2Nd. On Saturday I did a all out off road duathlon and then on Sunday came back with a half marathon which I ended up going a little harder than planned and pr'd. Never felt anything in particular and was actually fine until Tuesday when I just felt like I rolled my ankle of the trails. Well having a Ultra in two weeks made me think it would be best to stay off of it and use it as a "super" taper. My legs were getting pretty smashed up from a big month of shorter, harder races so it was a welcome break.

For the record normal people with ankle injuries do not run 50K off road trail runs. I however am not normal people and realized my own stupidity several (see hundreds) of times during the race. I did feel going into the race that my ankle would be a problem but would not prevent me from completing the run and seeing as I was registered and we use it as an excuse to head to CT and see the in laws it was a go. Well the ankle did not really hold me back and only really hurt when twisting or turning it. I finished almost an hour ahead of what I did two years ago at this race but was about a half hour from where I thought I could be. All in all the race was great, the weather cooperated, and it is always nice to be in the woods running.

So it is now a week after the 50K and the ankle still bothers me. This is where I start to get worried because the long and the short of it is I need this to go away. I love running, and especially love running ultras where the races tend to be more laid back then triathlons (like a thousand times less). I have the opportunity on the table to run one and maybe even two more ultras before winter hits and I am stuck with spin classes, treadmills and endless laps in the pool. So it is important to me to deal with this now and not let it linger. But like I said earlier it is the kind of injury that is not restricting but that you know is there. My fear is that the doctor will not have a concrete idea of what it is and just give me the usually, "stay off it, take Motrin and see me in two weeks". Nothing is more frustrating for an athlete then a non answer to a injury. Tell me something,, anything and put a concrete time table on it. How great would it be if the doctor said, "Dana, looks like a sprain of the medial frontal typhoid angular ankle tendon and if you rest it for 13 days and 6 hours you should be back to normal". Don't really see this happening so I guess I am in runners limbo until then.

So I guess what all this drivel that I just wrote means is I need to get my arse to the doctor so he can charge me my co-pays, take an educated guess and tell me running is not the best thing for an ankle injury. And with that I will have to play along and become mildly depressed as the season comes to an end. We all hate injuries and I guess on the bright side this is the best time for one, so I will play along and use this time to write more blogs (topics anyone??).

Monday, October 24, 2011

The List

So as I was running my last BIG race of the 2011 season I was thinking about writing a race report for the blog. These are the things one thinks about at mile 20 of a 32.5 mile run. Yes that's right a 50K race is supposed to be 31 miles, but somehow this particular race measures 32.5 according to the trusty Garmin. So anyways I was thinking of things to write and thought that a race report would be pretty boring. After all not much happens between aid stations in a race with less than 150 people spread out over the course of 30+ miles. It did occur to me however that this very well may be the toughest event I have done in my albeit short endurance career. So the idea for a list of the hardest events I have done began formulating in my head. Well I had plenty of time (6 hours and 8 minutes to be exact) to come up with the last and the reasons why they are the hardest. I even came up with a ranking system using cans of Red Bull (again this is what happens when in the woods all alone and 8 miles to the next aid station/can of Red Bull). So the hardest events are the ones that require many Red Bulls (see caffeine) to keep going.

I want to preface this list by saying what is hard for me, may be easy for others. I have the unique ability to zone out on long runs and just kinda hang out in side my own head. I too would much rather run a marathon than a all out 5k in which I can taste the lactic acid in my mouth. So take this list for what it is worth and know that just because I rank something as "harder" does not mean that I think things below that are easy. This list is made up events that are all physically challenging and require serious consideration before doing another of the same or greater magnitude.

#1- Bimblers Bluff 50K- I know what you are thinking, this one is fresh in my mind so of course this would top the list right? Well yes and no, this was my second time doing this race and I really feel like it has given me the most difficulty. I was able to knock almost a hour off my time from two years ago but this is without a doubt a really challenging course. The run uses barely marked trails, crosses streams and rivers, and the course is marked using one sided red/white tape which often on a windy day is impossible to spot. There are several spots where you must scale rocks and or slide down paths on your butt. The downhills are soft and loose in terms of footing and even during a dry spell alot of the fire roads are filled with pond size puddles. Tack on a extra 1.5 miles and 2,500ft of vertical gain and this is without a doubt the toughest single day event I have done.

#2- Stone Cat 50 Miler- Running 50 miles is just a major grind on ones body. This particular course utilizes (4) 12.25 mile loops and all though they are relatively flat, the year I did the race one of the roads was flooded so at the end of each loop I had to change my socks. Running 50 miles is hard, running 50 miles in wet squishy sock sucks.

#3- Lake Placid Ironman- Everything was great...till I got sick....30 minutes into a 12 hour race. My swim time was 1:43 which put me with the Age group average of the 70-75 Males. While hanging onto one of the lifeguards and heaving he said to me "not in the Navy huh?" to which I replied "no I'm a {heave} Army guy". After that I thought the bike was not as hard as people make it out to be. Granted due to my poor swim I passed 1300 people so I guess that makes it more fun when you are the hunter and not the hunted. The run, well they say a Ironman run is where the race is made or broke and I got stuck somewhere in the middle. I knew running under 4 hours would put me under 12 for the day so I went out hard (see too hard) and just could not hold it together. When you are relegated to a walk/run because even though your mind wants to run but the body can't you know you are in for it. I did pull it together to finish by running all of the last miles after the hill into town. Overall this was a challenge worthy of it's title but I don't put it up there with being alone in the woods with 8 miles to go and not really sure where you are.

#4- Rev3 Quassy- It was my first and fourth half ironman and it is my white whale. So much so that I left it off the 2012 schedule to give me some time to take a deep breath before I attempt it again. First year looking back I was not trained to the level of a half ironman but that takes nothing from the difficulty of the course. Since it's inaugural race all the pros that have done it say it is easily one of the toughest bike/run combos on the HIM circuit. Second time I did it I was flying along have the race of my life when I got a flat 20 miles in. Then another and then another, lack of bike support had me walking a mile before getting assistance finally and finishing the race.

#5- B2B 150 bike ride- This is a 148 mile bike from Harpoon brewery in Boston to their brewery in Vermont. Sitting on a bike seat for 8 hours is less than fun. Add in heat, wind and a ton of hills and you have yourself a real long day. The first 100 was fine but everything after that is just monotonous and you really wish you were doing anything but. Overall I did not see the "fun" in doing this ever again, even with the allure of free beer once at the finish.

Looking back on the list I guess the common factor is that all these events exceed 5 hours. So events like the Boston Marathon (a very uninspired 4:13) did not make the list. I guess the shorter the event the less likely it is to make you regret what you signed up for. I am on record as saying I would much rather run a marathon than a all out 5k. I did just that last weekend running a 5k in 19:17 which is a pr for me. It hurt, my lungs wanted to explode, my legs were like dragging weights and I wanted to puke for exactly 2.9 miles. So it all is relative but when you are out there swimming/biking/running for more than 5 hours you start to question a lot of things. Will I finish? why am I here? This is stupid? Never again? However at the end of the day all those things fade and all that's left is a rinky dink piece of medal that goes around your neck and says you finished. And as cheap as that medal is I always wear it with pride for the rest of the day. Then it gets put in the bag with all the others and forgotten about. They are worthless in value but priceless in memories.

One last thing I thought of while running on Sunday. "Momma said there would be days like this, I just did not think I would be registering for them"

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Tis' the season

It's Ultra season again!! Last two years the end of my season has been finished up rather nicely with ultra marathons. For those that don't know, a ultra is any distance longer than a marathon.So two years ago it was my first ultra, a very tough, challenging 50K (31 miles), and last year it was a moderatetly hard 50 miler. After last years 50 I told Amy I would not be attempting that distance again but we both knew that would be a lie. I guess when we went out to dinner that night and she had to drop her fit 30 year old husband at the front door before she parked the car, running another 50 seemed stupid. Well as they say time heals all wounds and I found my self looking to end the season again this year with another ultra. And as much as I like to do different races and not repeat the same events the only race that fit the schedule was too yet again tackle the Bimblers Bluff 50K.

It was my first Ultra and I have come a long way since then and really hope it reflects in my race. To say I am in great shape right now would be far off. Two weeks ago I did something to my ankle in a off road duathlon and have not been able to really do much since then. So an injury has turned into a taper and I hope that I can gut out the race and do well placing wise in the process. Regardless of the outcome however is that ultra's are just a small group of people who are just genuinely happy to be out running. Rain, sleet, snow, or wind, nothing bothers these people and their enthusaism for running shows through. This is probably the reason I continue to get pulled into the Ultra races and look forward to running at least one every season. They are low pressure, fun challenges that are truly what I believe is the essence of endurance sports. Entry fees are reasonable, participants are welcoming, the courses are diverse and challenging, and the rules are simple.

I realized the other day while running that I was 29 when I ran my first 31 miler, then 30 and ran 50 miles. So this will be the last year that I can say I will run my age in miles but running 50K's. So this leads to my next thought.....If I can run 31, and I can run 50 then why not a 100...hmmmmmm. So I hope to keep running my age as long as I can, and or I reach 101.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Moving forward

Long time since my last posting and can honestly say it is not for a lack of training, but more so for a lack of inspiration. As the season wore on, and especially following Lake Placid everything said kinda lame. Sure I filled the last few months with races and events and took some time to just enjoy some long runs and rides. But with that came the same type of motivation that the Ironman had brought out in me. Bottom line was that no matter what "event" I did, none of them would pose the same challenge that LP did. Looking back I think that was a good thing, in that it gave me freedom to go out and enjoy some races, spend more time with Amy and really lock down a solid game plan for 2012.

First a quick look back at the time following Lake Placid. First I took it easy for a couple weeks which for those that know me was easier said than done. However it gave me some time to put together a good little plan for a targeted half ironman on Sep 11th. So after the rest it was back to a structured plan and a short buildup to FirmMan half Iron in RI. This turned out to be a great plan because all my long mileage carried over from Ironman training and allowed me just to sharpen the spear so to speak leading into the race. My goal for the half iron was a solid 5:10 and that would be a 13 minute pr for me at that distance. I knew the fitness was there and said to anyone that would listen, that I was gonna leave it all out there, or as I put it "die trying". Well that combined with a relaxed approach and picture perfect weather and conditions lead to a breakthrough race. I knew from the start that I was going well, and my swim and bike were both dead on, where I predicted them time wise. From there I pounded a Red Bull and headed out for the run. Immideatly I was flying but made a concerted effort to hold back knowing that even in a half marathon there can be a wall to hit at some point. Well that wall never came and I paced the absolute perfect half marathon for me. My Garmin shows that I never slipped out of a ten second window from my target pace. End result was a 1:37 half marathon that was only 3 minutes slower than my open pr for that distance. With my disatisfaction from all the time I felt I left out on the Lake Placid course I can say with a straight face that this race was the highlight of my season. I broke under 5 hours and allowed me to dream even bigger going into 2012.

So with the unexpected breakthrough at FirmMan the season was essentially over aside from some fun events that I would certainly train for but have no expectations (this is a complete and utter lie, Every true competitor can not and would never race without expectations, even if those expectations were to just enjoy oneself at xx:xx pace). So after the half my focus turned to supporting Amy in her goals of completing a century ride and then a half marathon in consecutive weeks. Mind you with her school load her training has been iffy but she always made the effort to get the "must-do" runs and rides in to be ready to go. And with that she absolutely crushed the century ride and then came back the following week and had a solid effort on a rainy,m windy day at the seacoast half marathon. I could not have been prouder of her effort and she continues to do things that even she thinks is not possible (marathon/triathlon anyone??).

Also since Lake Placid I was able to volunteer at a triathlon, which if you haven't stood on the non-competing side of a triathlon is great to experience. Really motivating to see people on the outside looking in. I also had the pleasure of nudging my little brother into a off road duathlon which he was able to compete in and also win his age group. Again could not be prouder of another family member doing something that they never though they would or could do. So what is left? oh just a ultra marathon (50K Bimblers Bluff)and then a gracefull exit stage left to get ready for 2012. I can honestly say that I think 2012 will be a breakthrough year for me. I learned so much this season both on and off the race course and will take all those lessons to be in the best shape going into all my races for 2012.

So without further adiue here is the game plan for 2012 (in pencil of course)
Feb- Hyannis Half marathon
Mar- Quincy Half marathon
Apr- Wrentham Duathlon
May- Lions spring sprint
June- Pat Griskus Olympic
July- Providence 70.3 and Race the Rez Xterra
August- Timberman
September- GSW century ride
Oct- TBA
Nov- Ironman Cozumel