Adventure

Tue - April 3, 2007

Blah, blah, blogging (and running).

I apologize for the lack of blogging, I spent about 5 hours Friday and Monday evening trying to troubleshoot and fix Runalong but, as you can see, to no avail. I even downloaded and tried the iBlog beta update version 2.0 and it had the same problem. I've played with rebuilding my blog and with iDisk and everything I could think of and am pretty much out of ideas. And the "support" at iBlog doesn't answer my emails. I don't think iWeb is going to work for me and I'm not crazy about switching to Blogger but I'm running out of ideas and patience.

Anyway, today is the first non-Sunday in 5 weeks that I haven't gone for a run. My legs appreciate it. Last week I finished most of my runs with one mile at about 7:15 (hard enough to be hard, but not too hard). Yesterday I finished my short 7 mile run with two one-mile runs of 7:15 and 6:54. They're getting easier. I'll only run about 30 miles this week but I'll do about eight of these fast one-milers to keep my aerobic conditioning up. In the American River 50 Mile Race (4/14) I plan to do the first 29 miles (paved and mostly flat) at about a 9 minute mile pace. Studies have shown that in long races a 5 to 1 running to walking ratio is best for most runners so I'll be running 7/8 of a mile at about an 8:20 minute per mile pace, followed by 1/8 mile walking at about a 12:30 pace (90 seconds) to get my 9:00 average (6.67 miles per hour).

The last 21 miles of the course are hilly (over 3000 feet of climbing and equal descent), technical and possibly muddy so I'll be shooting for an 11-12 minute pace there to meet my goal of a sub-nine hour finish. My previous four finishes have all been under 10 hours with the fastest several years ago at 9:03. I'm a little older now (so they tell me) but I'm better trained this year so if it isn't too hot on race day I think my odds of meeting my goal are pretty good. We have five of us going from our congregation (counting my daughter) which just may be the most people from one congregation ever to run in any one ultramarathon!

Posted at 07:20 PM

Sat - March 31, 2007

Forced March: And the winner is...

Me!

If only all my goals were as well-defined and easy to meet as this.

My goal for March was to run 27 times (every day except Sundays- I've never done this before, usually running 3-4 times per week) for a total of at least 300 miles (I've been over 300 only once before, until this month my most miles for March was 211 and my second most for any month was 241).

Totals: 27 runs for 306 miles. I may actually have run more than last May's 311 as I was careful to GPS all my runs this month (rather than estimating) and GPS tends to slightly understate distance on twisty trails. But that's OK; I used to be an accountant and every accountant knows that it's better to have an objectively determined number, even if it's wrong, than a subjectively determined number, even if it's more accurate.

My shortest run was 5.5M, my longest was 33.5. My pace was generally between 10-12 minutes per mile on the trails (including walking breaks) and 8-10 minutes per mile on the roads. My running is 80% trails and on the twisty, rocky hilly trails around here, 11:00 mpm is harder than 9:00 mpm on the roads. This past week I was starting to recover enough that I was able to work in five miles of speedwork at an average pace of about 7:10 mpm. At the American River 50 mile race in two weeks I'll be aiming for an average speed of about 9:00 mpm for the first 29 miles (the mostly flat, mostly paved section) and about 12:00 mpm or better over the last 21 hilly trails miles.

Best of all: I ate a LOT of ice cream this month, and didn't put on any weight! Now I'm off to the buffet!

Posted at 04:51 PM

Fri - March 30, 2007

Forced March: Penultimate Progress Report!

Tomorrow's the last day of my quest to run 300 miles in 27 days (every day except Sundays) in March, a feat never before accomplished in human history by any 52 year old pastor named Mark!

I'll let you know how it all came out. For now I'll just say, I'm still on schedule.

Meanwhile I understand that my quest for 300 miles in March has been made into a hit movie called, appropriately enough: "300"

I haven't seen it but I understand it isn't for the faint of heart. Hey, I'm living it- I could have told you that!

Posted at 07:06 PM

Wed - March 21, 2007

March Madness: Progress Report #3

My goals for the month are 27 runs (every day except Sundays) and 300+ miles. 2/3 of the way through the month I'm at 18 runs and 220 miles. I got some nasty exterior "shin splints" (tendinitis) after last Friday's 33 mile run on pavement but, because of my stupid goal (!), decided to keep running anyway. All day Sunday and Monday my shins were swollen and very sore (and painful to the touch) and repeated icing, massage and anti-inflammatories were no help, but after a slow 10 mile run the swelling was down and they felt much better (not completely better!). I got home and looked at the mail and my new issue of UltraRunning Magazine had an article telling how doctors were now recommending active gentle exercise for tendinitis rather than rest. Cool!

My energy is still down, but getting better each day, I think the 33-miler, on top of the 150 miles in two weeks, took a lot out of me. I'm shooting for 70 miles this week, then I'll start tapering. My main "symptom" so far is that I need about an hour more sleep each night. I can tell that I'm becoming stronger though. If this month doesn't kill me off completely I'll be a regular ultrarunning machine by the time April rolls in!

Posted at 10:47 AM

Sat - March 17, 2007

33.5 mile run

We survived our training run from Round Mountain back to Redding on Friday. Well, at least two of us (Steve and I) did. We left the other Mark back at mile 19, unable to continue. I'll bet those Oak Run turkey vultures had a real feast last night! We'll miss you, Mark, but we'll think of you whenever we see vultures circling overhead.

The hilly 12 miles to the Oak Run store weren't bad (we were still fresh) and the grilled cheese sandwich and Mountain Dew beat most restaurant meals I've ever had. But Oak Run to Palo Cedro was the pits. 15 shadeless miles down the pavement at 85º. It was only 2 1/2 hours but it felt like being slow roasted. Steve had stomach problems and I just had attitude problems.

But after a popsicle at Palo Cedro (and waiting for Steve and his stomach to catch back up), the sun was low and the last 7 miles of hilly but shaded running was surprisingly pleasurable and I finished with energy to spare (probably thanks to the Mountain Dews!). Steve finished with his insides still inside him, so that was a victory also. Total travel time- six hours, total time including the two long stops- seven hours.

Special thanks to Ted for bringing us cold drinks on the road and for hauling Mark's carcass back home before the vultures finished him off completely.

Posted at 11:28 AM

Tue - March 13, 2007

Clickapudi Trail

This was our President's Day run. Steve and I did two laps around the Clickapudi trail by Shasta Lake.

This Friday afternoon three of us will be running from Round Mountain back to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. It's supposed to be 85º so it might turn into a whining competition. Here's our route - send a S&R team if we aren't back in time for church on Sunday. And yes, that link IS a really cool program- have some fun playing around with it for your own self.

Posted at 09:46 PM

Gee, this run smells terrific!

Scenes from today's 16 mile run. The run smelled great- I took these pictures with my odoromatic camera so if you have an odorometron, just plug it into the USB port in your computer and when you click on the pics you'll be able to smell the blossoms- just like I did (be sure and use the proper filtering software so you can't smell me).

Posted at 09:44 PM

Sat - March 10, 2007

March Madness: Progress Report #2

Thanks for being my accountability partners!

March goals: 300 miles, 27 runs.
This week: 70 miles, 6 runs.
Speedwork (relatively speaking): Monday- 3X 1/2 mile at 3:35 each; Thursday- 3X Mile @ 7:30 each.
1/3 of the way through the month: 103.5 miles, 9 runs.
Next week's goal: 90 miles, 6 runs.

My legs are glad I'm taking tomorrow (Sunday) off!

Posted at 10:35 PM

Wed - March 7, 2007

March Madness: Progress Report #1

Neither rain nor direct sunshine are my favorite conditions for running, but when it's lightly raining AND the setting sun is shining on me at the same time AND a full bright double rainbow is filling the sky to the east, well, it just doesn't get much better than that. Such was today's abbreviated (due to time constraints) run.

Nevertheless I'm only a mile or two behind schedule. My goal for March: 27 runs totaling over 300 miles. After one week: Six runs, 64.5 miles.

Posted at 09:13 PM

Mon - March 5, 2007

Forced March

Now that February is over and I seem to finally be over the chest cold from heck, I'm beginning serious training for the American River 50 mile race on April 14 . I'm usually a low-mileage guy (for an ultra-marathoner), averaging about five hours of running a week. In March I hope to put in over 300 miles, which, at my ploddy pace, will take about two hours a day (every day except Sunday). My record for March is 211 and I've only gone over 300 miles once in my life so this will be a challenge. But I finished AR in 9:38 last year on minimal training (due to an injury) and my PR there is 9:08 so I'm going to make it my main event for 2007 and shoot for a sub-9 hour finish. Stay tuned.

Posted at 12:54 PM

Thu - March 1, 2007

Happy 10th Anniversary to me!

At the end of February 1997, at the age of 42, I began my running "career" by running to the end of the driveway with my dog. That was a far as I could go! The next day I went fifty yards farther.

Et. Cetera.

Since then I've run over 15,000 miles and completed over 40 ultra-marathons (the first was six years ago this month), ranging from 31 to 102 miles in length.

I'm just getting warmed up.

Posted at 11:09 AM

Fri - January 26, 2007

Man vs Wild

I'm still (!!!) under the weather so I took an hour and watched this show on the Discover channel. It's obviously staged and scripted and Bear Grylls is a little too Steve-Irwinish for my tastes but even if it's only slightly more realistic than 24, it's just as entertaining and a lot more educational. I just watched the Moab episode but what I really want you to watch is this little two-minute "sushi" compilation "Eating Raw" . Bon appetit!