Getting Closer to the Race

A few months ago I registered for The Land Between Lakes 50 Mile Race. I was pretty excited about it as I was going to travel to KY with a fun group of friends AND I would be running on warm nice trails that would not be covered with snow. Perfect training for Zumbro 100 which is coming up pretty darn quickly.

As the week arrived Tyler let me know that he was planning on spending his spring break at home. Well, I certainly didn’t want to be away while my son would be spending the week at home. 

A quick switch of plans and I decided I’d run out at Zumbro for a 40 mile training run. Pretty soon that didn’t pan out either. 

I decided to run it solo and keep it near home without any driving time or packing or anything else.  Poor Topaz would have to stay behind as I would try to run a few miles on trail but knowing that they were ice covered I brought along my road shoes for the road option.

Sure enough, I began on Blue Hill Trail, slipping and sliding in the darkness. It was horrible.  I ran 10 miles before I finally decided to change into road shoes and hit the County roads of Sherburne County.

I texted my sister to let  her know I was out running. I decided to run the 4 miles to her house to say hello, hoping I could get her to run a few miles with me. They were all going to church so she told me to come back at about 1230.  I filled my water bottle and headed back for the road.

The hours went by quite quickly as I ran here and there. After about three hours I headed back to Laurie’s house. They weren’t back from church yet so I ran another mile or two, turning back. Sure enough, they were driving up the road to her home as they passed me.

I was getting tired now, 31 miles into my run. Hoping to run another 7 or so. Laurie and started out and I was S L O W.  She jogged along side of me, staying at my pace. We ran for a few miles and I stated I was ready to head back to her place She ran me to her home, I was now at 34 and was going to head back to my car at the Blue Hill Trail.

A bit of walking shuffled in with running brought me back to the car. Woohoo!  I finished up 38 miles and was feeling pretty damn fine about it.

On Saturday I’m planning to heading out to Zumbro for another stab at a longer training run. I’d like to get over 40. 

Getting closer to that 100!

Tuesday Recipe: Taco Salad: Whole30 Style

After work, after my run, after baseball registration I whipped up this salad for my tomorrow lunch and dinner. Oh my gosh. It is SO good that I ended up eating it tonight for dinner along with Troy!  He wasn't sure about the purple cabbage but at least gave it a try.  His response "not bad" as he shoveled the last forkful into his mouth!

 I made a ton so I am going to drop off a tupperware for my sister at CrossFit-she brings my nephew to the same building for Taekwondo after my CF class, which is going well. Although last Thursday I learned that i have no skill in learning snatch , clean and clean and press. I suck miserably but practiced all weekend with a piece of PCV pipe because my form is horrible. Hopefully at class tomorrow it isn't as horrible as it was last Thursday.

This is REALLY good:

Brown 2 pounds grass fed beef
Season with 2 T chili powder, 2T garlic powder, 1/2 salsa, 2T cumin, 1 T ground  pepper, 1 T red chili pepper flakes

Mix:
1 head purple cabbage
1 clump green onions
2 mangoes oh my gosh how I love mango
2 cucumber
1 avocado
3 T olive oil
2T balsamic vinegar

Place greens onto plate, pile on beef. Oh yeah!  The cool crisp vegetables and fruit with the warm spicy beef is just wonderful.

Speaking of beef..I found another grass fed beef producer in the area that will DELIVER to me free of charge any Thursday!  Awesome.

My first batch will arrive this Thursday. He also invited me out to his farm to check out the operation. Gotta like that. I don't imagine I will see cows knee high in manure, being fed corn and being dosed with antibiotics because their stomachs can't digest corn.  OK, that's another tangent.

So enjoy the Taco Salad above. You will like.

Base Building: Wrapped Up?

I keep having this thought course through my brain:  I'm starting all over OR I'm experienced, it isn't like I'm starting over.  Two very different thoughts aren't they.  The thought I have depends on my level of confidence at any given time.


My last 100 mile race was Javelina Jundred I believe, in October of 2009.  OK, I had to go to ultrasignup to find out for sure. Yes, Javelina Jundred was my 14th 100 + mile race finish, so it has been quite some time!


Not only has it been a few years since I ran 100 miles but I was totally off any workouts from end of July to end of November this past year. 5 months is a long time. Longest time I've gone without running since I first began this wonderful sport 14 years ago.


Since November I have slowly been building up mileage. During the past 12 weeks I've gone from 0 mile weeks to 65 mile weeks. Today is the first time I hit the 60s. Three weeks ago I hit the first 50. I really had hoped to hit the 50s post Triple D but my feet were totally chewed up from those damn spikes I purchased. Bad bad idea. Man, I remember reading in Marathon! by Galloway when I first began this running adventure: NEVER TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.  He speaks the truth. The spikes were a strong reminder!  


I really think I have a decent base now; sure it is only 13 weeks long, but mind and muscle do have memory. I'm hopeful that my body is now strong enough to hit 2 a days, speed and hills. Only time will tell. I feel strong, I haven't had any disc pain at all, no nerve pain. I'm running at least 5 days, usually 6 days a week with 2 CrossFit workouts a week which I have only recently added. 


Today many of my good friends were heading to Welch to run rolling gravel roads -the trails are a mess with the new (only) snow we received mid week. I didn't take part in the fun as it is over 2 hours away, I had a MDRA Coaches Meeting at 100 and I wanted to make breakfast for Tyler, Amanda and Troy before Tyler left to take Amanda to the airport. Priorities, right!  Much to Topaz's disappointment I decided to run on the treadmill. I decided 6-10 AM would work well, everyone would then wake up and I could fry eggs and bacon and whip out some french toast.  For some reason I woke at 4 and had bundles of energy so instead of going back to sleep I chose to start an early run time. After a quick 4 miles through the neighborhood with Topaz at my side I changed clothing and headed downstairs. I downloaded a few movies onto my Kindle yesterday for the event-first time. I had My Run and Spirit of the Marathon all set to occupy me during a long run. 


I had great energy while running, I really enjoyed My Run. A story about a 56 year old man who loses his wife to breast cancer, leaving behind 3 young children. He's not a runner but decides to gain awareness for single parents he is going to run a marathon a day and will run from St Paul to the start of the Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia. It's amazing and he succeeds. After this movie was done I came up for a refill of water and 1/2 sweet potato, checked to see that everyone was still sleeping, and began to run again. I watched Spirit of the Marathon next. A movie about a group of people training to run Chicago Marathon. Some have never run a marathon, some have, some are elite such as Deena Kastor.  It was very good to watch as well.  When I came back upstairs to eat the other 1/2 sweet potato the kids were awake and moving around. I had 26 miles in so far so paused the movie and the treadmill and made breakfast for them, grabbing a sweatshirt to put on as I was beginning to chill. After everyone ate and I cleaned up I went back down to finish the remaining miles. Somewhere along the line I decided to run 50K as long as I had begun so much earlier than anticipated. As I began to run on my treadmill again I noticed my legs had become tight, my side was aching, my foot was sore. Good grief, suck it up. 5 more miles. I got off and stretched, felt better and finished up the movie and my run.  


I'm so glad I ran a 50K today!  It makes me feel as though I'm ready for the next phase of training. I'll add in hill workouts and speed now and see how I hold up.  If it is too much I'll go back to only endurance building workouts. After Zumbro 100 on April 13 I have 8 weeks before Kettle 100. Plenty of time for a preparation phase.


When I first began running it hurt to get to mile 13, it hurt a great amount as I was training for my first marathon. The past few 50Ks haven't hurt like that first 13 miler. It isn't like I'm starting over :)


I'm now on Day 4 of the kill the sugar plan!  So far so good. I did have headaches Day 1 and 2 but as I was running the other night it went away and hasn't come back.  Good riddance!