Wrightsville Marathon- The Good & Bad

I've worked harder than ever since November. Training has been great. In 2011, I've:

* Had a great 24 hour race going until mile 68 when I got hurt.
* Half Marathon PR
* 50K PR on a solo training run
* Another Half Marathon PR en route to a solo 18 mile training run (silly, I know)
* Great Mt. Mitchell Challenge
* Several other 20+ mile training runs that went well
* Good hard workouts

I was really excited about this race & ready to go but the week after the Mt. Mitchell race was too light. I missed some runs because I was busy and sore and only got 19 miles in that week. I was ready for a Sunday long run when I stood up and my back seized up. I could only run 4 miles the next 10 days and then one day my back was fine. I ran Wednesday, Thursday & Friday with no problems and decided to run Sunday's Wrightsville Beach Marathon.

I was a little nervous that I'd struggle only getting in 23 miles in 17 days. I thought there was a decent chance I could have back problems again. Neither of those problems occurred but a very significant one did arise. Let's just say I had severe stomach issues. I don't know why I get like that sometimes. I used to eat too much before races, but didn't even come close to eating too much (or the wrong things) the day before this race. I really don't know what caused it, but I woke up with stomach pains and from the start, I had intense stomach cramps. I was still able to run 7:20 miles easily for the first 4 miles before it really hit me.

Once I'd stopped a few times, I realized the sub-3:20 I was shooting for. I sort of gave up there in the middle of the race to settle my stomach and because I knew my time was out the window. I threw up and immediately started feeling better around mile 18 and pushed harder the last several miles. I really enjoyed myself the last 8 miles.

I ended up running 3:39:44. Considering I wasn't moving for probably 18-20 minutes, I feel pretty good about it... especially since days just don't get much worse than that. I ran pretty strongly when I was able to actually make forward progress. Not even close to having to walk. Virtually no fatigue. Legs felt good. It actually felt easy and short. Felt very confident even though things didn't go right. I am positive I could've run under 3:20 and set a PR by several minutes. Bad part is I just don't run many marathons so I don't know when I'll have a chance to take advantage of the better running I've been doing on a better day. I'll have to look at the calendar.

The course had a lot of loops and turns and didn't flow very well. There were a lot of spectators on the course. Average shirt, medal, post-race stuff, etc. for a race of that size. Weather was super. Had been a lot warmer the two days earlier but was in the 40s until the very end when it was probably about 52.

I didn't come close to accomplishing what I set out to do, but I actually feel pretty good about it. I did the best I could given the circumstances, know I could've done a lot better, and still 3:39 isn't terrible for me. Better luck next time- whenever that may be.

Oh- and a little footnote- I don't think I've ever run the day after a marathon or ultra. I went out today for 2-3 easy miles but the team was doing a hard fartlek workout. When they went hard the first time, I felt compelled to do so and made it through the whole workout. BARELY. I was really struggling but managed to stick with the top girls, grunting and groaning the whole way. I'm not sure why I did it. Dumb, I guess.

Great Mount Mitchell Challenge!

This is my 3rd time doing at least some of this race. In 2009, I was coming off a 100 miler and felt like "just" running the marathon would be the best option. In 2010, I signed up for the 40 miler, but the course was cut short due to terrible conditions. I was really nervous both of those years. I love running in the mountains, but I'm slow uphill. This time, I was very confident and excited about running it and finally seeing all of the trails. I wasn't disappointed. Had a great race!

7 AM start in the town of Black Mountain which is at 2405' in elevation. You go up to the top of Mt. Mitchell which is the highest peak east of the Mississippi at 6684' and then back to the town of Black Mountain. The first 2-3 miles is paved and slightly uphill until you get to Montreat College, go up a steep hill and hit the trails. I had planned on running as much of the race with a buddy of mine as I could. He's always faster than me but I thought I could hang onto him to the marathon turnaround. I lost him right at the start, waited a little for him, but ended up running ahead on my own. I had looked forward to the companionship. More and more, I really get lonely and start thinking negative thoughts on my own in long races, but get distracted when I'm with people. I did latch onto some strangers and acquaintances during the race though. I ran 15 miles on the way down by myself and enjoyed it.

I went slow for the first mile waiting, then picked it up a bit. Walked the steep road at mile 2-3 and enjoyed the narrow singletrack from about miles 3-6.5 more than I remembered. A good chunk of the race is on the Toll Road, which I believe was an old railroad line and then old road. It is a moderate grade. Very runnable and not the gruelling climb you'd expect "running up a mountain." Wide but very rocky. Muddy in places during the race. You run up the Toll Road until about mile 14. I felt great, chatted with some people, and stayed relaxed. Ran the whole way until mile 10. This guy started talking my ear off and asking me questions that required long answers. Friendly but as soon as he started talking he wanted to walk. We walked probably 70% of the next half mile together. I didn't want to but wanted to keep talking to him. Finally, I left him, but he kinda threw me off my game. I took four or five 30 second walk breaks in the next 2 miles even though I didn't really feel like I needed them. I got to the marathon turnaround at mile 14 (it doesn't go back exactly the same way) at 2:35. The cutoff was a little tight I thought at 3:00. But I got there in plenty of time, felt good and decided to celebrate the accomplishment (Last year in the deep snow, I was legitimately worried about making the cutoff.) with a more substantial break. I broke the race down into segments and kept looking forward to the next piece. "Can't wait for the Toll Road!" "Can't wait for the Parkway!" "Can't wait wait to get back to the Toll Road!" When you get off the Toll Road and to the Blue Ridge Parkway, everything opens up and for a half mile, you are surrounded with great views. I took them in, took a few pictures, ate, drank, situated stuff in my pack, soaked in the sun and walked for most of that 1/2 mile even though most if it's downhill. Just enjoyed myself. It was a good mental break. Worked hard up to that point. Knew I'd have to work hard on the steepest parts ahead, and just took it easy for a few minutes.

I had never been on the next part of the trails but I expected them to be rough. In actuality, they weren't bad at all at first. You're on the Buncombe Horse Trail which is flat in places, wide, not very technical, but pretty muddy with snow melting and rain the day before. There was patchy snow and ice in places here, but nothing more than a few steps at a time. I stayed with a few people for most of this 4-5 mile section and it was a lot of fun. I very easily could've picked it up here if I wanted to pick up 5 minutes. Felt good pushed at a decent pace, but was well within my limits. Took a few pictures and bathroom breaks and kept catching up to my group. Towards the end of this section, you come out into some clearings and the terrain was really rocky and dry. Didn't look like NC to me. The dead hemlocks and firs weren't as apparent to me as they were other times I've been to Mt. Mitchell. I was enjoying the views when SPLAT, I tripped on a rock and landed on my side in a giant puddle of melted snow. I was completely soaked. Would've been bad if it were cold, but the temp at the top was probably 38 and 60 at the bottom. Unbelievably PERFECT conditions.

The last 1.5 miles to the top is narrow singletrack that you have a hard time recognizing as a trail sometimes. It's straight up. Rooty and rocky too. Not very runnable. I could've scrambled a little faster and run 4-5 steps between rocks here and there, but I was content staying with another group I'd joined. The last half mile up was icy and very slippery. I put on the YakTrax which were helpful for that half mile + the first mile downhill. Made it to the top in 4:30. At the top, I took some pictures and talked to some people before heading back down. Beautiful clear day with 360 degree views from the observation tower. There are plenty more miles to go from the top, but you know the real work is done at that point. Good feeling.

I went down the first 1.5 miles very slowly talking to a guy I'd run with earlier. VERY slowly. Thick, slippery ice. Super steep. After this steep downhill singletrack, the trail dumps out to a gravel road. I knew this was a moderate uphill mile and decided to get serious and work hard from that point on. Ran almost all of that uphill section and then went as fast as I could go the next 15 miles or so. 2-3 miles pounding down the Mt. Mitchell entrance road made my stomach a little queasy. Still felt kinda bad the top mile of the Toll Road but kept running fast. Passed 15 people or so on the way down. No one passed me. Pushed as hard as I could go. Felt great.

Kept looking forward to the road, which means about 3 miles to go. Ran down the Toll Road with a grin on my face knowing that I would finish strong. When I saw the road for the first time, I think I may have literally laughed out loud. You hit Appalachian Way and fall out of the sky. The steepest paved road I may have ever seen. Always burns the feet. A lot of people walk down because it's rough on the quads, but I've never had a problem with it except for the feet. Flew down and then hit the flat last 3 miles and went as hard as I could. 8:00 miles. Seemed a lot faster than that, but after 35 miles, that's still pretty fast for me. Felt fantastic. Hit Lake Tomahawk 1/3 mile from the finish and felt like really kicking, but that seemed silly. I did finish strong but scaled it back more than I wanted to.

Finished in 7:43:05 in 74th place out of 179 people registered and 129 finishers. Not sure how many people didn't meet the marathon turnaround cut off and how many just chose to turn back there. With the number of people on the wait list, I wouldn't imagine many people registered just didn't show up.

I feel really good about this race. Everything was perfect. Couldn't imagine feeling any better. Felt very strong. Could've taken it a little harder on the way up, but I really enjoyed my day and was happy with how things went. Had fun, ran hard, got to spend 8 hours with beautiful scenery doing something I love to do and met people along the way. Couldn't beat this experience.

Pre-Mt. Mitchell Thoughts

picture from last year's Mt. Mitchell Challenge near the top.

Saturday brings the Mt. Mitchell Challenge- 20 miles to the top of Mt. Mitchell and 20 miles back down. Last year, there were single digit temps and 30-50 mph winds along with a lot of snow. I worried for weeks about it last year. I'm not nearly as worried this year and have barely thought about it until the past couple of days.

I'm expecting it to be about 10 degrees warmer this year- around 35 at the start and in the teens- maybe 20s at the top. Reports sound like snow, and some tricky footing, but not as bad as last year. Expecting less snow at lower elevations. Report said 2 foot drifts of crusty snow you could run on top of in places, but around 4" more common in upper elevations. It was around 30 and snowing yesterday while being above 60 in Black Mountain where the race starts.

Two years ago, I did the marathon, which doesn't cover the upper part of the course. Last year, I did the Challenge, but it was rerouted to the roads above the Parkway, so I still haven't seen the upper trails.

I plan on bringing a lot of gear to the race. I'll decide on what to bring with me at the briefing meeting the night before. My guess is that I'll start in shorts with calf sleeves (which sort of serve as leg warmers) with a short sleeve and a long sleeve shirt & hat. I'll carry a thin shell, pants/tights, and Yak Trax. That may be all, but I'll bring more in the car with me. I guess I'll take a hydration pack with a bottle in the pocket and a my extra clothes where the bladder goes.

Conditions and terrain make this less about racing for me and more about survival. I struggled last year and my training had been terrible. Lately, it's been good. No time goal or anything though. I finished a disappointing 87th out of 121 finishers last year (many no shows & people who were forced to, or decided to turn around early). I'd like to finish better than that and should barring any problems. I feel good about it.

Speaking of training, yesterday, I went out and ran a hard 18 miles with the GPS. I actually ran a half marathon PR by a few seconds! Really pushed it. Intentionally slowed down just a little the last 5 miles and averaged 7:12/mile for the 18 miles. Followed it up with a hard tempo run with the team today. Legs sore. I'll take it easy the next few days, take care of myself and be ready to go Saturday. Excited!

Peak to Peak to Peak to Peak at Crowders

Had a great ~4 hour run Sunday at Crowders Mountain State Park. Parked at the Visitors Center which is between Kings Pinnacle & Crowders Mountain. The Visitors Center is at 850' elevation and each peak is at about 1700'. I went up Kings Pinnacle, then Crowders, then repeated. Felt absolutely perfect! Ran all the way up each time (except on some of the icy stairs on Crowders), which I've never done before. Great run!

I came upon a couple who were in their 70s. They asked if they could take my picture. I said, "Yes" and stood there. They said, "No go back and run towards us again." I obliged. They asked if I had a camera with me and wanted to take my picture with it. Here's what came out:

Good Weekend? 2 PRs?

I guess I set 2 PRs this weekend, but have mixed feelings about both.

Winter Flight 8K in Salisbury on Saturday. I used to run this race with my dad in the mid-80s. Haven't run an 8K in over 20 years. I didn't remember this race being so hilly! I did a lot of thinking before the race and felt pretty confident I could run 6:20 miles for a 31:40. First mile was 6:18. After that, there was hill after hill. Long fairly steep ones. Each was about 2:00. The whole last 4 miles I was either going up a hill or recovering from one with the next one in sight. I ended up with a 34:13- 2:33 slower than I expected. 1:30-2:00 of that could be attributed to the hills and :30-1:00 of it could be because I backed off a little (not much) when I knew I'd be slower than I thought. I feel like I kept it steady and hard, but the time is not a very good gauge of fitness due to the course. Results say I was 43rd overall out of 260- top 16%. 4th in my age group. I guess this was a PR. I haven't run an 8K since I was about 13, so... I feel OK about the race. Tried hard but I'm so bad in the hills that it's hard for me to recover before I get to the next one. I ran within myself but it was a hard effort. Here are some pictures.

Sunday, I went to McAlpine with the GPS and ran 50K. I didn't set out to run a PR time, but I did feel bad about how Frosty 50 turned out and an hour into it, I felt good and the average pace was 7:50, so I decided to break my PR of 4:41. I felt good for the first half and averaged 7:55/mile through 15 miles. Then two miles around 8:20 and then crashed. Last half, I averaged 9:09/mile. I guess the good thing is I never dipped to 10:00/mile or below. I was able to keep my running pace to about 8:40/mile with some breaks for water and bathroom. I really felt terrible the last 15. Just felt like sleeping. So tired. I think the weather had something to do with it. All of my long runs in the past 3 months have been at 45 degrees or below. Most in the 30s. I started at 11 AM and it got up to 73 today! Tomorrow's high is back down to 45. Sheesh! Very sweaty & salty. All out in the open at McAlpine. I think it really zapped me.

I ran a 4:27:40, bettering my PR by 14 minutes, but I don't feel great about it. First of all, it doesn't really count since it was by myself, but the main thing is just that I'm worried b/c I felt so bad so early in the run. If I die at mile 15 of the marathon in March, I'm in trouble. Obviously, if I was running a 50K race and expecting to do well, I wouldn't run an 8K race the day before, but I don't think that had a major impact on today's run. My energy level for last weekend's 20 miler wasn't great either. Sleep hasn't been good at all lately. I didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep any weeknight this week. I usually crash Sunday and don't do anything except lay around and run. Both of these long runs were on Sundays. I'll make an effort to sleep better this week and hopefully perk up a bit next weekend. If next weekend's 25 mile training run goes bad, I'll adjust the training plan.

Marathon Plans- Hard Training

The thing I've loved about trail running and ultra running for the past few years has been the relaxed nature of it, but I guess that doesn't have to go hand-in-hand with the distance or terrain I choose to run on necessarily. I was so burned out on stressing over pace and setting PRs in road races. Looking back on it though, I wonder how hard I really pushed though. I can recall some mile interval sessions on the Asheboro golf course in 2002 and can say I'll probably never run that hard again, nor do I want to. A hard run always meant vomiting. There are things I didn't know then and things that I'm capable of now that will make my training better I think. Now that I'm running a bit faster I've regained interest in seeing what times I'm capable of.

Ready to push like I haven't since... really ever. I signed up for a road marathon March 20. Wrightsville Beach Marathon will be the first road marathon I've done since 2007 (I did casually run the Wild Hare training marathon in 2009, but that doesn't count) and I'm coming at it with a completely different approach.

For the first time in 6 years, I sat down and made a training schedule. What? I have been running what I feel like running, with the idea that I should get a long run in here and there and some hard efforts with the kids when it fits. But I felt like to have a good performance in March, I really need to focus on what I'm doing. Imagine that. I've developed a completely different philosophy too. I'm not sure it's that radical, but it's a lot different from what I used to do training for marathons. Here's what I used to do: An average day was 5-6 miles. I ran one tempo, fartlek or interval session each week, and I had a pattern for my "long" runs each week: 10, 12, 10, 14, 10, 16, 10, 18, 10, 20, 10, 20, 10, marathon race. Two days off each week. Weekly mileage was somewhere around 40-45 usually. I think this is fairly typical for a lot of beginner marathoners, but looking back on it, is there any wonder why nearly every marathon I fell apart between 16-20 miles??

I have always been one to experiment against sound training philosophy on purpose just to prove the validity to myself. Used to be, "What happens if I try to run 2 hours at tempo pace?" or "What does bonking feel like?" Most sound training philosophy says you can't increase volume and intensity at the same time. I think increasing each a little will be OK though. I have been running workouts harder than I ever have before. Started that at the end of November. Mileage is high for me at this time of year but not what I would consider truly high mileage. I often get in 75-100 mile weeks in the summer, but as a teacher, coach and dad, it's hard to do it during the school year. I know I couldn't handle 80 miles/week and hard, but I think 55-65 and hard will push me but not over the edge.

I used to do hard workouts that made me puke, like I said, but I think I can do even harder ones now, and do them smarter. These will be geared more for marathon+ than 5K racing. Last week, I did 8x400, which sounds easy, but I did them in 1:20 with a :30 rest, which is tough for me. Today I did 2 x 2 mile with a 4:00 break in between. I did today's run at what I consider tempo or 10K pace. It's hard to gauge that sort of pace since it's not all out. 2 miles at tempo on the track + warmup & cooldown has been my favorite rainy workout since about 2003. I've always been right at 13:20 and felt like it was comfortably hard. Today, I did two of them and was at 12:50 and 12:38 and felt like it was no harder than usual. So the hard workouts are going along nicely.

It stands to reason that a person who perpetually dies at mile 16-20 of a marathon and never runs over 20 in marathon training should consider bumping that up right? Eh, when I was training for marathons everything I read cautioned about going over 20-22 miles and 20 really was a struggle most of the time in training. So if you're putting in training runs of 26, 30, 40... you should fare much better shouldn't you?? Of course, not the best advice for someone looking to run their first marathon, but coming from ultras and moving down to marathon distance, this makes sense to me- work hard during the week and keep the long runs coming on the weekends. I'll also bump up my average weekday run to 7-8 miles and still get in 1-2 days of rest a week. In my schedule, I have stopped short of planning each day, but instead, have planned out the runs I need to do each week and then pick the days I want to do them on as I go along. My weekly long runs in the 9 weeks leading up to the marathon are: 20, 30, 26, 26, 18, 40 (Mt. Mitchell Challenge), 20 & 14.

On occasion, my long runs get pretty pedestrian... not really the running so much- I run at a decent pace, but sometimes I walk hills, appreciate the scenery, take a longer than needed break at the car to refuel, etc. Sometimes, that has to do with climbing thousands of feet on rough trails, but some of it's in my head. In the next 2 months, I'll move away from trails to an extent and plan the long runs where I can get better leg turnover and focus on running at a better clip with fewer distractions. Read "boring." :) But it's just temporary.

So I'm looking forward to the adventure of Mt. Mitchell in a month, and Hinson Lake in the fall is always high on my list of things to look forward to, but the marathon in 2 months has been the motivating spark the last couple of weeks. I'm excited. I'll know what time goal to go after closer to the race when I've figured a few things out.

Half Marathon PR and a Great Rebound

1:33:57 and felt good at the Charleston Half Marathon!

After a great November and December of training I felt so good. So confident. Then I had to drop out of Freedom Park 24 Hour Run after 74 miles due to injury. Thought I'd be OK to run 50K the next week and was still hurt and had to drop out of it. Those two things combined with the simple fact that I was hurt had me really down. When I signed up for these 3 races, I knew I could run a 24 Hour/100 mile PR, 50K PR and Half Marathon PR, but wasn't sure if I could do them all back to back to back. I couldn't, but did get the Half.

I hadn't run a half marathon since 2002. I had no idea how to pace myself. 7:00/mile seemed fast. 7:30 seemed slow. This race was such a low priority, I gave it no thought until the drive down to Charleston. "I know I can go under 1:45. I don't think I can go under 1:30. Under 1:40? 1:37? Who knows?" My wife asked me the name of the race as we drove down. "I dunno... Charleston Half Marathon, Riverfront Half Marathon... I'm not sure." Yeah, I didn't put a lot of mental prep work into this one, but I did know if I ended up dropping out of another race or hurting so bad I had a bad race, I was going to lose it! So, I did no training at half marathon pace, whatever that is. Haven't run thinking, "OK, this is the right pace." Nothing like that. Seriously, 30 minutes before the race, I ran a total of about 2 miles figuring out with my GPS what seemed right. 7:12/mile seemed good I decided. Ha!

It was 31 degrees an hour before the start and quickly warmed to around 42-45 by the finish. Felt good. Course went through historic Charleston for the first 6 miles or so and was a great venue. Then went along a divided highway that was less scenic and finished up along the water. Point to point course, which poses some logistical problems. Again, I didn't bother to look at the map and realize it was point to point until the day before the race. Of course, being in Charleston, it was flat & fast, which was good for keeping an even pace. I had forgotten how important pace is to me in a shorter race. This is the only race I've ever worn GPS in and I must say I looked at it every 1/4 mile or so. Helpful little tool.

I went out just a little faster than planned but it felt very comfortable- just under 7:00 pace. Held that pace pretty evenly for the first half and then made a noticeable drop off but never slid much from the second pace. Mile 10* was a little off because of a short fairly steep hill (the only one on the course) and an aid station I walked a few steps to drink at. Picked it up a bit at the end with a nice kick. Splits:

Mile 1- 6:53, Mile 2- 6:59, Mile 3- 6:56, Mile 4- 6:54, Mile 5- 6:52, Mile 6- 6:58, Mile 7- 7:13, Mile 8- 7:16, Mile 9- 7:18, Mile 10- 7:40*, Mile 11- 7:29, Mile 12- 7:25, Mile 13- 7:11

Ended up at 1:33:57. My previous PR was 1:34:37. Honestly, I didn't know that until I looked it up after my finish. I couldn't remember if it was 1:33 something or 1:31 something. Neither one. I'm telling you, I didn't put much (OK, zero) emphasis on this race. Finished 74th overall out of 1504 people. That puts me in the top 5%, which is very high, but I don't think it says much about me, but rather the changing face of running. It's been a long time since I've run a big road race like this and it was a good experience, but things have really changed.

While I did no prep work for this race, doing poorly would've been pretty crushing and doing well was a nice ego boost that I desperately needed. 1:33 isn't blazing fast or anything- I know that. Considering I'm not 100%, my training the past 2 weeks has been almost non-existent, and I haven't run a half marathon in 8.5 years, I'll gladly take it. I think I could go just under 1:30 with effort and planning- and I do like that distance, but I probably won't race another half for a long time.

My next race is even more foreign to me- an 8K that I used to do in the mid 1980s with my dad. It's been over 20 years since I've raced an 8K! :) After that, Mt. Mitchell 40 miler and then Wrightsville Beach Marathon. I signed up for it to run with a girl I used to coach but she decided not to run so I'm solo and looking for a solid marathon performance after the half!

Half Marathon PR! 1:33. No Pain. More Later.

I Think I'll Make It

I've gone to Carolina Sports Clinic a few times, ice, compressed, rested, and really tried to take care of myself the past two weeks. Tired of being hurt. After dropping out of last week's 50K, I promised myself I wouldn't run again until Wednesday, but then 5" of snow fell Monday! I looked out the window all day and wished I could be out there running in it, but resisted the urge. On Tuesday, I thought about putting on running shorts just because I missed them. Again, I resisted! Yesterday was my first day running and I'd told myself I'd run 10 miles to test the knee out and stop earlier if I needed to. If I could do that and have a decent Thursday run, I thought I'd be OK to run the Charleston Half Marathon this weekend.

Yesterday went OK. I ran at McMullen Creek Greenway for only the 2nd time ever. It was icy. The knee hurt from the first mile, but not nearly as bad and didn't effect my running- just pain. No hobbling, stopping or anything. It lessened as I went further and when I hit 10 miles, it hurt considerably less.

Today, I went out to ASC trails in Fort Mill and had a fantastic hour run in the ice and snow. I felt like a pioneer on some of the trails because I was the first person to use them since the snow. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. After no school for 4 days because of the snow, it was great to get out and run trails I love in conditions I love. MUCH less pain today. Didn't notice it for most of the run and from time to time, the knee would be a little achy but nothing bad at all. I will end up doing the half marathon Saturday.

DNFs- A Reflection

Did Not Finish. Words a runner never wants to speak, but if you do enough long events, it's bound to happen... or you do finish and die doing so... In all of the races I've done over the years, I don't think I have what would be considered a lot of DNFs- 5 including 3 times going home after 17 hours in 24 hour races. They weigh heavily on me though. I wrote them down this week and thought about each one of them. Some I'm OK with dropping out of. Others, I regret. I should've known better than to even try Frosty 50 last weekend after severe problems the week before.

Someone told me recently that they think my injuries motivate me as a runner. I'm not certain what that means. I don't even feel like I have many injuries, but I do have this thing & that thing pop up in races... stomach, chafe, knee, ankle, dehydration, etc. etc. It would be easy to see these things as excuses. Maybe they are. It is getting more and more apparent that for every 2 bad races I have, it seems there's only 1 good one. Funny part is almost every single one of my long training runs is good. Most fun I've had, and the strongest I've felt in the past 3 months were two 40 mile solo runs in the mountains.

I've spent the past 2 weeks just kind of busted up. Left ankle. Right achilles. Right knee. Left foot... The 74 miles on New Year's really took their toll a lot more than I expected them to. I blame the asphalt, but of course, knew and accepted the challenge coming into it. Anyway, several people (mostly non-runners) have told me in the past 2 weeks, "You're not 18 (or 22, or...) anymore. You can't run like this. You have to back off, rest, and scale back the miles." They didn't mean now because I'm hurt, but in the future. I disagree. When I was 18 I had given up on running. Retired after 10 years and maybe 150 races. Burned out. By the time I was in my early 20s, I had gained a lot of weight, was cycling a good deal, but was no runner, for sure. So when people say "You're not 24 anymore." I think, "Thank goodness." I've been getting a lot of, "You can't keep doing this to your body" comments lately. Makes me feel like I'm headed to the old folks home.

In my recent frustration because of the last 2 races, I realized I am a better runner at 37 than I was at 7 (when I started training for my first 10K), 17 (high school XC/track runner), or 27 (running marathons and doing triathlons). A recent 5K time trial and intervals have proven that I'm as fast as I ever have been as an adult and I certainly couldn't run the miles I do now back then. So I'm very happy with where my running is right now, just very unhappy with the way the last two races went.

I took a 3 year break from road races (going to mix things up this year a little though) because I put too much pressure on myself. I felt like uncertain trail miles have a built in excuse in some ways, "Dude, it was really hard. Of course I was slow." Your time at a trail 50K which may not even be accurately measured matters a whole lot less than it does at the Myrtle Beach Marathon. The goal in ultras for me was always to have fun and finish feeling good, but really push myself. Lately, I've found myself putting more pressure on myself in ultras. And with ultras, the mind really has to be right. If I have a bad attitude running a 5K, so be it. I don't mean to belittle the mental aspect of shorter distances, and as a coach, I certainly understand how important the mind is. But if you're running 24 hours, 100 miles, 50K... there is so much room for real physical problems to arise, but also mental weakness. If you run all day and all night, you (at least I do) hear a million times, "UGH! This is so painful and so draining. Why don't you just quit so I can curl up somewhere and sleep?"

This sounds like a letter of resignation, but it isn't. I think it's important to address the physical and mental hurdles I've had lately in order to move past them. ...and I'm ready to move on. I have been doing a lot to try to heal up physically the last 2 weeks and have done a lot of thinking about how I can improve mentally.