Ran a 10k in June (8 Viewers)

[Clayton Gray]

Well from off the face of the earth....

My training for the Tough Mudder was going well. I was up to a 7-mile run - which took me just over 80 minutes, and I was surprisingly not overly tired after doing it. A few days after that, however, I was informed that my team wasn't going to make the trip. I probably could have gotten one guy to go with me, but he really didn't want to so I didn't press the issue. After that, I was a bit bummed and made a trip to Vegas and spent two weeks without running. Got back into it with one or two 2-mile runs per week - in adddition to my BJJ and MMA - but it was hard for me to really care about improving. Two weeks ago, my neighbor mentioned he was doing a 5k - which happened to be the same weekend as my now-off Tough Mudder - so I signed up for that.

So my first race ever was this morning. Seeing as I had easily run that distance several times, I had no worries about being able to finish. I didn't, however, know how fast my neighbor was going to run. He ran this event last year and finished in 25.x minutes, which is a little faster than my normal pace. In the past year, though, he has put on 15 pounds after going from an active job to being behind a desk. I also don't think he had trained much, so I guessed that I would be able to hang. My plan was to run with him as long as I could and just fall back if I absolutely had to. Let's face it - that distance is mostly about willpower, so I definitely figured on keeping it close.

Well, I sure did keep it close. I ran with him until the last quarter mile or so when I took off and left him behind. He admitted later that he wasn't in nearly as good of shape as a year ago. I felt great after the race and absolutely could have gone a bit faster as I often felt myself holding back a bit to stay with him. His goal was to make the top 100 - which was awarded a medal - and we did that, so it was all good for both of us. I can't remember my exact time, but it was around 26.5 minutes. It was fun times. I know that's not overly fast, but considering how crappy of a runner I've been for the vast majority of my adult life, making it under 30 minutes seems amazing to me.

Sorry I haven't been active in here. My only excuse is that the NFL season is really busy for me, but in all honesty I could have updated if I really wanted to. Anyway, I feel like a runner for the first time in my life, so I hope to make regular updates in here and help push you all to greater runs and better fitness.

 

[beer 302]

Nice job SFDuck! Way to gut it out. Hate to put in all that work and lose it to something like blister.

And Clayton, look at you, we'll done man. Stop by more often, this thread is a tremendous resource for those on the fringe.

Furley http://winthropeagles.com/news/2011/6/7/MXC_0607110827.aspx?path=mcross. What was mor impressive is there wer three behind that broke 4 minutes as well. How'd you like to be the guy that goes to work on Monday and says good news, I broke 4 minutes, bad news, I finished 4th.

 

[BassNBrew]

Well from off the face of the earth....My training for the Tough Mudder was going well. I was up to a 7-mile run - which took me just over 80 minutes, and I was surprisingly not overly tired after doing it. A few days after that, however, I was informed that my team wasn't going to make the trip. I probably could have gotten one guy to go with me, but he really didn't want to so I didn't press the issue. After that, I was a bit bummed and made a trip to Vegas and spent two weeks without running. Got back into it with one or two 2-mile runs per week - in adddition to my BJJ and MMA - but it was hard for me to really care about improving. Two weeks ago, my neighbor mentioned he was doing a 5k - which happened to be the same weekend as my now-off Tough Mudder - so I signed up for that.So my first race ever was this morning. Seeing as I had easily run that distance several times, I had no worries about being able to finish. I didn't, however, know how fast my neighbor was going to run. He ran this event last year and finished in 25.x minutes, which is a little faster than my normal pace. In the past year, though, he has put on 15 pounds after going from an active job to being behind a desk. I also don't think he had trained much, so I guessed that I would be able to hang. My plan was to run with him as long as I could and just fall back if I absolutely had to. Let's face it - that distance is mostly about willpower, so I definitely figured on keeping it close.Well, I sure did keep it close. I ran with him until the last quarter mile or so when I took off and left him behind. He admitted later that he wasn't in nearly as good of shape as a year ago. I felt great after the race and absolutely could have gone a bit faster as I often felt myself holding back a bit to stay with him. His goal was to make the top 100 - which was awarded a medal - and we did that, so it was all good for both of us. I can't remember my exact time, but it was around 26.5 minutes. It was fun times. I know that's not overly fast, but considering how crappy of a runner I've been for the vast majority of my adult life, making it under 30 minutes seems amazing to me.Sorry I haven't been active in here. My only excuse is that the NFL season is really busy for me, but in all honesty I could have updated if I really wanted to. Anyway, I feel like a runner for the first time in my life, so I hope to make regular updates in here and help push you all to greater runs and better fitness.

Congrats Carlton. It must be really tough during the season. I can't imagine the strange hours you guys must keep for 17+ weeks.

 

[BassNBrew]

Trail marathons are hard.

But I've got my first run of that length in the books since 2009! With over 4820' of climbing and 5100' of descent, I have a feeling I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

But all in all, it went pretty well. I went in with a loose goal of 5:30-6:00, but really just wanting to finish uninjured. I started at the back of the 150 participants, and we instantly started climbing. I power hiked this pretty well, and passed 20-30 people. In fact throughout the day I consistently passed people on the uphills - meaning for a back-of-the-packer I can hike a little. I even had a hottie (sorry no pics....yet) trying to catch me while she was running uphill say, "you have a great walk!" of course I slowed down for a minute or two to chat her up, and then we hit another climb and off I went. Of course with all of the climbing my plan to keep my HR at 141 or below did go out the window a lot quicker than I hoped, so I did start throwing down 1-2 GUs per hour starting at about the 80 minute mark, and my energy stayed solid all day. By mile 15 or so the downhills were starting to take their toll, and my feet, knees, and especially my quads were feeling it, but I was still running the flats and downhills pretty consistently, and really didn't get passed by many (any?) people at all through that stretch. Things were going well.

But at mile 23+ I felt like my little toe exploded, and couldn't take another step. I sat down and took off my shoe to see a bloody mess - popped blister. I've never had blister issues, so didn't have any moleskin/bandaids/duct tape, but I did have a little tube of body glide so I just rubbed that all over it, put the sock and shoe back on, and tried to keep moving. But it hurt so bad that after a 1/4 mile or so everything else started to hurt from overcompensating, and I started to get a little worried about being able to finish. But another 1/2 mile or so and the pain subsided (I think all the stuff just got squeezed out taking the pressure out, and the lube probably helped) and I was able to start running again.

At that point I thought I had blown my chance to beat 6:00:00, but knew if I picked it up a little I might be able to make it. Especially if my Garmin ended up registering short of 26.2, which it did - I ran the tangents all day like a mother! Shuffled along as quickly as I could and crossed in an unofficial 5:57:10.

Afterward I had a blast - bbq burgers, beer, and a who's who of Northern Cali ultrarunners (Western States jackets were everywhere) were hanging out, many of whom I had the chance to meet.

Pretty excited to feel like I escaped relatively unscathed, had a great day on the trails - and it's another step in my training for my 50 miler in April.

And now, I'll join the rest of you in waiting excitedly for Gru's update tomorrow!

That's a boatload of up and down and I know from experience that the down can be as hard as the up.

How many aid stations and what was on the menu???

 

[Ned]

Misc - Nice work! Keep on working those long slow runs. That strong feeling will become more frequent and your speed will always be there waiting to be unleashed.

prosopis - GL on your HM. Don't let that silly little mountain intimidate ya.

furley - I'm sure you wouldn't have been chicked had you not ran the scenic route. Good job on the 5 miler. Is that your first 5mi race?

beer - Ahhhh, I love this phase. You're quickly going to learn exactly what ya got. The pacing will be scattered for a while, but you'll figure this game out. The good news is you clearly have more speed than we realized, based on that first mile split. Tightening those up is just a matter of experience and getting a good aerobic base. Did you wear your HRM??

BnB - Lots of respect for posting the bad stuff. It's so easy to post the great races and workouts and gloss over the bad ones. If there was anyone I had faith in snapping out of a funk, it'd be you. You'll come around soon enough.

SFBD - Dude, thats a KILLER course. Congrats on finishing that sucker. Loads of respect for you mountain/trail guys.

Clayton - Sorry to hear about the tough mudder, but glad to hear you got a pretty good taste of running a race. A 26x with little training is solid. You'd be able to drop that in no time with some consistent training. Stick around and post more.

 

[Ned]

Week 14 of Pfitz 18/70 is in the books. This entire cycle (weeks 12-15) is going to be all jumbled up compared to the book since my racing schedule doesn't fit how he's got the racing mapped out. Plus, it's time to ramp up the deer hunting, so I've swtiched things around as best as I can. It's going to be a challenge to keep all of this going.

Tue (10mi MLR) - Already posted it, but surprised by the lack of sorness coming off of the hard 15K on Sunday. 9:03/143

Wed (14mi MLR) - OK, now this is what I thought Tuesday would feel like. Felt like crap and very sluggish. Had to really fight to keep going. I wanted to quit at mile 10. 9:15/142

Thur (5mi recovery) - I wanted to do a 6/4 double here, but time was tight so I did what I could. 9:48/132

Fri (12mi MLR) - 20mph winds totally consumed me. I let my ego get the best of me and pushed through the wind. Didn't feel very good here again. HR needs to be a few beats lower. 9:09/145

Sat (5mi recovery) - I didn't think I was going to get to run today with the busy kids schedule and my wife running her long runs on Saturdays, but I lucked out with my sister volunteering to hang with the kids so we could both run. Felt pretty good today, but still windy. 10:02/132

Sun (18mi w/ 14MP) - I don't know what to say. Same approach as my other MP runs where I looked to keep my HR in the low 160s. It was windy again today so I held back at the beginning. This is crazy... First 4mi to warmup at 9:15/140. Then came the 14MP:

5 - 7:51/157

6 - 7:57/157

7 - 7:58/158

8 - 7:56/159

9 - 7:48/160

10 - 7:56/159

11 - 7:51/161

12 - 7:48/160

13 - 8:08/163 (bridge x 2)

14 - 7:47/161

15 - 7:53/164

16 - 7:53/165

17 - 8:00/164

18 - 7:54/166

Comparing the 4 MP runs that I've done this cycle, this is a dream come true:

7/29 (16/8) - 8:38/163

8/19 (18/10) - 8:13/160

9/16 (16/12) - 8:00/162

10/14 (18/14) - 7:54/161

 

[Juxtatarot]

Misc - Nice work! Keep on working those long slow runs. That strong feeling will become more frequent and your speed will always be there waiting to be unleashed.

prosopis - GL on your HM. Don't let that silly little mountain intimidate ya.

furley - I'm sure you wouldn't have been chicked had you not ran the scenic route. Good job on the 5 miler. Is that your first 5mi race?

beer - Ahhhh, I love this phase. You're quickly going to learn exactly what ya got. The pacing will be scattered for a while, but you'll figure this game out. The good news is you clearly have more speed than we realized, based on that first mile split. Tightening those up is just a matter of experience and getting a good aerobic base. Did you wear your HRM??

BnB - Lots of respect for posting the bad stuff. It's so easy to post the great races and workouts and gloss over the bad ones. If there was anyone I had faith in snapping out of a funk, it'd be you. You'll come around soon enough.

SFBD - Dude, thats a KILLER course. Congrats on finishing that sucker. Loads of respect for you mountain/trail guys.

Clayton - Sorry to hear about the tough mudder, but glad to hear you got a pretty good taste of running a race. A 26x with little training is solid. You'd be able to drop that in no time with some consistent training. Stick around and post more.

Well put, Ned. Great job this weekend, guys!SFDuck What always comes through from your reports is how much you enjoy the experiences. That's an important lesson for some of us (like me!) who can have more of a love-hate relationship with the hobby. Congrats again!

Beer I was impressed by that first mile too. You might be surprised what you'd be able to do if you specifically trained for a 5K. Anyway, these 5K are going to help with your half marathon mentally and physically. It will be interesting to see what you decide to focus on for next year -- the distance races or this shorter stuff.

_____________________________

As for me, I'm completing a full week of rest. I feel mostly recovered although the pain in my calf I was feeling before the marathon hasn't completely gone away. I think I'll give it one more week.

Looks like I have at least one more race this year. My brother is getting back into running (he was never huge into running but has done some 5Ks, 10Ks and even a 10 Miler) and wants to run a 10K Thanksgiving Day when I visit him in Virginia. That should be fun. I am not sure if I want to take that race easy or train for it. Perhaps I'll through in a 5K in early November too?

 

[Juxtatarot]

Comparing the 4 MP runs that I've done this cycle, this is a dream come true:7/29 (16/8) - 8:38/1638/19 (18/10) - 8:13/1609/16 (16/12) - 8:00/16210/14 (18/14) - 7:54/161

Nice run, today! That's amazing progress! Do you remember the weather conditions on the 7/29 run? That one's such an outlier. Anyway, you certainly are on track for a great marathon!

 

[Ned]

Comparing the 4 MP runs that I've done this cycle, this is a dream come true:7/29 (16/8) - 8:38/1638/19 (18/10) - 8:13/1609/16 (16/12) - 8:00/16210/14 (18/14) - 7:54/161

Nice run, today! That's amazing progress! Do you remember the weather conditions on the 7/29 run? That one's such an outlier. Anyway, you certainly are on track for a great marathon!

Thanks! It's surreal right now, to say the least. That 7/29 run was a muggy one - 70/67. I just realized that this run would've been a 1:43 HM. 5 minutes faster than my PR. It's stupid how easy that was when I think about it that way. I can't wait for next Sunday.

 

[SFBayDuck]

That's a boatload of up and down and I know from experience that the down can be as hard as the up.How many aid stations and what was on the menu???

No doubt that the downhills hurt much more, especially the next day. It's hard to stand up this morning! Think I'll take a day or two off from running - and stairs.There were 6 aid stations, with the longest stretch between about 6.5 miles. Because of that stretch I did use a waistpack with a bottle along with my handheld, and sure enough that was the only time I used that 2nd bottle. Was very glad to have it, as several people around me ran out of water during that section.They were pretty basic aid stations with hot soup at one. But other than than that GU Brew, chomps, Cliff Shots, and S-Caps for the sports products, and then the usual assortment of potatoes next to a bowl of salt, M&Ms, gummy bears, pb&j sandwiches, pretzels, goldfish, cookies. I did have a couple of potato pieces early (just because I was hungry), but otherwise I stuck to GU Brew, gels, and chomps. I also did use Master Amino Pattern, with five 30 minutes before the race and 2-3 each hour or so. I was carrying candied ginger, in case my stomach went sideways. While it didn't, at one point I did stick a piece in my mouth and just sort of let it dissolve over 15 minutes or so, that was a nice little break from the gels and I think I'll continue to do that.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Damn, I missed a lot of stuff here the past few days.

prosopis -- Glad to hear training has gone well and that you enjoyed your last long run. Now taper well and kill that half.

beer -- Nice job. Obviously you could have cracked 26:00 easily with better pacing, but you can probably do sub-25 with a little speed-specific training. I know that's not a high priority right now, but it's something keep in mind for the future.

SFBayDuck -- That was awesome. I can't even fathom doing a course with that much climbing/decdending. Absolutely nuts.

Ned -- You are going to completely destroy this marathon. Sub-8 MP miles?

Clayton -- Congrats on your new PR and the medal. It sounds like you had a good experience in your first (of many?) race.

______________________

Not much for me. Like Jux, I more or less just took this last week off. I did 2 miles of easy jogging on Thursday just to see how everything felt. Then I was hoping to do 5 easy miles on Friday, but some stuff came up at work so I just bagged it. Normally I would have squeezed it in, but I figure the extra day off is probably at least as helpful as an easy run. Today I got 5 miles in after church -- that felt pretty good overall except for just a little knee pain, but that's nothing to be concerned about.

 

[prosopis]

Another great week of races in here. Congrats to all of you. I love seeing the fruits of every ones hard work coming through.

SF bay- That sounds like a whole lot of fun. These races are starting to sound like the way to go just for adventure and fun.

Thinking of Grue today. Hope he is enjoying it.

 

[tri-man 47]

Comparing the 4 MP runs that I've done this cycle, this is a dream come true:

7/29 (16/8) - 8:38/163

8/19 (18/10) - 8:13/160

9/16 (16/12) - 8:00/162

10/14 (18/14) - 7:54/161

Love it! Amazing what a lot of dedicated training will do, eh?Clayton - nice 5K! I'm glad it's got you excited for more.

--

I laid low most of the week after my HM last weekend. My calves were very sore through the early part of the week. I went out for some good hill training on Friday, but re-stressed the calves. Fortunately, they felt OK after another rest day on Saturday. Today I went to the track for some interval training ..the first time in way too long. I was very surprised: 8 x 400 @ 5:30/mile pace. Most of them were at about 82 seconds/lap, whereas in earlier training I was only able to do about 88-89 per lap. Something is clicking here! 5K coming up.

 

[beer 302]

Comparing the 4 MP runs that I've done this cycle, this is a dream come true:7/29 (16/8) - 8:38/1638/19 (18/10) - 8:13/1609/16 (16/12) - 8:00/16210/14 (18/14) - 7:54/161

Nice run, today! That's amazing progress! Do you remember the weather conditions on the 7/29 run? That one's such an outlier. Anyway, you certainly are on track for a great marathon!

I can't put my head around your speed Ned, can't wait to hear about how you crush this marathon.If any of you are friends with grue on FB, he's updated his status.

 

[mr. furley]

Furley http://winthropeagles.com/news/2011/6/7/MXC_0607110827.aspx?path=mcross. What was mor impressive is there wer three behind that broke 4 minutes as well. How'd you like to be the guy that goes to work on Monday and says good news, I broke 4 minutes, bad news, I finished 4th.

was thinking about this earlier. worked it out in my head that this per mile pace is equivalent to the average speed i hit on my bike rides. can't possibly imagine running at that speed for 3 miles. it boggles the mind.

 

[mr. furley]

furley - I'm sure you wouldn't have been chicked had you not ran the scenic route. Good job on the 5 miler. Is that your first 5mi race?

yup, first 5-miler. and i had left that old bag in my dust only to re-hookup with her as i got back on the right path

 

[gruecd]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

 

[tri-man 47]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

 

[Ned]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

DETAILS!!!

 

[prosopis]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

Congrats, that is fantastic!!!

 

[sho nuff]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

Freaking awesome man...

 

[BassNBrew]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

DETAILS!!!

Details are slow in coming after a trail run. It will probably take until tomorrow to get the mud out of his ears and dry out.Congrats gru. Top clyde out there?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

That's just sick. You're seriously a machine.

 

[Juxtatarot]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

Congrats! You mentioned sub 5:00 was one of your goals, so great job! I'm sure the conditions made that more challenging than you had anticipated.

 

[beer 302]

So as we all anxiously await grue's race recap I have a question for the field. After Saturday's run I was dog ### tired but I expected it. Yesterday though, man my legs were sore, calves & quads. Even today there was still some residual soreness. Is that attributable to the hill running? I'm assuming it's related to the downhills, yes? Does it go away? Calves and shins feeling it this morning after a 4 mile recoveryish hill run.

 

[koby925]

4:54:31. It's basically been raining for the last 36 hours, so it was muddy as hell out there. 14th overall.

DETAILS!!!

Details are slow in coming after a trail run. It will probably take until tomorrow to get the mud out of his ears and dry out.Congrats gru. Top clyde out there?

Great job, gru. I had no idea you were a svelte 208. I guess I just figured with all your mileage you were about 150. Did you use your size to box out and knock the scrawny guys off the trail?

 

[koby925]

So as we all anxiously await grue's race recap I have a question for the field. After Saturday's run I was dog ### tired but I expected it. Yesterday though, man my legs were sore, calves & quads. Even today there was still some residual soreness. Is that attributable to the hill running? I'm assuming it's related to the downhills, yes? Does it go away? Calves and shins feeling it this morning after a 4 mile recoveryish hill run.

It can be from the hills, yes. Anything you aren't used to typically doing can cause some soreness. I don't want to alarm you and it's probably not the case, but some of us here have chronic calf issues, myself included. These days all kinds of workouts bother my calves, especially speedwork and hills to a lesser degree. But when I was younger, I'd get the one or two day soreness from atypical workouts but then it would go away. Like hills, playing a pickup bball or flag fball game because of all the starting and stopping. That's what it (hopefully) sounds like is going on with you. I'd try to ice and it will probably go away in a couple days.

 

[BassNBrew]

So as we all anxiously await grue's race recap I have a question for the field. After Saturday's run I was dog ### tired but I expected it. Yesterday though, man my legs were sore, calves & quads. Even today there was still some residual soreness. Is that attributable to the hill running? I'm assuming it's related to the downhills, yes? Does it go away? Calves and shins feeling it this morning after a 4 mile recoveryish hill run.

If you lean forward going up hills its very likely your foot strike is moving forward on your foot resulting in more calf usage. If the down hills are steep enough that you're braking, your quads are coming into play.I did an 1h 40m on a rooty mtb trail and my calves are toasted today. Was planning on posting it as it's embarrassing compared to gru's run yesterday. Regardless, it felt very going. Basically a 4-5 mile loop that I did in 49m one direction and then 50m the other direction. The second loop would have been the same or faster if I didn't have to waste time trying to figure on the route...signs only up in one direction.

 

[beer 302]

The calves have been feeling kinda tight for a while now, not a bad tight just sore if I Pick up my foot and leave my heal planted like you're stretching your calf. Now I notice the top of my shin is feeling it when I do that as well. Gotta be from the downhills as these steeper ones are pounding my legs. General soreness seems to be what it is from the atypical runs I've been doing. If it doesn't subside by the end of the week I might be a little more worried.

 

[gruecd]

So what do you guys wanna know?

Up at 4 AM, 48 ounces of Ultra Fuel :X , bathroom, Immodium. Didn't want to use the emergency TP packed in my hydration pack. Left the house at 4:45, pulled over for speeding (which I wasn't) on the way there. Nicest cop in the world. Told him I was on the way to a race, he joked that he thought I was in a car race, then asked me a bunch of questions about the 50K before letting me go with a warning.

It was raining when we started, and it had been raining for the previous 18 hours or so. Temps in the low 50s, so I went with just a short-sleeve shirt, shorts, and gloves. Course conditions definitely weren't good on the way out, but they weren't horrible. Ran the majority of the hills (hiking just the steeper ones) and managed just one fall, and hit the turnaround in 18th place in about 2:20. Nutrition-wise, just GU every 30 minutes.

My parents, GF, and a couple of friends were out there in the rain cheering me on, which was great. I stopped at the aid station at mile 17.8, where they refilled my hydration pack and gave me a fresh supply of GU and some dry gloves. Here's a pic of me coming down the stairs into the aid station.

The way back was hard work. Most places there was nowhere to run that wasn't muddy and slippery. Every uphill was an adventure to find enough footing to get up, and most the downhills were equally slow as you slipped and slid your way down. Between the turn and the AS at mile 24, I think I passed 6 guys, and 2 passed me. Calves were getting sore, so I stopped at the AS to have my crew douse 'em with Biofreeze (which didn't really help, by the way). Ran by myself the entire rest of the way, but I kept pushing myself, because I didn't want anyone else to pass me. Pic of me at one of the road crossings around mile 20.

Finished in 4:54x, good for 14th place. Changed clothes, got the hell out of there, and then home, shower, bed.

The end.

 

[gruecd]

P.S. BNB - I will not be runing 20 miles today. Too sore. One B2B 30/20 is gonna have to be enough.

 

[SFBayDuck]

So as we all anxiously await grue's race recap I have a question for the field. After Saturday's run I was dog ### tired but I expected it. Yesterday though, man my legs were sore, calves & quads. Even today there was still some residual soreness. Is that attributable to the hill running? I'm assuming it's related to the downhills, yes? Does it go away? Calves and shins feeling it this morning after a 4 mile recoveryish hill run.

It can be from the hills, yes. Anything you aren't used to typically doing can cause some soreness. I don't want to alarm you and it's probably not the case, but some of us here have chronic calf issues, myself included. These days all kinds of workouts bother my calves, especially speedwork and hills to a lesser degree. But when I was younger, I'd get the one or two day soreness from atypical workouts but then it would go away. Like hills, playing a pickup bball or flag fball game because of all the starting and stopping. That's what it (hopefully) sounds like is going on with you. I'd try to ice and it will probably go away in a couple days.

Others pretty much hit on this, but it very well could be the hills if you're not used to that. Changes in stride that come from both up and downhill change everything up and down the kinetic chain just a bit, and you're likely using muscles in a different way than they may be used to. The eccentric contractions in the quads that come from downhills can be particularly hard if you're not used to that.Speaking of that - I've never had quad pain like I've had the last 2 days! I could barely walk yesterday, and am still super sore today. I know it's from the downhills on Saturday, and it'll get better over the next couple of days as all of those micro-tears in my muscles heal themselves. But damn, really brutal. I haven't been doing a ton of hill work recently (for a trail runner), and it's been a serious reminder to work not only on my climbing but on running downhills prior to my next hilly trail race. But for now, going to give it another day or two before kicking off my next training block - pure MAF training focused on building my aerobic system for the next 8-12 weeks.

 

[SFBayDuck]

So what do you guys wanna know?

Up at 4 AM, 48 ounces of Ultra Fuel :X , bathroom, Immodium. Didn't want to use the emergency TP packed in my hydration pack. Left the house at 4:45, pulled over for speeding (which I wasn't) on the way there. Nicest cop in the world. Told him I was on the way to a race, he joked that he thought I was in a car race, then asked me a bunch of questions about the 50K before letting me go with a warning.

It was raining when we started, and it had been raining for the previous 18 hours or so. Temps in the low 50s, so I went with just a short-sleeve shirt, shorts, and gloves. Course conditions definitely weren't good on the way out, but they weren't horrible. Ran the majority of the hills (hiking just the steeper ones) and managed just one fall, and hit the turnaround in 18th place in about 2:20. Nutrition-wise, just GU every 30 minutes.

My parents, GF, and a couple of friends were out there in the rain cheering me on, which was great. I stopped at the aid station at mile 17.8, where they refilled my hydration pack and gave me a fresh supply of GU and some dry gloves. Here's a pic of me coming down the stairs into the aid station.

The way back was hard work. Most places there was nowhere to run that wasn't muddy and slippery. Every uphill was an adventure to find enough footing to get up, and most the downhills were equally slow as you slipped and slid your way down. Between the turn and the AS at mile 24, I think I passed 6 guys, and 2 passed me. Calves were getting sore, so I stopped at the AS to have my crew douse 'em with Biofreeze (which didn't really help, by the way). Ran by myself the entire rest of the way, but I kept pushing myself, because I didn't want anyone else to pass me. Pic of me at one of the road crossings around mile 20.

Finished in 4:54x, good for 14th place. Changed clothes, got the hell out of there, and then home, shower, bed.

The end.

Awesome stuff, and amazing results. Anything you would do differently in retrospect?

 

[gruecd]

Awesome stuff, and amazing results. Anything you would do differently in retrospect?

Honestly, no. I thought I ran a really good, smart race, and I pushed myself pretty hard at the end. On an easier course under better conditions, I think I could run a 4-hour 50K.

 

[SFBayDuck]

Awesome stuff, and amazing results. Anything you would do differently in retrospect?

Honestly, no. I thought I ran a really good, smart race, and I pushed myself pretty hard at the end. On an easier course under better conditions, I think I could run a 4-hour 50K.

That's awesome, way to nail it. What's your time goal for JFK? I hear Max King is running it, you planning on running with him?

 

[gruecd]

That's awesome, way to nail it. What's your time goal for JFK? I hear Max King is running it, you planning on running with him?

I'd love to go sub-8, which would've put me in the top-100 last year. But sub-9 for sure. Tentative gameplan is to take it super easy the first 15.5 miles (until I'm off the Appalachian Trail), and then start racing. Just hoping for good (i.e., cold) weather.

 

[MAC_32]

Being part of a science experiment for a friend of mine's student's. Run for 90 mins at 70% mHR, have a recovery drink ONLY, then 4 hours later run for 12 mins at 90% mHR. Need to do this 4 times with 4 different recovery drinks - recording before and after weight + distance traveled + heart rate readings. Can't say I'm going to be happy essentially going 6 hours in between eating, but I think this is a good way to get my distance training in. Definitely going to be strange eating a meal THEN running for 90 straight mins, I usually only have a piece of fruit in the 2-3 hours before running, but if I'm going to go 6 hours without eating I think I have to.

 

[MAC_32]

got the hell out of there, and then home, shower, bed.

Phenomenal job, sure reads you were more frustrated than anything though. Is that entirely because of the weather?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Nice work, gruecd. Knowing how tired my quads, calves, and hamstrings get during a marathon, I can only imagine how much it must suck to have muddy conditions where you constantly have to watch your footing. Those last miles are hard enough on good old asphault. You must be beat.

_________________

I was going to do 10 miles today, but I woke up with some sort of bug --fever, chills, and chest congestion. I figure if I'm too sick to run, I'm too sick to sit in the office, so I stumbled through my 9:00 class and came home. USDO.

 

[BassNBrew]

P.S. BNB - I will not be runing 20 miles today. Too sore. One B2B 30/20 is gonna have to be enough.

Bummer. You got an hour walk in you???Congrats on the great result. What was the trail like? Did you have fun?

 

[gruecd]

got the hell out of there, and then home, shower, bed.

Phenomenal job, sure reads you were more frustrated than anything though. Is that entirely because of the weather?

No, not really frustrated at all. I mean, the footing sucked, but I really didn't mind the rain that much (except that my shorts kept falling down because they were so wet).

P.S. BNB - I will not be runing 20 miles today. Too sore. One B2B 30/20 is gonna have to be enough.

Bummer. You got an hour walk in you???Congrats on the great result. What was the trail like? Did you have fun?

Yeah, I can definitely handle an hour walk. For sure.I've run the trail before, and it's tough. Rocky, rooty, hilly, and mostly leaf-covered, so you couldn't see a lot of the obstacles. Course is rated 4/5 on terrain/surface on Ultrarunning Magazine's calendar.

The end was tough, but yeah, I had fun. Looking forward to JFK, but I think I'll be ready to get back to road racing afterwards.

 

[AcerFC]

What is that, 30 miles?

 

[gruecd]

What is that, 30 miles?

A tad over 31, actually.

 

[AcerFC]

What is that, 30 miles?

A tad over 31, actually.

Awesome jobWhen is the 50 mile run?

 

[gruecd]

What is that, 30 miles?

A tad over 31, actually.

Awesome jobWhen is the 50 mile run?

November 17

 

[AcerFC]

What is that, 30 miles?

A tad over 31, actually.

Awesome jobWhen is the 50 mile run?

November 17

I was just messing around:crazyfucker:

 

[BassNBrew]

got the hell out of there, and then home, shower, bed.

Phenomenal job, sure reads you were more frustrated than anything though. Is that entirely because of the weather?

No, not really frustrated at all. I mean, the footing sucked, but I really didn't mind the rain that much (except that my shorts kept falling down because they were so wet).

P.S. BNB - I will not be runing 20 miles today. Too sore. One B2B 30/20 is gonna have to be enough.

Bummer. You got an hour walk in you???Congrats on the great result. What was the trail like? Did you have fun?

Yeah, I can definitely handle an hour walk. For sure.I've run the trail before, and it's tough. Rocky, rooty, hilly, and mostly leaf-covered, so you couldn't see a lot of the obstacles. Course is rated 4/5 on terrain/surface on Ultrarunning Magazine's calendar.

The end was tough, but yeah, I had fun. Looking forward to JFK, but I think I'll be ready to get back to road racing afterwards.

Your benefit for anything you do today will be based on time on your feet, not aerobic. Shooting hoops or even surfing the web standing up probably would suffice.Was it single track and concave where you were running thru a small stream alot of the time or a little wider? jfk looks like a fast track for most of the route. I'm going to guess 7:35 to 7:45 and put the over/under at 63rd place.

Pretty amazing that you didn't see anyone for the last 7 miles. That must have been a first for you.

 

[Sand]

What is that, 30 miles?

A tad over 31, actually.

Awesome jobWhen is the 50 mile run?

November 17

I was just messing around:crazyfucker:

Awesome stuff, Gru. Kinda disappointed to not see the FBG race shirt, but you probably would have stained that thing forever with a good fall in that race.

 

[sho nuff]

Back at it after vacation.

Still straying from the plan easing my way back with a week and then back on schedule next week.

8 w/6 LT miles today and everything went smooth out on the greenway on a nice cold fall day.

While its a paved surface...leaves, sticks and freaking nuts/acorns have made it interesting in a few spots.

 

[AcerFC]

I have decided that when I get back from Disney, I am going to try another marathon. Now all I need to do is find one close in about 21-22 weeks