I had a great Christmas with the family. We did a lot of low key stuff, and since it's been a few weeks since the last post, instead of nitpicking some details, I just won't give any.
I'm kind of in one of those possible-pivotal periods. It seems poignant with the New Year just around the corner. There's a lot that is going amazingly well, but a lot that I want to change to help make my life simpler and happier. At some point I may drop some of the online social networking sites. I see too much that makes me just go "why the fuck do I care?" And then, even when I put stuff on there, I go "why the fuck would anyone else care?" It's a great way to communicate with others.
I'm just not sure what I prefer: less person-to-person interactions, or more person-to-person albeit via a virtual, shallow medium. I guess it depends on whether it's an actual trade off. My goal and method depend on the assumption that decreasing your online presence increases your real life presence. I'm not convinced this is the case. Real life takes real effort. But perhaps it can free up the energy and drive to pursue that real life presence. The same may go for this blog. Either it will go away, or I'll need to find a more specific purpose and focus, probably by weaning away the personal blogging and just focus, say, on the running.
If it does get some focus, or just simply stays as-is, I really want to talk about this book I got for Christmas called "The Story of the Human Body." However, I rather do it comprehensively once I'm done reading it.
Soundtrack:
"Telescope Eyes" by Eisley
"Congratulations" by Eisley
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like...
It seemed like Thanksgiving was only yesterday. It REALLY wasn't too long ago. I remember hearing some news about retailers complaining. Want us to push Christmas back a few days?
It's been a cold, wet few days. Last Saturday's run was wet and so was this one's. I don't mind. It's worse at work. Early in the week was in the 40s but wet and raining and it was not fun. I felt better later in the week when the day started in the 20s, but at least the sun was out.
I SO stalling on writing out my training plan. As I think about it, I don't think I need to make differences to my typical mileage patterns/weekly cycles. I may still keep either the Build-Build-Quality-Recover or Build-Build-Recover. However, I think this time I need to get more particular in the individual weekday workouts and through in some focused workouts. iRunFar.com has a good blog series about the types of workouts ultra runners can focus on: from their endurance long runs, to speed and sprint work. While I enjoy a relax, no stress training schedule, I think incorporating these can be valuable to chasing a PR at Umstead. In order to use them, I need to make sure to do more than just write in "speed work" or "sprint work" but specifically etch out the intervals, repeats, rest, etc.. I think doing so will take some stress of later down the road. And honestly, if the workout is good and hard, the anticipation will actually lead to a better workout.
I will declare myself official recovered. The past two weeks I've had some really good runs. I haven't done much building work. Long lingering fatigue isn't really there. My rest days (er... when I just erg for a 10k) actually make me feel restful the next day. When I go out for my runs, I feel fresh and can really hit some good paces that don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels.
The key is not to abuse this rest just yet. I'll cut back on my mileage next week. And without a Fat Ass 50k or Holiday Lake to think about, there's no need to rush into the 30 or 35 milers I was doing as early as January.
BTW. Trader Joe's around the holiday is terrible for trying to eat right. Alas... Pfeffernusse cookies, Candy Cane Joe Joe's, or Gingerbread is too good to pass up.
Soundtrack:
"Pompeii" by Bastille
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
It's been a cold, wet few days. Last Saturday's run was wet and so was this one's. I don't mind. It's worse at work. Early in the week was in the 40s but wet and raining and it was not fun. I felt better later in the week when the day started in the 20s, but at least the sun was out.
I SO stalling on writing out my training plan. As I think about it, I don't think I need to make differences to my typical mileage patterns/weekly cycles. I may still keep either the Build-Build-Quality-Recover or Build-Build-Recover. However, I think this time I need to get more particular in the individual weekday workouts and through in some focused workouts. iRunFar.com has a good blog series about the types of workouts ultra runners can focus on: from their endurance long runs, to speed and sprint work. While I enjoy a relax, no stress training schedule, I think incorporating these can be valuable to chasing a PR at Umstead. In order to use them, I need to make sure to do more than just write in "speed work" or "sprint work" but specifically etch out the intervals, repeats, rest, etc.. I think doing so will take some stress of later down the road. And honestly, if the workout is good and hard, the anticipation will actually lead to a better workout.
I will declare myself official recovered. The past two weeks I've had some really good runs. I haven't done much building work. Long lingering fatigue isn't really there. My rest days (er... when I just erg for a 10k) actually make me feel restful the next day. When I go out for my runs, I feel fresh and can really hit some good paces that don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels.
The key is not to abuse this rest just yet. I'll cut back on my mileage next week. And without a Fat Ass 50k or Holiday Lake to think about, there's no need to rush into the 30 or 35 milers I was doing as early as January.
BTW. Trader Joe's around the holiday is terrible for trying to eat right. Alas... Pfeffernusse cookies, Candy Cane Joe Joe's, or Gingerbread is too good to pass up.
Soundtrack:
"Pompeii" by Bastille
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Leo and Cary
I had a great trip in San Jose with my family. The flight from Raleigh to San Jose (via Denver) was meh. I felt bad most of the trip and we didn't change plans in Denver so there was little scenery change for near eight hours. Adjusting to West Coast time was iffy that first day. But Lura took David and I to a Mexican grocery store where ate some tacos. Most of that first evening was pretty laid back, with Lida and her boyfriend arriving and then eating some really good pizza.
Thanksgiving I took an easy run with my sister's beautiful dog, Raleigh. A very good running partner. Most of the day was spent getting the diner ready, with a bird that took a bit longer than usual. By the time everything was ready, we were ALL ready too. Turkey, sweet potato casserole, kale, pumpkin pie, pecan chocolate bars. YUM.
Friday was a relaxed day in San Francisco. My dad wanted to run across of the Golden Gate Bridge and I had no problem with that! We were looking forward to going to this beautiful park called Muir Woods. But it's so popular, there was a shuttle bus to get there, and that had probably a 45 min line. We were all starving, so we found a seafood place in nearby Sausalito. Good, but nothing out-of-this-world.
Saturday and Sunday were mainly uneventful, those I got to run in Almadean Quicksilver Park. Loads of fun for me of course. San Jose is in the valley, so my runs til then were pancake flat. However, getting out of the valley and on to these mountains was fantastic. A mining community in a previous life, there were lots of steep, rolling hills. The trails were pretty well-groomed. Overall I would compare the technicality to Crabtree MTB trails, and the steepness to Uwharrie. Whereas I had planned 3 hrs, figuring about 20 miles, I only got in ~15. Sunday, the whole family went, with some hiking, and me running again. That in of itself was unique: going later in the day at ~11:00, which was almost 2:00 for me.
Overall I loved. A lot of times I'm less than excited to be engrossed in family time; I love them, but I just like to be doing my own thing. But, I always end up glad, and grateful to be with them. As an epilogue, my older sister's two Manchester Terriers are now residing with my brother and I. They'll be with us for about two more weeks, and then may be again later in 2014.
I still haven't planned out my training for Umstead in April. Both the Carrboro Fat Ass 50k and the Holiday Lake 50k are on Saturdays when my EMT class meets. So at the moment I don't have any longer tune-up races planned. And I just don't know what I'm wanting; definitely low key; not sure about the distance. I did sign up for a short trail race in January; the Little River Trail Run at 10 miles. Last year I skipped it because I wanted to stay focused on Umstead. But I'm thinking I can tack on some earlier miles, and use the race to work on some speed: something I may need, even for a 100.
Not much running to talk about here until I get some plan written down. Though I'm running like it's a build week, I'm not too anal about hitting speeds or distances.
Soundtrack:
"All of the Memories" by The Classic Crime
"Pompeii" by Bastille
Thanksgiving I took an easy run with my sister's beautiful dog, Raleigh. A very good running partner. Most of the day was spent getting the diner ready, with a bird that took a bit longer than usual. By the time everything was ready, we were ALL ready too. Turkey, sweet potato casserole, kale, pumpkin pie, pecan chocolate bars. YUM.
Friday was a relaxed day in San Francisco. My dad wanted to run across of the Golden Gate Bridge and I had no problem with that! We were looking forward to going to this beautiful park called Muir Woods. But it's so popular, there was a shuttle bus to get there, and that had probably a 45 min line. We were all starving, so we found a seafood place in nearby Sausalito. Good, but nothing out-of-this-world.
Saturday and Sunday were mainly uneventful, those I got to run in Almadean Quicksilver Park. Loads of fun for me of course. San Jose is in the valley, so my runs til then were pancake flat. However, getting out of the valley and on to these mountains was fantastic. A mining community in a previous life, there were lots of steep, rolling hills. The trails were pretty well-groomed. Overall I would compare the technicality to Crabtree MTB trails, and the steepness to Uwharrie. Whereas I had planned 3 hrs, figuring about 20 miles, I only got in ~15. Sunday, the whole family went, with some hiking, and me running again. That in of itself was unique: going later in the day at ~11:00, which was almost 2:00 for me.
Overall I loved. A lot of times I'm less than excited to be engrossed in family time; I love them, but I just like to be doing my own thing. But, I always end up glad, and grateful to be with them. As an epilogue, my older sister's two Manchester Terriers are now residing with my brother and I. They'll be with us for about two more weeks, and then may be again later in 2014.
I still haven't planned out my training for Umstead in April. Both the Carrboro Fat Ass 50k and the Holiday Lake 50k are on Saturdays when my EMT class meets. So at the moment I don't have any longer tune-up races planned. And I just don't know what I'm wanting; definitely low key; not sure about the distance. I did sign up for a short trail race in January; the Little River Trail Run at 10 miles. Last year I skipped it because I wanted to stay focused on Umstead. But I'm thinking I can tack on some earlier miles, and use the race to work on some speed: something I may need, even for a 100.
Not much running to talk about here until I get some plan written down. Though I'm running like it's a build week, I'm not too anal about hitting speeds or distances.
Soundtrack:
"All of the Memories" by The Classic Crime
"Pompeii" by Bastille
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving
A preemptive Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope you have a great holiday with your family and friends. My gang is gathering in San Jose, at my sister's house. I'm excited for all of us to get together. It's also only my second time across the country, and the Bay Area is suppose to have some really neat outdoor activities. Our family plans on doing some hiking/exploring in Muir Woods. And I may be going out for a good run with a friend of mine who lives out there. My dad also wants to run across the Golden Gate Bridge! I think that sounds cool as well.
My recovery is going OK, but I'm still feeling that lingering fatigue. I'm also having a hard time listening to that fatigue: it's that weird stage where I misinterpret exertional fatigue for that lingering fatigue. That is, I think I'm going to natural run slower because I feel tired or I think I am already running slower because I feel so tired. And in actuality I'm feeling so tired because I'm running too damn hard. Hmmm. I'm paying too much attention to the cardiovascular system; I don't feel my heart racing so I think I can't be running too hard. But really I'm putting a lot of stress on my legs.
Work is going well and so is the EMT class. We had a "provider night" which was really like a mini- job fair. They were all EMS services/programs. But oddly, after speaking to one guy, I got to thinking about rescue specialist jobs. This is normally handled through fire departments, and I really don't know anything about it. But thinking about the extrication and water rescue type stuff.
Once we get back from San Jose, my brother and I will be taking care of my sister's two little terriers. I'm excited and apprehensive. I hope I don't kill 'em. Or get annoyed with 'em. Or forget about 'em.... Oh boy.
At some point I want to make some changes to this blog. Not a whole lot, but maybe more information aka pages with informational type stuff. We'll see.
Soundtrack:
"Pressure" by Paramore
"The Best Day of My Life" by American Authors
My recovery is going OK, but I'm still feeling that lingering fatigue. I'm also having a hard time listening to that fatigue: it's that weird stage where I misinterpret exertional fatigue for that lingering fatigue. That is, I think I'm going to natural run slower because I feel tired or I think I am already running slower because I feel so tired. And in actuality I'm feeling so tired because I'm running too damn hard. Hmmm. I'm paying too much attention to the cardiovascular system; I don't feel my heart racing so I think I can't be running too hard. But really I'm putting a lot of stress on my legs.
Work is going well and so is the EMT class. We had a "provider night" which was really like a mini- job fair. They were all EMS services/programs. But oddly, after speaking to one guy, I got to thinking about rescue specialist jobs. This is normally handled through fire departments, and I really don't know anything about it. But thinking about the extrication and water rescue type stuff.
Once we get back from San Jose, my brother and I will be taking care of my sister's two little terriers. I'm excited and apprehensive. I hope I don't kill 'em. Or get annoyed with 'em. Or forget about 'em.... Oh boy.
At some point I want to make some changes to this blog. Not a whole lot, but maybe more information aka pages with informational type stuff. We'll see.
Soundtrack:
"Pressure" by Paramore
"The Best Day of My Life" by American Authors
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Bucket listing
Note to self: don't ever plan on writing a blog post at the end of a long day at work. You don't want to, and those creative juices are BLAH.... I actually started this on Wednesday but I don't think I'll finish it until Saturday.
I'm the typical groove of post-race. I'm anxious to get to another one. I'm scouring the web, looking up races that I've never heard of, in cool places. I'm catching up on all the ultra-forums I know of, reading about training theories, opinions, new/old races. It's an exciting time. I also think part of it is gearing up for a new training season. As I get ready to lay out a training plan, I tend to go back to the websites I've used before. I want to look for new information, as well as reaffirm the training concepts I've held to before.
I also have to be careful. Last year I was spot on to avoid getting into "training." I was running again by this point, but made a point not to get into a training mindset. When I'm training, I'll try to look over little tweaks and aggravations in the legs, resting only if it gets worse or doesn't start to get better. So when I'm not training, I'll still run but if something's not right, I take time off. So when I do start training I'm at 100%. However, with my goals for Umstead, I'm already feeling self-pressured to put in quality time on my feet.
But the past few weeks I've had fun looking up other races. Local, national, and global I love reading about cool and tough races. A couple of good resources for my discovery are ultrarunning.com and ultramarathonrunning.com. Of course, I couldn't help but read up on Western States (WSER). And they're list of qualifying 100 mi and 100K races really narrows in on the tougher and more spectacular courses.
My problem is I always end up defaulting to local races. At my age and financial situation, it's hard to justify destination races across the country or internationally (there is a WSER qualifier in Scotland I thought was cool). Furthermore, there's SO many within a few hours drive, it could take years to make the rounds around those.
A poorly organized list of "global" races are: Western States 100, Hardrock 100, West Highland Way (Scotland, 95 mi), Pine to Palm 100 (Oregon), Patagonia Run (Argentina, 100 mi), Cascade Crest 100 (Washington), Tahoe 200 (YES! 200 miles!)
And poorly organized locally: Uwharrie 40, Grindstone 100, The BEAST Series, Thunder Rock (NEW race in 2014, Chattanooga, TN), RockCreek Stage Race. Leatherwood 50 (Ferguson, NC)
There's really just too many.
Loving my return to running. I'm still feeling a little sluggish, but always enjoy pounding my feet. I still need to narrow down what type of tune up races I want to do after the new year. I really want to iron out some of the nutrition quirks I've expereienced, and a race will be the best place to do that. The key will be not to race too often, or too far. I have high aims for Umstead, and I CANNOT go into it fatigued.
Soundtrack:
"Coming Back to Life" by Blindside; title says it all about how I feel about getting back to running
"The Smile, The Face" by Emery, this lyric "But though my heart [I say body] is breaking open, know that I will not be broken"
I'm the typical groove of post-race. I'm anxious to get to another one. I'm scouring the web, looking up races that I've never heard of, in cool places. I'm catching up on all the ultra-forums I know of, reading about training theories, opinions, new/old races. It's an exciting time. I also think part of it is gearing up for a new training season. As I get ready to lay out a training plan, I tend to go back to the websites I've used before. I want to look for new information, as well as reaffirm the training concepts I've held to before.
I also have to be careful. Last year I was spot on to avoid getting into "training." I was running again by this point, but made a point not to get into a training mindset. When I'm training, I'll try to look over little tweaks and aggravations in the legs, resting only if it gets worse or doesn't start to get better. So when I'm not training, I'll still run but if something's not right, I take time off. So when I do start training I'm at 100%. However, with my goals for Umstead, I'm already feeling self-pressured to put in quality time on my feet.
But the past few weeks I've had fun looking up other races. Local, national, and global I love reading about cool and tough races. A couple of good resources for my discovery are ultrarunning.com and ultramarathonrunning.com. Of course, I couldn't help but read up on Western States (WSER). And they're list of qualifying 100 mi and 100K races really narrows in on the tougher and more spectacular courses.
My problem is I always end up defaulting to local races. At my age and financial situation, it's hard to justify destination races across the country or internationally (there is a WSER qualifier in Scotland I thought was cool). Furthermore, there's SO many within a few hours drive, it could take years to make the rounds around those.
A poorly organized list of "global" races are: Western States 100, Hardrock 100, West Highland Way (Scotland, 95 mi), Pine to Palm 100 (Oregon), Patagonia Run (Argentina, 100 mi), Cascade Crest 100 (Washington), Tahoe 200 (YES! 200 miles!)
And poorly organized locally: Uwharrie 40, Grindstone 100, The BEAST Series, Thunder Rock (NEW race in 2014, Chattanooga, TN), RockCreek Stage Race. Leatherwood 50 (Ferguson, NC)
There's really just too many.
Loving my return to running. I'm still feeling a little sluggish, but always enjoy pounding my feet. I still need to narrow down what type of tune up races I want to do after the new year. I really want to iron out some of the nutrition quirks I've expereienced, and a race will be the best place to do that. The key will be not to race too often, or too far. I have high aims for Umstead, and I CANNOT go into it fatigued.
Soundtrack:
"Coming Back to Life" by Blindside; title says it all about how I feel about getting back to running
"The Smile, The Face" by Emery, this lyric "But though my heart [I say body] is breaking open, know that I will not be broken"
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Mountain Masochist Trail Run
An incredible weekend. A crazy, painful, exciting race through the mountains that really tested my limits.
Friday night was the packet pickup and pre-race dinner in Lynchburg. I picked up my race bag, bib number 295. I chatted with the rest of the gang from Raleigh and other friends I knew from the Lynchburg Series. Dinner was all about the carbo-load. Afterwards was a great and entertaining pre-race meeting.
Race morning started with a 3:45 wake-up. I dropped Todd off at Mtizi's and made my way over the Liberty Conference Center to pick up my bus ride to the start. On the way to the race start, I tried to zone in and listened to my iPod. Once at the KOA campground, a pit stop later, I was geared up to go. Always on time, Dr. Zealand started the race promptly at 6:30. HERE. WE. GO.
I went off like a gun. I had some ambitious race goals and wanted to really push my limits. Normally I try to start off easy and pick through people as the day wears on. This time I was anxious to get clear of the field early on. The hardest part was knowing my place in the field. I always knew there were plenty ahead of me, but never knowing EXACTLY how many. I tried to pick up on little tidbits of information from the runners around me; noticing one talk about his top 5 at one race; another talking about the shoes he "got" from Scott (a race company).
Most of the line up occurs before the first aid station. They had moved that first one to about 7.5 miles out; knowing so I took a gel early before reaching that aid station. There was fair bit of slight but long climbing. The kind that's not too steep to walk up, but running up the whole way is incredible taxing. In the past I may have walked, but feeling bold I ran essentially all of it. And of course after the long climb there was a crazy descent. In a similarly bold fashion, I bombed down the hill, knowing that I was thoroughly trashing my quads.
By aid station 4, at mile 17.5, I knew I would paying for my pace later. I had come through in about 2.5 hours, on 7:30 pace. My nutrition seemed OK. I was drinking at least of cup of Gu Juice at each aid station and taking several items of table food. I was fairly comfortable gear-wise. I finally learned to be intentionally cold, wearing just a T-shirt, gloves, and arm warmers. In the shady spots I was only slighty cool, in the sun only slightly warm. Later in the day I would shed both.
Aid stations were relatively close in this first half. I think I got over eager to get ahead of my nutrition and ended up eating too much. I had a very similar experience to Umstead and going into Long Mtn Wayside (26.2 miles in), I was getting uneasy with table food. I was slowing switching from cookies and junk towards bananas and grapes. But I knew that would be ending soon too. My legs were suffering. I wish I could be more descriptive than "UP" but I just can't. It was always just SO slight, but SO long. You could never see the top. You start walking and wishing you didn't have to. And by the time you get to a run-able sections, you're still tired and no longer want to run. The climb right up to half-way was brutal, and right out of half-way was going to be rough.
A lot more the climbing happens in the second half. And there's a lot more technical sections, which just exacerbates the need to hike. Fortunately this year there wasn't any snow. Now, for most of the technical sections, I really didn't think the lack of snow made a difference. Snow-cover, or leaf-covered, you couldn't get traction or get your stride right. The only part was the out-n-back to the summit in the loop, which I felt wasn't as torturous as last year. After leaving Long Mountain, I had essentially given up on solid calories. Now every aid station consisted of pounding back Mountain Dew and a little bit of ginger ale. As my stomach started to empty, and I occasionally popped some salt pills, my energy steadily improved (as it can during a 50 mile race).
Now, when you are doing the Loop, and you hear about this out-n-back summit, you may think "Ah, the summit, it's all down hill from there." Well, it's not, and for me that's what makes the next section so awful. Now you're within 12 miles of the finish, but you are nowhere near done climbing. Here are the most technical sections and the steepest climbs. Maybe not the worst climb, but being so close to the end, when you see the trail start weaving upward, you can't help but feel helpless and frustrated. As you run the mileage in your head you think "9 miles? I can push through and RUN 9 miles." Guess what? You can't.
The Salt Log Gap aid station and Forest Valley station are only 1.2 miles apart, but have the last fire road-type inclines that take it out of you. You come into Forest Valley, the penultimate aid station, ready for some good news. Nope. "You're next aid station is 4.1 miles away. Fuel up because it's going to be HARD." I slam back more Mtn Dew and head out. Probably about a mile in, I take my last salt pill, and washing it down, realize I'm also taking my last bit of water. So now I have a dry 3 miles to go. This is by far the most soul-sucking segment. At one point the trail is so steep and narrow; even with my good placement and time, I'm thinking "I don't know if I can do this." You put everything you have out there for a few more hundred yards and then it eases up and you just submit to the trail and keep going.
With about a mile until Porters Ridge, the last station, it eases up some. Coming into the Porters Ridge, I'm getting excited. I go in, get my soda. I'm told the remaining damage: 3.75 miles to go. It's all downhill. The last bit of soda has me pumping, and I am surging with energy. I'm so close to the goal, my focus narrows. My quads are on fire but I keep on driving forward. With two miles to go, the descent becomes a plummet, and I just wince and cry to myself. But I know I'm so close, at this point I'll take everything that hard surface can give me. I make the final turns and power through to the finish.
The final damage: 8:35:23 for 21st place, and 43 minute course PR.
I almost say I once again "conquered" Masochist, but that doesn't sound right. Nor would I say the Masochist conquered me. But like every ultra, I gave the race everything I had and the reward it gave back was indescribable. The feeling of being emptied of all your energy is incredible. It's hard to say where things will go from here. I am returning to the Umstead 100 in the spring, and how I get there is to be determined.
And to be continued...
EDIT: I have to give a shout out to the rest of the Raleigh gang: Daren, Todd, Mitzi, and Elaine. EVERYONE finished MMTR and they ALL finished the Lynchburg Ultra Series. It was close, but they finished together which was a fantastic way complete the race and series. Congratulations you guys.
Friday night was the packet pickup and pre-race dinner in Lynchburg. I picked up my race bag, bib number 295. I chatted with the rest of the gang from Raleigh and other friends I knew from the Lynchburg Series. Dinner was all about the carbo-load. Afterwards was a great and entertaining pre-race meeting.
Race morning started with a 3:45 wake-up. I dropped Todd off at Mtizi's and made my way over the Liberty Conference Center to pick up my bus ride to the start. On the way to the race start, I tried to zone in and listened to my iPod. Once at the KOA campground, a pit stop later, I was geared up to go. Always on time, Dr. Zealand started the race promptly at 6:30. HERE. WE. GO.
I went off like a gun. I had some ambitious race goals and wanted to really push my limits. Normally I try to start off easy and pick through people as the day wears on. This time I was anxious to get clear of the field early on. The hardest part was knowing my place in the field. I always knew there were plenty ahead of me, but never knowing EXACTLY how many. I tried to pick up on little tidbits of information from the runners around me; noticing one talk about his top 5 at one race; another talking about the shoes he "got" from Scott (a race company).
Most of the line up occurs before the first aid station. They had moved that first one to about 7.5 miles out; knowing so I took a gel early before reaching that aid station. There was fair bit of slight but long climbing. The kind that's not too steep to walk up, but running up the whole way is incredible taxing. In the past I may have walked, but feeling bold I ran essentially all of it. And of course after the long climb there was a crazy descent. In a similarly bold fashion, I bombed down the hill, knowing that I was thoroughly trashing my quads.
By aid station 4, at mile 17.5, I knew I would paying for my pace later. I had come through in about 2.5 hours, on 7:30 pace. My nutrition seemed OK. I was drinking at least of cup of Gu Juice at each aid station and taking several items of table food. I was fairly comfortable gear-wise. I finally learned to be intentionally cold, wearing just a T-shirt, gloves, and arm warmers. In the shady spots I was only slighty cool, in the sun only slightly warm. Later in the day I would shed both.
Aid stations were relatively close in this first half. I think I got over eager to get ahead of my nutrition and ended up eating too much. I had a very similar experience to Umstead and going into Long Mtn Wayside (26.2 miles in), I was getting uneasy with table food. I was slowing switching from cookies and junk towards bananas and grapes. But I knew that would be ending soon too. My legs were suffering. I wish I could be more descriptive than "UP" but I just can't. It was always just SO slight, but SO long. You could never see the top. You start walking and wishing you didn't have to. And by the time you get to a run-able sections, you're still tired and no longer want to run. The climb right up to half-way was brutal, and right out of half-way was going to be rough.
A lot more the climbing happens in the second half. And there's a lot more technical sections, which just exacerbates the need to hike. Fortunately this year there wasn't any snow. Now, for most of the technical sections, I really didn't think the lack of snow made a difference. Snow-cover, or leaf-covered, you couldn't get traction or get your stride right. The only part was the out-n-back to the summit in the loop, which I felt wasn't as torturous as last year. After leaving Long Mountain, I had essentially given up on solid calories. Now every aid station consisted of pounding back Mountain Dew and a little bit of ginger ale. As my stomach started to empty, and I occasionally popped some salt pills, my energy steadily improved (as it can during a 50 mile race).
Now, when you are doing the Loop, and you hear about this out-n-back summit, you may think "Ah, the summit, it's all down hill from there." Well, it's not, and for me that's what makes the next section so awful. Now you're within 12 miles of the finish, but you are nowhere near done climbing. Here are the most technical sections and the steepest climbs. Maybe not the worst climb, but being so close to the end, when you see the trail start weaving upward, you can't help but feel helpless and frustrated. As you run the mileage in your head you think "9 miles? I can push through and RUN 9 miles." Guess what? You can't.
The Salt Log Gap aid station and Forest Valley station are only 1.2 miles apart, but have the last fire road-type inclines that take it out of you. You come into Forest Valley, the penultimate aid station, ready for some good news. Nope. "You're next aid station is 4.1 miles away. Fuel up because it's going to be HARD." I slam back more Mtn Dew and head out. Probably about a mile in, I take my last salt pill, and washing it down, realize I'm also taking my last bit of water. So now I have a dry 3 miles to go. This is by far the most soul-sucking segment. At one point the trail is so steep and narrow; even with my good placement and time, I'm thinking "I don't know if I can do this." You put everything you have out there for a few more hundred yards and then it eases up and you just submit to the trail and keep going.
With about a mile until Porters Ridge, the last station, it eases up some. Coming into the Porters Ridge, I'm getting excited. I go in, get my soda. I'm told the remaining damage: 3.75 miles to go. It's all downhill. The last bit of soda has me pumping, and I am surging with energy. I'm so close to the goal, my focus narrows. My quads are on fire but I keep on driving forward. With two miles to go, the descent becomes a plummet, and I just wince and cry to myself. But I know I'm so close, at this point I'll take everything that hard surface can give me. I make the final turns and power through to the finish.
The final damage: 8:35:23 for 21st place, and 43 minute course PR.
I almost say I once again "conquered" Masochist, but that doesn't sound right. Nor would I say the Masochist conquered me. But like every ultra, I gave the race everything I had and the reward it gave back was indescribable. The feeling of being emptied of all your energy is incredible. It's hard to say where things will go from here. I am returning to the Umstead 100 in the spring, and how I get there is to be determined.
And to be continued...
EDIT: I have to give a shout out to the rest of the Raleigh gang: Daren, Todd, Mitzi, and Elaine. EVERYONE finished MMTR and they ALL finished the Lynchburg Ultra Series. It was close, but they finished together which was a fantastic way complete the race and series. Congratulations you guys.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Catch you on the other side
Heading out in about half an hour to drive up to Lynchburg for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. The training is in the bag, the gear is the bag. Everything is set. I'll do a better race report once it's over.
Everyone have a good weekend. My brother is doing a Tough Mudder Sunday afternoon, after my dad does his first 10k run that morning.
Soundtrack:
"Misery Business" by Paramore
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
Everyone have a good weekend. My brother is doing a Tough Mudder Sunday afternoon, after my dad does his first 10k run that morning.
Soundtrack:
"Misery Business" by Paramore
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Big Time Changes
State Fair with family. New job. New apartment. EMT class. 2 weeks to Masochist.
I know it's been a long time since I last updated. A lot has been going on and I just have NOT had the time. But it's been pretty much all good things.
This week I started a new job. Not with the Y. There was a conflict with being able to take my EMT class. As much as that class isn't yet "necessary" I felt like I needed to keep on going with it where as the Y job didn't feel like it has much future. So now I'm working for a pool service company. Essentially I maintain pools during the winter so they're not so much trouble come springtime to get ready for the summer. It's hard manual labor. Maybe not so mentally challenging, and I go home exhausted, but I'm liking it.
My tiredness is compounded by my EMT class. After working 8-5, 3 nights a week I still have my EMT class. I'm still enjoying it, though we've still just barely touched on the medical training. It's settling into a good rhythm. I just hope having a stable job doesn't sour my motivation to pursue this.
This week was also moving week. My brother and I made a big change and decided to be housemates (apartment). I think the last time we shared a room (we don't know) was back when my oldest sister went to college. I think the last time we lived under the same roof was probably technically when I got my first apartment my sophmore year of college. It's kinda crazy.
On the short term: I've got 2 weeks until going back to the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. Two weeks ago, the Grindstone 100 was CANCELLED because the government shutdown prevent usage of some forest service roads. So luckily we get to stay on the course. My running has been good. For the past month (or so) my training cycle has been much shorter, so with a lot more recovery weeks. And today-ish is the start of my taper to store up the energy for this event.
My sister was in town for our family camping trip last weekend. She tele-commuted for the week and before she left, last night we all went to the State Fair. I glad we went, even though I was pretty hungry until we got there, so I got a little grumpy. I had a good ham biscuit (kudos to the church fair booth!), a polish sausage (good, but not very well seasoned), and a little bit of bacon-chocolate funnel cake (split among the five of us). I have yet to find the pickle booth! I've heard they're amazing, and after having fresh pickles when the JCC had a Food Festival, I know the fresh ones are in a league a part from the canned ones.
Keeping it short, even though it's been a while.
Soundtrack: DON'T JUDGE
"Royals" by Lorde
"Everything" by Taylor Swift
I know it's been a long time since I last updated. A lot has been going on and I just have NOT had the time. But it's been pretty much all good things.
This week I started a new job. Not with the Y. There was a conflict with being able to take my EMT class. As much as that class isn't yet "necessary" I felt like I needed to keep on going with it where as the Y job didn't feel like it has much future. So now I'm working for a pool service company. Essentially I maintain pools during the winter so they're not so much trouble come springtime to get ready for the summer. It's hard manual labor. Maybe not so mentally challenging, and I go home exhausted, but I'm liking it.
My tiredness is compounded by my EMT class. After working 8-5, 3 nights a week I still have my EMT class. I'm still enjoying it, though we've still just barely touched on the medical training. It's settling into a good rhythm. I just hope having a stable job doesn't sour my motivation to pursue this.
This week was also moving week. My brother and I made a big change and decided to be housemates (apartment). I think the last time we shared a room (we don't know) was back when my oldest sister went to college. I think the last time we lived under the same roof was probably technically when I got my first apartment my sophmore year of college. It's kinda crazy.
On the short term: I've got 2 weeks until going back to the Mountain Masochist Trail Run. Two weeks ago, the Grindstone 100 was CANCELLED because the government shutdown prevent usage of some forest service roads. So luckily we get to stay on the course. My running has been good. For the past month (or so) my training cycle has been much shorter, so with a lot more recovery weeks. And today-ish is the start of my taper to store up the energy for this event.
My sister was in town for our family camping trip last weekend. She tele-commuted for the week and before she left, last night we all went to the State Fair. I glad we went, even though I was pretty hungry until we got there, so I got a little grumpy. I had a good ham biscuit (kudos to the church fair booth!), a polish sausage (good, but not very well seasoned), and a little bit of bacon-chocolate funnel cake (split among the five of us). I have yet to find the pickle booth! I've heard they're amazing, and after having fresh pickles when the JCC had a Food Festival, I know the fresh ones are in a league a part from the canned ones.
Keeping it short, even though it's been a while.
Soundtrack: DON'T JUDGE
"Royals" by Lorde
"Everything" by Taylor Swift
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
I Love October
Quality week. Moving. EMT class. Umstead.
It's been [slightly] longer than usual since I last blogged. Last week, I finished up work at the JCC and over the weekend I moved. I crammed all my stuff into boxes and bags and shoved it all into my parents' house. Like I've said before, it's a frustrating feeling. I feel disoriented, and as if my life has been bottled up and stuffed in a cage. I'm hoping things will be looking up, so we'll see.
One up shot was starting my EMT class last night. It's only been one class, so there's not much to write about. I was surprised at the number of other students with [Bachelor's] degrees. I don't mean that in a snooty way; I've just been told I'd probably be the highest educated person, but there's probably 4 or 5 of us that have graduate college. As to the class itself and the curriculum, I think it's going to be a fascinated topic and I can't wait to really get into it. The 6:30-9:30 time frame really sucks (my normal bedtime is usually 9:00), but practically speaking, if I want to be an EMT, I better get used to not operating on my own schedule.
Training for Masochist progressing well. Now I'm on an back-and-forth recovery-build/quality system. This week I'm doing something a little different by not having a specific weekend long run of 30/35 miles. Instead, I'm doing across the board 15 miles each day. The weekly mileage ends up about the same. Yesterday and today have gone OK, but definitely when I start pushing 11 miles, my body starts realizing somethings up. Today was certainly tougher than yesterday, and I'm worried/anxious to see how tomorrow will feel.
As to Umstead: yes, I've gotten suckered in. I applied and was accepted as a competitive entry. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. I've never been one to chase a PR. And it's the first time I feel PUBLICLY committed to a time goal, in this case under 17 hours. It's one thing to want to run faster; it's another to HAVE to. But while it's scary, that itself is the main reason I chose to go back, rather than pick one of the other races I was considering.
Ironically, two days after I applied for Umstead, the ThunderRock 100 (in Chattanooga) finally announced their race date.
May 16, 5-6 weeks after Umstead. I should think about it, right?
Soundtrack:
"My Songs Know..." by Fallout Boy
"Breathe Today" by Flyleaf
It's been [slightly] longer than usual since I last blogged. Last week, I finished up work at the JCC and over the weekend I moved. I crammed all my stuff into boxes and bags and shoved it all into my parents' house. Like I've said before, it's a frustrating feeling. I feel disoriented, and as if my life has been bottled up and stuffed in a cage. I'm hoping things will be looking up, so we'll see.
One up shot was starting my EMT class last night. It's only been one class, so there's not much to write about. I was surprised at the number of other students with [Bachelor's] degrees. I don't mean that in a snooty way; I've just been told I'd probably be the highest educated person, but there's probably 4 or 5 of us that have graduate college. As to the class itself and the curriculum, I think it's going to be a fascinated topic and I can't wait to really get into it. The 6:30-9:30 time frame really sucks (my normal bedtime is usually 9:00), but practically speaking, if I want to be an EMT, I better get used to not operating on my own schedule.
Training for Masochist progressing well. Now I'm on an back-and-forth recovery-build/quality system. This week I'm doing something a little different by not having a specific weekend long run of 30/35 miles. Instead, I'm doing across the board 15 miles each day. The weekly mileage ends up about the same. Yesterday and today have gone OK, but definitely when I start pushing 11 miles, my body starts realizing somethings up. Today was certainly tougher than yesterday, and I'm worried/anxious to see how tomorrow will feel.
As to Umstead: yes, I've gotten suckered in. I applied and was accepted as a competitive entry. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. I've never been one to chase a PR. And it's the first time I feel PUBLICLY committed to a time goal, in this case under 17 hours. It's one thing to want to run faster; it's another to HAVE to. But while it's scary, that itself is the main reason I chose to go back, rather than pick one of the other races I was considering.
Ironically, two days after I applied for Umstead, the ThunderRock 100 (in Chattanooga) finally announced their race date.
May 16, 5-6 weeks after Umstead. I should think about it, right?
Soundtrack:
"My Songs Know..." by Fallout Boy
"Breathe Today" by Flyleaf
Monday, September 23, 2013
Moving Weekend
Long run. Stomach troubles. Moving day. Job hunt.
Good, solid week last week. Nothing crazy going on with training. Cross-training-wise, I haven't been swimming. Since our pool closed, I no longer have a free place to swim. Since most of my workouts are only 2000 yds, about 30-40 minutes, I didn't feel justified to pay, even just the $4 for the city pool. And I just didn't want another logistical planning session. I would've gone for my Thursday swim, but from past experience I know that it would've sucked. Only doing an sport once a week does NOT help maintain any ability/endurance. Even though it cost more, I went over to the YMCA and used their erg (rowing machine) and got a good set in. My hamstrings were tight and my back ached from the full body work out, but for the most part, no harm done. I'm just trying to make sure to avoid running on my day off from running.
I did deal a little bit with some GI issues. I couldn't really say what the problem was. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've "readjusted" to a meat-eating diet. Last weekend though I bought some buffalo burgers from Trader Joe's. A whole one Sunday, and parts for lunch early in the week, that was my first suspect; I tossed the leftovers. Could really tell if I felt better or worse; just some weird cramps and rumbling. Then I decided to stop taking my iron supplement. I don't know if I still need it anyways, and I could reason that maybe with the red meat, I overloaded on iron. I've been feeling better; maybe because of getting the iron under control; maybe just some bad food finally cleared out.
I'm moving this weekend. I recently told someone that I was content with the fact that I wouldn't likely every have a permanent place. Well fuck that. I became sharply aware how much not having a place to call MINE is. And realized how much useless, meaningless crap I have. All it does it take up space, gets aged and dirty. It really kind of makes my stomach turn (physical issues aside). I don't know, maybe it's reflective that I still don't know where I'll be working or what I'll be doing in a few weeks. And that almost as soon as I go to my parents, I'm gonna want to get out. I really don't know if I could tolerate being at home for more than two weeks. It's nothing against my parents. Really, it's NOT. I just feel this huge burden that I haven't moved forward at all, and that I'll just be sliding backwards, with all my pointless, crappy possessions growing moldy in a garage because I haven't manned up to get a real job.
I'm in a muddled area of my training plan, with several weeks that I never really filled in. I only did one build week. This week is recovery again, next week probably a quality week, then another recovery, and then start tapering. It's 5? 6? weeks until Mountain Masochist.
Soundtrack:
"Gone Gone Gone" Phillip Phillips
"ISHFWILF" Disturbed
Good, solid week last week. Nothing crazy going on with training. Cross-training-wise, I haven't been swimming. Since our pool closed, I no longer have a free place to swim. Since most of my workouts are only 2000 yds, about 30-40 minutes, I didn't feel justified to pay, even just the $4 for the city pool. And I just didn't want another logistical planning session. I would've gone for my Thursday swim, but from past experience I know that it would've sucked. Only doing an sport once a week does NOT help maintain any ability/endurance. Even though it cost more, I went over to the YMCA and used their erg (rowing machine) and got a good set in. My hamstrings were tight and my back ached from the full body work out, but for the most part, no harm done. I'm just trying to make sure to avoid running on my day off from running.
I did deal a little bit with some GI issues. I couldn't really say what the problem was. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've "readjusted" to a meat-eating diet. Last weekend though I bought some buffalo burgers from Trader Joe's. A whole one Sunday, and parts for lunch early in the week, that was my first suspect; I tossed the leftovers. Could really tell if I felt better or worse; just some weird cramps and rumbling. Then I decided to stop taking my iron supplement. I don't know if I still need it anyways, and I could reason that maybe with the red meat, I overloaded on iron. I've been feeling better; maybe because of getting the iron under control; maybe just some bad food finally cleared out.
I'm moving this weekend. I recently told someone that I was content with the fact that I wouldn't likely every have a permanent place. Well fuck that. I became sharply aware how much not having a place to call MINE is. And realized how much useless, meaningless crap I have. All it does it take up space, gets aged and dirty. It really kind of makes my stomach turn (physical issues aside). I don't know, maybe it's reflective that I still don't know where I'll be working or what I'll be doing in a few weeks. And that almost as soon as I go to my parents, I'm gonna want to get out. I really don't know if I could tolerate being at home for more than two weeks. It's nothing against my parents. Really, it's NOT. I just feel this huge burden that I haven't moved forward at all, and that I'll just be sliding backwards, with all my pointless, crappy possessions growing moldy in a garage because I haven't manned up to get a real job.
I'm in a muddled area of my training plan, with several weeks that I never really filled in. I only did one build week. This week is recovery again, next week probably a quality week, then another recovery, and then start tapering. It's 5? 6? weeks until Mountain Masochist.
Soundtrack:
"Gone Gone Gone" Phillip Phillips
"ISHFWILF" Disturbed
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Climb the highest mountain and dive off...
Glute pain. Puppy love. Apartment search. Scam. Race schedule anxiety. Spinning.
The Tabata class I've been taking can kick my butt. And of course, I don't adjust my running routine, so I've been paying for it. Even on top of that, I've missed out on my Thursday recovery swims and have substituted with short EASY runs... which I know don't help. When I've done this in the past it usually leads to foot problems. Last week, I had a great 10 (ish) mile Wednesday tempo run. Then in our tabata class we did TONS of leg exercises including explosive lunge jumps. Without taking the Thursday to recover, my right glutes were DYING most of the weekend. It was one of those things were I think I was able to maintain my form, but I just felt zapped of energy. Most likely my quads and other muscles were doing a lot of extra work to compensate for the defunct power in the quads.
The puppy love has passed. Well, sort of. There is no sense of imperative to get one ASAP. I still want one, but I know it could take some time. I also decided to go ahead and offer to help out my sister, who may need a taker for her twopests Manchester Terriers. That may be coming in December.
I was going to write about my apartment search (though it may have been meaningless. More on that in a moment). Looked at a couple places in the Cary area, when I was sure I would want the job at the Cary Y. My goal is to be within 5 miles of my workplace... when you have to be 'on call,' it's easier to get up and go when you're nearby.
Though I did almost get scammed. There was a listing for a home that had a great rent, so I emailed the lister to schedule a viewing. I got a very cordial email, telling me rent, pet policies, move out policies, etc., and then a request to complete a background check before the viewing with a web link provided. Well, something told me to check out the website on Google. And it turned out these guys used this website by charging credit cards 100x what it says. It was crazy! I'm really glad I did so, though of course now I get spam about once a day from these seemingly random yahoo accounts trying to get information.
I'm getting some more race anxiety. After Umstead registration came and went, I thought at least that race was behind me. However, this weekend I was essentially told if I want in, I was in. It's just hard to think about really RACING and chasing a time goal or PR. And I am a little worried about how many quality miles I got in my legs AND in my mind.
With our pool closed, my swim cross training has switched over to spinning. I'm trying to find the sweet spot of not crushing my legs, but still get a good aerobic workout.
So yeah, I also really confused about job stuff, and where I'll be. So I may be at home for a few weeks. I really really NEED to make it just a few weeks.
Soundtrack:
"Camisado" by Panic! At the Disco
"We Are" by The Kids in the Way
The Tabata class I've been taking can kick my butt. And of course, I don't adjust my running routine, so I've been paying for it. Even on top of that, I've missed out on my Thursday recovery swims and have substituted with short EASY runs... which I know don't help. When I've done this in the past it usually leads to foot problems. Last week, I had a great 10 (ish) mile Wednesday tempo run. Then in our tabata class we did TONS of leg exercises including explosive lunge jumps. Without taking the Thursday to recover, my right glutes were DYING most of the weekend. It was one of those things were I think I was able to maintain my form, but I just felt zapped of energy. Most likely my quads and other muscles were doing a lot of extra work to compensate for the defunct power in the quads.
The puppy love has passed. Well, sort of. There is no sense of imperative to get one ASAP. I still want one, but I know it could take some time. I also decided to go ahead and offer to help out my sister, who may need a taker for her two
I was going to write about my apartment search (though it may have been meaningless. More on that in a moment). Looked at a couple places in the Cary area, when I was sure I would want the job at the Cary Y. My goal is to be within 5 miles of my workplace... when you have to be 'on call,' it's easier to get up and go when you're nearby.
Though I did almost get scammed. There was a listing for a home that had a great rent, so I emailed the lister to schedule a viewing. I got a very cordial email, telling me rent, pet policies, move out policies, etc., and then a request to complete a background check before the viewing with a web link provided. Well, something told me to check out the website on Google. And it turned out these guys used this website by charging credit cards 100x what it says. It was crazy! I'm really glad I did so, though of course now I get spam about once a day from these seemingly random yahoo accounts trying to get information.
I'm getting some more race anxiety. After Umstead registration came and went, I thought at least that race was behind me. However, this weekend I was essentially told if I want in, I was in. It's just hard to think about really RACING and chasing a time goal or PR. And I am a little worried about how many quality miles I got in my legs AND in my mind.
With our pool closed, my swim cross training has switched over to spinning. I'm trying to find the sweet spot of not crushing my legs, but still get a good aerobic workout.
So yeah, I also really confused about job stuff, and where I'll be. So I may be at home for a few weeks. I really really NEED to make it just a few weeks.
Soundtrack:
"Camisado" by Panic! At the Disco
"We Are" by The Kids in the Way
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Weekday Update
Introspective time: I'm noticing I have what I'll call a feedback paradox/conundrum. There lots of aspects of my life where I want to receive feedback. Not just criticism, but just acknowledgement of something I've said or done (as opposed to just black stares). I'm not really talking about serious things; I mean, I could just be shooting the breeze about something that's happened over the weekend, blah blah blah. Like I said, just a basic need to get some type of reaction I guess.
But the thing is a lot of times I feel really jaded/cynical about the responses. Such as if I talk about something positive, and the listener says "that's awesome!" I just instinctively think "it's not that awesome. You're just saying that because you want to pretend to care when you really could care less how much I ran/read/ate (whatever)." Or if after something bad happens, and I feel obligated to let friends or family know. I hate being asked "am I ok" partially because "I'm going to go all manic depressive," but also I think "you're asking because you want to know if the next few moments/days/whatever are going to be awkward self-pity times." I mean, should I really think people are all that fake?
Moving on....
A couple of good paced runs. Last week was a "quality week" and it rounded out Saturday with 25 miles ending at a tempo. Of course the tempo isn't actually all that fast. For me a tempo like this means I'm deliberately putting in the effort to move quickly; regardless of whether the pace is actually quicker. Lucky for me it was. And when I really wanted to push the effort, over the last 5 miles, I had some good help. Running through Umstead, I tagged behind a trio of runners (one with a dog) that were keeping a really good pace, which always helps. And then to polish off the last few miles on singletrack, I attempted to catch, match, and outpace some NC State women cross country runners. Good motivation there.
Wednesdays are usually a deliberate effort run as well (Monday is recovery, Tuesday trail work, Friday whatever). This one was pretty good. Being a recovery week, but 8 miles, at just sub-7:00 mile. Not to shabby. I've also been switching out my mid-day treadmill hill climbing routine with a Tabata class. This is essentially high intensity training in a group exercise setting. It's not so running/race specific, but with a varying routine, and the high intensity, I think it's been a fun cross training session.
I've been getting a little dog crazy. As I wrote my brother: "1)I think I'm just feeling needy. 2) [my] mom mentioned Lida's dog predicament. 3) some one on the trails running with a dog off-handedly said I should get one to run with.
But the thing is a lot of times I feel really jaded/cynical about the responses. Such as if I talk about something positive, and the listener says "that's awesome!" I just instinctively think "it's not that awesome. You're just saying that because you want to pretend to care when you really could care less how much I ran/read/ate (whatever)." Or if after something bad happens, and I feel obligated to let friends or family know. I hate being asked "am I ok" partially because "I'm going to go all manic depressive," but also I think "you're asking because you want to know if the next few moments/days/whatever are going to be awkward self-pity times." I mean, should I really think people are all that fake?
Moving on....
A couple of good paced runs. Last week was a "quality week" and it rounded out Saturday with 25 miles ending at a tempo. Of course the tempo isn't actually all that fast. For me a tempo like this means I'm deliberately putting in the effort to move quickly; regardless of whether the pace is actually quicker. Lucky for me it was. And when I really wanted to push the effort, over the last 5 miles, I had some good help. Running through Umstead, I tagged behind a trio of runners (one with a dog) that were keeping a really good pace, which always helps. And then to polish off the last few miles on singletrack, I attempted to catch, match, and outpace some NC State women cross country runners. Good motivation there.
Wednesdays are usually a deliberate effort run as well (Monday is recovery, Tuesday trail work, Friday whatever). This one was pretty good. Being a recovery week, but 8 miles, at just sub-7:00 mile. Not to shabby. I've also been switching out my mid-day treadmill hill climbing routine with a Tabata class. This is essentially high intensity training in a group exercise setting. It's not so running/race specific, but with a varying routine, and the high intensity, I think it's been a fun cross training session.
I've been getting a little dog crazy. As I wrote my brother: "1)I think I'm just feeling needy. 2) [my] mom mentioned Lida's dog predicament. 3) some one on the trails running with a dog off-handedly said I should get one to run with.
Reasons I have this unreasonable urge to have a dog."
Problem is I have nowhere to keep one. And I have no good plan for training, feeding, maintaining/exercising. I mean, my plants only started growing after I started ignoring them... A lot of those "breed matcher" sites are pairing me with little toy dogs.... I can't say I'm completely opposed, but I also feel tempted to have a DOG dog.
Soundtrack:
"Roar" by Katy Perry; yeah I know, shut up
"Listening to Freddie Mercury" by Emery
Problem is I have nowhere to keep one. And I have no good plan for training, feeding, maintaining/exercising. I mean, my plants only started growing after I started ignoring them... A lot of those "breed matcher" sites are pairing me with little toy dogs.... I can't say I'm completely opposed, but I also feel tempted to have a DOG dog.
Soundtrack:
"Roar" by Katy Perry; yeah I know, shut up
"Listening to Freddie Mercury" by Emery
Friday, September 6, 2013
Lost
New shoes. Long run. Job confusion. PT book. Lost.
It's been a weird few days. Things at the J are winding down a lot and we really only had a two day work week. I'm feeling lazy and without direction. I've been doing a lot of reading and trying to tell myself that's being "productive," but I feel like I'm just kidding myself. I want to do things, but I don't want to do things that cost money. Besides reading and running, I'm fresh out of hobbies. Oh, and I don't want to include watching Netflix.
I don't like not feeling like I have a purpose. I don't like feeling that my purpose is not "purposeful." I can't help but feel like the things I enjoy doing are simple and monotonous. Brainless. I crave work, but I am terrified of duty and responsibility. I feel selfish in my work ethic and my running. Maybe I feel like my only claim is that I'm stubbornly mechanistic with running and setting a schedule. If I'm not known for my "discipline" what else can I be known for?
I haven't heard back from the Alexander YMCA. I won't say I'm nervous, but I am frustrated. There's this whole musical chairs, ring-around-the-rosy going on that, while I understand the hard-and-fast process; I don't understand the reasoning.
I ended up purchasing new trail shoes. So much better. I finally go through all of the PT book. I took a practice exam. I knew more than I thought, but not as much as I want to. It's hard to say what the point of sticking with that.
I'm just scared that I'm getting to yet another crossroads point and I still haven't gotten directions.
The Umstead 100 registration opens tomorrow. I think I will pass on it, but I also think I will regret doing so until/unless another big race after MMTR.
Soundtrack:
"If I Die Young" The Band Perry
"Take me away" Lifehouse
It's been a weird few days. Things at the J are winding down a lot and we really only had a two day work week. I'm feeling lazy and without direction. I've been doing a lot of reading and trying to tell myself that's being "productive," but I feel like I'm just kidding myself. I want to do things, but I don't want to do things that cost money. Besides reading and running, I'm fresh out of hobbies. Oh, and I don't want to include watching Netflix.
I don't like not feeling like I have a purpose. I don't like feeling that my purpose is not "purposeful." I can't help but feel like the things I enjoy doing are simple and monotonous. Brainless. I crave work, but I am terrified of duty and responsibility. I feel selfish in my work ethic and my running. Maybe I feel like my only claim is that I'm stubbornly mechanistic with running and setting a schedule. If I'm not known for my "discipline" what else can I be known for?
I haven't heard back from the Alexander YMCA. I won't say I'm nervous, but I am frustrated. There's this whole musical chairs, ring-around-the-rosy going on that, while I understand the hard-and-fast process; I don't understand the reasoning.
I ended up purchasing new trail shoes. So much better. I finally go through all of the PT book. I took a practice exam. I knew more than I thought, but not as much as I want to. It's hard to say what the point of sticking with that.
I'm just scared that I'm getting to yet another crossroads point and I still haven't gotten directions.
The Umstead 100 registration opens tomorrow. I think I will pass on it, but I also think I will regret doing so until/unless another big race after MMTR.
Soundtrack:
"If I Die Young" The Band Perry
"Take me away" Lifehouse
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Fall FAll FALl FALL
It's Wednesday and it's hot again. When I planned on writing this post, I was all about the wonderful fall-ish weather we had earlier this week. Particularly the FIFTY-SEVEN degrees Monday morning. It was glorious. I was so psyched about dropping temperatures. I was so demoralized when today it returned to 70s starting out.
Why was I getting so excited? Fall is my favorite time of year. There's just something incredible about it. Those cooling temperatures put a certain brisk-ness, crispness in the air. Everything seems so full of potential. The fall is punctuated by late September and all on October. The milder weather is really just a reminder of the time. I get excited about things I don't even really participate in: college football (which I don't follow), new year of college, Halloween, pumpkins, the NC State Fair, camping. AHHHHHH!! I just can't wait.
My shoelace problem continues to bother me. More so because I can't determine if I actually fixed the problem. I had run 30 miles with them digging into my foot which left a mild bruise. So now I can't tell if the shoe is still digging in, or if it's just pressure of the bruise. With these shoes I've also noticed I'm working my calves more, which if I'm doing more forefoot running, would make sense. I'm not sure if the zero-drop shoes are great right now for long distances; I'm doing good for the first several miles, but eventually I end up just slapping my feet. Not a good things.
The registration for the Umstead 100 opens up this weekend. I have a vague eagerness to give it another go. They claim competitive runners as those trying for sub 17:00. Having run 17:28, it's an enticing challenge. However, two other situations are in my sights: doing the Beast Series (3 springtime 50ks, then 100 M, 50 M, 100K autumn); or a new inaugural 100 M in the spring in Chattanooga. The ThunderRock 100M in Chattanooga would just be neat because it's an inaugural race. For both Umstead and the Beast Series, I mellow over how many more years I could have quality races in either style of racing (for Umstead: racing less but higher quality; for the Beast: racing more frequently).
My diet has been OK. The first day with yogurt had no problems. Yesterday I had some again, and I felt a little off, but I'm not sure if that was exclusive to the yogurt. So far, I've had eggs, yogurt, chicken, smoked trout, and smoked salmon. If you've never had a smoked fish you should. It's like the bacon of seafood. That's the best way to describe how awesome it is. Yum.
Soundtrack:
"You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi
"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran
Saturday, August 24, 2013
To the Sound of a heartbeat pounding away
Job interview, shoe pain, shoe fix, back to meat, long runs, lunch with family, slow week.
This week I had an interview for a YMCA aquatics position in Raleigh. It went fairly well, though I am well-acquainted with one of the interviewers and that made it go very smoothly. Interesting thing happened. Afterwards I stalled going back to work in Durham, instead stopping by the Cary YMCA. And I learned about some enticing job opportunities there. The downside? It's only 29 hours, part-time. However, if I wanted to pursue EMT as a second job, that part-time aspect may actually be a plus. It still makes me a little worried about job security, but really, I'd rather be doing something I enjoy than be safe in a bad job.
My latest trail shoe has been the Altra Superior. It's a slightly slimmed down version of their Lone Peak trail shoe. This company specifically makes zero-drop shoes and this was my first venture into this arena, and also my first with this brand of shoe. I haven't noticed any problems with the heel drop, but for some reason the laces on the left shoe were pinching/digging in to my foot like it was no tomorrow. No matter how loose I made that crossing, it'd always tightening down and hurt like crazy. Despite only being about 2 weeks old, I was seriously considering getting a new shoe; maybe specially ordering the Brooks PureGrit2 if need be.
THANK GOODNESS, I identified the problem. You'd never realize what a difference looping OVER rather than UNDER can make. It took a while to finally spot the difference [from the right shoe], but it came as such a relief. Though, I didn't notice until after my run this morning, so I haven't been out to verify that it's truly fixed, but I am hopeful.
Other than that pain, my long run this morning went pretty well. At 66F, temps at the start felt ok, but I felt like I worked up a sweat way too quickly. In the second half of my run, I can't explain it, but there was an oddly "fall-ish" feeling, and even though the temperature felt the same, I also felt cooler. On a different aspect of my run, I decided to scrap my original planned route after about 2 hours. My original course would have taken me over Turkey Creek and the Sycamore trail. I ditched that in favor of some uncharted miles along the 286 trail. They keep forging a lot of new trail, which I guess is good, but it gives it too much of a confusing labyrinth feel.
Earlier this week I tripped and had an great recovery in that I did so without even breaking stride. That luck came around today, where I probably stumbled 4-6 times, with 2-3 hard crashes. Ouch.
This week I started eating meat again. I've eggs for breakfast a couple of times, and some chicken for dinner once. So far nothing painful, or performance-altering. Though there are some... digestive changes; I expected these. I may give some yogurt a try tomorrow and see how dairy works.
I had lunch with parents and brother this afternoon. It was nice. I wish I could say I love spending a lot of time with my family. I love getting together at Christmas and Thanksgiving, going to Scotland, our camping trip. But sometimes it's best in small bouts. And this afternoon was a perfect bout of being able to catch up.
I will say though... the past few weeks, I have noticed my brother and I talk a lot more. Not in person or over the phone, but we email more often about little things going on day-to-day.
It's says slow week above... that also means boring... sorry.
Soundtrack:
"You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell, theme to Casino Royale as I finish up my 007 series
"The Day the World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails, it line with movies, this was in the trailer for Terminator: Salvation
This week I had an interview for a YMCA aquatics position in Raleigh. It went fairly well, though I am well-acquainted with one of the interviewers and that made it go very smoothly. Interesting thing happened. Afterwards I stalled going back to work in Durham, instead stopping by the Cary YMCA. And I learned about some enticing job opportunities there. The downside? It's only 29 hours, part-time. However, if I wanted to pursue EMT as a second job, that part-time aspect may actually be a plus. It still makes me a little worried about job security, but really, I'd rather be doing something I enjoy than be safe in a bad job.
My latest trail shoe has been the Altra Superior. It's a slightly slimmed down version of their Lone Peak trail shoe. This company specifically makes zero-drop shoes and this was my first venture into this arena, and also my first with this brand of shoe. I haven't noticed any problems with the heel drop, but for some reason the laces on the left shoe were pinching/digging in to my foot like it was no tomorrow. No matter how loose I made that crossing, it'd always tightening down and hurt like crazy. Despite only being about 2 weeks old, I was seriously considering getting a new shoe; maybe specially ordering the Brooks PureGrit2 if need be.
THANK GOODNESS, I identified the problem. You'd never realize what a difference looping OVER rather than UNDER can make. It took a while to finally spot the difference [from the right shoe], but it came as such a relief. Though, I didn't notice until after my run this morning, so I haven't been out to verify that it's truly fixed, but I am hopeful.
Other than that pain, my long run this morning went pretty well. At 66F, temps at the start felt ok, but I felt like I worked up a sweat way too quickly. In the second half of my run, I can't explain it, but there was an oddly "fall-ish" feeling, and even though the temperature felt the same, I also felt cooler. On a different aspect of my run, I decided to scrap my original planned route after about 2 hours. My original course would have taken me over Turkey Creek and the Sycamore trail. I ditched that in favor of some uncharted miles along the 286 trail. They keep forging a lot of new trail, which I guess is good, but it gives it too much of a confusing labyrinth feel.
Earlier this week I tripped and had an great recovery in that I did so without even breaking stride. That luck came around today, where I probably stumbled 4-6 times, with 2-3 hard crashes. Ouch.
This week I started eating meat again. I've eggs for breakfast a couple of times, and some chicken for dinner once. So far nothing painful, or performance-altering. Though there are some... digestive changes; I expected these. I may give some yogurt a try tomorrow and see how dairy works.
I had lunch with parents and brother this afternoon. It was nice. I wish I could say I love spending a lot of time with my family. I love getting together at Christmas and Thanksgiving, going to Scotland, our camping trip. But sometimes it's best in small bouts. And this afternoon was a perfect bout of being able to catch up.
I will say though... the past few weeks, I have noticed my brother and I talk a lot more. Not in person or over the phone, but we email more often about little things going on day-to-day.
It's says slow week above... that also means boring... sorry.
Soundtrack:
"You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell, theme to Casino Royale as I finish up my 007 series
"The Day the World Went Away" by Nine Inch Nails, it line with movies, this was in the trailer for Terminator: Salvation
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Faux Fall
I'm sitting at work. I have about 45 min until I have to teach a make-up swim lesson. The weather is overcast, kind of cold. I'm seriously hoping that no one shows up.
This recovery week has been much needed. I've been flirting with plantar fasciitis. The combination of less mileage and yesterday's day off was much needed. Today's weather was fantastic. At 60F the temperature was amazing. It gave me a tantalizing taste of fall, which is by far the best best best best time of the year. Even some road work had some hay laid out, and it reminded me of pumpkin patches. Ah... October...
Continuing on Saturday morning...
A great run this morning; 15 miles on single track at Umstead. Though it's a lower mileage, I initially try to temper my pace. However, I could tell after a mile or so that I was churning pretty good. However, it felt so smooth and fluid, I decided to run with it (no pun intended). Besides some crazy hunger, the effort continued to feel steady and strong. Only the last mile might have felt a hair sluggish.
I can't say how much I attribute it to the weather. A few details: Generally for 70+ I'm in a singlet. For high 60s it's sleeveless. Lower just a short sleeve shirt, so on and so forth. At lower 60s, it was definitely a SS shirt morning. But I couldn't ever tell if I was hot or cold. I seemed to sweat a good deal, but I never felt hot, particularly once I was well soaked (then I felt a little chilled). Of course, I judge a lot by how my hands feel, and even though 64 isn't anywhere near cold, I can feel it in my hands.
So pretty soon, I think the veganism may end. I still plan to abide by the core principles that made me pick up that diet: unprocessed foods with minimal additives. From my initial re-investigation, I concede that some of the evidence against a meat-eating diet may be more linked to the industrialization of the animal farming process. Also, from my own conclusions (which granted, I don't have explicit references to this), I think the evolution of our diet away from the ancestral ways is simply progress. I don't believe it was done with any specific malicious intent, and like any change, there are pros and cons; an ever leveling balance to life.
My current concern is how and when to start adding some food groups back in. I'm actually less concerned about meat and eggs. I'm a little scared about dairy products, because while no studies have been done (so no conclusions for/against), there's reason to believe metabolic process and gastric probiotics are lacking that were used to processing dairy. Many people have reported stomach issues, not just with milk and the ability to digest lactose, but even with cheeses or yogurts that should have minimal lactose, suggesting that it may be other compounds in the dairy products.
I'm trying to find some new music. I can't really describe what it is. Something soothing. Piano-y. The best way I can describe it is Adele's Skyfall. Music databases put that under "soul/R&B" but that also includes things like funk and disco, which is NOT what I'm looking for.
Definitely sad to see this chill weather heading out. Hopefully truly autumn weather won't be too far behind.
Soundtrack:
"Coming Back to Life" by Blindside: this line "This black crow is becoming a white dove"
"Skyfall" by Adele AND "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell. I'm on a sort of 007 movie marathon.
This recovery week has been much needed. I've been flirting with plantar fasciitis. The combination of less mileage and yesterday's day off was much needed. Today's weather was fantastic. At 60F the temperature was amazing. It gave me a tantalizing taste of fall, which is by far the best best best best time of the year. Even some road work had some hay laid out, and it reminded me of pumpkin patches. Ah... October...
Continuing on Saturday morning...
A great run this morning; 15 miles on single track at Umstead. Though it's a lower mileage, I initially try to temper my pace. However, I could tell after a mile or so that I was churning pretty good. However, it felt so smooth and fluid, I decided to run with it (no pun intended). Besides some crazy hunger, the effort continued to feel steady and strong. Only the last mile might have felt a hair sluggish.
I can't say how much I attribute it to the weather. A few details: Generally for 70+ I'm in a singlet. For high 60s it's sleeveless. Lower just a short sleeve shirt, so on and so forth. At lower 60s, it was definitely a SS shirt morning. But I couldn't ever tell if I was hot or cold. I seemed to sweat a good deal, but I never felt hot, particularly once I was well soaked (then I felt a little chilled). Of course, I judge a lot by how my hands feel, and even though 64 isn't anywhere near cold, I can feel it in my hands.
So pretty soon, I think the veganism may end. I still plan to abide by the core principles that made me pick up that diet: unprocessed foods with minimal additives. From my initial re-investigation, I concede that some of the evidence against a meat-eating diet may be more linked to the industrialization of the animal farming process. Also, from my own conclusions (which granted, I don't have explicit references to this), I think the evolution of our diet away from the ancestral ways is simply progress. I don't believe it was done with any specific malicious intent, and like any change, there are pros and cons; an ever leveling balance to life.
My current concern is how and when to start adding some food groups back in. I'm actually less concerned about meat and eggs. I'm a little scared about dairy products, because while no studies have been done (so no conclusions for/against), there's reason to believe metabolic process and gastric probiotics are lacking that were used to processing dairy. Many people have reported stomach issues, not just with milk and the ability to digest lactose, but even with cheeses or yogurts that should have minimal lactose, suggesting that it may be other compounds in the dairy products.
I'm trying to find some new music. I can't really describe what it is. Something soothing. Piano-y. The best way I can describe it is Adele's Skyfall. Music databases put that under "soul/R&B" but that also includes things like funk and disco, which is NOT what I'm looking for.
Definitely sad to see this chill weather heading out. Hopefully truly autumn weather won't be too far behind.
Soundtrack:
"Coming Back to Life" by Blindside: this line "This black crow is becoming a white dove"
"Skyfall" by Adele AND "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell. I'm on a sort of 007 movie marathon.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
All Good Things...
Was the title to the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yeah?
I feel like I should make an admission: not everything that goes on in my life gets put up here. When I revived this blog, I certainly thought I was. I think lots of things can/will get reveled later on through implication, but somethings just don't get flat out set. Maybe that means I'm failing as a blogger? Well, I don't feel too guilty.
This week was my quality week. But as I move up in my long run distances, and I fall into habits of convenience and familiarity, it gets hard to proper plan and execute these weekend quality runs. A major contributor is also this wicked heat. This week, my goal was 20-25 miles and I last minute decided for a harder effort/negative split run. I was going back to the Mountain-to-Sea Trail portion along the Eno River I've did a few weeks ago, without the couple of miles where I got lost.
I definitely think I put out a good effort. I couldn't/didn't calculate the distance, but I figured it was anywhere between 1 and 2 miles shorter than my run a few weeks ago. And overall it was about 1/2 hour faster. Not too bad. I only barely negative split; maybe 1 or 2 minutes. But again, it was crazy hot. I drained my hydration bladder dry. Sure, I didn't start with a crazy full bladder, but I rarely do anyways. I do think I did a good job of walking more often, which paradoxically lets me run faster and actually keep a faster overall effort/pace.
Lots of job application possible. Two aquatics director positions in the YMCA of the Triangle association have opened up. I have or will be applying to both. One is in North Raleigh, another is right next to NC State. Both have good qualities.
I've borrowed a book on the Paleo Diet. I feel like I should have a balanced opinion on the animal protein thing.
I don't know what show to move to next.... hmmmmm.....
Soundtrack:
"Say the Word" by The Classic Crime
"I Know the Feeling" also by The Classic Crime
Both from their first album: Albatross
I feel like I should make an admission: not everything that goes on in my life gets put up here. When I revived this blog, I certainly thought I was. I think lots of things can/will get reveled later on through implication, but somethings just don't get flat out set. Maybe that means I'm failing as a blogger? Well, I don't feel too guilty.
This week was my quality week. But as I move up in my long run distances, and I fall into habits of convenience and familiarity, it gets hard to proper plan and execute these weekend quality runs. A major contributor is also this wicked heat. This week, my goal was 20-25 miles and I last minute decided for a harder effort/negative split run. I was going back to the Mountain-to-Sea Trail portion along the Eno River I've did a few weeks ago, without the couple of miles where I got lost.
I definitely think I put out a good effort. I couldn't/didn't calculate the distance, but I figured it was anywhere between 1 and 2 miles shorter than my run a few weeks ago. And overall it was about 1/2 hour faster. Not too bad. I only barely negative split; maybe 1 or 2 minutes. But again, it was crazy hot. I drained my hydration bladder dry. Sure, I didn't start with a crazy full bladder, but I rarely do anyways. I do think I did a good job of walking more often, which paradoxically lets me run faster and actually keep a faster overall effort/pace.
Lots of job application possible. Two aquatics director positions in the YMCA of the Triangle association have opened up. I have or will be applying to both. One is in North Raleigh, another is right next to NC State. Both have good qualities.
I've borrowed a book on the Paleo Diet. I feel like I should have a balanced opinion on the animal protein thing.
I don't know what show to move to next.... hmmmmm.....
Soundtrack:
"Say the Word" by The Classic Crime
"I Know the Feeling" also by The Classic Crime
Both from their first album: Albatross
Sunday, August 4, 2013
I have run through the field...
Let's see. What's going on recently? Hmmmm... Long recovery run today, long run yesterday, grocery shopping, Star Trek, reading for fun, reading for studying, nut butters, laundry, tax free weekend...
This weekend is the tax-free weekend in North Carolina (I think in other states too?). Some new running shoes might be eligible. That's the only thing I can think of that I might need. I'm going to need new trail running shoes in the next couple of weeks. The ones I have are Montrail FluidFlex and they've gotten about 500 miles on them... about 200 more than they're "supposed to." The thing is, I haven't had a consistent pair of trail shoes in a while.
When I first started trail running, I used the Brooks Cascadia. That was mainly because I was relatively loyal to the Brooks brand, but also the shoe was pretty well-regarded. I went through 3 generations of those, with a lot of satisfaction. But I wanted to start getting lighter weight and lower to the ground (lower heel-to-toe drop that is), and the Cascadia was kind of a brick. So I went to the Saucony Peregrine but was dissatisfied with the insole constantly sliding around once the shoe got wet. Next round was the Brooks PureGrit. I was very happy with this shoe. However, most other people were not so not many local vendors continued to carry it or it's follow up, the PureGrit2. Which brought me to the Montrail FluidFlex. They've been OK, but nothing special. The tongue was narrow and let a lot of grit in. Furthermore, last month, with about 300-350 miles, the upper was tearing away from the midsole, so I'm kind of disappointed with how long it lasts.
Shoes I am or would like to consider: Brooks PureGrit 2, Altra Instinct (?), Inov8, Saucony Kinvara TR (trail), Patagonia EverMORE, New Balance MT1010. Any suggestions or reviews from the audience?
Latest nut butter has been a hodgepodge: Trader Joe's Mixed Fancy Nuts. At least for me and my food processor, the roasted nuts pulverize better than the raw. Last batch of almond butter I tried raw almonds, but they never really released the oils to help make the almonds creamy. Roasted seems to do the trick. I'm sure most raw butters get so with a finer grind with an actual mill (vs. a food processor).
I've been reading multiple books. I'm trying to get motivated for my Personal Training book. I've realized that an EMT career will inevitable start out as part-time volunteer, so I have no reason not to pursue other careers that interest me. And on the other side, I've started a book called In to the Breach, about the EMS service in Newark, New Jersey. It has some good insight into the EMS service and very well written.
I'm on season 7 and the last of Star Trek: The Next Generation. What will I do next?! I guess I'll read more. Or just move on to the original Star Trek....
This morning's long recovery run was uneventful and uninspiring. I was running for 2.5 hours on the Carolina North Forest Trails. Evening running on the school-side trails, which I haven't used for several weeks, I still got bored relatively quickly. Definitely one of those I-have-the-energy-but-not-the-attention/determination. Contrast to yesterday's 30 mile run. That was surprisingly fantastic. Usually I make it through those runs always feeling like I want to quit but reluctantly pushing through. This run, I had those thoughts but really needed little reconsideration to keep on going and finish the whole run. I felt like I kept the spring in my step much longer than usual; it wasn't faster than usual, but given hot it was, it wasn't my slowest. THAT run felt very invigorating.
No crazy internal monologues or musings for now. I would say I should just channel some Taoist philosophy (in my perspective, it means, don't stress what you can't change), but sometimes I think that passive, go-with-the-flow mentality is what can get me in trouble, and isolates me from others.
Soundtrack:
"ISHFWILF" Disturbed cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" I like this because it talks about how no matter what you achieve, you can still feel lost; or that you have more to accomplish
"Inside Our Skins" by Emery. In the context of the song and music; I love it when they bellow out this phrase "Wisdom light my way into the dark"
This weekend is the tax-free weekend in North Carolina (I think in other states too?). Some new running shoes might be eligible. That's the only thing I can think of that I might need. I'm going to need new trail running shoes in the next couple of weeks. The ones I have are Montrail FluidFlex and they've gotten about 500 miles on them... about 200 more than they're "supposed to." The thing is, I haven't had a consistent pair of trail shoes in a while.
When I first started trail running, I used the Brooks Cascadia. That was mainly because I was relatively loyal to the Brooks brand, but also the shoe was pretty well-regarded. I went through 3 generations of those, with a lot of satisfaction. But I wanted to start getting lighter weight and lower to the ground (lower heel-to-toe drop that is), and the Cascadia was kind of a brick. So I went to the Saucony Peregrine but was dissatisfied with the insole constantly sliding around once the shoe got wet. Next round was the Brooks PureGrit. I was very happy with this shoe. However, most other people were not so not many local vendors continued to carry it or it's follow up, the PureGrit2. Which brought me to the Montrail FluidFlex. They've been OK, but nothing special. The tongue was narrow and let a lot of grit in. Furthermore, last month, with about 300-350 miles, the upper was tearing away from the midsole, so I'm kind of disappointed with how long it lasts.
Shoes I am or would like to consider: Brooks PureGrit 2, Altra Instinct (?), Inov8, Saucony Kinvara TR (trail), Patagonia EverMORE, New Balance MT1010. Any suggestions or reviews from the audience?
Latest nut butter has been a hodgepodge: Trader Joe's Mixed Fancy Nuts. At least for me and my food processor, the roasted nuts pulverize better than the raw. Last batch of almond butter I tried raw almonds, but they never really released the oils to help make the almonds creamy. Roasted seems to do the trick. I'm sure most raw butters get so with a finer grind with an actual mill (vs. a food processor).
I've been reading multiple books. I'm trying to get motivated for my Personal Training book. I've realized that an EMT career will inevitable start out as part-time volunteer, so I have no reason not to pursue other careers that interest me. And on the other side, I've started a book called In to the Breach, about the EMS service in Newark, New Jersey. It has some good insight into the EMS service and very well written.
I'm on season 7 and the last of Star Trek: The Next Generation. What will I do next?! I guess I'll read more. Or just move on to the original Star Trek....
This morning's long recovery run was uneventful and uninspiring. I was running for 2.5 hours on the Carolina North Forest Trails. Evening running on the school-side trails, which I haven't used for several weeks, I still got bored relatively quickly. Definitely one of those I-have-the-energy-but-not-the-attention/determination. Contrast to yesterday's 30 mile run. That was surprisingly fantastic. Usually I make it through those runs always feeling like I want to quit but reluctantly pushing through. This run, I had those thoughts but really needed little reconsideration to keep on going and finish the whole run. I felt like I kept the spring in my step much longer than usual; it wasn't faster than usual, but given hot it was, it wasn't my slowest. THAT run felt very invigorating.
No crazy internal monologues or musings for now. I would say I should just channel some Taoist philosophy (in my perspective, it means, don't stress what you can't change), but sometimes I think that passive, go-with-the-flow mentality is what can get me in trouble, and isolates me from others.
Soundtrack:
"ISHFWILF" Disturbed cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" I like this because it talks about how no matter what you achieve, you can still feel lost; or that you have more to accomplish
"Inside Our Skins" by Emery. In the context of the song and music; I love it when they bellow out this phrase "Wisdom light my way into the dark"
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Oh Boy
Sunday afternoon. What to write about? What have I done recently? I read a book. I did some running. I went to work. While on my run I thought about the universe. I thought about ethics. I thought about human evolution, about human nutrition, and implications on both, and I thought about human development as people and a nation and a species and a race. I watched some Star Trek. I did some house cleaning, some food preparation. I thought about going out to "research" new trail shoes, or get a book, or do something. I've tried to work through a sore throat and resulting voicelessness.
The book was called Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy. Suppposedly, it is a satirical approach to self-help books. It was written back in the earlier 80s. My opinion is somewhat mixed, but overall I wasn't amazed by it. Perhaps if I read it when it was more contemporary, I would have a better context for the author's allusions and have context for his jokes. But I kind of felt he was a bit pretentious and projected some of the arrogance he seemed to distain. And his reflections on the "self" and self-consciousness didn't really go anywhere and end up just making you feel depressed, hopeless, and estranged.
So I did do a lot of thinking on my run. I guess it focused a lot on obtaining knowledge, the application of the knowledge, the implications of doing so etc. (I feel like that explanation is too broad, or vague. And my thinking was so scattered-brain, I know that description doesn't fit everything). But most of it was surrounding thoughts on evolution.
I will use nutrition as a starting point (I don't like the layman interpretation of the word diet, but I'll use it). I follow a vegan diet. An opposite, is the Paleo diet. Both take some founding in human biology/physiology and/or evolution. Broadly, it's believed that in the early stages of human adaptation, we followed a certain diet. That certain diet should be the ideal diet for humans now, and therefore we should revert back to that diet.
Veganism believes that a plant-based diet is the best way to go back to that earlier diet. I've heard the lactase gene was relatively "new" adaptation, suggesting that early humans did not consume milk. The Paleo diet states that early humans were hunter-gathers. Our bodies were not suited to digest cereal grains, and our diets primarily consisted of meats, vegetables, and fruit. I think both diets tend to fall back on a premise that our bodies are relatively unchanged on the evolutionary scale, and that we should stick with the "tried and true" methods (aka diets) of the past. Veganism is slightly different, since it removes meats because, essentially, our current meat supplies (cows, lambs, pigs, poultry, fish, etc.) have been so altered that they not longer represent their "original" forms, and furthermore are treated in a cruel manner that should not be tolerated by consuming them.
My thoughts then turned to the idea of what evolution is and means. Are humans no longer evoluting? Are we capable of further evolution? Sure, we haven't been around that long, but if we have "evolved" a lactase gene, doesn't that mean we do adapt to our environment? Are we capable? If evolution follows Darwin's natural selection and survival of the fitness? Do we not have "Social Contracts" that allow for the propagation of less desirable traits? Of the weak?
Back to nutrition. If humans are a product of nature, if human intelligence is a product of nature, are not our technology (fire, metallurgy, chemistry, computer. etc) a product of nature? But yet, hasn't it stopped/arrested the so-called balance of the world? Or perhaps it's indicative that our understanding of that balance is flawed since we cannot account for our disruption of it. Nature begets intelligence, which becomes self-aware of nature, intends to apply intelligence to understand nature....
Ok, so really back to nutrition. If we are still a part of nature, and our technological, agricultural, industrial products are thus within nature, then can our usage of hormones, preservatives, processing really be perceived as a bastardization of nature? What of the imbalance of nature? We end diabetes by cutting sugar and adding preservatives, now we have cancer. We end world wide hunger and now are overpopulated, so we must produce energy efficient foods and thus use grains.
I don't know where I'm going with any of that. And I'm tired of typing about it. I think I'll watch more Star Trek: The Next Generation. I've almost half way through the 6th of 7 seasons. I worked some on my resume because I may be applying to an Aquatics Director position in Raleigh (for when my temporary job now ends). But I'm also interested in starting this book I found about life as an EMT. Yeah, that's still rearing it's crazy head.
Soundtrack:
"Dear Death Part 1" and "... Part 2" by Emery
The book was called Lost in the Cosmos by Walker Percy. Suppposedly, it is a satirical approach to self-help books. It was written back in the earlier 80s. My opinion is somewhat mixed, but overall I wasn't amazed by it. Perhaps if I read it when it was more contemporary, I would have a better context for the author's allusions and have context for his jokes. But I kind of felt he was a bit pretentious and projected some of the arrogance he seemed to distain. And his reflections on the "self" and self-consciousness didn't really go anywhere and end up just making you feel depressed, hopeless, and estranged.
So I did do a lot of thinking on my run. I guess it focused a lot on obtaining knowledge, the application of the knowledge, the implications of doing so etc. (I feel like that explanation is too broad, or vague. And my thinking was so scattered-brain, I know that description doesn't fit everything). But most of it was surrounding thoughts on evolution.
I will use nutrition as a starting point (I don't like the layman interpretation of the word diet, but I'll use it). I follow a vegan diet. An opposite, is the Paleo diet. Both take some founding in human biology/physiology and/or evolution. Broadly, it's believed that in the early stages of human adaptation, we followed a certain diet. That certain diet should be the ideal diet for humans now, and therefore we should revert back to that diet.
Veganism believes that a plant-based diet is the best way to go back to that earlier diet. I've heard the lactase gene was relatively "new" adaptation, suggesting that early humans did not consume milk. The Paleo diet states that early humans were hunter-gathers. Our bodies were not suited to digest cereal grains, and our diets primarily consisted of meats, vegetables, and fruit. I think both diets tend to fall back on a premise that our bodies are relatively unchanged on the evolutionary scale, and that we should stick with the "tried and true" methods (aka diets) of the past. Veganism is slightly different, since it removes meats because, essentially, our current meat supplies (cows, lambs, pigs, poultry, fish, etc.) have been so altered that they not longer represent their "original" forms, and furthermore are treated in a cruel manner that should not be tolerated by consuming them.
My thoughts then turned to the idea of what evolution is and means. Are humans no longer evoluting? Are we capable of further evolution? Sure, we haven't been around that long, but if we have "evolved" a lactase gene, doesn't that mean we do adapt to our environment? Are we capable? If evolution follows Darwin's natural selection and survival of the fitness? Do we not have "Social Contracts" that allow for the propagation of less desirable traits? Of the weak?
Back to nutrition. If humans are a product of nature, if human intelligence is a product of nature, are not our technology (fire, metallurgy, chemistry, computer. etc) a product of nature? But yet, hasn't it stopped/arrested the so-called balance of the world? Or perhaps it's indicative that our understanding of that balance is flawed since we cannot account for our disruption of it. Nature begets intelligence, which becomes self-aware of nature, intends to apply intelligence to understand nature....
Ok, so really back to nutrition. If we are still a part of nature, and our technological, agricultural, industrial products are thus within nature, then can our usage of hormones, preservatives, processing really be perceived as a bastardization of nature? What of the imbalance of nature? We end diabetes by cutting sugar and adding preservatives, now we have cancer. We end world wide hunger and now are overpopulated, so we must produce energy efficient foods and thus use grains.
I don't know where I'm going with any of that. And I'm tired of typing about it. I think I'll watch more Star Trek: The Next Generation. I've almost half way through the 6th of 7 seasons. I worked some on my resume because I may be applying to an Aquatics Director position in Raleigh (for when my temporary job now ends). But I'm also interested in starting this book I found about life as an EMT. Yeah, that's still rearing it's crazy head.
Soundtrack:
"Dear Death Part 1" and "... Part 2" by Emery
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Less Traveled Road
One of my regular routes takes me through some definitely rural areas. Of course, it's not unexpected to see new developments. I'm sure this one has been there on previous runs, but this morning was the first time I noticed the Frost Forest subdivision. And I loved the name of the [currently] only street: Less Traveled Road. I've seen other subdivisions with querky themes. There was one in Apex called Sugarland with names like "Licorice" or "Candy Lane"
Most of my runs have felt pretty good this week. However, I feel like my pace is a little stagmented. There are a variety of potential factors: I'm definitely in a more hilly town. And perhaps I've got some LONG-lasting fatigue from the Umstead 100. I'm not sure what kind of definitive research/knowledge there is about the "true" recovery from such events.
I've a few trying weeks with the veganism. I don't know if what it is, but just sometimes there are these cravings, particularly for dairy: cottage cheese for breakfast, ice cream, cheese on my pizza. It's bad when I think about how there IS evidence that these things, in their "untampered" varieties. It's easier when I realize how hard it would be to actually find these that aren't from factory-farms, or from livestock pumped full of hormones and the like. And then the final product is full of chemicals of who-knows-what that does who-knows-what to the body.
And luckily, bread with some pasta sauce is pretty damn good on it's own.
Soundtrack:
"Beautiful Darkside" by The Classic Crime
"Goodbye in Her Eyes" by Zac Brown Band
Most of my runs have felt pretty good this week. However, I feel like my pace is a little stagmented. There are a variety of potential factors: I'm definitely in a more hilly town. And perhaps I've got some LONG-lasting fatigue from the Umstead 100. I'm not sure what kind of definitive research/knowledge there is about the "true" recovery from such events.
I've a few trying weeks with the veganism. I don't know if what it is, but just sometimes there are these cravings, particularly for dairy: cottage cheese for breakfast, ice cream, cheese on my pizza. It's bad when I think about how there IS evidence that these things, in their "untampered" varieties. It's easier when I realize how hard it would be to actually find these that aren't from factory-farms, or from livestock pumped full of hormones and the like. And then the final product is full of chemicals of who-knows-what that does who-knows-what to the body.
And luckily, bread with some pasta sauce is pretty damn good on it's own.
Soundtrack:
"Beautiful Darkside" by The Classic Crime
"Goodbye in Her Eyes" by Zac Brown Band
Friday, July 19, 2013
Odd Run
It's been hot as crazy these past few mornings. High 70s with "feel" of low 80s. Humidity is crazy.
This should be a short post.
I also had an interesting companion on my run this morning. A black dog (not sure of the breed, had some retriever, maybe so type of terrier) followed me from the East gate shopping center all the way to the gas station on Weaver Dairy Rd, or about 2.5 miles.
I'm really conflicted about it. It had a collar. I didn't stop to check it. I figured it would get distracted and head off pretty quickly. It would stop (to catch it's breath I think) but then run right back up after me. Even when confronted by another dog, he followed me (and up the brutal Weaver Dairy hill too). He eventually waned off when I passed some walkers (though they weren't the first ones).
I should've stopped and checked the collar...
Soundtrack:
"Fallen Man" by Relient K
This should be a short post.
I also had an interesting companion on my run this morning. A black dog (not sure of the breed, had some retriever, maybe so type of terrier) followed me from the East gate shopping center all the way to the gas station on Weaver Dairy Rd, or about 2.5 miles.
I'm really conflicted about it. It had a collar. I didn't stop to check it. I figured it would get distracted and head off pretty quickly. It would stop (to catch it's breath I think) but then run right back up after me. Even when confronted by another dog, he followed me (and up the brutal Weaver Dairy hill too). He eventually waned off when I passed some walkers (though they weren't the first ones).
I should've stopped and checked the collar...
Soundtrack:
"Fallen Man" by Relient K
Monday, July 15, 2013
Back to Umstead
I had a good long run at Umstead this weekend.
When I moved to Chapel Hill, I was delighted to be close to Carolina North Forest. There's a network of singletrack trails that is incredibly varied. I was sure to be occupied for years.
Unfortunately, I run there often. Tuesday morning run, Saturday long run, Sunday long recovery-ish run. And while there is an immense varied of trails, they aren't very long so it's pretty easy to repeat trails a lot. For my long runs I've made it up to 3 hours without going crazy. But this weekend I was going for 25 miles, approximately 4 hours and I knew it'd be rough. So I got up and made it over to Cary and Umstead park. This was my first run of significant magnitude since the race. I think I did one 10/13 miler on the singletrack before I moved. It was also the first time I was on a lot of the Umstead course. It was weird or nostalgic or anything, but I did find myself frequently thinking about the race. I remember training on those sections and thinking "how will I feel here at lap 1/2/....." And then on Saturday I was running those sections and thinking "how DID I feel here at lap 1/2/....."
I also had the unexpected surprise of seeing my parents on the Loblolly trail as I was just getting finished. My mom has a plan to walk a section of El Camino de Santiago next year and has started training! I don't claim any influence on her inclination. But I am so glad to see her doing something adventurous.
Sadly, life is still always being re-evaluated. While I enjoy working in aquatics, the "level" where I am at is not enjoyable; I don't really get to interact with patrons, or teach kids. I've been looking into personal training, and have started a self-study course. But my brother has started an EMT course, and it's making me envious/introspective. I watched a movie the other week called End of Watch about police officers. I definitely don't want to be a cop, and I know it was Hollywood glamorization, but nonetheless it makes me think about public service.
I'm on to a recovery week.
Soundtrack: Rocking some 90s. I haven't done this in a while, but I was blowing out my speakers this morning.
"Machinehead" by Bush
"Higher" by Creed
When I moved to Chapel Hill, I was delighted to be close to Carolina North Forest. There's a network of singletrack trails that is incredibly varied. I was sure to be occupied for years.
Unfortunately, I run there often. Tuesday morning run, Saturday long run, Sunday long recovery-ish run. And while there is an immense varied of trails, they aren't very long so it's pretty easy to repeat trails a lot. For my long runs I've made it up to 3 hours without going crazy. But this weekend I was going for 25 miles, approximately 4 hours and I knew it'd be rough. So I got up and made it over to Cary and Umstead park. This was my first run of significant magnitude since the race. I think I did one 10/13 miler on the singletrack before I moved. It was also the first time I was on a lot of the Umstead course. It was weird or nostalgic or anything, but I did find myself frequently thinking about the race. I remember training on those sections and thinking "how will I feel here at lap 1/2/....." And then on Saturday I was running those sections and thinking "how DID I feel here at lap 1/2/....."
I also had the unexpected surprise of seeing my parents on the Loblolly trail as I was just getting finished. My mom has a plan to walk a section of El Camino de Santiago next year and has started training! I don't claim any influence on her inclination. But I am so glad to see her doing something adventurous.
Sadly, life is still always being re-evaluated. While I enjoy working in aquatics, the "level" where I am at is not enjoyable; I don't really get to interact with patrons, or teach kids. I've been looking into personal training, and have started a self-study course. But my brother has started an EMT course, and it's making me envious/introspective. I watched a movie the other week called End of Watch about police officers. I definitely don't want to be a cop, and I know it was Hollywood glamorization, but nonetheless it makes me think about public service.
I'm on to a recovery week.
Soundtrack: Rocking some 90s. I haven't done this in a while, but I was blowing out my speakers this morning.
"Machinehead" by Bush
"Higher" by Creed
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Falling Behind
On blogging. My bad.
Great weekend in Asheville.
Lots of rain, but not as much of a nuisance as you'd think.
Lots of good running, though a little lost at times. From Lake Powhatan campgrounds, we ran on the Shut-In Trail/Mountain-to-Sea Trail on Saturday. On Sunday we started in Montreat, at the base of Mt. Mitchell. Didn't exactly run the Old Toll Road (Mt Mitchell Challenge course) as I had hoped, but lots of steep climbing, and quad-killing descending.
Good food too. Props to The Laughing Seed in downtown Asheville for the raw, Spinach Pesto Pasta (zucchini noodles, with cashew cheese, spinach pesto, sun-dried tomato "marinara") and The Dripolator vegan chocolate chip pumpkin muffin.
Constantly rethinking life.
Soundtrack:
"The Precipice" by the Classic Crime (again)
"Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band
Great weekend in Asheville.
Lots of rain, but not as much of a nuisance as you'd think.
Lots of good running, though a little lost at times. From Lake Powhatan campgrounds, we ran on the Shut-In Trail/Mountain-to-Sea Trail on Saturday. On Sunday we started in Montreat, at the base of Mt. Mitchell. Didn't exactly run the Old Toll Road (Mt Mitchell Challenge course) as I had hoped, but lots of steep climbing, and quad-killing descending.
Good food too. Props to The Laughing Seed in downtown Asheville for the raw, Spinach Pesto Pasta (zucchini noodles, with cashew cheese, spinach pesto, sun-dried tomato "marinara") and The Dripolator vegan chocolate chip pumpkin muffin.
Constantly rethinking life.
Soundtrack:
"The Precipice" by the Classic Crime (again)
"Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Zombie
Ever have those days when you just feel like a zombie. You're awake, but you feel like everything is just boring lasers into your eye sockets and all you want to do is just shut down for a while... say forever?
Anyways. Building back up the mileage this week. A three hour run at Carolina North. I planned to and drove up to the Eno River State Park. I wanted to try running on the Mountain-to-Sea Trail starting up there. Unfortunately, I majorly chickened out. When I got there, I parked outside the closed gate (this is at 5:45 am) and see a sign prohibiting parking after hours. Of course if this was Umstead, I wouldn't have any problem. Generally they just don't want people sticking around after closing; they don't mind getting there before opening. However, without being familiar with Durham/Eno River, I was apprehensive about staying around; so I made the round trip back to Chapel Hill and back to Carolina North.
After some rain throughout the week and heavy downpour last night; the trails were mush. They also don't drain very well, so it was a lot of sloshing through endless puddles. I mean, I had mud caked all over my feet... THROUGH my shoes and THROUGH my socks. It felt good to shower off the mud; but a shower doesn't make soggy, wrinkly feet feel all that good. Ah,well....
It should be a peaceful week at work. And then Friday - Sunday, Leigh Anne and I are heading to Asheville for some camping, running, and hiking. We're hoping for good weather. I want good weather to make the camping fun. She'd like good weather to camp at all.
Still zombie-d out. Tomorrow will feel like a long day. I've got to cover some swim lessons, then it's off to a early summer/4th of July cookout at my aunt's house and lots of family. And it's my dad's birthday. Hah, I got him a present yesterday.... I registered him for the Old Reliable 10k in November! His first greater-than-5k run! Now he has to step up his training!
Soundtrack:
I've been listening to NPR....
Anyways. Building back up the mileage this week. A three hour run at Carolina North. I planned to and drove up to the Eno River State Park. I wanted to try running on the Mountain-to-Sea Trail starting up there. Unfortunately, I majorly chickened out. When I got there, I parked outside the closed gate (this is at 5:45 am) and see a sign prohibiting parking after hours. Of course if this was Umstead, I wouldn't have any problem. Generally they just don't want people sticking around after closing; they don't mind getting there before opening. However, without being familiar with Durham/Eno River, I was apprehensive about staying around; so I made the round trip back to Chapel Hill and back to Carolina North.
After some rain throughout the week and heavy downpour last night; the trails were mush. They also don't drain very well, so it was a lot of sloshing through endless puddles. I mean, I had mud caked all over my feet... THROUGH my shoes and THROUGH my socks. It felt good to shower off the mud; but a shower doesn't make soggy, wrinkly feet feel all that good. Ah,well....
It should be a peaceful week at work. And then Friday - Sunday, Leigh Anne and I are heading to Asheville for some camping, running, and hiking. We're hoping for good weather. I want good weather to make the camping fun. She'd like good weather to camp at all.
Still zombie-d out. Tomorrow will feel like a long day. I've got to cover some swim lessons, then it's off to a early summer/4th of July cookout at my aunt's house and lots of family. And it's my dad's birthday. Hah, I got him a present yesterday.... I registered him for the Old Reliable 10k in November! His first greater-than-5k run! Now he has to step up his training!
Soundtrack:
I've been listening to NPR....
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Nothing but Noise
Kinda crazy/shitty/off right now. Just a soundtrack.
"Skyfall" by Adele
"Madness" by Muse
"Skyfall" by Adele
"Madness" by Muse
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Recovery Week
WOW! Work has kicked in a vengeance. Many long hours by the pool. It's not exactly mind-melding stuff, but more that I worry about stuff going on that needs my attention.
I'm SO glad to have a recovery week. My first week of "quality" was tough. I kept my weekly mileage up at 10, and it generally consisted of lots of hills. I ran a reverse route up a LONG HILL of Franklin Street, and then I started a new route that takes me up the wicked Weaver Dairy Hill.
When it came time for the true quality aspect, the weekend long run, I was done from the get-go. I was in Wilmington, planning on about 15, faster than a normal long run. Of course, I don't use a GPS watch, or anything that gives me pace. So how much faster? Who knew. Many things were off. I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated (I drank about 20 oz more than normal, and I pissed a trinkle of dark brown after), the sun was up and blazing 70 degrees, and I was mainly on un-shaded pavement. Like I said, my legs were fatigued from the start, so even though it was hard, I felt slow. I made it about half way, and walked almost .4 miles. And the whole rest of the run, I don't think I ran more than a mile before needing to walk. It was pretty bad. I haven't felt that bad, or run that poorly since my first marathon back in 2009.
I feel a little better about it now, by the fact that I just started out way too fast. Turns out it was just over 16 miles, and at the halfway of about 8 miles, I had averaged 7:30-ish pace. Which is fast for a long run; I normally do that for my weekday runs. Sure it's not that fast for 8 miles, but given my environment and how far I had to go, it was tough.
This week is a true recovery week, with lower weekly mileage, and truly slow 2 hours on the weekend.
Otherwise I have my eye out for the weekend after the fourth of July, which is my birthday. Leigh Anne and I are planning to take a 3 day trip up to Asheville. We'll do some camping, and of course some trail running and hiking. I'm looking forward to getting up in the mountains, with some long, high, technical trails.
Soundtrack:
"The End is the Beginning is the End" - Smashing Pumpkins (they also produced "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning")
"You Know My Name" - Chris Cornell
I'm SO glad to have a recovery week. My first week of "quality" was tough. I kept my weekly mileage up at 10, and it generally consisted of lots of hills. I ran a reverse route up a LONG HILL of Franklin Street, and then I started a new route that takes me up the wicked Weaver Dairy Hill.
When it came time for the true quality aspect, the weekend long run, I was done from the get-go. I was in Wilmington, planning on about 15, faster than a normal long run. Of course, I don't use a GPS watch, or anything that gives me pace. So how much faster? Who knew. Many things were off. I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated (I drank about 20 oz more than normal, and I pissed a trinkle of dark brown after), the sun was up and blazing 70 degrees, and I was mainly on un-shaded pavement. Like I said, my legs were fatigued from the start, so even though it was hard, I felt slow. I made it about half way, and walked almost .4 miles. And the whole rest of the run, I don't think I ran more than a mile before needing to walk. It was pretty bad. I haven't felt that bad, or run that poorly since my first marathon back in 2009.
I feel a little better about it now, by the fact that I just started out way too fast. Turns out it was just over 16 miles, and at the halfway of about 8 miles, I had averaged 7:30-ish pace. Which is fast for a long run; I normally do that for my weekday runs. Sure it's not that fast for 8 miles, but given my environment and how far I had to go, it was tough.
This week is a true recovery week, with lower weekly mileage, and truly slow 2 hours on the weekend.
Otherwise I have my eye out for the weekend after the fourth of July, which is my birthday. Leigh Anne and I are planning to take a 3 day trip up to Asheville. We'll do some camping, and of course some trail running and hiking. I'm looking forward to getting up in the mountains, with some long, high, technical trails.
Soundtrack:
"The End is the Beginning is the End" - Smashing Pumpkins (they also produced "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning")
"You Know My Name" - Chris Cornell
Friday, June 14, 2013
Run and not Grow Weak, Walk and Will Not Faint
It's been an interesting week. Running wise I've probably seriously beat myself up. I had lots of long, LONG hills to challenge me this week. I've been left with that fatigue where you stand up and don't know who you were able to do it. It's almost over: tomorrow I is a QUALITY long run, which means I'd hope for 15-20 miles at a decent clip. I'll be down in Wilmington, so it might feel like I'm cheating on the flat terrain, but I guess it depends on how fast I actual maintain.
On top of all that, work hasn't been bad, but it's been mainly 9-10 hour days, some of that standing out the blazing sun. I just go home feeling robbed of my energy. After some storms last night, today was refreshingly cool. We have make up swim lessons tonight that I hope will be pretty tolerable.
Not much else has been going on. I've been struggling to discipline myself to read my PT books. I don't want to drag this out. Just when I come home from work, I just want to decompress with some Netflix. In my opinion, the current section is on anatomy, and thus far the textbook has done a terrible job to introducing the subject. I guess they are catering to PTs who have already taken some college anatomy?
Soundtrack, probably replays:
"The Precipice" by The Classic Crime
"Dive" by Disciple
On top of all that, work hasn't been bad, but it's been mainly 9-10 hour days, some of that standing out the blazing sun. I just go home feeling robbed of my energy. After some storms last night, today was refreshingly cool. We have make up swim lessons tonight that I hope will be pretty tolerable.
Not much else has been going on. I've been struggling to discipline myself to read my PT books. I don't want to drag this out. Just when I come home from work, I just want to decompress with some Netflix. In my opinion, the current section is on anatomy, and thus far the textbook has done a terrible job to introducing the subject. I guess they are catering to PTs who have already taken some college anatomy?
Soundtrack, probably replays:
"The Precipice" by The Classic Crime
"Dive" by Disciple
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Abbreviated
This post will be short and sweet for a while. Work has really kicked off. And while I like writing things down, and I think it enriches me mentally, I want to make sure I maximize my productivity.
Good solid runs the past week. My weekend longs are going by the hour rather than mile. I may re-write my training plan to specifically put in the times, rather than miles. Right now I'm taking the miles I planned, using past experience to determine the time, and going with that. But what if I run slower, or faster? I briefly thought about shaving some time off my 3 hours on Saturday because "I had probably done 20 miles." But I stuck to the full three anyways.
This morning was lots of exploring along the Bolin Creek greenway and lots of new trail discover. Though, I still haven't found the one trail-to-park connection I've been searching for. Of course, they may not even be connected, and I'm just blowing in the wind.
Lentils in curry sauce from Trader Joe's in fantastic.
Trying to plan a trip to Asheville after July 4th with Leigh Anne. Mountain running, maybe camping, maybe cabins. Who knows?
Soundtrack; just loud music:
"Dear Death Part 2" by Emery
"Suffocate" by Finger Eleven
Good solid runs the past week. My weekend longs are going by the hour rather than mile. I may re-write my training plan to specifically put in the times, rather than miles. Right now I'm taking the miles I planned, using past experience to determine the time, and going with that. But what if I run slower, or faster? I briefly thought about shaving some time off my 3 hours on Saturday because "I had probably done 20 miles." But I stuck to the full three anyways.
This morning was lots of exploring along the Bolin Creek greenway and lots of new trail discover. Though, I still haven't found the one trail-to-park connection I've been searching for. Of course, they may not even be connected, and I'm just blowing in the wind.
Lentils in curry sauce from Trader Joe's in fantastic.
Trying to plan a trip to Asheville after July 4th with Leigh Anne. Mountain running, maybe camping, maybe cabins. Who knows?
Soundtrack; just loud music:
"Dear Death Part 2" by Emery
"Suffocate" by Finger Eleven
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Engage!
Work is getting busier and busier. Which is stressful. But also good in that it makes the days fly by.
This is the first week I haven't gone to a yoga class since I started back in... April? I'm not sure exactly. While I really enjoy the hot yoga classes, I just don't think I can afford the $20/class to do it. If I went back to my 4 days a week of swimming, even at that community pool, I'd only be forking over $16. I think I will just need to work on some flexibility on my own. Maybe I can download some home-video guided stuff.
So Thursday is my day off ... from running. I guess I'm not one to take full days off. The past month it has been yoga. Today, I whipped out a uni[suit], went to the local Y, and used the erg aka the indoor rower. It's an odd looking contraption that uses a flywheel to create resistance. It's analogous to a treadmill for runners, or a stationary bike for cyclists in two regards: 1) it imitates the motion and effort of the outside activity but in a stationary, indoor environment, and 2) it's a boring, dreary comparison to the real thing. Nonetheless, I powered through 45 minutes without much ado. I'm good now, but I'm sure I'll get some wicked shoulder and lat soreness for a few days. And even after just 45 minutes, I feel sore spots across the base of all five fingers with at least 2-3 blisters possible.
My running itself is doing well. I'm beginning to adapt to the many long hills that bless/curse Chapel Hill. They are nothing compared to what I'll face at Mountain Masochist or any of the other trails races I enjoy, but I've learned to accept them. It's just not possible to avoid them without limiting my radius of exploration or driving to a benign starting point. I know they slow down my average pace but 1) I shouldn't really get worried about pace and 2) if I don't want to slow down, take the pain and run harder! And a few evenings I've been doing extra workouts. Not trying to put in heavy miles - which I will struggle to avoid - but for example, Monday 3-4 mile run with steep up hills, and Wednesday 30 minutes treadmill walk at 4 mph at 15% grade. Last week I swam; this week I didn't.
All in all, while maintaining a good routine to my mornings, I'm trying to be flexible, maybe even whimsical, with my evenings.
I've been watching a lot of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Soundtrack:
"The Night Pat Murphy Died" by Mudmen
"The Day the World Went Away" - Nine Inch Nails
This is the first week I haven't gone to a yoga class since I started back in... April? I'm not sure exactly. While I really enjoy the hot yoga classes, I just don't think I can afford the $20/class to do it. If I went back to my 4 days a week of swimming, even at that community pool, I'd only be forking over $16. I think I will just need to work on some flexibility on my own. Maybe I can download some home-video guided stuff.
So Thursday is my day off ... from running. I guess I'm not one to take full days off. The past month it has been yoga. Today, I whipped out a uni[suit], went to the local Y, and used the erg aka the indoor rower. It's an odd looking contraption that uses a flywheel to create resistance. It's analogous to a treadmill for runners, or a stationary bike for cyclists in two regards: 1) it imitates the motion and effort of the outside activity but in a stationary, indoor environment, and 2) it's a boring, dreary comparison to the real thing. Nonetheless, I powered through 45 minutes without much ado. I'm good now, but I'm sure I'll get some wicked shoulder and lat soreness for a few days. And even after just 45 minutes, I feel sore spots across the base of all five fingers with at least 2-3 blisters possible.
My running itself is doing well. I'm beginning to adapt to the many long hills that bless/curse Chapel Hill. They are nothing compared to what I'll face at Mountain Masochist or any of the other trails races I enjoy, but I've learned to accept them. It's just not possible to avoid them without limiting my radius of exploration or driving to a benign starting point. I know they slow down my average pace but 1) I shouldn't really get worried about pace and 2) if I don't want to slow down, take the pain and run harder! And a few evenings I've been doing extra workouts. Not trying to put in heavy miles - which I will struggle to avoid - but for example, Monday 3-4 mile run with steep up hills, and Wednesday 30 minutes treadmill walk at 4 mph at 15% grade. Last week I swam; this week I didn't.
All in all, while maintaining a good routine to my mornings, I'm trying to be flexible, maybe even whimsical, with my evenings.
I've been watching a lot of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Soundtrack:
"The Night Pat Murphy Died" by Mudmen
"The Day the World Went Away" - Nine Inch Nails
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Raw. Unfiltered. Brunt. Crude. Primal. Wild.
Scattered. Misdirected. Chaotic.
I dilly-dally in between these two perspectives. I'm sure everyone has those days where they feel cooped up in their lives because of their job, their home, their aspirations. But it's so hard to know what's missing, or how to fix it. In the end, you just want to burst, to explode.
Sometimes it feels like the first list. This usually feels good. Like there's something basal to your existent that you feel needs to escape and be heard and proclaimed. This is a great feeling leading into a race. I think I desire the right to test my raw instincts and see how far my inner strength can take me.
The second list is similar to the first, but it really describes when you have no clue what's bugging you. Or like me, you know you have actual work that could benefit from some of the drive, but you just can't bring yourself to channel it. And thus the energy feels like it's being directed nowhere, and nothing gets accomplished.
A similar idea makes me think about these blog entries; the idea of artistic. Sometimes, I want these to be very polished. I go back and moderate my entry, so if you see something written here, it isn't done so completely uninhibited or un-moderated. Should I moderate it? I mean, there's personal stuff but that can be public. But so am I just looking for an outlet for my thoughts and experiences? And therefore should this be more raw? Am I looking to produce quality pieces; something artsy? But is true art the unadulterated, primal expressions or is it carefully cultivated and refined beauty?
I'm probably just thinking too much.
It's been a good week of more mileage. 2ish hours at Carolina North this morning. I'm either going to have to get a GPS watch or adjust my trail runs to strictly by time.
I'm getting used to eating a lot of legumes and tofu. When I've experimented before, I decided the diet wasn't for me because you ended up eating the same thing all the time. This time I'm realizing I ate the same thing (PB, cottage cheese, chicken) all the time anyways, now it's just a different thing (beans, tofu, nuts, hummus). There are a couple of flavor additives that have helped and I like a lot: 1) cocoa powder is great with smoothies and oatmeal, especially with bananas it taste like ice cream and 2) salsa - this boost pretty much any salad or dinner item.
However: 1) Dried plums (prunes) are thumbs down. 2) Frozen strawberries aren't that sweet so no-go. 3) I used my avocado in my salads, but it's just hard to use it enough to not end up wasting 1/3-1/2 of it.
I'm terribly excited for next weekend.
Soundtrack:
"Let it Out" by Pillar
"High of 75" by Relient K
Scattered. Misdirected. Chaotic.
I dilly-dally in between these two perspectives. I'm sure everyone has those days where they feel cooped up in their lives because of their job, their home, their aspirations. But it's so hard to know what's missing, or how to fix it. In the end, you just want to burst, to explode.
Sometimes it feels like the first list. This usually feels good. Like there's something basal to your existent that you feel needs to escape and be heard and proclaimed. This is a great feeling leading into a race. I think I desire the right to test my raw instincts and see how far my inner strength can take me.
The second list is similar to the first, but it really describes when you have no clue what's bugging you. Or like me, you know you have actual work that could benefit from some of the drive, but you just can't bring yourself to channel it. And thus the energy feels like it's being directed nowhere, and nothing gets accomplished.
A similar idea makes me think about these blog entries; the idea of artistic. Sometimes, I want these to be very polished. I go back and moderate my entry, so if you see something written here, it isn't done so completely uninhibited or un-moderated. Should I moderate it? I mean, there's personal stuff but that can be public. But so am I just looking for an outlet for my thoughts and experiences? And therefore should this be more raw? Am I looking to produce quality pieces; something artsy? But is true art the unadulterated, primal expressions or is it carefully cultivated and refined beauty?
I'm probably just thinking too much.
It's been a good week of more mileage. 2ish hours at Carolina North this morning. I'm either going to have to get a GPS watch or adjust my trail runs to strictly by time.
I'm getting used to eating a lot of legumes and tofu. When I've experimented before, I decided the diet wasn't for me because you ended up eating the same thing all the time. This time I'm realizing I ate the same thing (PB, cottage cheese, chicken) all the time anyways, now it's just a different thing (beans, tofu, nuts, hummus). There are a couple of flavor additives that have helped and I like a lot: 1) cocoa powder is great with smoothies and oatmeal, especially with bananas it taste like ice cream and 2) salsa - this boost pretty much any salad or dinner item.
However: 1) Dried plums (prunes) are thumbs down. 2) Frozen strawberries aren't that sweet so no-go. 3) I used my avocado in my salads, but it's just hard to use it enough to not end up wasting 1/3-1/2 of it.
I'm terribly excited for next weekend.
Soundtrack:
"Let it Out" by Pillar
"High of 75" by Relient K
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Withdraw
I guess there are withdraws from several angles right now, physical, mental, emotional. The most physically exhausting one is caffeine. The past two days I've been drinking yerba mate, a type of S. American tea, instead of coffee, and I just feel dead. I didn't by a whole lot, but I do have some other tea lying around and I wonder if I should try to continue and get over this caffeine hump. I DO NOTNOTNOTNOTNOT want to give up coffee; it's so darn good. But maybe I'll switch to decaf or the half-caf/half-decaf.
And am I going through withdraw from meat/dairy? Hard to tell. I don't feel out of whack from that. I'd been doing fine for a couple of weeks; till now but I'm sure that's from the caffeine. Eating more legumes has been.... ergh.... well.... yeah.... but I also know running when it's warmer does a number on the GI tract.
I'm still finalizing my training plan, but I see it coming together. This weekend I laid out a general plan, and Monday I started on a build week (meaning 10-11 mile weekdays runs). I also plan to incorporate more high-intensity training, of varying sorts, and see how it improves my races. Since I have a longer training cycle, my plan is to incorporate "quality" weeks after each two weeks of "build" before a week of "recovery." I call this barbeque-r (BBQ-R; get it?!). Essentially the quality week will have a long run; probably less than the build weeks, longer than the recovery weeks, but having a specific focus for producing better mental focus and physical capacity over longer distances.
I can already tell the difference from increasing my mileage. Before I could get wiped out by a run but be recovered by the next morning. Now, I may only sort of get wiped out and I'm dead. It reminds me that I really need to focus on QUALITY recovery; and I'm really trying to maximize that nutritionally.
I'm trying to put more into my work. I don't think I'm doing what I want to be doing, but that doens't mean I should troll along. I should still try to be "fuckin' awesome." Nevertheless, I have a great motivator that give me the drive to start NOW to pursue the things I want. There are still some unknowns, but I that if I start moving, things will build up steam.
Soundtrack:
"The Precipice" by The Classic Crime
"Dive" by Disciple
And am I going through withdraw from meat/dairy? Hard to tell. I don't feel out of whack from that. I'd been doing fine for a couple of weeks; till now but I'm sure that's from the caffeine. Eating more legumes has been.... ergh.... well.... yeah.... but I also know running when it's warmer does a number on the GI tract.
I'm still finalizing my training plan, but I see it coming together. This weekend I laid out a general plan, and Monday I started on a build week (meaning 10-11 mile weekdays runs). I also plan to incorporate more high-intensity training, of varying sorts, and see how it improves my races. Since I have a longer training cycle, my plan is to incorporate "quality" weeks after each two weeks of "build" before a week of "recovery." I call this barbeque-r (BBQ-R; get it?!). Essentially the quality week will have a long run; probably less than the build weeks, longer than the recovery weeks, but having a specific focus for producing better mental focus and physical capacity over longer distances.
I can already tell the difference from increasing my mileage. Before I could get wiped out by a run but be recovered by the next morning. Now, I may only sort of get wiped out and I'm dead. It reminds me that I really need to focus on QUALITY recovery; and I'm really trying to maximize that nutritionally.
I'm trying to put more into my work. I don't think I'm doing what I want to be doing, but that doens't mean I should troll along. I should still try to be "fuckin' awesome." Nevertheless, I have a great motivator that give me the drive to start NOW to pursue the things I want. There are still some unknowns, but I that if I start moving, things will build up steam.
Soundtrack:
"The Precipice" by The Classic Crime
"Dive" by Disciple
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Training
I'm reviewing my training plans from last year, comparing my fitness to this year, and trying to make decisions about my training.
I'm been trying to read of a variety of ways to improve. Is it pushing myself physically? I think for both Masochist last year, and even Umstead, I ran hard, but still very within myself physically. Maybe it's just retrospective misguided analysis, but I don't know if I really pushed myself. I never felt like I was at the point where I had NO option but to run with my head. I never felt completely EMPTY physically. In some ways, I guess that's good; I may have a very strong body that way. But I also feel that it means I didn't push myself hard enough; I didn't challenge it. To quote Yiannis Kouros, I want to go BEYOND. I just don't know if this is a factor of distance or of speed.
I bought a washer and dryer yesterday. The washer is heavy as hell. And I had a heck of a time getting them in place and set up. My upper body feels so beat up today.
Soundtrack:
"ISHFWILF" -Distrubed cover of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"Broken Mess" - The Classic Crime
In 2012, I started training for Mountain Masochist in mid-July for approximately 15-16 weeks. I was coming off a stress reaction where I didn't really run from the end of May until probably early July, approximately 6 weeks (I'll double check when I get to look at my running log; right now I'm just making conjectures from my calendar. I may have run before mid-July, but I hadn't written down a training plan.). That was after running, essentially 4 marathons/50k+s (if you count the January Carrboro Fat Ass 50k, February Black Mountain Marathon, March Terrapin 50k, and April Promise Land 50k). So I had a relatively good base, that got slightly eroded by the time off, then about 4 months to build back up my training. During that time, I essentially followed a build, build, recover cycle. Weekend long runs looked like: 15, 20, 15, 20, 25, 15, 25, 30.... Once a week I did 10.+ (more than 10, but not 11) mile run with time interval fartleks.
Where am I this year? I was following a similar build up, except I reached the 30/35 mile long run earlier. So instead of doing 4 30/35 milers, I had 6 or 7. One of those was the Holiday Lake 50k. I did not do any intentional speed work. That all culminated in the Umstead 100 miler in April. After 4 weeks, I started back slowly, but regularly. This weekend will be 7 weeks, with about 2 weeks at about recovery week mileage. If I started next week, I would probably be near 23 weeks from Mountain Masochist.
I'm been trying to read of a variety of ways to improve. Is it pushing myself physically? I think for both Masochist last year, and even Umstead, I ran hard, but still very within myself physically. Maybe it's just retrospective misguided analysis, but I don't know if I really pushed myself. I never felt like I was at the point where I had NO option but to run with my head. I never felt completely EMPTY physically. In some ways, I guess that's good; I may have a very strong body that way. But I also feel that it means I didn't push myself hard enough; I didn't challenge it. To quote Yiannis Kouros, I want to go BEYOND. I just don't know if this is a factor of distance or of speed.
I bought a washer and dryer yesterday. The washer is heavy as hell. And I had a heck of a time getting them in place and set up. My upper body feels so beat up today.
Soundtrack:
"ISHFWILF" -Distrubed cover of U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
"Broken Mess" - The Classic Crime
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Future Freak-out
I've freaking out a little bit about my future. It's not that my work environment is terrible. It's just that I realize the type/level of work I'm doing is not for me. I'm not a high-level decision maker, where you need to predict long-range resources and budgeting. I'm a day-to-day doer, where the decisions are made based on the immediately available and perceivable data. It's not the best analogy, but I feel like someone who works best making decisions within specific confines. With free range, there's a cyclic problem: how many programs to offer depends on how much staff you have; how much staff depends on how many programs you offer. I would rather just be given a set of parameters within which to work, and then engineering the best solution. I don't what this would mean in terms of the level of MENTAL engagement. That is, even though I want to be stimulated, sometimes I feel like I do better in physically-demanding vs. mentally-demanding environment.
Furthermore, I'm becoming more aware of the type of work I like to do. When it comes to "day-to-day," in aquatics that's more of the operations of pool maintenance, lifeguard safety, etc. However, after leading some of our swim practices, I realized how much I enjoy coaching. I kind of like teaching, but I like the idea of coaching. In sports, you realize it is a never-ending process of improvement; you're never perfect; you're always looking for how to improve. I consider the LG courses I've taught. I loved teaching, but I hated at the end having to pass or fail a student. If they didn't get it right, I would rather have just continued to work with them until they DID get it. I don't know if a sports (such as swimming/running) is exactly what I'm after, where performance is the goal. I've recently learned about health coaches, and I'd like to investigate what it means to work with people to improve their lives with practical solutions. I suppose my concerns are to how to approach it in a manner to make a meaningful career. And I also feel like I've spent so much time to get to where I am in aquatics; should I really be reconsidering everything so soon?
Bright side: This morning was again a wicked awesome trail run. I was thoroughly without a plan. There was mud and inevitable puddle runs. I also was about a foot ahead of losing my head to a 2-3 inch thick branch.I heard it coming down and pick up my pace; it was BARELY enough to get by. Overall the run was great because you can get quite a thrill bombing downhill and tearing it uphill while nitpicking over the single track.
Iron Man 3 was awesome.
Soundtrack for the post:
"Big Casino" by Jimmy Eat World
"Wonderful" by Everclear
Bright side: This morning was again a wicked awesome trail run. I was thoroughly without a plan. There was mud and inevitable puddle runs. I also was about a foot ahead of losing my head to a 2-3 inch thick branch.I heard it coming down and pick up my pace; it was BARELY enough to get by. Overall the run was great because you can get quite a thrill bombing downhill and tearing it uphill while nitpicking over the single track.
Iron Man 3 was awesome.
Soundtrack for the post:
"Big Casino" by Jimmy Eat World
"Wonderful" by Everclear
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Slow Thursday
This week started out moving pretty quickly, but slowed down. I was hoping the universe was as anxious as I was for the weekend, but I guess it was just messing with me. Never fear, it will have to come eventually. I'm doing my best to make sure my staff is set up to get going without being, so as to negate needing to come in.
More yoga this morning. I really am enjoying it. I'm not sure if the meditative effect is being fully realized; however, I am enjoying the more focused stretching and strengthening. It's not very different from some static stretching techniques. Except with an instructor, there are details instructions on how to get the most out of each position, so as to maximize the stretch or modify it to your abilities. I've gone the past two Thursdays to a Bikram (look at me using fancy words) yoga studio. The instructor is great providing cues for proper alignment, and those cues are great at ensuring great posture. One thing I'm not sure of: am I too tall, or just terrible at some of the techniques? Savansana is a pose where you essentially just lie on your back, and either me head, feet, or both always hang off the end. OK or not? I also would like one of those fancy towels, so I don't slip'n slide in my own sweat. Gross.
I'm hoping to get to a farmer's market this weekend. I'm craving some summer squash, eggplant, fresh fruit.
Sound track for the moment:
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
"Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon
The songs move and inspire me for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the specific lyrics that seem to espouse my thoughts, or describe the events going on in my life. Sometimes it's the tone and feel of the MUSIC and beat that strike a chord. Which "feature" dominants? Eh... depends.
More yoga this morning. I really am enjoying it. I'm not sure if the meditative effect is being fully realized; however, I am enjoying the more focused stretching and strengthening. It's not very different from some static stretching techniques. Except with an instructor, there are details instructions on how to get the most out of each position, so as to maximize the stretch or modify it to your abilities. I've gone the past two Thursdays to a Bikram (look at me using fancy words) yoga studio. The instructor is great providing cues for proper alignment, and those cues are great at ensuring great posture. One thing I'm not sure of: am I too tall, or just terrible at some of the techniques? Savansana is a pose where you essentially just lie on your back, and either me head, feet, or both always hang off the end. OK or not? I also would like one of those fancy towels, so I don't slip'n slide in my own sweat. Gross.
I'm hoping to get to a farmer's market this weekend. I'm craving some summer squash, eggplant, fresh fruit.
Sound track for the moment:
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
"Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon
The songs move and inspire me for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's the specific lyrics that seem to espouse my thoughts, or describe the events going on in my life. Sometimes it's the tone and feel of the MUSIC and beat that strike a chord. Which "feature" dominants? Eh... depends.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
It's Tuesday
The wedding this weekend was great. I had an amazing time. Had I mentioned that I was an usher? Myself and my friend Dave were ushers, though the other groomsmen performed similar duties. Ergo, Dave and I had a pretty easy going job, but we got to attend the rehearsal dinner. It was a neat scenario; Steve (the groom) went to my high school, though I didn't meet him until college, where we rowed together on the crew team. Therefore I knew the other groomsmen even though they themselves were from different "circles." Trivia fact: as the groom's party we were: Steve, David, Donny, David, Greg, Dave, and Duran. The ceremony and reception were good; I think the "big" things were so-so, but punctuated by truly thoughtful little touches, such as the scripture reading, and the best man's toast.
My running is returning quiet well. My knee still bothers me some, but I think it's more of a stiffness in the morning. My first mile may ache a bit, but usually after that I'm solid. So, it either warms up and loosens up, or maybe the endorphins get flowing and mask it all. Either way, it feels great. This morning I again went out to Carolina North Forest. As I begin to workout more frequently, I really start to settle into a routine; this season I'm again molding Tuesdays into a trail-work day. I again went sans distance; I don't know when/if I'll bite the bullet for a GPS watch. It works to not have that strict measurement for ONE workout, but I don't know how that will go for two or three times a week.
I think this week I may be biting the bullet for a smartphone. I'm just not excited about that $30/month data charge. But the battery life on my current, basic phone is waning, and I'll be looking for a new one soon.
Soundtrack for the post:
A few select songs from The Fold. Can be heard here
"Beside You Now"
"Faster Still"
My running is returning quiet well. My knee still bothers me some, but I think it's more of a stiffness in the morning. My first mile may ache a bit, but usually after that I'm solid. So, it either warms up and loosens up, or maybe the endorphins get flowing and mask it all. Either way, it feels great. This morning I again went out to Carolina North Forest. As I begin to workout more frequently, I really start to settle into a routine; this season I'm again molding Tuesdays into a trail-work day. I again went sans distance; I don't know when/if I'll bite the bullet for a GPS watch. It works to not have that strict measurement for ONE workout, but I don't know how that will go for two or three times a week.
I think this week I may be biting the bullet for a smartphone. I'm just not excited about that $30/month data charge. But the battery life on my current, basic phone is waning, and I'll be looking for a new one soon.
Soundtrack for the post:
A few select songs from The Fold. Can be heard here
"Beside You Now"
"Faster Still"
Friday, May 10, 2013
Wedding Weekend
This weekend I'm going to be an usher in a wedding. Events include the bachelor party last night, rehearsal dinner tonight, and wedding tomorrow.
The bachelor party was fun, I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and I always enjoying catching up with old friends. So, I was able to 'create' a vegan option from the menu: quesadilla without queso: just beans. Sounded great except it was pretty skimpy and I was ravenous when I got home. So I'm not sure if I can consider this a win or a loss.
I'll be spending the weekend at my parents house since I'm not a fan of making back-and-forth trips. It'll be my first chance to run again at Umstead tomorrow morning, and then I will hopefully get to see my Sunday running group on Sunday. I can't forget Mother's Day either; Mom and Dad are coming over to see my new apartment and then we'll go get some dinner.
Took yesterday off from running and attended a hot yoga class. A very high class studio, and overall pretty good. It was a little pricey ($20/class), but then again, the classes all run 1.5 hours. A little sorer, but then again, I had four solid days of running and swimming this time.
My future race schedule still isn't set, but I'm seeing some key races/ideal scenarios. I've gone and registered for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run in November. This was the same one I ran last year, and I loved it; that will probably be my only BIG race in the fall. For next year, I haven't found a particular race, but I'd like to run something more than 50, but not quite 100 miles, so probably a 100k. There just aren't that many around the spring time frame. Then in June, there is a 3 day stage race in Chattanooga; 60 miles over three days as 18, 22, and 20 miles. It's a different style that I'm intrigued to run. To top off the year, I'd do a 100 in the fall, most likely the Grindstone 100. I'm leaning away from the Beast Series, mainly because I don't think I can race that much. I don't have the self-control to slow down DURING the races and then prolong the recovery between events. Of course, being May 2013, I shouldn't think TOO hard on October 2014. If it was settled, what else would I blog about?
Soundtrack for the post, on weddings:
"Down" by Jay Sean: Makes me think of The Office with Jim and Pam's wedding
"Forever" by Chris Brown: The actual song from Jim and Pam's wedding
And the songs by Train and Bruno Mars
The bachelor party was fun, I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a while and I always enjoying catching up with old friends. So, I was able to 'create' a vegan option from the menu: quesadilla without queso: just beans. Sounded great except it was pretty skimpy and I was ravenous when I got home. So I'm not sure if I can consider this a win or a loss.
I'll be spending the weekend at my parents house since I'm not a fan of making back-and-forth trips. It'll be my first chance to run again at Umstead tomorrow morning, and then I will hopefully get to see my Sunday running group on Sunday. I can't forget Mother's Day either; Mom and Dad are coming over to see my new apartment and then we'll go get some dinner.
Took yesterday off from running and attended a hot yoga class. A very high class studio, and overall pretty good. It was a little pricey ($20/class), but then again, the classes all run 1.5 hours. A little sorer, but then again, I had four solid days of running and swimming this time.
My future race schedule still isn't set, but I'm seeing some key races/ideal scenarios. I've gone and registered for the Mountain Masochist Trail Run in November. This was the same one I ran last year, and I loved it; that will probably be my only BIG race in the fall. For next year, I haven't found a particular race, but I'd like to run something more than 50, but not quite 100 miles, so probably a 100k. There just aren't that many around the spring time frame. Then in June, there is a 3 day stage race in Chattanooga; 60 miles over three days as 18, 22, and 20 miles. It's a different style that I'm intrigued to run. To top off the year, I'd do a 100 in the fall, most likely the Grindstone 100. I'm leaning away from the Beast Series, mainly because I don't think I can race that much. I don't have the self-control to slow down DURING the races and then prolong the recovery between events. Of course, being May 2013, I shouldn't think TOO hard on October 2014. If it was settled, what else would I blog about?
Soundtrack for the post, on weddings:
"Down" by Jay Sean: Makes me think of The Office with Jim and Pam's wedding
"Forever" by Chris Brown: The actual song from Jim and Pam's wedding
And the songs by Train and Bruno Mars
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
TrailsTrailsTrails
I've had a phenomenal two days of running. Yesterday was nearly completely pain free. I shouldn't lie and say it was totally ok. But the discomfort was NOTHING compared to what it has been. I also was going at a decent clip and it felt good to jack that heart rate up.
Today was as good if not better. I took my first trip out to Carolina North Forest. This is land situated next to a small local airport and a group of schools. There's some main corridors consisting of loose gravel, some washed-out creek beds with lots of large baby-head [sized] rocks. Throughout are a bagillion single tracks that zig and zag; branch off and branch back in; double back and dead end. It's quite a nightmare for the directionally challenged. Also for the data-minded, without a GPS, you're generally SOL; I haven't found a map with measured mileages. Anyways, I went out and just wandered. And it was great. I turned when I felt liked it, and I think I did OK about knowing where I was. I had my watch running, but I mean, there was no way I could know how far, and therefore how hard. I was definitely pumping the heart, but it was just fun.
Of course, this evening I went swimming. I was starving before I went swimming... afterwards I was ravenous... and still had conduct a swim team meeting. A little rough.
So goes the veganism. After a first try, I knew nutritional yeast was going to be an acquired taste. Which was true. It's growing on me. For the most part, I'm not finding it too difficult to make the changes. I've been experimenting with different nut butters (most homemade!); which is easy when I eat it by spoonfuls. Almond butter is good, cashew butter is good, but walnut butter was a little iffy. What should I try next? Pecan? Pistachio? Hazelnut? Other?
This weekend will be a challenge. I'm an usher in a wedding, and I think at the time I selected the fish. And then for the bachelor party, the best man is getting us together at Wild Wing Cafe. Investigation online wasn't very encouraging. Suggestions?
Soundtrack for the post:
"Chicken Fried" -Zac Brown Band (I know, bad for a vegan, but good beyond that)
"Hungry Like the Wolf" - Me Me (aka Duran Duran)
Today was as good if not better. I took my first trip out to Carolina North Forest. This is land situated next to a small local airport and a group of schools. There's some main corridors consisting of loose gravel, some washed-out creek beds with lots of large baby-head [sized] rocks. Throughout are a bagillion single tracks that zig and zag; branch off and branch back in; double back and dead end. It's quite a nightmare for the directionally challenged. Also for the data-minded, without a GPS, you're generally SOL; I haven't found a map with measured mileages. Anyways, I went out and just wandered. And it was great. I turned when I felt liked it, and I think I did OK about knowing where I was. I had my watch running, but I mean, there was no way I could know how far, and therefore how hard. I was definitely pumping the heart, but it was just fun.
Of course, this evening I went swimming. I was starving before I went swimming... afterwards I was ravenous... and still had conduct a swim team meeting. A little rough.
So goes the veganism. After a first try, I knew nutritional yeast was going to be an acquired taste. Which was true. It's growing on me. For the most part, I'm not finding it too difficult to make the changes. I've been experimenting with different nut butters (most homemade!); which is easy when I eat it by spoonfuls. Almond butter is good, cashew butter is good, but walnut butter was a little iffy. What should I try next? Pecan? Pistachio? Hazelnut? Other?
This weekend will be a challenge. I'm an usher in a wedding, and I think at the time I selected the fish. And then for the bachelor party, the best man is getting us together at Wild Wing Cafe. Investigation online wasn't very encouraging. Suggestions?
Soundtrack for the post:
"Chicken Fried" -Zac Brown Band (I know, bad for a vegan, but good beyond that)
"Hungry Like the Wolf" - Me Me (aka Duran Duran)
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Happy Cinco de Mayo
It's Sunday. It's overcast, with rain on the way. Our pool just opened, and I'm on standby for members to come in. It could possibly be a long and dreary day. Nonetheless, I feel amazing because I had such an awesome Friday and Saturday. It's hard exactly to explain over the Internet. I realize that the purpose of a blog is to bare the soul over the web to whatever family member or random stranger chooses to read it. However, there's somethings that are best done first in person before rather than "broadcast."
I'm still taking my time getting back to running. Saturday I had a good brief walk/hike, followed by just a sliver of running. That evening I took my second yoga class, my first HOT yoga class. When I first heard of it, I thought of a euphemism. Turns out to be very literal. The room was 105°F and 50% humidity. I thought the general yoga was less intimidating and less challenging than my first class. And the heat itself wasn't too bothersome; I do think it did a lot to increase my blood flow. Just by the end of class you're POURING sweat that is gross and always ends up stinging the eyes. I felt worn afterwards, but as a masochistic ultrarunner, I loved that feeling. It makes you feel flushed out and clean.
So far, no trouble with this vegan experiment. But I'm trying to figure out how to set up my eating. My first impression is to just tweek my current diet, meaning as few changes as possible. However, in some aspects the overall principles of a vegetable-based diet diet versus a grain- and meat-based diet may make it hard to instigate simple changes. For the moment, I leaving this to-be-determined.
EDIT: I'm also trying to determine my racing schedule for future. I think I'm going to run Mountain Masochist again this year. I'm not sure about the whole Beast Series, but I would run the Grindstone 100 next fall. That kind of leaves the spring open/unclear. I'd like to do something around 100K; something over 50 but not quite 100. Also TBD.
EDIT: I'm also trying to determine my racing schedule for future. I think I'm going to run Mountain Masochist again this year. I'm not sure about the whole Beast Series, but I would run the Grindstone 100 next fall. That kind of leaves the spring open/unclear. I'd like to do something around 100K; something over 50 but not quite 100. Also TBD.
I had some questions about posting comments. I believe it's open to everyone. There's no link saying "comment HERE." Just hover over and click the "no comment"/"# comments" at the bottom of a post, which is the link to open a comment dialogue box.
Soundtrack for the weekend, about being alive:
"Alive" by P.O.D.
"Coming Back to Life" by Blindside
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Cliff Edge
I think I mentioned that I am experimenting with changes in my diet, through vegetarianism and even toward veganism. I'm still calling this an experiment (probably so if I don't follow through, I don't feel like a shmuck). I haven't exactly gone cold turkey. Not because of "easing" myself into it, but because of practicality: I don't want to just throw away the food I'm still working through. But now I'm almost through those stores: the instant oatmeal packets are gone; cottage cheese and yogurt is almost run out; some pancake mix is wearing down. So I feel like I'm on the cliff edge where I'll finally take a plunge.
I feel mentally prepared: I've told myself that I'm not giving up animal products. Or that I'm DENYing my body what it wants. I feel confident that I'm actually rewarding my body with what's best for it, instead of trash that just seems to be good. Nonetheless, I know there will be a learning curve to changing my eating and preparation habits. But I think it will be a great chance to learn new flavors cuisines that I haven't tried before. Should be fun.
I was prompted to watch a movie recently about a modern Greek legend, Yiannis Kouros, called "Forever Running." I liked how he describe his events (pretty much anything 100K ++, into the multiple days) as "exceeding." I also liked his description of running for hours on end (and I'm paraphrasing), "You think, I have 30 hours, 24 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours. But even the last hour feels like a burden." And I totally get this. When I mentally tackled the hundred, even the last mile never felt like a freebie.
I feel mentally prepared: I've told myself that I'm not giving up animal products. Or that I'm DENYing my body what it wants. I feel confident that I'm actually rewarding my body with what's best for it, instead of trash that just seems to be good. Nonetheless, I know there will be a learning curve to changing my eating and preparation habits. But I think it will be a great chance to learn new flavors cuisines that I haven't tried before. Should be fun.
I was prompted to watch a movie recently about a modern Greek legend, Yiannis Kouros, called "Forever Running." I liked how he describe his events (pretty much anything 100K ++, into the multiple days) as "exceeding." I also liked his description of running for hours on end (and I'm paraphrasing), "You think, I have 30 hours, 24 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours. But even the last hour feels like a burden." And I totally get this. When I mentally tackled the hundred, even the last mile never felt like a freebie.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
I'm starting this post on Thursday, but I feel silly posting so often, so I'll try to save it until the end of the week. This is mainly just a compilation of random thoughts.
1) I took a second shot at making cashew butter. The first time, the nuts pulverized but never got beyond granules (nor I didn't have the patience). It worked much better this time around, but I refrigerated it and it kind of dried out/became very hard. A lot of recipes call for added oil, which I want to avoid, but we'll see.
2) Using a gift card from my parents, I got a massage on Wednesday night. I've never had a massage before, though I've used a foam roller and The Stick roller before. He only used "medium" pressure and I think he could've done harder. It was relaxing. Still, I kind of felt like a greased pig getting man-handled.
3) Tomorrow (Friday) morning I'm taking a Yoga class. Yikes. I better not get stuck as a pretzel.
4) I moved in to my new place in Chapel Hill today (Saturday). I thought I would have more to say about it, but it was fairly uneventful. My brother and my dad helped me get all of it without any arguments ensuing. There's not a lot of living room space, but unlike my last apartment in Baltimore, there's storage galore. I have places for everything.
5) I re-discovered this status I wrote after Mount Masochist. I don't know I just kinda liked how I expressed how it felt: "Mountain Masochist Trail Run: I haven't ever done so much climbing, hurt that much, hated and been frustrated by snow, back ached.... But even when it hurt, I loved it. I knew there was nothing else I'd want to be doing. To be so eager to cross a finish line, I wish it could've continued. Congratulations to everyone who ran - finishing or not - for taking up the challenge."
1) I took a second shot at making cashew butter. The first time, the nuts pulverized but never got beyond granules (nor I didn't have the patience). It worked much better this time around, but I refrigerated it and it kind of dried out/became very hard. A lot of recipes call for added oil, which I want to avoid, but we'll see.
2) Using a gift card from my parents, I got a massage on Wednesday night. I've never had a massage before, though I've used a foam roller and The Stick roller before. He only used "medium" pressure and I think he could've done harder. It was relaxing. Still, I kind of felt like a greased pig getting man-handled.
3) Tomorrow (Friday) morning I'm taking a Yoga class. Yikes. I better not get stuck as a pretzel.
4) I moved in to my new place in Chapel Hill today (Saturday). I thought I would have more to say about it, but it was fairly uneventful. My brother and my dad helped me get all of it without any arguments ensuing. There's not a lot of living room space, but unlike my last apartment in Baltimore, there's storage galore. I have places for everything.
5) I re-discovered this status I wrote after Mount Masochist. I don't know I just kinda liked how I expressed how it felt: "Mountain Masochist Trail Run: I haven't ever done so much climbing, hurt that much, hated and been frustrated by snow, back ached.... But even when it hurt, I loved it. I knew there was nothing else I'd want to be doing. To be so eager to cross a finish line, I wish it could've continued. Congratulations to everyone who ran - finishing or not - for taking up the challenge."
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Recovery and Renewal
A lot things have been going on the past few weeks and days. Later today (though I had hoped this morning) I'll be picking up my keys to my new place in Chapel Hill. I'll move carloads day by day, and then this weekend, with the help of my brother, do some of the heavy loading.
Logistically, I extremely loathe moving. I think the two ways I've done it have different pros and cons: 1) When I moved to Baltimore in a large box truck I had to take everything at once. This meant making sure I TOOK everything and had SPACE for everything. 2) Most of my college moves were done with a minivan in multiple trips. The travel distance is closer, so you have to get everything in one shot. The downside is that it takes several trips, and you still leave wondering if you've gotten everything.
My recovery is still progressing. It's slower than I had hoped, but I'm not stressing. I've gotten used to taking prolonged breaks during the summer. In the past it was for injury, so now I can do it on my own terms. I've kept up my aerobic fitness with swimming. This week, the Cary Y closed down the bubble to transition to an outdoor pool, so we're swimming in the unheated "Oasis pool." This is a brisk SIXTY-SIX DEGREES. I felt ballsy and swam without a wetsuit. Two years ago it would've been torture at 74. But either I'm not as lean, or I've gotten used to colder temperatures; either way I didn't think it was so bad. I may even consider going again on Friday.
After Umstead, I'm making a lot of other changes. I had been planning to revamp my diet. After some years of being WAY to restrictive, I purposefully tried to be looser. I think it helped me reach my calorie requirements, but the nutritional value curtailed. I didn't really have a plan on how to restructure it all, but I've gotten some positive encouragement and ideas from an amazing individual. It will primarily involve getting rid of a lot of the processed foods. And right now it's heading towards vegetarianism, but I'm not ruling out veganism. That will be hard; I use milk and cottage cheese almost everyday. And also, I'm trying to be practical in my elimination: I'm not throwing out everything, just once it's gone, it's gone. I don't know; this is heading into new territory. But I think of it as a challenge, which makes it exciting.
I talked about inspiration last time, so I want to leave off with some songs/quotes that I feel have embodied my mindset:
"Love Hate" by Disciple
"Mother Father" by Dave Matthews Band
"Take Me Away" by Lifehouse
"Be not simply good; be good for something"
"God himself culminates in the present moment and will never be more divine in the lapse of the
ages." - Both by Henry David Thoreau
Logistically, I extremely loathe moving. I think the two ways I've done it have different pros and cons: 1) When I moved to Baltimore in a large box truck I had to take everything at once. This meant making sure I TOOK everything and had SPACE for everything. 2) Most of my college moves were done with a minivan in multiple trips. The travel distance is closer, so you have to get everything in one shot. The downside is that it takes several trips, and you still leave wondering if you've gotten everything.
My recovery is still progressing. It's slower than I had hoped, but I'm not stressing. I've gotten used to taking prolonged breaks during the summer. In the past it was for injury, so now I can do it on my own terms. I've kept up my aerobic fitness with swimming. This week, the Cary Y closed down the bubble to transition to an outdoor pool, so we're swimming in the unheated "Oasis pool." This is a brisk SIXTY-SIX DEGREES. I felt ballsy and swam without a wetsuit. Two years ago it would've been torture at 74. But either I'm not as lean, or I've gotten used to colder temperatures; either way I didn't think it was so bad. I may even consider going again on Friday.
After Umstead, I'm making a lot of other changes. I had been planning to revamp my diet. After some years of being WAY to restrictive, I purposefully tried to be looser. I think it helped me reach my calorie requirements, but the nutritional value curtailed. I didn't really have a plan on how to restructure it all, but I've gotten some positive encouragement and ideas from an amazing individual. It will primarily involve getting rid of a lot of the processed foods. And right now it's heading towards vegetarianism, but I'm not ruling out veganism. That will be hard; I use milk and cottage cheese almost everyday. And also, I'm trying to be practical in my elimination: I'm not throwing out everything, just once it's gone, it's gone. I don't know; this is heading into new territory. But I think of it as a challenge, which makes it exciting.
I talked about inspiration last time, so I want to leave off with some songs/quotes that I feel have embodied my mindset:
"Love Hate" by Disciple
"Mother Father" by Dave Matthews Band
"Take Me Away" by Lifehouse
"Be not simply good; be good for something"
"God himself culminates in the present moment and will never be more divine in the lapse of the
ages." - Both by Henry David Thoreau
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