Maybe third time's a charm? I've been off and on with this blog and this is back to an "on" moment. It's partially due to being mentioned in my friend Laura's blog, so I hope to do it right.

Tapering has started this week for the Lookout Mountain 50 miler. Yes, my first ultramarathon. I'm a wicked excited. As always it's a constant teeter-totter between pushing hard enough and too hard. After a tough weekend of running (5 hours Saturday in the Uwharrie Moutains, 5 hours Sunday at Umstead) I'm battling some muscle tightness. Here's hoping it'll go away with the taper.

Training ebbs and flows. I'm beginning to accept and appreciate daily and weekly fluctuations to my running schedule and mileage.

Last week, after a thorough weekend of running, my sister and I took an overnight trip to Asheville for some hiking. Scaling mountains can be a feat unto itself, much so after back-to-back 19 and (approx.) 13 miles. But it was tons of fun. By the way, if you didn't know, going DOWN can sometimes be as tough or tougher than going UP (since when stepping down, there is a significant braking/bracing effect on the quads) and I definitely felt this on our trip. Sunday we took a long trek along part of the Mountain-to-Sea trail. The following morning was a climber up Mt. Pisgah. I'm sure the view WOULD have been great... if it wasn't for the fog... and it was bit nippy out (thankfully I had carried a windbreaker in case of rain).

Funny mishap at the "The Athlete's Foot" social run last night. I get over to the store to discover that I've pack one old shoe, one new shoe (as evident by the different shoelace color, otherwise the shoes are identical). Another glance and I discover that it's also TWO RIGHT shoes. Well, crap. Digging into my resources, it turned into a shorter run in... VIBRAMS! It was a risky move: I haven't run in them since April when I broke my foot (while using them!) and had never done over about 2.5 miles (I ran 6 last night). Of course, most running injuries/issues don't present themselves until several days after the fatal workout. However, right now, the only symptom is blisters, and moderate calf aching. Cheers.

Pending the hurricane, this weekend will be the last race in the Triangle Open Water Swim Series. A one-mile swim, I hope to get my last age-group win and complete my awards collection (so far two beer glasses and a coffee travel mug).

I'm beginning to settle into a good cycle for my workouts, though that's looking to be unsettled. Tomorrow I start a once-a-week job packing and delivering local produce. Hopefully it will be a "gateway" job into an industry that I have a interest in.

Another weekend with the Coast Guard. Most people would be astounded by how early I will wake up to get in a run. 4:00 for 12 miles on Saturday (to be ready for ANOTHER 2.5 with the unit at 7:30) and 3:30 on Sunday for 8 miles (before standing watch at 5:30). I still don't think I could be considered an earlier bird. I can get up early, but that's mainly because I'm slow. I usually take at least half an hour to get rolling before a workout.

Interesting fact of the week:

The etymology of the name Duran. French in origin, meaning "enduring." Make sense: duran, durable, endurance. I'm certainly not one to buy into superstition, or "fate" regarding people's name. However, I like entertaining the idea of being a long-distance, ENDURANCE athlete named Duran.

I'm still stuck at around $125 for donations to Team USO. Come on folks!

Focus

My mileage is returning pretty well. I am happy with where I am, though I'm a little confused about where to go. While I have my marathon race planned, I don't have anything else on the books. Particularly I don't have any triathlon plans, or even long-term aspirations. It makes my swimming and cycling seem so extraneous. But I DO believe both are great cross-training tools. And I think open water swimming events would be fun to do [more of].

Having a specific training plan will probably help me focus in on my race. Furthermore, I need to make sure to put out more miles off-road. Medoc is a trail marathon, and is vastly different that a road race, in speed, terrain, tactics, popularity and support, and so on.

Team USO

Yeah, I know. I'm getting lazy in updating this. Sometimes it's hard to tell when/if people are even reading it though.

My return to running has been so-so. I'm able to get in some decent mileage, but I don't think it's anywhere near where I'd like it to be. I'm probably going to skip on doing a half Ironman in September. Eight weeks to build up, with a bum knee no less, just isn't a good idea. And I'd rather take the time to focus on my running and work on that base. I realize that this might be my last chance to get in a half before I lose my motivation for it. After watching the White Lake Half and several good weeks of bike training at Inside Out, I was really getting back in the triathlete mind set and groove. But it's been waning again, and when winter comes around, the biking will drop off dramatically and the group ride won't be around.

Last year I joined Team in Training for the Columbia Olympic Triathlon, held that May. This year I wanted to find another way to raise money for a good cause. Because of my family's military status, and since David is currently deployed, I decided to join TeamUSO while training for the Medoc Trail Marathon. For those who don't know, the USO is an organization that provides morale and support functions for our military service members. Several airports have USO stations where service members can collect themselves before or after traveling. They also send care packages to deployed troops and provide means for troops to contact their families.

I would LOVE it if you donated to help support this cause! My goal is to raise $1,500 by the date of my race, October 15!

Wrightsville Beach Training

I am running again! ... sort of...

I'm currently in Wrightsville Beach for my two weeks of active duty training for the Coast Guard. The Friday before, I was finally cleared by the doctor to start running again. Obviously full force was not advised, so I started kinda of easy. However, even that seemed to be a bit much and right now my knee has flared up and the running is being sidetracked again. I'm able to make it through the 2.5 mile run we (the Reservists) do a couple times, but some times it was worse than others.

However, the time here in Wrightsville has been fun and interesting. Usually when I'm out of town, my swimming and biking are sidelined because the logisitics and hassel of carrying the extra equipment. However, being here for two weeks kinda of nessicitates making the attempt.

I'm extremely lucky. A small group of triathlon stores, TrySports, has a location in Wilmington. I visited the store and was able to hook up with a few group workouts. This included a Wed. night ride. However, more exciting and novel was an open water workout! While there is a group that swims from Jordan Lake; it's usually not at an opportune time and, well, it's a long drive. The Wrightsville Beach group is great, swimming in the channel, between the Coast Guard Station and the Blockade Runner hotel (direction depends on the tide). Besides great workouts themselves, it's always fun to have training plans successfully fall into place.

The recovery continues. I'm out of the boot, but still not running for about another two weeks. This has pushed me over to the elliptical trainer. I used it a lot during the winter when I had IT band issues, and it seemed to stall some loss of my base mileage, so I'm hoping to still have a decent base when I can get back to running.

I've mainly been using a Precor brand elliptical which allows for adjustments in resistance and incline. This weekend while drilling with the CG I used a LifeFitness model which does not have an incline adjustment. Both had their plus and minuses. Without the incline, the LifeFitness was good for a constant lower turnover with high, high resistance. The Precor could give me a high turnover, but still elevate the heart rate with big changes in the incline.

Another 1 mile swim next week. And my dad will be doing his first 5k!