two weeks before race day i did my second "low*" 20 miler in the morning and another 11miles later in the day. the next morning i did 11 on some trails that should be much more rugged than what i hit on race-day.
a week before race day, i ran a 16:44 barefoot 5k, so my aerobic capacity is pretty solid.
ive been sauna training consistanly 2+ times per week for the last month, so im hoping for some higher temps in the last hour or so to help me hold whatever place i end up with.
*Low: heavy, no-carb breakfast, no caffiene, nothing during the run (no gatorade, no water, no gu)
thats about everything for this one. im looking to be competitive at this one and im not sure what that means yet, but a top-10 finish would be great. the plan is to go out fast and see what happens...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The Merrell Naked Foot 5k
I made a last minute decision to do the Merrell Naked Foot 5k this morning. The physiological benefits of running hard a week before race day(Bear Chase 50k) are limited to shocking the crap out of my nervous system, but that's all i wanted. So I even did a hard, fast, speed session two nights before race day, which was the first speedwork I've done in months and it left me a little sore this morning.
That being said, I've won quite a few 5k's, and a win would give me some great mental momentum to go into the 50k with...
After a fun course and a thorn(or somethin!) in my left arch I finished in second place by 10 seconds or less. I started behind a group of people who were running quite a bit slower than me causing me to lose about 15 meters on the guy in first, and I never made up the ground. I figured I'd catch him in the last half mile, but the race ended sooner than I expected and I barely hard time to kick.
The biggest thing that bothered me about today was that the only person that beat me needed shoes to do it. If I won money ($110 Merrill gift card)at a race where the theme was barefooting but i had to wear shoes to do it, I'd feel awful. Thats all I'm gona say about it.
And the bottom line is that i ran a 16:44 after not doing any speedwork, other than the one session that I'm still sore from two days ago. coming off of a few big, slow, trail-filled weeks (80 and 100 miles) to run a sub 17 minute 5k on tight legs is incredible for me, and to do it without shoes is even better.
Going into the Bear Chase Trail Race 50k, i should be ready for the distance(after two "low" 20 miler runs, a 100 mile week, and a 31 mile day), and after today i know I'm ready for the speed. Now its just up to the nutrition.
That being said, I've won quite a few 5k's, and a win would give me some great mental momentum to go into the 50k with...
After a fun course and a thorn(or somethin!) in my left arch I finished in second place by 10 seconds or less. I started behind a group of people who were running quite a bit slower than me causing me to lose about 15 meters on the guy in first, and I never made up the ground. I figured I'd catch him in the last half mile, but the race ended sooner than I expected and I barely hard time to kick.
The biggest thing that bothered me about today was that the only person that beat me needed shoes to do it. If I won money ($110 Merrill gift card)at a race where the theme was barefooting but i had to wear shoes to do it, I'd feel awful. Thats all I'm gona say about it.
And the bottom line is that i ran a 16:44 after not doing any speedwork, other than the one session that I'm still sore from two days ago. coming off of a few big, slow, trail-filled weeks (80 and 100 miles) to run a sub 17 minute 5k on tight legs is incredible for me, and to do it without shoes is even better.
Going into the Bear Chase Trail Race 50k, i should be ready for the distance(after two "low" 20 miler runs, a 100 mile week, and a 31 mile day), and after today i know I'm ready for the speed. Now its just up to the nutrition.
my roots/ the inspiration to move to colorado (pt 2)
At the 2009 Gobbler Hobbler 10k in Oswego, IL, a guy came up to me and two of my friends and asked about our school's running program. He was interested in a coaching job and we had a decent amount of Oswego East gear on at the time. He didn't even give me his name, but he told me to send him some info regarding becoming our coach. i had never had a coach that i felt was passionate about the sport, but this guy seemed so full of energy and excited to be running that i was determined to get him to coach me.
long story short, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was after looking at the results and finding the only 30-something year old in the top-10, and it was even easier find basic info on who this guy was when i searched his name online. The guy was Zach Gingerich, and all i could really tell about him was that he was an ultra runner, but that was plenty to get me excited. I sent a letter to the address i found for him as fast as i could.
A few weeks later, Coach Wilson (my head track coach) told me that he had been contacted by Zach about coaching us, but that he couldn't make it to East until 4:30 because of his job... There goes another season without a real coach...
The more i searched, the more i found about Zach: this guy wasn't just running further than anyone I'd ever met -he was winning! i couldn't believe that someone like this had just dropped into my lap! -this was someone who was doing what i wanted to do! And felt i needed his advice if i wanted get where he was...
thankfully, i got a letter back from Zach a few weeks later letting me know that he wasn't gona be able to coach me officially, but that any questions i had, he would help me with(I'm not sure if he really thought that I'd take him up on that offer). After 6 months or so, i had graduated high school and was in the process of getting certified at NPTI(National Personal Training Institute) Lisle, and training for a marathon. With four runs of 20 miles or more coming up, i asked Zach if he be down to run one of them with me, and he was. Then, a few days before my 21 miler with him, i was running with another local running figure, Andy Remley(a coach at Benedictine University), when Andy told me that Zach had won Badwater. Suddenly 21 miles didn't seem like enough time to get all my questions answered!
The details of the run, along with any exact quote from Zach, cant be put online, but in summary: i learned more about real running that day than i had in the rest of my life up to that point. I had never met anyone like him. He is so nice and down to earth, and he was incredibly patient as i bombarded him with questions. I had expected him to be a student of the sport like i was, but he wasn't the slightest bit interested in the studies that i pour over day after day. i couldn't accept that someone who spent so much time running wouldn't be interested in whats going on in their body while they do it.
either way, my mind was blown.
Less than 3 months after that, Zach emailed me a list of upcoming ultras that would be worth thinking about and one of them seemed perfect. So on December 18th, 2010, i ran my first ultra: the Huff 50k (which was actually 33 miles, but still a short ultra). But using the word "ran" to describe what i did that day is almost completely a lie. The race was on trail and in 3-6 inches of snow. miles one through 11 were easy enough, but i ran every hill and didn't eat or drink anything. so by the middle 11 i had started walking all the steep hills, and by the start of the last third i was having trouble just leaving the comfort of aid stations and running seemed like a hopeless fantasy...
After getting my ass kicked and feeling hopeless for another 3 hours or so, i crossed the finish line in 6:15 -and i had already decided to do another ultra as soon as my body would let me. i had "caught the bug." -I've raced beyond marathon distance 3 times since then and recently even done a training day at 31 miles.
As i learned more about ultra running and met more people who did it, i quickly realized that Illinois wasn't the greatest place to be if i wanted to get serious about it (not like that was surprising). If i wanted a good shot at becoming the best, statistically, i should move to Colorado.
So in July, i packed my life into my Chevy Blazer and started driving west.
"All our dreams can come true…if we have the courage to pursue them." -Walt Disney
long story short, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was after looking at the results and finding the only 30-something year old in the top-10, and it was even easier find basic info on who this guy was when i searched his name online. The guy was Zach Gingerich, and all i could really tell about him was that he was an ultra runner, but that was plenty to get me excited. I sent a letter to the address i found for him as fast as i could.
A few weeks later, Coach Wilson (my head track coach) told me that he had been contacted by Zach about coaching us, but that he couldn't make it to East until 4:30 because of his job... There goes another season without a real coach...
The more i searched, the more i found about Zach: this guy wasn't just running further than anyone I'd ever met -he was winning! i couldn't believe that someone like this had just dropped into my lap! -this was someone who was doing what i wanted to do! And felt i needed his advice if i wanted get where he was...
thankfully, i got a letter back from Zach a few weeks later letting me know that he wasn't gona be able to coach me officially, but that any questions i had, he would help me with(I'm not sure if he really thought that I'd take him up on that offer). After 6 months or so, i had graduated high school and was in the process of getting certified at NPTI(National Personal Training Institute) Lisle, and training for a marathon. With four runs of 20 miles or more coming up, i asked Zach if he be down to run one of them with me, and he was. Then, a few days before my 21 miler with him, i was running with another local running figure, Andy Remley(a coach at Benedictine University), when Andy told me that Zach had won Badwater. Suddenly 21 miles didn't seem like enough time to get all my questions answered!
The details of the run, along with any exact quote from Zach, cant be put online, but in summary: i learned more about real running that day than i had in the rest of my life up to that point. I had never met anyone like him. He is so nice and down to earth, and he was incredibly patient as i bombarded him with questions. I had expected him to be a student of the sport like i was, but he wasn't the slightest bit interested in the studies that i pour over day after day. i couldn't accept that someone who spent so much time running wouldn't be interested in whats going on in their body while they do it.
either way, my mind was blown.
Less than 3 months after that, Zach emailed me a list of upcoming ultras that would be worth thinking about and one of them seemed perfect. So on December 18th, 2010, i ran my first ultra: the Huff 50k (which was actually 33 miles, but still a short ultra). But using the word "ran" to describe what i did that day is almost completely a lie. The race was on trail and in 3-6 inches of snow. miles one through 11 were easy enough, but i ran every hill and didn't eat or drink anything. so by the middle 11 i had started walking all the steep hills, and by the start of the last third i was having trouble just leaving the comfort of aid stations and running seemed like a hopeless fantasy...
After getting my ass kicked and feeling hopeless for another 3 hours or so, i crossed the finish line in 6:15 -and i had already decided to do another ultra as soon as my body would let me. i had "caught the bug." -I've raced beyond marathon distance 3 times since then and recently even done a training day at 31 miles.
As i learned more about ultra running and met more people who did it, i quickly realized that Illinois wasn't the greatest place to be if i wanted to get serious about it (not like that was surprising). If i wanted a good shot at becoming the best, statistically, i should move to Colorado.
So in July, i packed my life into my Chevy Blazer and started driving west.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
my roots/ the inspiration to move to colorado (pt1)
when i moved to Illinois(as a 6th grader) i had no plans to run whatsoever. the summer after 8th grade my best friend's mother suggested that the two of us join the cross country team and, since i was still considering West Point at the time, it seemed like a solid enough idea. i hadnt run for the sake of running since grade school when i ran cross country(1 mile races i think), but i have always admired the relentless effort involved in any endurance sport, even when i was very young.
i still remember the first day of practice, a few weeks before school started. it was hot, Illinois-hot, like 90 degrees and 75% humidity or worse. and the workout was an 'easy distance' run: a five miler on the country roads near Oswego East High School (ive since run the route about a billions times and i no know that its barely over 4 miles). as the run started, i stuck with the upperclassmen (the school was too new to have a senior class, but we atleast had juniors) on the way out. its not that i was intentionally trying to prove anything, i just felt like if they could do it then so could i -trained or not.
the run itself was fine, except the fact that i felt like we were running into the middle of nowhere. "if the older guys leave me i probly wont make it back to the school and ill have to spend a few days in middle-of-nowhere Illinois with the corn."
while i wasnt the first person back, and while i definitely didnt want any more miles for the day, the seed was planted: the glow of satisfaction i had knowing that i had done a "real distance run" of 5 miles (ignore the fact that it was closer to 4 -i didnt know so i still felt good!) was something that made me excited to get back a few days later to get back at it.
so many new feelings, and i loved it. something just clicked that day, but that was only the first step.
during the next two years, learned that not only can i run pretty much indefinitely, but i noticed that i could actually push hard that just a jog -i found my gears. i began to love, not just survive, 400 meter and hill repeats. the pure effort and soul of distance running got me looking deeper and deeper into myself to try to figure out what was slowing me down, why couldnt i just sprint forever? what stopped me? what was i afraid of?
on a spiritual level, i felt it was impossible to answer those questions for sure, but if i could learn what my body was going through, then i could atleast understand on a physiological level, whats holding me back. and hopefully over time, i could apply what i learn to break out and train my body to run effortlessly forever.
from that pursuit (involving 50 or more books about runners, physiology, biology, and psychology's effect on the body), i also found my career calling. i realised that one of the best things about running is setting and achieving goals. doing something today that was "impossible" a few months ago is one of the best feelings in the world. what if i could get that feeling for other people? how great would it be to help someone else achieve something thats "impossible" for them? -after high school i went to the National Personal Training Institute(NPTI) in Lisle, Illinois to get certified to become a personal trainer.
during the time between fall sophomore year and the start of my junior year i found out how far i could go. i did my first (measured)8 mile run, then my first 10 miler, then my first half-marathon-distance(13.1) run, then on a random tuesday in the summer i did 15. i realised that while people might be faster than me genetically(more type I muscle fibers, higher VO2 max, etc), i could probly outlast anyone if we went long enough.
by senior year i had found out that there were other people that thought like me: ultra runners. it had never occurred to me that people would/could do just what i wanted to do. -there were people out there that ran for hundreds of miles and for more than 24 hours at a time. and in november 2009 i met one that helped me develop not only my training program, but who i am as a runner and a person.
...more in a few days, along with some pictures of my new training grounds...
i still remember the first day of practice, a few weeks before school started. it was hot, Illinois-hot, like 90 degrees and 75% humidity or worse. and the workout was an 'easy distance' run: a five miler on the country roads near Oswego East High School (ive since run the route about a billions times and i no know that its barely over 4 miles). as the run started, i stuck with the upperclassmen (the school was too new to have a senior class, but we atleast had juniors) on the way out. its not that i was intentionally trying to prove anything, i just felt like if they could do it then so could i -trained or not.
the run itself was fine, except the fact that i felt like we were running into the middle of nowhere. "if the older guys leave me i probly wont make it back to the school and ill have to spend a few days in middle-of-nowhere Illinois with the corn."
while i wasnt the first person back, and while i definitely didnt want any more miles for the day, the seed was planted: the glow of satisfaction i had knowing that i had done a "real distance run" of 5 miles (ignore the fact that it was closer to 4 -i didnt know so i still felt good!) was something that made me excited to get back a few days later to get back at it.
so many new feelings, and i loved it. something just clicked that day, but that was only the first step.
during the next two years, learned that not only can i run pretty much indefinitely, but i noticed that i could actually push hard that just a jog -i found my gears. i began to love, not just survive, 400 meter and hill repeats. the pure effort and soul of distance running got me looking deeper and deeper into myself to try to figure out what was slowing me down, why couldnt i just sprint forever? what stopped me? what was i afraid of?
on a spiritual level, i felt it was impossible to answer those questions for sure, but if i could learn what my body was going through, then i could atleast understand on a physiological level, whats holding me back. and hopefully over time, i could apply what i learn to break out and train my body to run effortlessly forever.
from that pursuit (involving 50 or more books about runners, physiology, biology, and psychology's effect on the body), i also found my career calling. i realised that one of the best things about running is setting and achieving goals. doing something today that was "impossible" a few months ago is one of the best feelings in the world. what if i could get that feeling for other people? how great would it be to help someone else achieve something thats "impossible" for them? -after high school i went to the National Personal Training Institute(NPTI) in Lisle, Illinois to get certified to become a personal trainer.
during the time between fall sophomore year and the start of my junior year i found out how far i could go. i did my first (measured)8 mile run, then my first 10 miler, then my first half-marathon-distance(13.1) run, then on a random tuesday in the summer i did 15. i realised that while people might be faster than me genetically(more type I muscle fibers, higher VO2 max, etc), i could probly outlast anyone if we went long enough.
by senior year i had found out that there were other people that thought like me: ultra runners. it had never occurred to me that people would/could do just what i wanted to do. -there were people out there that ran for hundreds of miles and for more than 24 hours at a time. and in november 2009 i met one that helped me develop not only my training program, but who i am as a runner and a person.
...more in a few days, along with some pictures of my new training grounds...
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