Red Mosquito

5 miles in 35 minutes

Wife and kids are on spring break, so I didn't have to go through the usual morning routine before my run. Relaxed run. Even split. No finishing kick.
A kind soul from another board gave me his Garmin info from last year and the "monster" uphill in my race really isn't that monstrous. Looks like an average of about a 2% grade over 5.5 miles. While it certainly won't be fun with a 35-pound pack on, it's hardly a killer.

Streak: 72

Alex wrote:the posting tapers or the training tapers? don't give us false hope.

Yes.

turned2black wrote:When I carry water or Gatorade (typically only over 10 miles), I run with Ultimate Direction bottles. They have also saved me from shredding my hands on numerous falls on the trail.

Is this an endorsement or something? It reads just like one.

I've been meaning to update here for a while now. My streak derailed after I found out about my redundancy. It completely threw me off guard and ruined my focus. I'm still working out, but not as a streak now. Sorry to disappoint.

Sgt. Crackpot wrote:

turned2black wrote:When I carry water or Gatorade (typically only over 10 miles), I run with Ultimate Direction bottles. They have also saved me from shredding my hands on numerous falls on the trail.

Is this an endorsement or something? It reads just like one.

oasisfan asked me what I do for water or Gatorade, so I told him.

Sgt. Crackpot wrote:I've been meaning to update here for a while now. My streak derailed after I found out about my redundancy. It completely threw me off guard and ruined my focus. I'm still working out, but not as a streak now. Sorry to disappoint.

No T-shirt for you.

64 degrees, had to run outside today. felt good. knees are a little sore, but i'll live. its gonna snow thursday so i gotta get outside when i can.

6th: 8 miles
7th: UBW A
8th: 10 miles
9th: UBW B
10th: Supersets

Streak: 66

Looking for 4 miles today, 3 tomorrow and 2ish Thursday before the race on Saturday morning.

What I've found thus far is that I would honestly rather get to a point where I can run just about every morning foregoing some weightlifting. It'd also be a promising schedule change with the, hopefully, oncoming warmer weather.

turned2black wrote:oasisfan asked me what I do for water or Gatorade, so I told him.

And I will be looking in to something of that nature when I get to more outside runs, which had better be soon.

oasisfan35 wrote:What I've found thus far is that I would honestly rather get to a point where I can run just about every morning foregoing some weightlifting. It'd also be a promising schedule change with the, hopefully, oncoming warmer weather.

I used to lift 3 days a week. I'd get pretty beefy by spring then get fat in the summer (hibernation season in AZ) and spend October through December just getting back into decent running shape again. I stopped lifting altogether a few years ago and no longer get as fat in the summer. I lost my 6-pack and I'm not as strong on uphills as I was when I lifted, but over an entire year, I have benefited from not lifting. But I will admit that I have zero desire to "look good". My only real goal in exercising is to endure as much pain and suffering as I possible can.

i get the pain and suffering thing with running, its nice to feel like you are going to die and then not die. but lifting weights gives me a different kinda high. its never really been about looking a certain way as it is having goals and reaching them.

Yeah, I wasn't trying to imply lifting is all about looks, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't have a large part to do with why I originally started lifting.

And yeah, I'm really interested in pushing my body to the absolute breaking point. I remember shuffling along at the end of my last 24-hour run and blacking out a couple of times, then waking up still on my feet. It was kind of a religious experience.

i started lifting weights for sports, so ive always attached it to sports. its like a competition w/ myself. looking good is just a bonus.

i remember the last time i puked after working out real hard thinking "wow, this is how you know you worked hard" lol. we're fuckin weirdos.

11th: 4 miles

Felt odd to stop at this distance but I have a feeling this Higdon guys knows what he's talking about.

Streak: 67

I agree that looking better is a positive by-product of working out but definitely not a huge motivator (to me), especially now. It has felt good to actually train for something that hopefully pays off this weekend.

I constantly toy with the idea of competing in powerlifting meets again. The federation I once belonged to still has meets in the New England area.

12.5 miles in 2:02

Hit the canal with the 35-pound pack. Felt great, turned around at 1:01 in hopes of running a negative split, but got hung up at a couple traffic crossings. Nice little finishing kick to bring home an even split. Gonna push my luck and do a 2 and a half hour pack run on Thursday. Probably should be backing off now for the taper, but I'm still feeling weary of this race and know I have been undertraining mileage-wise in an effort to save my back. So I'm gonna reduce my taper to one week and pack on some more miles this week.

I think a 6 hour goal race time and a top 20 finish is sandbagging it a little. I'm gonna revise it to 5:30 and top 10 finish.

Streak: 73

oasisfan35 wrote:It has felt good to actually train for something that hopefully pays off this weekend.

Looking forward to your race report.

12th: 3 miles

Best time thus far, no water during, legs still feel good well after the fact.

Streak: 68

5 miles in 36 minutes

Left too late last night (after 11) and it kinda felt like a drag. Even split. No finishing kick. Gonna do 2 and a half hours tonight with the 35-pound pack, then the dreaded uphill Towers run on Saturday. That's a shitload of tough work this close to the race, but I plan on completely shutting it down (just doing my 5 miles) after Sunday.

Also, the forecast for the day of the race is calling for 25 mph winds. This shit is gonna be fun.

Streak: 74

13th: 2.5 miles

Streak: 69

35.5 hours til game-time.

oasisfan35 wrote:13th: 2.5 miles

Streak: 69

35.5 hours til game-time.

Don't forget to carbo-load tonight!

15.5 miles in 2:35

Still feeling a little shaky about not doing a 20-miler with the 35-pound pack before the race, so I decided to do a 2 and a half hour depletion run tonight. I had a granola bar for breakfast and a can of chicken noodle soup for lunch, then skipped dinner before my run. At the last second, I kinda realized I hadn't really drank anything all day either, so I did decide to take a bottle of water with me, which I drank all of in the first 3 miles. The run went pretty well, but as expected I had cottonmouth for the entire second half. With about 2 miles left, I started to fade. No finishing kick. This wasn't as good as my last few pack runs, but I feel good that I still averaged 10-minute miles without fuel. I'm ready for this fucking race.

Streak: 75

5 miles in 35 minutes

Ran on the treadmill at work. Pretty sure I'm the only person who has used the damn thing. Legs felt sore most of the day, but once I got on the treadmill, I was fine. Shower is now operational, so it was nice to not stew in my own sweat for the rest of the day. Good run.

Streak: 76

7.5 miles with 2,400 feet in elevation change in 64 minutes

It was 80+ degrees when I hit the trail. Things were going well until I clipped a rock and took a nasty tumble into a ravine. After it happened, I just stood up, made sure nothing was broken, climbed out of the ravine, then went on my way. The trailhead was packed with people when I finished and I was a bloody mess. I assured people I was fine. It was a little embarrassing. I'm pretty lucky to have not broken anything. Left a lot of skin and blood in the desert. No idea what my splits were.

I was waffling on whether or not to do another pack run on Sunday, but because most of the damage is to my back that decision became a lot easier. Sucked, but I'm always kinda happy to have some new battle scars. Now I need this shit to heal before the race.

Streak: 77