Monday, February 18, 2013

Training Week of 2/11/13

2/12/13 - Ran the 6 mile loop CCW in 42 minutes and did a 1.7 mile cool down.  Felt pretty good.  43 degrees and windy.
             - Rode my mtn bike at night through Fishburn 6.2 miles
2/13/13 - Ran Hi Dee Ho - Buck, and Road for a 6.5 mile loop.
2/15/13 - Mtn biked with Kenny.  Road to Buck, Gauntlet, Trough, Brushy Mtn Fire Road, Comet, 4 Gorge Ext., Four Gorge.  17.4 Miles
2/16/13 - Ran around Grandin and Greenway for a 8.1 mile loop at 7:45 pace.
             - Participated in the 3rd race in the Bedford Mtn Cross Series - 6th overall. 11 miles.
2/17/13 - Ran the trails of Fishburn - 8 miles
Total for the week:  30.3 mile running and 34.6 miles mtn biking biking.

Training went well this week.  I finally got my mind back in to running mode following the Uwharrie 40 Miler.  I've got a long run planned for this coming weekend.  In addition, I'm trying to get some more mtn bike miles for a race that is coming up on 4/6/12 - 6hrs of Warrior Creek where Gina and I are racing as a Co-ed Duo team.  Riding helps me get fitness while saving and letting my joints recover from the Ultras.  In addition, the mtx is a great speed workout that makes you anerobic for over an hour.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Recovery Week 2/4/13

There is an art to recovery.  I don't have it.  I'm going to let my body decide when to run next.  I feel pretty good after the Uwharrie 40 miler.  My legs feel heavy and I really messed up my left middle toe, but other than that I don't have too much soreness and the soreness I have is symmetrical. 
2/6/13 - I went for a 14.2 mile bike ride to Salem and back.  I hit one hill and noticed my leg power is still missing but it was good to get out for a spin.
2/8/13 - Ran 5.6 in the snow on the greenway and roads of grandin court.  Legs still feel heavy and my knees feel inflamed.  The snow is the only reason I decided to run today.
Also went out and rode the wazUPwidis course to get the mileage.  Rode 4 miles or so in high winds.
2/9/13 - wazUPwidis race was this morning and then Gina and I did a 19 mile road bike ride.
2/10/13 - 4 miles.  Didn't really work out today but spent 3.5 hours carrying a chainsaw pack and leaf blower while cleaning up the Explore Your Limits 5k course and beginner trail.
Total for the week;   8.7 miles running and 33.2 mile road biking

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Race Week 1/28/13

Well this is the big week of the Uwharrie 40 miler.  The plan was to run Tues. and Wed. and then take of Thurs. and Fri.
1/29/13 - Ran my normal 6 mile loop. 
My legs really didn't feel good so I decided to take the entire week off leading up to the race.  I stretched and used the "stick" during the week and made sure I stayed hydrated and got adequate sleep in the hopes this would pay off with "fresh" legs on Saturday. 
2/2/13 - Race morning was 18 degrees.  It was Gina and I, the Adcocks, and Dru Sexton that represented Mountain Junkies in the 40 miler.  We got to the shuttle parking area at around 6:15, they bused us to the start at 6:30, and then it was a matter of getting everything together, droping our drop bags, and then staying warm until the start. 
     Except for a tenth of a mile at the start, the course is all trail.  It goes up and down, up and down, forever, over creeks, over rock after rock, and then more up and down until you turn around and to it all again.  It doesn't seem like that hard of a course but these two years of racing it I'm constantly looking at my watch and wondering why it isn't showing a faster pace.  This year the conditions were good but there were a lot of trees to jump and climb over from the recent storms. 
     I hit the turnaround in 10th or 11th place and over the last 20 miles I gradually caught a couple people to end up in 8th at 7:14:22, just one place and 8 minutes faster than last year. 
     On one side I was ecstatic to finish this race in the top 10 without any real trouble during the 7+ hours of running while staying cramp free, but on the other I feel like I am in much better shape than last year, wasn't dealing with an ankle issue, and remembered my handheld bottle this year.  All of which should have had me at a much faster time.  So I'm trying to figure out what it was;  3 ultras in 2 months, not much time off between, something else, or a combination of all these reasons. 
     So Sunday, afterwards and now days later I'm in a funk with no real desire to run, my legs feel beat up, and I think all of this is a great reason to take a break to recover, get my legs back and hopefully look forward to my next run.  I try to be a "listen to your body" kind of guy and up until this point it was saying, go, go, go, and go faster.  Now it's saying take a break, get on your bike, and give your body and mind a break. 
Total for the week; 46.4 miles of running