Recovery issues

I think this is the worst 90 mile week I've ever had.  Last weekend I bit off a little more than I should have by running 26.5 with 4000 ft of vert followed by a 17 mile tempo run the next day.  Monday I felt extremely flat and just took it easy.  I ran 14.5 miles slow and Tuesday had the intention of hitting a tempo run but called it after I had a very hard time keeping my first mile under 6:50.  I ran an easy 5 miles and hung it up.  Wednesday I hit another easy 10 on the trail but still felt super flat and resolved to take Thursday off.  Friday night Steve and I ran a quick 20 in 2:43.  Friday night felt easy and I headed out to Prairie Spirit 100 this weekend to help pace someone from 50-77 and hang out at an aid station for a while.

Super long day at Prairie Spirit but totally worth it.  Drove 6 hours up to Ottawa to help out at the Garnett aid station and moved to the turn around to pick up my runner later in the evening.  We ran 13 min/mile pretty well through 77 and he ran super strong through the night to finish his first 100 very rewarding experience and an easy 27 miles into the week.  After leaving him at Garnett I returned to working the aid station with Bob and Polly only to discover my CR had been broken but that's ok John is a very talented runner and I don't mind.  I stayed until 3 am and decided to try to start working my way back to Lawton.  I made it about 60 miles down the road and had to stop and nap I was completely drained.  A couple of hours of sleep and a large coffee and I was on my way back to Lawton.  I took a short cat nap and took the rental car back to the airport and jogged home 11 miles at a very casual 8:30 pace.

The next two weeks are going to be much easier leading up to the Lake McCurty 50k.  This week totaled 90 miles without any good workouts not where I want to be.  Next week I'm aiming for 65-75 miles with 1 speed workout and 1 hill repeat and 30 miles before the 50k to 61 miles the week of the 50k.

Crosstraining!

Obviously a very popular topic in today's running scene.  I am a proponent to crosstraining but usually I use it only after my running goals are met for the week and I have free time.  A strong core and flexibility can go a long way to prevent injury.  I'm lucky to have the Army that provides me with a great deal of body weight crosstraining.  Still I find myself in "the box" (gym) every once in a while.  My wife is a "crossfitter" so I generally base most of my workouts on stuff she tells me about and my running background makes me a less than comfortable fellow in the gym.  I have a short attention span so its gotta be high intensity for me.

Today I went after a 17.5 miler to get in some core work and demonstrate some exercises in a typical gym session.  I did a lot more picture taking than working out.  I started by rowing 2k in 10 min just to warm up the muscles.  I love rowing, it capitalizes on my cardio vascular system but strengthens the core and upper body.  When injured I've been known to row for up to 60 min.

After warmed up I moved in to some ab work which consisted of weighted sit ups, pull ups, leg throws, planks and leg tucks.

Now to my favorite some simple stability and leg work.

First boshu ball squats

Then some weighted step ups

Boshu ball lunges

And some boshu ball pistols

Long run with tempos

Now that I'm happy with my base mileage (65-80 mpw) with decent recovery its time to add in another workout  into the mix.  This is a long temp on a long run.  Today I decided to try an old classic of mine 3 mile warm up 5 miles at marathon pace 2 miles easy 5 miles at marathon pace and 2.5 mile cool down.  The run went well my 2nd 5 miler was not quite at marathon pace (7:09 for 5 miles) due to a stiff 15 mph Oklahoma wind but it was equal or harder effort than the first 5 miles (5 @ 33:48).  Nice little workout for 17.5 miles in 2:12.

Wedding week

My mileage was a little disrupted this week cause I was getting married to the love of my life.  The wedding went very well even got a wedding day workout in the morning of.  Here's the workouts for the week!

Monday:  6 miles
1.5 mile warm up 3 miles 1 min hard 30 sec easy 1.5 mile cool down 

Tuesday:  0 miles

Wednesday:  7 mile easy run
Thursday:  0 miles
Friday 4 miles easy (am)

8 miles moderate (pm)

Saturday:  26.4 miles 4100 ft vert ascent

Sunday:  15-20 miles easy

Total miles:  66-71 miles

Easy running

Any delays this week are due to a pretty significant event in my life on Monday!  I'm marrying my best friend Suki.  Thus Thursday I only squeezed in 5 miles with 2 being the army physical fitness test.  I ran well a 10:56 not bad for no break.  Friday we were traveling all day or at campus so I racked a goose egg which is the first day I haven't run since February 2nd I think.  So as soon as we got moved into our home for the next few days I bolted for an easy 8.5 miles around the harbor of Lake Michigan.  A little cold and windy but breathtaking!

Easy Run

Tuesday's run wore my legs out and we had quite the wind storm in the morning still I headed out for a quick 12 miler after class today.  After a few miles I decided I'd just stick to 8 and hit a workout in the afternoon.  So I ran 8 miles in 64 min came home and ate a healthy lunch of steak, sweet potato fries (homeade) and a salad.  Drank some water and headed back out ran down to Cameron's AstroTurf field and kicked off my shoes for a couple miles of barefoot running trying to tighten up my form.

It felt great to run on the warm turf and focus on just form for a little bit.

Total miles for the day: 15

Farlek hills

Tuesdays workout called for some hills.  I just wasn't feeling the normal Mount Scott laps so I decided to incorporate a little farlek hill work.  I've used this workout before it's good to break up the monotony that sometimes comes with hitting the same workouts.  I ran a 1.5 mile warm up then spent the next 4.5 miles sprinting up every hill I came to (which amounted to 15 45 + sec hills) on the downhills and flat you recover and hold a steady pace.  After 6 miles I made the turn around right at 47 minutes and decided to race my time back finishing in 91 minutes beating my outbound time by 3 minutes.  It was 80 degrees so I opted to break out the shorty shorts and no shirt it felt great to be out though I forgot I'm a little pasty from the winter and got a little sunburn.

12 miles : 91 minutes 7:35 pace
Burma Road Trail out and back

Easy running

After a hard weekend of running I took Sunday off and closed the week at 91 miles.  This morning I didn't quite feel fully recovered so I choose to go for an easy run vs. speedwork.  I have a PT test this week so that will be my speedwork for the week.  I hit 12 miles easy today and look to hit hills tomorrow afternoon hopefully the legs will feel better.  Just trying to figure out my spring race schedule trying to sprinkle some 50 milers in.  Total time on todays run was 97 minutes so just over an 8 min/mile.

Long intervals

Today wasn't supposed to be a workout but due to some nasty winds and a cold front I choose to hit the dreadmill for today's workout.  I can't run on a treadmill without doing some interval work but I wanted to run at least 13 miles after last nights 20 ish miler.  I started with a 2 mile warm up then 4 x 2 miles with a 10 min cool down.

2 mile splits
12:25
12:17
12:03
11:50

Pretty pleased overall total was 14 miles in 1 hour 41 min.

This puts the week at 89 miles thus far, I'll hit a few miles tomorrow but I don't desire to run 11 miles to hit an even 100 94-96 miles is good for the week.  I'm pleased with how fresh my legs feel even after this workout.

Long run

After putting in 43 miles by Wednesday evening my legs were super flat for Thursday mornings easy run.  So I headed out Thursday morning at 6 am with the intention to run 8 miles but stopped 4.5 miles.  Lesson here... if your body says your tired, stay in bed!  So I headed out for another 7.5 miles in the evening to put me at 12 miles.

I woke up Friday feeling fine just to early for my liking (4:30am).  After I finished up my ROTC commitments for the day at 4:00 pm I headed out for 21 miles in 2:55 (8:27 pace).  Pretty pleased with how I felt throughout the run took in about 600 calories (300 from Hammer Gels and 300 from Gu Roctane).  I think these long runs at the tail end of a work day will help with Badwater, anyone can run 20 miles after 8 hours of sleep on a Saturday morning.

Hills

Today's training called for another baseline workout that I can compare my fitness to as I progress through the next 4 months.

I set out this afternoon to climb the tallest thing we have around Lawton, Mt. Scott.  It is a 2.7 mile climb with 1100 ish feet of climbing.  So I can a 1.25 mile warm up 10.4 miles (2 laps up and down) and a 1.25 mile cool down.  For a total of 13.2 miles.  Total time was 1:46 which puts me at a 8:00 min/mile.

I was a little dissapointed that I slowed by about 90 seconds from my first lap to my second lap.  Overall it was a good workout and give me a lot of confidence going to this season.

Easy run

Last night after finishing my 4 miles and 5k row I went home ate a healthy serving of rice and dahl and rested up.

This afternoon I headed to the trail for an easy 12 miles.  I kept the pace light and easy seeing as I have hills tomorrow.  Total time was 96 minutes so a 8 min mile.

Mile repeats

I always get asked, do you do speed work for ultras?  The answer of course!  I believe that speed work and hill work is the foundation to any solid training plan.  So today Cameron canceled classes due to a hail/thunderstorm/snow shower yesterday.  So this morning my soon to be bride and I headed off to the gym.

Today's workout called for 8x1 mile repeats with 4 min active recovery.
Warm up:  2 miles 16:47
Repeats:
6:01
5:59
5:52
5:50
5:48
5:48
5:49
5:32
Cool down: 2 miles 15:57
Total miles 15.2

Feeling great just a 4-6 mile shakeout run tonight and row 5k.

I'm back

Recently I received an email that changed my life.  I was accepted into the 2014 Badwater ultramarathon.  This race takes place in Death Valley and is considered the toughest foot race on the planet.  Training is going well I'm hanging around 70 mile per week right now with a hill work day and speed work day.  This is what last week looked like:

Monday:  10 miles easy
Tuesday:  2 miles hard (10:55) 11 mile run in the pm
Wednesday:  11 miles easy
Thursday:  off
Friday:  25 miles easy
Saturday:  15 miles finished with a sub 19 min 5k
74 total miles

I feel decent just going to experiment with recovery and casein protien!  Right now I have an order throughout Bodybuilding.com on the way of casein protien and ZMA which is supposed to help speed recovery while asleep.  Let's give it a whirl!