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A great 10 mile run today was the icing on a good work out week.

I needed it. Last week sucked and as a result, I realized I needed some rest. I've pushed back my run to Apr 23rd now. With Dan's lobbying for a return to common sense and listening to my body; I realized I had pushed too hard after the flu. This week proved that some rest was needed. Today's run was a very fast 10 miles on my small hill route with an average of 8min/mile.

It's amazing how setbacks can effect the psyche and how we respond when the setbacks turn into advances. I was dancing on cloud 9 after today's run. A day off, then Saturday I'll do 18-20miles.

Back on my feet

Today was my first run back after last Sunday's disaster. On Dan's suggestion, I took 3 solid days off of any activity. His admonishment was clear and accurate: "The flu is an unfortunate obstacle that you need to deal with responsibly - not plow through with steely determination." Steely, Dan? I found out it was pyrite-like. A fool's gold.

So, accordingly I took off on a 5 mile, moderately paced run. I also went down an old favorite trail and took along my geeky GPS module to find out exactly how far it really is down to the turn around point. The wife heaped on some extra admonishment when I doubled back into the house to grab it: "You have so much equipment now, you seem to always keeping coming back for something you forgot."

So off I went at a comfortable and moderate gate for 5 miles. Keep the heart rate in the green...no more than 151bpm, son. Oh yeah, I forgot, my favorite old trail was something like 6.1 miles or so and that's what I needed to check on....maybe I'll push a little further.

At the first mile, the GPS beeped and I checked the readout to see my pace. 7:30 mile. Not too bad for a "moderate pace." Maybe I'll just push it along at this rate for a while? Pyrite. PYRITE. P-Y-R-I-T-E! you moron. MODERATE PACE!! So I moderated back to about 7:45-8:00 and motored along my planned 5 mile route according to plan. Not a bad run...er.. for 6.255 miles exactly according to the GPS. Hope Dan's not reading this.

Too much, too soon

I came down with the Flu on Wednesday at 1:51am. Well, actually, it was more of what came up in the wee hours and for the next 8 hours. By Thursday, I was feeling about 70% of normal. No way I was running and, in fact, I cancelled all training with the expectation that I'd be ready for Sunday's 22 mile run. By mid-day Saturday, I was feeling "ok" but still not 100%. Still, I planned for the run but in my mind had scaled it back somewhat.

Sunday, I felt normal. Or nearly so. Almost. Maybe. But, pride goes first, so off I went promising to do a double check at the 1.5 hour mark to see if I needed to return early.

I hit my local ridge line knowing that I'd still have some tough climbs to do. The sky was a brilliant blue, no clouds, and the visibility was somewhere around 100 miles. Just amazing.

The first 4 miles started off steeply and continued a steady climb up from 360' to 1200'. And in those first 4 miles, I knew deep down this was going to be a bad day. My heart rate was 10bpm too fast before I took my first stride and quickly shot up into the high 150's. For 4 miles, instead of walking to bring down my heart rate, I pushed it and watched my heart rate average 157-161. Way too much anarobic burning for too long. Pride pushed me on.

Topping out on the ridge line, the views were stunning. I could see the northern coastal range well beyond Mt. Tamalpais some 35 miles North. To the North East, I could make out the snow capped Sierra's near Lassen, and to the East, puffy cumulus cloaked the Tahoe region. I pushed on, confident that I could bring the work load down for the next few miles and get back some energy. A check of my pace shoul have sent me warning signals. I was only seeing about 12 minute miles over the last 6 miles and my heart rate was still too high.

I hit the 10 mile mark feeling "okay" but not great. By now, I knew I was going to have a hard push back if I doubled the trail. All I could think about were the miles ahead. Not good. So, I took some "short cuts" and rationalized only an 18 mile run. At about 11 miles, I knew it was going to be a stinker. Small hills pushed me up into the redline. My power was gone and my body was working on getting oxygen to rapidly draining quad muscles. Food got harder to eat. By mile 13 I had regained the top of the ridge line and knew that the next 4.5 were largely down hill. That only pissed me off, because I knew I was spent. There was no power left. And I hadn't yet even done half the distance I need to do in 4 weeks.

The last 2 miles down hill were painful on tired quads. I was never more happy to reach a trail head and never more disappointed.

Too hard too early. Too soon after an illness. Too much, too soon. Damn.

20 mile climb

This isn't the Alps. Nor the Sierras. This is simply the coastal range that the I will climb and descend in my upcoming 50k run. It's not normally covered in snow. But, it was on Sunday when I had a scheduled 20 mile run.

The Bay area was under a week long assault of storms spinning out of the Gulf of Alaska, so there was plenty of cold air and moisture being dumped on California. The result was snow on the surrounding foothills, cold showers, and wet trails.

I loaded up my running bag with some extra weight: a waterproof top, heavy-layer windshirt, and enough food and water for a 4 hour run. The bag definitely felt heavier as I adjsted it at the trail head following a brief rain shower.

The run was spectacular but much tougher with the extra weight. I kept my heart rate within my target zone as much as possible. The sky was filled with heavy cumulus clouds and the ridget tops I was headed for, were cloaked in a layer of white snow. As I ascended up through the first mile, a lone coyote watched me pass--was that a look of sympathy or did he consider me just a poor menu item?

I hit the "gravity well"--the point where the trail turns down for a mile before climbing very steeply back up for another 2 miles--feeling strong, but the wind was growing colder and I slipped on a my wind vest to keep my core warm. About 1.5 hours after I started, I hit the snow line and my foot prints through the slush reflected my steady pace. At a junction in the trail, I came across two hikers--astonishingly dressed in cotton, with jeans soaked through up to their knees. We exhanged "how-do's" and recognition of our mutual turn-around points, just 3 miles ahead. As I took the last 2 miles up-hill, the snow deepened and I found myself "breaking trail" through 3-4 powdery inches of snow. Overhead, an East Bay Regional Parks helicopter buzzed the trail and circled over my turn around point at the ridge top camping spot. Trouble for campers or were they worried about 3 knuckleheads out on such a blustery day?

I began the trip back down feeling comfortable but certainly worn for the 2:15 of near constant climbing. The trip down was anti-climatic but clearly demonstrated how bruising this run will be. I was clearly tired and pushing myself as I finished up my 20 miles. Was it the extra weight? The fight against the elements that took extra energy? Or, as it later turned out, the early stages of the flu that hit me 2 days later passed to me by the kids? Don't know. But, next week's 22miler will tell me more.

Geek out!

Yesterday I got in a fast 10 mile, small hill run according to "The Plan". My legs were fresh and I averaged a consistent 7:45 split along the distance. Man that felt good.

Sunday is a 20 mile, big hill run. If I average 11 min/mile (as I have been for steep elevation gain trails), I expect about a 3.5 hour run. My last big run was 16 miles and was just shy of 3 hours over the back half of my 50K run course. This run I expect to do in closeby on the nearby ridgeline trail which bounces back and forth between 500' and 1400' elevation so I hope for a little better average run time. Still, hitting the 20 mile mark on a trail run is a little bit of a psychological hurdle that leaves me a little anxious. This will be my first foray into that 20-something range and only 6 miles short of a marathon.....

I snagged a great deal at REI and aquired a GPS unit that ties into my Timex BodyLink system for $56 (!) so I'll get to nerd out and monitor heart rate, pace, distance, etc. I wonder if I'll be smart enough to look up and enjoy the view?

Another simulation

Sunday, Racer X and I got together to shake up my regular training routine. It was also a chance to get back to our pre-race season Adventure Racing training simulations that I've missed out on given my current focus. Every 6 weeks, we hold what we call a "4 Hour Block Session". During this training session, we mix up a variety of endurance, aerobic, and strength exercises to prepare for the demands of our 12 hour races. The 4 hour block we held this Sunday was a nice prep for my 50K and also a chance to get to do some other training that my current regime hasn't included.

Our training plan called for:

• 15 min jump rope
• 60 minute trail run
• 1.5 hour mountain bike ride
• 30 minute endurance strength training
• 45 minutes on the elliptical machine

To make this simulation as close to racing as possible, we seek to keep transition times down to the minimum (like a race), carry our race bags and all needed fuel during any movement training, and try to maintain a good steady "race pace" throughouth.

Sunday's weather was iffy with a huge storm bearing down on the Bay Area with high winds and lots of rain predicted. We got off to a late start at noon with clouds threatening but no major rain yet apparent. 15 minutes on a jump rope is extremely boring, so we were pretty happy to head off up the hill on our 60 minute run. We carried a pretty relaxed pace (Racer X is not a runner) and stayed within our target heart rate zone pretty well. Because of the pace, the distance was below my usual, but still I was more concerned about the overall 4 hour time than actual miles. Heading back down the hill our pace quickened as we both looked forward to the biking section. It had been nearly 2 months since my last good back country ride. This one felt great as we picked up the pace and doubled back up the hill we just descended on our run. The winds had picked up to 20-30 knots when we reached the peak. Fortunately it was mainly a quartering or tail wind except for a short section on the return.

As the rain was now imminent, we elected to throw the bikes in my truck and motor to the gym instead--our only cheating of the day. Timing was everything as we hit the gym just as the clouds unleashed with a downpour.

The gym work was rather anti-climatic but a good sound work out despite the contrast to the first half of the block. We probably looked a little strange in mud stained clothes, pushing weights followed immediately by jumping jacks. We were left alone--despite a few strange looks--although neither of us were sure whether it was because we looked too crazy or just smelled too bad.

I finished with lots of energy still left but I was ready to eat a horse. I settled for clearing out every left over in the fridge.