A Dizzy Run...bound to happen. Training Picks Up,Good Recovery Run

Sorry, No pictures this week...It was a rather hard week after such a good run on Ball Bearing last week.

The week began with some slower legs, a bit heavy but still out running following the weekday schedule. Things are ramping up now. Weather changed a lot of things during the week..a brief taste of spring turned back to late winter storms come midweek and then returning Friday night. To make things a bit tougher I came down with a bug that left me feeling dizzy and a tad nauseous on Thurday and Friday....I just could not get out and run feeling like that leaving me in a pickle for Saturday's long run...

I awoke feeling a little better Saturday morning a little before 5am..I was going to run the Way too Cool course..including the six mile start at Olmstead....Weather was wicked! At least at my house as I prepped..fired off early morning emails...But out the door I went on a dark stormy morining..As I got to the Cool Firestation I saw a group taking off on the course and Andrew Schooley just pulling in to the lot...I was heading toward Olmstead with a goal to see how I felt, take it slow and just plan for a long day...

That was the needed attidude! Olmstead loop to hwy 49 was a mess..I was running by alone and not feeling good and mind not focusing on running..I was pushing through deep new streams with runoff and just not enjoying it at all...I began to think then that this was a run to focus on building mental toughness..This was not easy at all and just get the time in since it pays dividends come June!

I crossed 49 and saw Twietmeyer heading back and moving easy..I was just picking points to hit as I ran down trails that had turned to steams. I made it to Browns Bar never seeing the streams moving so fast and so deep...it was a true adventure..I was slowly starting to feel better and got to ALT. Here I saw a runner coming back and he said that DeadTruck stream crossing was very deep....Dang. Lets consider to run that and ball bearing...I could run to 3rd gate and turn getting in my 30 for the day...I finally started to feel better! It only took four hours! I was still running slow but with more focus. I went up Goat and started talking to myself (thank god no one was around...) just words to encourage and that seemed to help I followed this pattern to 49 and to the Firestation..I wanted it to be long and slow and set 6hours for this 30 mile run..no not fast it was about time on feet, getting over being sick and being out there..So as my watch had died in the first hour or so...I pulled in got to my car and looked at my phone...clock time...6 hours and 1 minute....Not bad. My legs feel pretty good on Saturday night...Well after todays run..happy to be on the sofa watching tv and relaxing....Mileage goes higher next week....

Just returned from a very succesful 9 mile recovery run...not the fastest but that was not the point so a 39mile weekend...not bad.  Legs feel tired but not trashed..A ray of hope for the last day of Feb!  Bring on March...

Tony

A little inspiration in Winter....

Enjoy Matt Hart's follow up to his trail video from last year...Lots of images from WS..climbs up Devils Thumb..a good view indeed....enjoy.

Tony

A Quad Ball Graduate-Wheres my diploma? Where is my friend?

Rena and Me...Just starting loop 2---

Quad Ball Profile---it is missing about 1mile since I had operator error...

I have some good news...I am finally getting some running legs that make me feel good about my training! With plan moving into its 3rd month and the mileage is building I am feeling better each weekend on the long runs. Granted I have some tired legs the next day but they snap back soon. That is a good sign. I will admit to enjoying seeing a day off on the schedule but those are now once a week versus two early on in the calendar.
With that said...The week began with a tired leg run on Sunday that had me running short. I made that up on the day off with a fast Stagecoach Loop on Monday that had me suprised at how it felt easy and in control. The rest of the running week was kinda like that...Saturday was a big day on the Western States Trail with the first organized run sponsored by Greg and the WS Crew...It is the annual 20mile run from GreenGate to the finish...they had 200 runners on the course. It was short for me so I got Rena to run Ball Bearing Repeats.....This is a tough course with speed and climbing...John Nichols invented the term QuadBall for 4 laps..so that is what we set out to do. It was a very good day for me...A big improvement over my TriBall effort in January. We screamed some sections and moved hard up Ball Bearing...Our loop times where...
1:24, 1:21, 1:19 and 1:23. Folks can run this faster but it was so good for me...It left me tired but still energy in the tank. During the second lap we got the train of runners on the training run and they all seemed happy. Tim Twietmeyer had a posse of WS newbies swarming around him as he made the turn from 3rd gate up to ALT...He did not mind in the least and I would guess a thrill for many running next to him on the trails.

Today I feel good about the training...but on a bummer note..My valentine has gone MIA...It is important to me that she be around to listen in on these moments that are hard but joyous..for my own reasons it is important that she be involved even from a distance. I guess I want her to be proud of me..like saying I can go the distance.but when she goes MIA it casts doubt. Regardless of this my training moves forward. Will she be at the finish in June? ..time will tell but I can't stop and wait...Till next week...tony

Check that Junk Mail, Run in the Sun

Lets cut to the chase and start with...THE SUN IS OUT! After weeks of winter storms, We had our first real day of sun, warmth and even some flowers and trees are starting to bloom!
This makes such a difference in getting out.

Back to the title...Like many we receive a ton of junk paper mail these days...What ever happened to getting a nice letter or card in the mail...Those are far and few between but a few friends still send notes and cards..It is nice. Anyway...As I have come to do...see the mail..don't recognize the sender (for credit cards, refiance the house, etc) I just rip it up and throw it away. I picked up my mail and was starting to do the usual on Tuesday when I saw an envelope it...looked like junk mail...I opened it I rarely do...To my suprise it was from my bank that is holding my mortage on my house (btw..anyone want to buy it for what I purchased it at?) anyway..it was a check for nearly $800 for my impound account for taxes! Well it is not nice to get that check knowing that my home value has reduced so but its still a nice suprise considering I was about to throw it out...!

The other cool thing this week aside from running was a high school classmate is the commander of the last scheduled space shuttle that took off this week..now that is pretty cool....not many of those in this world and I went to school with him. Granted I can't recall him well but still neat.

On to running and life in general. I had a very nice week of running with some increased mileage from the coach leading to a long run Saturday. All my midweek runs this week took place at the Overlook with me running down to the river and the American River Trail. The shortest run was time wise...1:23 and the longest a tad over 5hours. I am getting some of my endurance back since I noticed the 1:23 felt very short in terms of time and post run feeling. It was fast and enjoyable. The AR trail drops down from the Overlook to the river for 3.1miles and then hits some sweet single track from there. This creates a nice out and back with the climb good training for race day. Saturday I ran long with Rena, Karyn Hoffman and one other person...We took off early to run to Sterling Point and Back...26miles. I did make a rookie error and not stay at my pace for the first half and had some very fast split times as I chased Karyn...We had a long break as folks loaded up with water at Sterling and the return. This long break of 5minutes plus got my legs tight..they never really came back....The return was not too comfortable but the day was nice I was thinking that my last two weekend runs where the same time a little shorter and tried to compare the effort on a flattish course versus the climbing on the cool course. I am thinking that my diet needs a major tweak since I still talk about not eating enough during the week leaving me a bit tired during the long run...better get that dialed in soon.
Valentines Day...have a good one...Tony

First Saturday in February-Mud on those Trails

Week 1-February, the California is caught in the el nino weather pattern bringing the continued much needed rain and snow in the Sierras. SoCal is getting soaked as well with mudslides in many burn areas. That said it seems the weather likes to arrive with its higher rain totals towards the end of the week and those scheduled long runs...Perhaps I need to move these to the midweek so I can run on less muddy trails!!!!

The week of business travel and cancelled weekend in LA left me with lower quality miles. Having Western States on the horizon leaves me each day with a sense of urgency to be prepared and do my part. The date is in stone and my goal is to make each day count. Business travel involves endless time in airports, meeting with clients and listening, endless opportunities to miss a workout by following group dynamics with endless drinks and dinners. I was grateful to make time early and late in the evening to get something in....

Altered plans led me back in nocal on Saturday. It was rather dark and pounding rain as I woke early to meet some folks in Cool. I knew that it would be hard out on the trail but the run had to go on as scheduled. Once at Cool I was greeted by Kate and Rob Evens...they where helping Fleet Feet Roseville with some ultra training group. This brought a ton of folks to the trailhead on a wet and soggy day....My group arrived shortly after including my coach and off we went on the trail..The pace was great as we headed to Browns Bar. I dropped back about 30 seconds as we started our climb. My legs this week felt ok and pace a bit faster. On the way to Alt we began to see different packs of runners heading back towards Cool. Lots of newbies, many other friends as well all on the trails...I looked forward to when the trail would be quite once more...

The overall trail conditions where very muddy, slick, and streams moving fast. I was moving faster but the hips where getting tight as the day wore on..Goat Hill to HWY 49 was hard on me..it has gotten rutted so that it slows me down when I get tight...I did finish the day 11minutes faster than last week so that was good. A short run Sunday has me back on schedule for training.

Thinking of next weekend already...but first need to have a solid work week of training...be it in the rain again...

1 month down-5 to go

The Legs are tired after running Cool....

Whew...The first month of training for Western States is over. It was a base building month with volume being low and maximize quality. That said I heard comments that my mileage was low but in reality it was not too far behind those naysayers. I still have the need to really monitor my early and mid week runs. For me I can get so caught up in work that can limit my time on feet. January there was only one day that work got in the way. So I was happy about that.

Last week was kinda tiring for me. I have been cutting back food and trying to cut a few of those pounds. I want to get back down to 144 which is a good running weight for me. I have 7 pounds to go and it seems to be all in that dreaded mid section...John Nichols says I should just run every event with my shirt off and that will shame me to lose it fast :) After Pacifica I did a 3 mile recovery run on Sunday and then the gym. I did not feel too bad, nor did my Tuesday speed workout. But come the middle of the week and my Stagecoach loop my legs where tired they did not respond well and my time felt long..In reality it was not too bad and not my slowest Stagecoach by far so maybe preception had something to do with that...Saturday I ran the Cool Course..For those wondering this is the course for the Way Too Cool 50k. Many folks love running WTC..it is just too crowded for me and I am volunteering again at the event. Back to Cool..

I met up with Andrew,Kim and 3 others to run the last 25 of the WTC course it was a bit cool at the start but not bad. Mud was the theme of the day and a little slick in spots but nothing serious. Streams I just went right through them, no rock hopping. As we took off I stayed tucked in behind Drew and Kim as they lead it down to 49 crossing. I am soooo slow on any real technical downhill so they picked it up a bit. I caught em as we waited at 49 for the others and headed to Quarry Road....I let em go as they where moving fast. I stayed back about 30seconds and could here them chirping away. That was the last I saw them and the others in the group. I spent the rest of the day trying to bridge up to Drew and Kim. I gave up as I hit the top of Browns Bar. I saw a large group from Auburn Running heading up to Goat...I would be there later but some work to do first. I had not really felt good all day running the legs just plain tight. I got into a slow steady pace and just focused on hydrating and eating correctly since I was going slow...might as well make sure I have some fuel. As I approached 3rd Gate I saw the pile of food and drink that the Nichols quad ball group had as they were doing multiple climbs up Ball Bearing. I had hoped to seem them but never a sight today...Oh well.

I made it down dead truck carefully and had a real good climb up Ball Bearing and was happy with that. As I got to ALT I ran into a group that had left Cool Firestation 45minutes before me that where running the same route..So I caught them..That was nice but I did not want to run with them the rest of the day..The wheels where about to come off. I just lost it from ALT to Browns..a little less than 1hour to go those 5miles..it was pathetic...But time on feet. I decided climbing up to Goat that the rest of the run and final 5 would be reviewing my attitude, how times can be tough and just NEVER STOP. That is going to be my phrase in my head come race day when things get hard. There will be lows that will want to make me stop but I need to review that hard times will pass and followed by some good.

I finished with those thoughts and time seemed to go by pretty fast out there. Overall I was tired but that was fine..it was time on feet. The month has ended. My February schedule in hand. Mileage really starts to ramp up. I have a business trip all week. Trying to find some way to actually go out on a date with my friend but schedules, maybe timing are throwing it off the rails. This has happened before with us... it is disappointing but not the end of the world..She is just missing out on all this fun...Till next week....