On our group run last Saturday, I was talking to Nate about the mental aspects of running 100 miles. He's gone from 50K to 50 miles to 100K quickly and his first 100 miler will be at Vermont.
One thing that I told him is that all of the talking we do during training is cheap. It's easy to say you want to run 100 miles. To actually pull it off, is quite different. At some point, and for me, this tends to happen in the 60-80 mile range of a 100, you aren't really running a physical race any more. You're running a mental race, and this is where you find out if you really truly want to finish a 100 miler.
No amount of blathering about running a 100 miles before the race will get you past this point in the race. You no longer care what others will think about your performance. You no longer care about anything except the task at hand. Your body is screaming at you to quit and you have to find a way to keep going.
It's one of the things I love about 100s. Our world is so full of complexities and relationships and jobs and finances and advertisements and communications, etc. Eventually, in a 100, I reach a point where I have my running shoes, I am dealing with pain, I probably have a good friend for company, it's dark, and I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing here. Why am I doing this? WTF was I thinking when I signed up for this. But, as I think those thoughts, the outside world is gone. There is no job, no deadline at work, no mortgage payment, no broken down car, no roof to be replaced on the house. It's existence at its simplest, in many ways. Eat, drink, run.
I will admit that I've given in at times. I have not finished every 100 miler that I've started. But, my DNFs have mostly come with good "excuses". Mostly. In at least 1, I honestly quit. I was in over my head and didn't know what to do. Quitting was easy. In another, I gave in mentally, although my physical condition was questionable. But, in my head, I know that I gave up.
So, how do you get through the dark times? First, I constantly remind myself that "I chose to do this. This is what I do. This is part of who I am." It may sound trite, but it reminds me that it's all up to me. Either I have to want it or it won't happen. No one else is forcing me to do this.
Sometimes, I think about friends I've run with over the years. Some don't run any more or can't run any more. In particular, I think about friends like Jutta and Lydia and Karl and Mike and Mia - people who should be running, but who aren't even alive any more. Cancer took three of them, a heart attack took a fourth, and a drunk driver the fifth. If they can't run any more, perhaps I can run a mile for each of them.
I also try to remember that the time cut-off for the race will come and go, no matter what I choose to do. When that time limit expires, I will either have been victorious or I will have failed. Since I can't control the time, why not simply persevere and do the best I can with the time that's left. Isn't that how we should live our lives in general anyway?
Anyway, four easy miles with the dogs last night. Tonight will be 7-8 miles with 2-3 of those at tempo pace, depending on how I'm feeling. Tomorrow morning, I'll lift and do cross-training intervals. Saturday will be a 2-2.5 hour trail run. Not too much excitement there.
Mostly, I'm starting to get myself mentally focused on the race.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
New Toys
I've had a new ultra toy for a while, but I somehow forgot to mention it here.
For running at night, I've been using a BD Zenix headlamp and a Gerber handheld light. Both are quite nice for what they do. My only complaint has been the size and the weight of the Gerber handheld. Over numerous hours on the trail, it just seems to get heavier and heavier and more cumbersome to use.
So, all spring, I had been thinking about the Fenix lights that ZombieRunner sells. I talked by e-mail with Don at ZR, and eventually decided on the P3D Premium Q5. It runs of CR123 camera batteries, which is both good and bad. Those batteries are very light, but they are expensive. What is amazing is how small and compact the light is. At its brightest setting, it's way, way brighter than my Gerber light, but the battery light is under 2 hours at that setting.
At the same brightness setting as my current Gerber light, and with a much whiter light, one set of batteries will go all night long in a race. I will certainly carry a back-up set of batteries, but I think the Gerber is about to become a flashlight for home improvement work rather than ultras. Or perhaps, my crew will enjoy using it during races.
I also got an "Original Buff" (see review here) to use as an ice holder at WS. It will be easy to soak this hat and fill it with ice at the aid stations to keep my head cool.
Yes, I continue to be a gear junkie.
For running at night, I've been using a BD Zenix headlamp and a Gerber handheld light. Both are quite nice for what they do. My only complaint has been the size and the weight of the Gerber handheld. Over numerous hours on the trail, it just seems to get heavier and heavier and more cumbersome to use.
So, all spring, I had been thinking about the Fenix lights that ZombieRunner sells. I talked by e-mail with Don at ZR, and eventually decided on the P3D Premium Q5. It runs of CR123 camera batteries, which is both good and bad. Those batteries are very light, but they are expensive. What is amazing is how small and compact the light is. At its brightest setting, it's way, way brighter than my Gerber light, but the battery light is under 2 hours at that setting.
At the same brightness setting as my current Gerber light, and with a much whiter light, one set of batteries will go all night long in a race. I will certainly carry a back-up set of batteries, but I think the Gerber is about to become a flashlight for home improvement work rather than ultras. Or perhaps, my crew will enjoy using it during races.
I also got an "Original Buff" (see review here) to use as an ice holder at WS. It will be easy to soak this hat and fill it with ice at the aid stations to keep my head cool.
Yes, I continue to be a gear junkie.
Workouts - just as planned
Last night, I ran 8 miles, with 6 x 2 minute intervals, just as planned. I did a 15 minute warm-up, then ran hard for 2 minutes and recovered for 3, repeat. I did a few very slow miles after the intervals and my total time was 73 minutes.
This morning, I did incline dumbbell presses, three point dumbbell rows, push-ups, cable rows, lunges, lat pulldowns and squat presses before 20 minutes of stair climber intervals. For intervals this morning, I did 40 seconds on/80 seconds off, times 6. For the first time ever, I had the stair climber at its max setting during the intervals.
My shirt felt like it was holding 5 pounds of sweat by the end of the workout.
Tonight, I'll run an easy 4 miles with my dogs.
This weekend, I'm going to get some good heat training, finally, although it will also include some east coast humidity as well. I can't imagine how tough the Old Dominion 100 miler will be this weekend with temps near 100F and very high humidity readings. I was thinking about maybe racing somewhere on Saturday, perhaps a road race in the 10K-1/2 marathon range, but I think I'll pass on that in the heat and humidity.
I think I'm going to install our air conditioners tonight. We don't use them all that often in Vermont, but they'll get used this weekend.
This morning, I did incline dumbbell presses, three point dumbbell rows, push-ups, cable rows, lunges, lat pulldowns and squat presses before 20 minutes of stair climber intervals. For intervals this morning, I did 40 seconds on/80 seconds off, times 6. For the first time ever, I had the stair climber at its max setting during the intervals.
My shirt felt like it was holding 5 pounds of sweat by the end of the workout.
Tonight, I'll run an easy 4 miles with my dogs.
This weekend, I'm going to get some good heat training, finally, although it will also include some east coast humidity as well. I can't imagine how tough the Old Dominion 100 miler will be this weekend with temps near 100F and very high humidity readings. I was thinking about maybe racing somewhere on Saturday, perhaps a road race in the 10K-1/2 marathon range, but I think I'll pass on that in the heat and humidity.
I think I'm going to install our air conditioners tonight. We don't use them all that often in Vermont, but they'll get used this weekend.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
A short run and then DSO (mostly Deadhead rambling)
I ran an easy 4 miles with my lazy dogs last night. Then, I headed to Burlington, Vermont's Higher Ground club to see Dark Star Orchestra. I've seen many shows by DSO and other bands at Higher Ground, but last night may have been the first time I didn't have any beer while at a show there. For the past few months, I've been staying away from alcohol completely during the work week and usually only having any alcohol on Saturdays.
It's amazing how drunk and out of control everyone else seems when I'm completely sober. Of course, that leads me to wonder how I might appear to others who are sober when I'm not...
Anyway, the show by DSO, as usual, was fantastic. I mentioned yesterday that I try to guess when the show that's being re-created was originally played. The first set seemed to put the show in 1973 or 1974, although it turned out that some songs in that set weren't played until 1976 - something that I didn't realize.
The second set opened with Samson and Delilah. I knew that song, from the Terrapin Station album, hadn't been played live before 1976. Thanks to DeadBase, an online searchable database for Deadheads, I found out that 6/3/1976 was the first time Samson and Delilah was played live. That show featured 5 new songs that the Dead had never played live before, including two others that were in last night's first set - Supplication and Lazy Lightning. If I really knew my Dead history, those songs would have put the show in 1976 or later early on.
My favorite Grateful Dead set lists are from their tours in 1976 and 1977, although the quality of the music didn't always match the quality of the set lists. I've read that part of the reason for the shows being less than spectacular in that era had to do with the use of alcohol by one of the band members and that Jerry wasn't happy about it. There is a certain irony in that, given how poorly Jerry played under the influence of heroin and other drugs at times.
By the end of the show, I was guessing that the show had been in late 1976, but it turned out to be from 6/4/1977 in California (setlist from Deadbase):
06-04-77 The Forum, Inglewood, Ca. (Sat)
1: Promised, Tennessee Jed, El Paso, Peggy-O, Jack Straw, FOTD, Lazy Lightning> Supplication, Candyman, Minglewood, B. E. Women, Music
2: Samson, Ship Of Fools, Estimated> Eyes> Drums> Good Lovin, Terrapin> Playin> Franklin's> China Doll> NFA> Playin E: Saturday Night
Deadbase's mnemonics for certain songs are easily deciphered by Deadheads, but not by everyone else. For example, Promised is "Promised Land". Pretty straightforward. FOTD is "Friend of the Devil". B.E. Women is "Brown Eyed Women". Etc.
After they announced the date of the show, I was going to head home for some sleep, and skip the last song or two that they usually play. But, before I could head for the door, the band introduced Mike Gordon, the bass player from Phish, who would sit in for the next song. They played U.S. Blues and Mike really seemed to have fun with it. I had seem him play with Phil Lesh and Friends a couple years ago, where he and Phil did a free jam, while Mike was standing on a Seqway. Seeing him up close last night made me think he may have used that Segway because he's so short.
I got home just before 2:30 a.m. and got about 5.5 hours of sleep last night. If I was younger, I'd go see DSO again tonight, but I'm old and I've got more important things to do with my spare time these days.
Tonight, I'll run about 8 miles after work, including 6 x 2 minute repeats at about 6:30 pace. Then, I'll have dinner and get to bed early.
It's amazing how drunk and out of control everyone else seems when I'm completely sober. Of course, that leads me to wonder how I might appear to others who are sober when I'm not...
Anyway, the show by DSO, as usual, was fantastic. I mentioned yesterday that I try to guess when the show that's being re-created was originally played. The first set seemed to put the show in 1973 or 1974, although it turned out that some songs in that set weren't played until 1976 - something that I didn't realize.
The second set opened with Samson and Delilah. I knew that song, from the Terrapin Station album, hadn't been played live before 1976. Thanks to DeadBase, an online searchable database for Deadheads, I found out that 6/3/1976 was the first time Samson and Delilah was played live. That show featured 5 new songs that the Dead had never played live before, including two others that were in last night's first set - Supplication and Lazy Lightning. If I really knew my Dead history, those songs would have put the show in 1976 or later early on.
My favorite Grateful Dead set lists are from their tours in 1976 and 1977, although the quality of the music didn't always match the quality of the set lists. I've read that part of the reason for the shows being less than spectacular in that era had to do with the use of alcohol by one of the band members and that Jerry wasn't happy about it. There is a certain irony in that, given how poorly Jerry played under the influence of heroin and other drugs at times.
By the end of the show, I was guessing that the show had been in late 1976, but it turned out to be from 6/4/1977 in California (setlist from Deadbase):
06-04-77 The Forum, Inglewood, Ca. (Sat)
1: Promised, Tennessee Jed, El Paso, Peggy-O, Jack Straw, FOTD, Lazy Lightning> Supplication, Candyman, Minglewood, B. E. Women, Music
2: Samson, Ship Of Fools, Estimated> Eyes> Drums> Good Lovin, Terrapin> Playin> Franklin's> China Doll> NFA> Playin E: Saturday Night
Deadbase's mnemonics for certain songs are easily deciphered by Deadheads, but not by everyone else. For example, Promised is "Promised Land". Pretty straightforward. FOTD is "Friend of the Devil". B.E. Women is "Brown Eyed Women". Etc.
After they announced the date of the show, I was going to head home for some sleep, and skip the last song or two that they usually play. But, before I could head for the door, the band introduced Mike Gordon, the bass player from Phish, who would sit in for the next song. They played U.S. Blues and Mike really seemed to have fun with it. I had seem him play with Phil Lesh and Friends a couple years ago, where he and Phil did a free jam, while Mike was standing on a Seqway. Seeing him up close last night made me think he may have used that Segway because he's so short.
I got home just before 2:30 a.m. and got about 5.5 hours of sleep last night. If I was younger, I'd go see DSO again tonight, but I'm old and I've got more important things to do with my spare time these days.
Tonight, I'll run about 8 miles after work, including 6 x 2 minute repeats at about 6:30 pace. Then, I'll have dinner and get to bed early.
Monday, June 2, 2008
A couple graphs
Yes, I'm a geek. I'm at just about 950 miles for the year so far. One graph above shows my week-by-week mileage for the year so far. The other graph compares this year to the previous four.
I see sick people
In the next 3+ weeks, my biggest fear will be getting sick. The volume of training that I've done recently most likely has left my immune system at less than 100%. A week before the race, I will spend an entire day in airplanes and airports, probably coming into contact will all sorts of nasty germs and viruses.
Right now, I'm almost paranoid about getting sick for the race. If it happened right now, I'd be able to recover for the race, but of course, I'd rather not be sick.
Last Friday, one of my co-workers came into my office to ask a question and she also mentioned that she has a cold. On Saturday, one of the runners in our group was sick. This morning, at the gym, one of my daughter's friends was hanging out. Her dad was working out and she was there because she was too sick to go to school today, so she was going to work with her dad (her dad owns his own local business). Sick people are everywhere!
This morning's workout was squats, Romanian deadlifts, Swiss ball crunches, step-ups and kettlebell swings, followed by stair climber intervals. Tonight, I'll run an easy 4 miles before I head out to see a concert at a local club.
I'm going to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead cover band that I've seen many times. DSO re-creates entire Dead shows, including the arrangements as they were played in the original shows. They're always fun to see and it's fun to try to guess the date of the actual show they play. At the end of the show, they always announce what show they've duplicated, and I've often been within a couple months in my guess of the re-created show date. After they announce the date of the show, they usually play a couple extra songs as well. The downside to seeing them is that the show won't end until after 1:00 a.m. and I'll have an hour drive to get home after the show. I'm too old to stay up that late any more, and the only times I seem to stay awake until after midnight are for ultras or DSO shows.
On a completely unrelated note, Saturday night, my wife and I drank a bottle of 1985 Chateau Meyney. It was our last bottle of 1985 Bordeaux and it was pretty amazing. I paid $11.85 for the bottle in 1989 and we had never tasted it. After tasting it on Saturday, I wish I'd bought a case at that ridiculously low price. Meyney is owned by the Cordier family and all of their properties in Bordeaux make solid wines. I've still got a fair number of Cordier wines from 1986 and 1989, including more Chateau Meyney, and I'm looking forward to drinking them in the future.
Right now, I'm almost paranoid about getting sick for the race. If it happened right now, I'd be able to recover for the race, but of course, I'd rather not be sick.
Last Friday, one of my co-workers came into my office to ask a question and she also mentioned that she has a cold. On Saturday, one of the runners in our group was sick. This morning, at the gym, one of my daughter's friends was hanging out. Her dad was working out and she was there because she was too sick to go to school today, so she was going to work with her dad (her dad owns his own local business). Sick people are everywhere!
This morning's workout was squats, Romanian deadlifts, Swiss ball crunches, step-ups and kettlebell swings, followed by stair climber intervals. Tonight, I'll run an easy 4 miles before I head out to see a concert at a local club.
I'm going to see Dark Star Orchestra, a Grateful Dead cover band that I've seen many times. DSO re-creates entire Dead shows, including the arrangements as they were played in the original shows. They're always fun to see and it's fun to try to guess the date of the actual show they play. At the end of the show, they always announce what show they've duplicated, and I've often been within a couple months in my guess of the re-created show date. After they announce the date of the show, they usually play a couple extra songs as well. The downside to seeing them is that the show won't end until after 1:00 a.m. and I'll have an hour drive to get home after the show. I'm too old to stay up that late any more, and the only times I seem to stay awake until after midnight are for ultras or DSO shows.
On a completely unrelated note, Saturday night, my wife and I drank a bottle of 1985 Chateau Meyney. It was our last bottle of 1985 Bordeaux and it was pretty amazing. I paid $11.85 for the bottle in 1989 and we had never tasted it. After tasting it on Saturday, I wish I'd bought a case at that ridiculously low price. Meyney is owned by the Cordier family and all of their properties in Bordeaux make solid wines. I've still got a fair number of Cordier wines from 1986 and 1989, including more Chateau Meyney, and I'm looking forward to drinking them in the future.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Is that all?
Yesterday, I ran 22+ miles with a bunch of runners who are doing the Vermont 100 this summer. We ran on the course itself, a portion of the course known as the "Camp 10 Bear loop". During the race, you hit the Camp 10 Bear aid station twice, at about miles 46 and 70, and the second time through is where you meet your pacer. We did skip one newer trail section that is on private land, so we did a bit less mileage than runners get on race day. I'm not sure if everyone who was there is running the VT100, but most of them are entered.
I normally train solo and it was really nice to spend a day with a number of other ultrarunners, talking about running and all kinds of other subjects. One topic that was repeated through the day with Sherpa John falls into the category of "what's said on the trail, stays on the trail". That rule was introduced to me years ago by Sue Johnston, who regretfully doesn't live in Vermont to train with us anymore. But, we certainly had some good fun at John's expense during the run.
For the most part, I was amazed at how good I felt. I didn't run with the fastest people, but I more than held my own in a mid-paced group of solid runners. The run pushed me to well over 90 miles in the past 8 days, and I felt strong all day.
Back in the winter, I laid out a plan for my WS training. The core of the plan was my long runs and long races. I am now done with my long training runs for WS, and amazingly, I nailed my plan pretty well. I also planned to lose weight for the race, and I've done that pretty well. I'd still like to drop a couple more pounds before the race, and I think that will happen with my focus on speedwork for the next couple weeks.
Without a doubt, I'm in the best ultra shape I've been in since I ran Hardrock in 2004. My training plan and its execution have paid off. It almost seems anti-climatic at this point, hence the subject line of this post (and also a U2 song that I like a lot).
But, of course, the training isn't the end product. The race result is the end product and that work remains to be done. I still have four weeks in which I need to remain healthy, do some tuning work, and get myself completely ready for the race.
Early in the year, I speculated about my chances of running sub-24 at WS. Given my past speed in road races, I think I possess the ability to get into sub-24 hour shape. But, I'm not there now and that's not going to change before the event. However, my current fitness level should allow me to run a smart, tactical race without having to worry about cut-offs along the way. If we get hit by intense heat for the race, I'm fit enough that I can back off through the worst of the heat and still have time to finish the course.
If I was racing the Vermont 100 this summer, I would certainly shoot for a sub-24 there, but WS is a much tougher race that VT.
So, I've got 27 days until I start WS. I need to be smart about the rest of my training, stay healthy, eat well, sleep enough, rest enough, and I should arrive at WS ready to run a great race. Right now, I can't wait for June 28th.
I normally train solo and it was really nice to spend a day with a number of other ultrarunners, talking about running and all kinds of other subjects. One topic that was repeated through the day with Sherpa John falls into the category of "what's said on the trail, stays on the trail". That rule was introduced to me years ago by Sue Johnston, who regretfully doesn't live in Vermont to train with us anymore. But, we certainly had some good fun at John's expense during the run.
For the most part, I was amazed at how good I felt. I didn't run with the fastest people, but I more than held my own in a mid-paced group of solid runners. The run pushed me to well over 90 miles in the past 8 days, and I felt strong all day.
Back in the winter, I laid out a plan for my WS training. The core of the plan was my long runs and long races. I am now done with my long training runs for WS, and amazingly, I nailed my plan pretty well. I also planned to lose weight for the race, and I've done that pretty well. I'd still like to drop a couple more pounds before the race, and I think that will happen with my focus on speedwork for the next couple weeks.
Without a doubt, I'm in the best ultra shape I've been in since I ran Hardrock in 2004. My training plan and its execution have paid off. It almost seems anti-climatic at this point, hence the subject line of this post (and also a U2 song that I like a lot).
But, of course, the training isn't the end product. The race result is the end product and that work remains to be done. I still have four weeks in which I need to remain healthy, do some tuning work, and get myself completely ready for the race.
Early in the year, I speculated about my chances of running sub-24 at WS. Given my past speed in road races, I think I possess the ability to get into sub-24 hour shape. But, I'm not there now and that's not going to change before the event. However, my current fitness level should allow me to run a smart, tactical race without having to worry about cut-offs along the way. If we get hit by intense heat for the race, I'm fit enough that I can back off through the worst of the heat and still have time to finish the course.
If I was racing the Vermont 100 this summer, I would certainly shoot for a sub-24 there, but WS is a much tougher race that VT.
So, I've got 27 days until I start WS. I need to be smart about the rest of my training, stay healthy, eat well, sleep enough, rest enough, and I should arrive at WS ready to run a great race. Right now, I can't wait for June 28th.
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