Well, it's been quite a year! First full year of the DogzBollux Blog and a year of some fantastic highs and a few painful lows.
Some great biking has been done in all weathers, majority at Patapsco but we also had our first foray into self-guided MTB tours (we certainly learned a lot from the Massanutten Mountain Madness experience!). Some great new trails appeared , and then unfortunately disappeared, at Patapsco - RIP Small Intestine, New Trail and Tunnel.
Competitively as well it's been a year of mixed fortunes. 7 races and some 233 competitive miles covered. Injuries looked likely to spoil the fun somewhat but in spite of this three podium places were achieved - probably best year in that regard.
Best Event of the year has to be 12 Hours Lodi Farms - just for the huge fun element in this race. Least fun was 6 Hours of Patapsco (but just because of the appalling weather conditions). But the thing I am most satisfied by was the JFK 50 finish, really was touch and go and given the issues during training the end result was the very best I could have wished for.
Looking back, 2008 was a pretty good year, hopefully 2009 can follow the same pattern. Plans are already fulminating! The year started with the HAT Run already entered and then on New Years Eve (after a few bevvies natch!) Running Sean raised the spectre of Boston (Marathon) qualification. MLW was very excited by the prospect of an opportunity of a trip to Boston so plans were quickly sketched out. GW Birthday Marathon (Feb 15) was selected and wadda you know on Jan 1 2009 I entered what will be my first marathon since 2002.
My poor old legs don't know whats hit them! After months of training at 9+ min/mile pace all of a sudden I am (trying at least) training at sub 7:30 min/mile pace. It's nice to have the base miles in so with 5 weeks to go the aim is mainly to get the speed work done. Hurting like hell but things are getting better - running two 10+ mile runs a week at approx 7:30 pace currently. In the next few weeks hopefully the mileage and pace will both increase. Course this means the anticipated increase in biking time is not going to happen any time soon, but at least (injuries avoided) I should be in good shape for HAT!
Cheers
DB
Showing posts with label JFK 50. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JFK 50. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, November 24, 2008
JFK 50 2008 (Race Report)
Well, it's finally over and my life can revert back to just it's usual level of craziness.
It's been a tough time getting ready for my first 50 miler, even if it was the JFK 50 and so fairly easy in the general scheme of things. Lots of long runs that have really eaten into my free time and really left little room for anything else. The family have been pretty awesome about this though MLW has told me in no uncertain terms that this was my "first and last" 50 miler (we'll see!)
Training was going pretty well for a while early morning and evening runs meaning that the head light was working overtime and I was seriously beginning to wonder what it would be like to run in the light. More recently the weight of the miles and some injury issues with my right calf cut the number of miles dramatically. Initial plans were to build up to consecutive 100 mile weeks, run a 30 miler and run two 20 milers on consecutive days. None of this happened though I did run at least one 20 miler pretty much every week for the 5 weeks leading up to the race. Sore leg meant the final week was restricted to a solitary 5 mile very slow effort (the 20 miler on the previous Saturday having been marred by a startlingly painful right leg from 11 miles in).
So the preparation for the trip to Boonsboro Md had not gone exactly to plan and I was a little nervous checking into the Red Roof Inn on Friday night. Early to bed with the realization that there was nothing to be done about lack of preparation at this point and "toeing the line" as ready as possible was all that could be hoped for. Guess I was nervous cos I had a very vivid dream about the race that included a bus ride up a freakin' mountain and then getting lost and chased by the police trying to find the start line!
Race day didn't exactly dawn for me because I was up at 4:30am - long before the sun! Bit cold to say the least! In fact when we got to the start in Boonsboro the bank sign was indicating a temperature of 19 oF (TOASTY!). After huddling together with the other racers like a group of nervous penguins for a few minutes the gun was fired and off we went. The course is a story of three sections, the Appalachian Trail section (first 15.5 miles) that is a mixture of road and single track. This is where the vast majority of the hills are and the running is challenging because of long rocky sections. Seemed a lot of the runners were marathoners who had little trail experience and this section was tough on them - impossible to get into a rhythm as you need to keep changing your stride length to accommodate rocks. Hills were walked and rocks were tripped over. I was lucky I only fell once, the lady running behind me called out "are you alright sir!" as I fell and the only real damage done was to my pride - Sir! How bloody old do I look? My training partner Sean was not so lucky, he fell a couple of times the last time (at 9 miles) hitting the ground hard and dislocating his finger - an injury that would end his race at the aid stop at 15 miles.
The hours past as we trailed across the ridge, past a radio tower - always a cheery sight as they don't put those things in valleys! A tower normally means that the climbing is done, and so it proved. Down a wicked section of switch backs and the AT portion was over 15.5 miles in almost exactly 3 hours. Now the real business would start. Onto the C&O trail clutching a PB&J sandwich and some cookies and life was good. Found out earlier in the day the M&Ms were a bad idea - so cold the damn things were as hard as bullets, more likely to break my teeth on them than gain any nutritional benefit. Picked up the pace a wee bit on the C&O trail tried to get into a groove, but it wasn't really happening just had to slug it out. Tried to run "within myself" waiting for the big crash. Twenty miles came and went, I didn't crash, but it wasn't getting any easier either I was pretty much just surviving between aid stations, at each station I got my bottle refilled with Gatorade, grabbed a handful of potato chips and cookies and headed out again. Slow and easy! At 25 miles my right knee felt ominously like it was locking up - not great after not even a marathon! But as I pushed on it got no worse then slowly eased. Between 30 and 40 miles I had a fairly tough time (as expected - the long dark teatime of the soul), checking my watch showed that I was unlikely to break 8 hours 30 min but should be O.K. for sub 9 hours so that became the target. My initial aim was between 8 and 9 hours so that was fine and my spirits began to rise.
After the 38 mile aid station life started to look more rosey - the end of the second section (the C&O trail) was almost at an end - finishing at 42 miles and that just left the "undulating" 8.2 mile road section to the finish. This was the section that was really worrying me for two reasons, firstly I was very unsure how my fried legs (and mind) would cope with any kind of hills after 26 miles of dead flat running and secondly my right calf was in real danger of seizing solid on asphalt (as it had done the week previously). Fortunately I had been talking to some seasoned JFKers as I had traversed the C&O portion and knew that the initial climb off the trail was tough but the last real tough climb of the day. So when it came into view it wasn't a shock and I was resigned already to walking it. At the top we passed the 8 miles to go sign and the running was pretty flat. Quick mental math confirmed that if I ran 10 min/mile for last 8 miles I would come in just over 8 hours 30 min, so if I just kept running sub 9 hours was in the bag! Every running step made the sub 9 finish more likely as it meant the less walking to be done. At 6 miles to go "aid station" I caught up with a guy I had run with on and off for the past 4 hours - he had asked earlier if I was going for sub-8:30 and I had said I though that was a bit beyond me today. As we headed out for the last 6 miles he asked me what our time was, 7:36 - which meant 9 min/mile would get us in at 8:30 exactly! BUGGER, now I had something to run for!To be honest I didn't feel that 9 min/mile was possible but we marched on. Sometime later (not sure when) my compadre suddenly swore and stopped running! I could have stopped to see if I could encourage him but by now it was "every man for himself". At 3 miles to go I was still spot on target for 8:30 then disaster struck! I felt fine, I didn't think I was slowing, but the 2 mile to go marker just didn't arrive! I passed a mark on the road that I thought might be it but then 4 minutes later I passed the marker! So the last mile had taken me 13 minutes and I only had 14 minutes to get the last mile done. GAME OVER! As I relaxed and resigned myself to jogging in to the finish (still well under 9 hours) I entered the final aid station, just past the 2 mile marker. As they filled my bottle for the last time one of the volunteers said, come on nearly there, only a mile and a half to go! WHAT?! I continued on and in no time I could see the 1 mile to go marker! Looking at my watch confirmed the time 8 hours and 21 minutes. The 2 mile to go marker must have been misplaced! So it all came down to this, 49.2 miles done - 1 mile left and 9 minutes between me and a 8:30 finish. I picked the pace as much as I could (or dared) and just concentrated on keeping going. Up the final straight and I could see the clock at the end was still reading 8:28 something. Relaxed a tad and finished with a big stupid grin on my face at 8:29 and change!
Whole time the temp had never gone about freezing point but I was glad to be done before the sun started to go down and the temperature started to fall again - for many running into a cold sunset was a reality - God Bless'em Every One!
Hard race! Fantastic Fun - too early to say weather I will ever want to repeat this experience. But glad I've done it and it's over! Last race of my 2008 season.
Now I can get back to some decent Mtbing and might even post in a more timely fashion.
Cheers
DogzBollux
It's been a tough time getting ready for my first 50 miler, even if it was the JFK 50 and so fairly easy in the general scheme of things. Lots of long runs that have really eaten into my free time and really left little room for anything else. The family have been pretty awesome about this though MLW has told me in no uncertain terms that this was my "first and last" 50 miler (we'll see!)
Training was going pretty well for a while early morning and evening runs meaning that the head light was working overtime and I was seriously beginning to wonder what it would be like to run in the light. More recently the weight of the miles and some injury issues with my right calf cut the number of miles dramatically. Initial plans were to build up to consecutive 100 mile weeks, run a 30 miler and run two 20 milers on consecutive days. None of this happened though I did run at least one 20 miler pretty much every week for the 5 weeks leading up to the race. Sore leg meant the final week was restricted to a solitary 5 mile very slow effort (the 20 miler on the previous Saturday having been marred by a startlingly painful right leg from 11 miles in).
So the preparation for the trip to Boonsboro Md had not gone exactly to plan and I was a little nervous checking into the Red Roof Inn on Friday night. Early to bed with the realization that there was nothing to be done about lack of preparation at this point and "toeing the line" as ready as possible was all that could be hoped for. Guess I was nervous cos I had a very vivid dream about the race that included a bus ride up a freakin' mountain and then getting lost and chased by the police trying to find the start line!
Race day didn't exactly dawn for me because I was up at 4:30am - long before the sun! Bit cold to say the least! In fact when we got to the start in Boonsboro the bank sign was indicating a temperature of 19 oF (TOASTY!). After huddling together with the other racers like a group of nervous penguins for a few minutes the gun was fired and off we went. The course is a story of three sections, the Appalachian Trail section (first 15.5 miles) that is a mixture of road and single track. This is where the vast majority of the hills are and the running is challenging because of long rocky sections. Seemed a lot of the runners were marathoners who had little trail experience and this section was tough on them - impossible to get into a rhythm as you need to keep changing your stride length to accommodate rocks. Hills were walked and rocks were tripped over. I was lucky I only fell once, the lady running behind me called out "are you alright sir!" as I fell and the only real damage done was to my pride - Sir! How bloody old do I look? My training partner Sean was not so lucky, he fell a couple of times the last time (at 9 miles) hitting the ground hard and dislocating his finger - an injury that would end his race at the aid stop at 15 miles.
The hours past as we trailed across the ridge, past a radio tower - always a cheery sight as they don't put those things in valleys! A tower normally means that the climbing is done, and so it proved. Down a wicked section of switch backs and the AT portion was over 15.5 miles in almost exactly 3 hours. Now the real business would start. Onto the C&O trail clutching a PB&J sandwich and some cookies and life was good. Found out earlier in the day the M&Ms were a bad idea - so cold the damn things were as hard as bullets, more likely to break my teeth on them than gain any nutritional benefit. Picked up the pace a wee bit on the C&O trail tried to get into a groove, but it wasn't really happening just had to slug it out. Tried to run "within myself" waiting for the big crash. Twenty miles came and went, I didn't crash, but it wasn't getting any easier either I was pretty much just surviving between aid stations, at each station I got my bottle refilled with Gatorade, grabbed a handful of potato chips and cookies and headed out again. Slow and easy! At 25 miles my right knee felt ominously like it was locking up - not great after not even a marathon! But as I pushed on it got no worse then slowly eased. Between 30 and 40 miles I had a fairly tough time (as expected - the long dark teatime of the soul), checking my watch showed that I was unlikely to break 8 hours 30 min but should be O.K. for sub 9 hours so that became the target. My initial aim was between 8 and 9 hours so that was fine and my spirits began to rise.
After the 38 mile aid station life started to look more rosey - the end of the second section (the C&O trail) was almost at an end - finishing at 42 miles and that just left the "undulating" 8.2 mile road section to the finish. This was the section that was really worrying me for two reasons, firstly I was very unsure how my fried legs (and mind) would cope with any kind of hills after 26 miles of dead flat running and secondly my right calf was in real danger of seizing solid on asphalt (as it had done the week previously). Fortunately I had been talking to some seasoned JFKers as I had traversed the C&O portion and knew that the initial climb off the trail was tough but the last real tough climb of the day. So when it came into view it wasn't a shock and I was resigned already to walking it. At the top we passed the 8 miles to go sign and the running was pretty flat. Quick mental math confirmed that if I ran 10 min/mile for last 8 miles I would come in just over 8 hours 30 min, so if I just kept running sub 9 hours was in the bag! Every running step made the sub 9 finish more likely as it meant the less walking to be done. At 6 miles to go "aid station" I caught up with a guy I had run with on and off for the past 4 hours - he had asked earlier if I was going for sub-8:30 and I had said I though that was a bit beyond me today. As we headed out for the last 6 miles he asked me what our time was, 7:36 - which meant 9 min/mile would get us in at 8:30 exactly! BUGGER, now I had something to run for!To be honest I didn't feel that 9 min/mile was possible but we marched on. Sometime later (not sure when) my compadre suddenly swore and stopped running! I could have stopped to see if I could encourage him but by now it was "every man for himself". At 3 miles to go I was still spot on target for 8:30 then disaster struck! I felt fine, I didn't think I was slowing, but the 2 mile to go marker just didn't arrive! I passed a mark on the road that I thought might be it but then 4 minutes later I passed the marker! So the last mile had taken me 13 minutes and I only had 14 minutes to get the last mile done. GAME OVER! As I relaxed and resigned myself to jogging in to the finish (still well under 9 hours) I entered the final aid station, just past the 2 mile marker. As they filled my bottle for the last time one of the volunteers said, come on nearly there, only a mile and a half to go! WHAT?! I continued on and in no time I could see the 1 mile to go marker! Looking at my watch confirmed the time 8 hours and 21 minutes. The 2 mile to go marker must have been misplaced! So it all came down to this, 49.2 miles done - 1 mile left and 9 minutes between me and a 8:30 finish. I picked the pace as much as I could (or dared) and just concentrated on keeping going. Up the final straight and I could see the clock at the end was still reading 8:28 something. Relaxed a tad and finished with a big stupid grin on my face at 8:29 and change!
Whole time the temp had never gone about freezing point but I was glad to be done before the sun started to go down and the temperature started to fall again - for many running into a cold sunset was a reality - God Bless'em Every One!
Hard race! Fantastic Fun - too early to say weather I will ever want to repeat this experience. But glad I've done it and it's over! Last race of my 2008 season.
Now I can get back to some decent Mtbing and might even post in a more timely fashion.
Cheers
DogzBollux
Monday, November 10, 2008
Ultramarathon Blues
"I've got those,
Can't get rid of those,
Ultramarathon Blues"
Big miles are totally failing to materialize at the moment - and this is an issue! The plan was to have a couple of 100 mile weeks under my belt by now, no such luck. Longest weeks have just about topped 60 miles. That being said I've had more long runs (over 20 miles) heading up to the JFK 50 than I've ever strung together in one training block. Trouble is that at the moment neither the mind or the body is holding up too well to the increased running milage. The early morning runs took their toll long since manifesting as tiredness/bad temper and general malaise - a real struggle in forcing myself to get up and run in the early am's. Weekend long runs have continued but mid-week efforts have gone by the wayside. Last four weekends have witnessed three hour runs and that will have to do it - with two weeks to go the right leg is painful as all hell, suggestions of a reoccurance of the muscle tear from the early season. Just trying to maintain fitness and weight and get some rest/healing so that come 22 November I will "toe the line" healthy and enthusiastic.
The long runs have generally been much faster than "ultrapace" (8-8:30 min/mile) but have left me worn out - one aspect that gives me hope is (as pointed out by a friends wife) I am not eating on my long runs and only drinking water. DOH! Almost certainly just hitting the wall due to lack of blood sugar -expecting the gatorade and food at the rest stops to sort that out come race day. This weekend did the long run at more like 'Ultra-pace" (over 9 min/mile) and took a gel midway - other than the right leg hurting felt damn good at the end.
Time to rest and heal!!
Biking has been good - last two weesk the nightride has been ACE!! All SS affairs (Brian now sporting a 29er Monocog) new trails and much fun. Latest edition saw six (count em, six) of us all 29er SSers hitting the trails - both HC and BC and riding for close to 3 hours, then berers at the cars. New trail BC side, (The Tunnel) all the good stuff represented, steepness, logs, kin great big rocks. Woo Hoo! Slippery as a slippery thing after light rain - glad I was wearing my pads cos I went down hard two or three times, but with the pads no real damage.
Sunday and MLW, Sean, Greg and DB hit the trails - Small Intestine, Ridge, and the old connector between Morning Choice and Ridge - looked like nobody had ridden the connector for a good long time, loads of virgin leaves. On a steep section MLW took a header over the bars, not too much damage but a few hours on the couch in the pm with an ice pack on a swollen knee!.
On well more running to do in next two weeks then I'm going to reast adn ride my bike(s) for a while.
Catch ya later
DogzBollux
Can't get rid of those,
Ultramarathon Blues"
Big miles are totally failing to materialize at the moment - and this is an issue! The plan was to have a couple of 100 mile weeks under my belt by now, no such luck. Longest weeks have just about topped 60 miles. That being said I've had more long runs (over 20 miles) heading up to the JFK 50 than I've ever strung together in one training block. Trouble is that at the moment neither the mind or the body is holding up too well to the increased running milage. The early morning runs took their toll long since manifesting as tiredness/bad temper and general malaise - a real struggle in forcing myself to get up and run in the early am's. Weekend long runs have continued but mid-week efforts have gone by the wayside. Last four weekends have witnessed three hour runs and that will have to do it - with two weeks to go the right leg is painful as all hell, suggestions of a reoccurance of the muscle tear from the early season. Just trying to maintain fitness and weight and get some rest/healing so that come 22 November I will "toe the line" healthy and enthusiastic.
The long runs have generally been much faster than "ultrapace" (8-8:30 min/mile) but have left me worn out - one aspect that gives me hope is (as pointed out by a friends wife) I am not eating on my long runs and only drinking water. DOH! Almost certainly just hitting the wall due to lack of blood sugar -expecting the gatorade and food at the rest stops to sort that out come race day. This weekend did the long run at more like 'Ultra-pace" (over 9 min/mile) and took a gel midway - other than the right leg hurting felt damn good at the end.
Time to rest and heal!!
Biking has been good - last two weesk the nightride has been ACE!! All SS affairs (Brian now sporting a 29er Monocog) new trails and much fun. Latest edition saw six (count em, six) of us all 29er SSers hitting the trails - both HC and BC and riding for close to 3 hours, then berers at the cars. New trail BC side, (The Tunnel) all the good stuff represented, steepness, logs, kin great big rocks. Woo Hoo! Slippery as a slippery thing after light rain - glad I was wearing my pads cos I went down hard two or three times, but with the pads no real damage.
Sunday and MLW, Sean, Greg and DB hit the trails - Small Intestine, Ridge, and the old connector between Morning Choice and Ridge - looked like nobody had ridden the connector for a good long time, loads of virgin leaves. On a steep section MLW took a header over the bars, not too much damage but a few hours on the couch in the pm with an ice pack on a swollen knee!.
On well more running to do in next two weeks then I'm going to reast adn ride my bike(s) for a while.
Catch ya later
DogzBollux
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Public Nudity!!!
Wow, this running malarky is really sucking up my time. Hence the lack of regular posts, when I should be sitting here tapping away at the keyboard - these days I am either getting ready for a run, running or too knackered after a run to do bugger all.
Not going to improve any until after November 22 either - hopefully after that the postings will resume a more regular schedule. Not that it matters apparently cos I read an article the other day that claimed the blog was "officially dead" as a phenomenon. According to this article blogging was obsolete and a waste of time - apparently it is "soooo 2004". The last comment triggered a brief moment of vertigo in "Yours Truly" - suddenly my mind went blank as I though "shit what year is it then?!" assuming that some hideous amount of time must have passed since 2004 and I must have somehow missed it!
Well training wise things were going pretty well - the trip to La Jolla allowed me to get three solid days in (though the traveling cost me a day each end).; As mentioned last post Wednesday saw me trucking away on the treadmill for an hour before hitting the local state park for a slow 4 miler in the evening. Thursday was another treadmill day - another hour and 8 miles done inside. Friday was pay dirt though!! Conference finished at 3pm meaning I had several hours of daylight to squander! Running kit on and headed into the State Park equipped with map - initial plan simple run every bloody trail in the park. Turns out it is a pretty small park! Ran down the park road and took every trail and was finished after an hour, so it was down to the beach and I thought I would simulate the JFK 50 (in miniature) by after a hilly run (and the first hour up and down the cliffs was kin hilly) a dead flat section. So I headed south along the beach towards what I assume was La Jolla. Round a cove and I'm chugging away - no glasses on so I can basically see just as far as the end of my running shoes. After 15 or 20 min it starts to dawn on me that - either all the people on the beach are wearing very pale swimsuits or............. they are not wearing any swimsuits at all! Turns out it is the latter! I am running through a nudist beach - great! I am conflicted as to whether I should "declothe" but I reckon that the risk of sunburn in delicate places is too much of a risk.
What I notice, as I run though the nudists is something I have thought during similar runs in Europe, that by the time a person is comfortable enough with their bodies' that they are willing to go naked - perhaps they shouldn't! Lots of tubby middle aged men (many with ponytails for some reason - it was like being at a naked Status Quo concert).
Oddly as I emerge from the south end of the nudist beach I run through a group setting up for a surf competition. Here the people involved are all young fit and (of course) fully clothed - seemed the wrong way round for some reason.
On my way back along the beach the nudists had organized themselves into teams and were playing (of all things) volleyball! WHY????? If you are going to be old, overweight and naked fine, but at least keep still! Don't go jumping about like an idiot after a ball - aesthetically very unpleasing, I was glad I didn't have my glasses on.
After my encounters on the beach I climbed the trails back to the road then took one last trip down the road to the beach, just so I could run back up it - fantastic. By now it was close to 2.5 hours I has been out - desperate to make three hours I ran past the hotel and ran round the neighbourhood until the 180 minutes was up. Longest run to date - hopefully around 22 miles, even got into an "ultra-groove" at the end slow and minimal effort.
Back in Md on Saturday and realized Todd's Sunday "screw football - lets mountain bike" event was the next day. Having been away for four days already I was happy to forgo this, but SWMBO was insistent that if we could make it work I should go! Happily the planets aligned (just about) and although the guys had to wait for me I made it to Todd's in time for the ride. Five takers, Todd (obviously), George, Rodger, Mark (a friend of Rodgers) and DB. Some of the trail I had ridden perviously with Todd and George as a night ride, but most was new to me. Awesome fun, wicked downhills, rocks, logs and some lung bursting climbs - managed to clock a respectable 18 miles in just over two hours before impending dark, cold and the draw of a hot tub, food and beer drove us back to Todd's. Beers were opened, the venison sandwiches (oh yeah we know how to live) were made, music was cranked up and we all got naked on Todd's back porch to hose off and get our swim suits on for the hot tub!
Relaxing in the hot tub and the realization that today is actually my 12th wedding anniversary hits me! Fortunately MLW has forgotten so my life is safe - but I cut the relaxation short to head home via the store to buy flowers and champagne for MLW - what a guy! In a bit of a rush at Safeway - need to get home. Stick my wallet in the pocket of my cargo shorts, which I have thrown on after the hot tub ( going commando as forgot the "Hanes") and set off running across the car lot. Now.... all this running has had a toll on my weight, and I am not the same size that I was in the summer when I bought my cargo shorts! Result? With the weight of my wallet and car keys the shorts are pulled clean over my hips to my knees! And I am left waddling along with the "wedding tackle" on view for anyone to witness. Fortunately I don't think I was witnessed by anyone, but i do hope that Safeway doesn't have good security cameras!!
Cheers
Dogzbollux
Not going to improve any until after November 22 either - hopefully after that the postings will resume a more regular schedule. Not that it matters apparently cos I read an article the other day that claimed the blog was "officially dead" as a phenomenon. According to this article blogging was obsolete and a waste of time - apparently it is "soooo 2004". The last comment triggered a brief moment of vertigo in "Yours Truly" - suddenly my mind went blank as I though "shit what year is it then?!" assuming that some hideous amount of time must have passed since 2004 and I must have somehow missed it!
Well training wise things were going pretty well - the trip to La Jolla allowed me to get three solid days in (though the traveling cost me a day each end).; As mentioned last post Wednesday saw me trucking away on the treadmill for an hour before hitting the local state park for a slow 4 miler in the evening. Thursday was another treadmill day - another hour and 8 miles done inside. Friday was pay dirt though!! Conference finished at 3pm meaning I had several hours of daylight to squander! Running kit on and headed into the State Park equipped with map - initial plan simple run every bloody trail in the park. Turns out it is a pretty small park! Ran down the park road and took every trail and was finished after an hour, so it was down to the beach and I thought I would simulate the JFK 50 (in miniature) by after a hilly run (and the first hour up and down the cliffs was kin hilly) a dead flat section. So I headed south along the beach towards what I assume was La Jolla. Round a cove and I'm chugging away - no glasses on so I can basically see just as far as the end of my running shoes. After 15 or 20 min it starts to dawn on me that - either all the people on the beach are wearing very pale swimsuits or............. they are not wearing any swimsuits at all! Turns out it is the latter! I am running through a nudist beach - great! I am conflicted as to whether I should "declothe" but I reckon that the risk of sunburn in delicate places is too much of a risk.
What I notice, as I run though the nudists is something I have thought during similar runs in Europe, that by the time a person is comfortable enough with their bodies' that they are willing to go naked - perhaps they shouldn't! Lots of tubby middle aged men (many with ponytails for some reason - it was like being at a naked Status Quo concert).
Oddly as I emerge from the south end of the nudist beach I run through a group setting up for a surf competition. Here the people involved are all young fit and (of course) fully clothed - seemed the wrong way round for some reason.
On my way back along the beach the nudists had organized themselves into teams and were playing (of all things) volleyball! WHY????? If you are going to be old, overweight and naked fine, but at least keep still! Don't go jumping about like an idiot after a ball - aesthetically very unpleasing, I was glad I didn't have my glasses on.
After my encounters on the beach I climbed the trails back to the road then took one last trip down the road to the beach, just so I could run back up it - fantastic. By now it was close to 2.5 hours I has been out - desperate to make three hours I ran past the hotel and ran round the neighbourhood until the 180 minutes was up. Longest run to date - hopefully around 22 miles, even got into an "ultra-groove" at the end slow and minimal effort.
Back in Md on Saturday and realized Todd's Sunday "screw football - lets mountain bike" event was the next day. Having been away for four days already I was happy to forgo this, but SWMBO was insistent that if we could make it work I should go! Happily the planets aligned (just about) and although the guys had to wait for me I made it to Todd's in time for the ride. Five takers, Todd (obviously), George, Rodger, Mark (a friend of Rodgers) and DB. Some of the trail I had ridden perviously with Todd and George as a night ride, but most was new to me. Awesome fun, wicked downhills, rocks, logs and some lung bursting climbs - managed to clock a respectable 18 miles in just over two hours before impending dark, cold and the draw of a hot tub, food and beer drove us back to Todd's. Beers were opened, the venison sandwiches (oh yeah we know how to live) were made, music was cranked up and we all got naked on Todd's back porch to hose off and get our swim suits on for the hot tub!
Relaxing in the hot tub and the realization that today is actually my 12th wedding anniversary hits me! Fortunately MLW has forgotten so my life is safe - but I cut the relaxation short to head home via the store to buy flowers and champagne for MLW - what a guy! In a bit of a rush at Safeway - need to get home. Stick my wallet in the pocket of my cargo shorts, which I have thrown on after the hot tub ( going commando as forgot the "Hanes") and set off running across the car lot. Now.... all this running has had a toll on my weight, and I am not the same size that I was in the summer when I bought my cargo shorts! Result? With the weight of my wallet and car keys the shorts are pulled clean over my hips to my knees! And I am left waddling along with the "wedding tackle" on view for anyone to witness. Fortunately I don't think I was witnessed by anyone, but i do hope that Safeway doesn't have good security cameras!!
Cheers
Dogzbollux
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Crazy Times!
Since the Massanutten debacle life has failed to get any more sane.
Seems that the only time I get to do any real training is when the sun is nowhere to be seen and the bloody moon is out! One single solitary mtb ride - yep you've guessed it, a night ride. Initial plans were for a fairly major turn out, but as it transpired there was just Brian, Jon (from SSOFT) and DB. Still with Jon on a 29er SS it was good to have the SSers outnumber the gearies for a change. Changed things up a bit - Small Intestine, Ridge, Cascade then up to the old railway ties. At the junction hung a left down the shaley descent to the road. The results of the hours running in prep for the JFK 50 are becoming apparent, legs and lungs are fine but my bloody technical riding is (as Sean would describe it) "pants". As a result I'm up front pushing on the uphills then playing the "rusty wheel" on all the downhills.
Head across the swinging bridge and the pattern continues, fine up the climbs but hating every minute of the technical descents. Finish off up the water bar and backwards on Small Intestine for a nice 2 hour ride before we adjourned to the cars and a couple of beers - Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale - not as bad as it sounds!
Most of effort currently running though - trying to put in miles wherever they can be inched into my schedule - lunchtime runs and early mornings. Oh the joys of being an ultrarunner, Saturday morning and the 5am alarm call. On the road for 5:30am and 15 miles done by 7:30am. Home in time to take MLW a cup of tea in bed and make the children pancakes before the sun is even up properly! Sunday night it's another 10 miles in the dark and Tuesday morning another 5:30am start to get 10 miles in before work. Still only another 9 weeks to go! In all honesty I'm going to need every second of those 9 weeks if I am to get my fitness level to anywhere near where it needs to be, weekly mileage (even with early starts) if topping off in the 40s, and I need to get up to the 80+ mark pretty damn soon. Wish me luck!
Cheers
DogzBollux
Seems that the only time I get to do any real training is when the sun is nowhere to be seen and the bloody moon is out! One single solitary mtb ride - yep you've guessed it, a night ride. Initial plans were for a fairly major turn out, but as it transpired there was just Brian, Jon (from SSOFT) and DB. Still with Jon on a 29er SS it was good to have the SSers outnumber the gearies for a change. Changed things up a bit - Small Intestine, Ridge, Cascade then up to the old railway ties. At the junction hung a left down the shaley descent to the road. The results of the hours running in prep for the JFK 50 are becoming apparent, legs and lungs are fine but my bloody technical riding is (as Sean would describe it) "pants". As a result I'm up front pushing on the uphills then playing the "rusty wheel" on all the downhills.
Head across the swinging bridge and the pattern continues, fine up the climbs but hating every minute of the technical descents. Finish off up the water bar and backwards on Small Intestine for a nice 2 hour ride before we adjourned to the cars and a couple of beers - Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale - not as bad as it sounds!
Most of effort currently running though - trying to put in miles wherever they can be inched into my schedule - lunchtime runs and early mornings. Oh the joys of being an ultrarunner, Saturday morning and the 5am alarm call. On the road for 5:30am and 15 miles done by 7:30am. Home in time to take MLW a cup of tea in bed and make the children pancakes before the sun is even up properly! Sunday night it's another 10 miles in the dark and Tuesday morning another 5:30am start to get 10 miles in before work. Still only another 9 weeks to go! In all honesty I'm going to need every second of those 9 weeks if I am to get my fitness level to anywhere near where it needs to be, weekly mileage (even with early starts) if topping off in the 40s, and I need to get up to the 80+ mark pretty damn soon. Wish me luck!
Cheers
DogzBollux
Monday, July 16, 2007
Back on track
It's been too long since I actually put a consistent week together, but maybe the corner has been turned. Though not spectacular by anyone's reckoning last week was the best I have had in a while. As well as the somewhat abortive night ride with Doug (see last post) I also managed the commute to work on the road bike twice - hitting the "killer hill" both times (and it kicking my arse on both occasions). This weekend I decided it was time to get serious - so there was no MTB fun! Instead I hit the asphalt with Sean, a running buddy who is aiming for Boston qualification.
The plan was for a 17 mile loop (which given that I have't run for a couple of months - with the exception of the "Black fly in my eye" - was going to be somthing of a challenge). Things got more interesting on Saturday when, talking to another local runner, an "interesting 17 mile" route was suggested. This took in several sections of the Howard County Striders "massochists marathon" and so could reasonably be expected to be undulating at best. Never one to shurk a challenge the decision was made. So Sunday morning saw me crawling out of the tent I spent Saturday night in as a "test run" for this weeks camping trip with daughter #2 at 4:50 am! By 5:15 am Sean and I were on the road - complete with my EverReady headlight and a flashing rear light mounted on my Camelbak. Traffic was light (as you would expect at that time on a Sunday Morning) as we headed down Homespun to the Folly Quarter circle. Then it was right along Folly Quarter then first left. No idea what this road is but I've never run or cycled it so the element of adventure made it even more fun. This is pretty hilly and dumps us out on Tridelphia just at the bottom of the big hill, so turn left up the big hill and back to Folly Quarter then head back to Columbia. The journey back along Folly Quarter/Homespun was enlivened by the number of female cyclists out training for the upcoming "Irongirl" triathlon. Just Sean, me and dozens of lycra clad females!
Despite the hills and the distance the run was great fun and I felt no major tiredness or soreness - the pace was slow but about what I would want to hit for the JFK 50. Good fun and good run, 16-17 miles (the initial distance was perhaps a bit optimistic) in 2 hr 30 min (somewhere around 9:30/mile pace). This run has really but the bit between my teeth in terms of desire to run the JFK 50 - we'll see.
Cheers (the biking's fun... but running gets it done)
Dogzbollux
The plan was for a 17 mile loop (which given that I have't run for a couple of months - with the exception of the "Black fly in my eye" - was going to be somthing of a challenge). Things got more interesting on Saturday when, talking to another local runner, an "interesting 17 mile" route was suggested. This took in several sections of the Howard County Striders "massochists marathon" and so could reasonably be expected to be undulating at best. Never one to shurk a challenge the decision was made. So Sunday morning saw me crawling out of the tent I spent Saturday night in as a "test run" for this weeks camping trip with daughter #2 at 4:50 am! By 5:15 am Sean and I were on the road - complete with my EverReady headlight and a flashing rear light mounted on my Camelbak. Traffic was light (as you would expect at that time on a Sunday Morning) as we headed down Homespun to the Folly Quarter circle. Then it was right along Folly Quarter then first left. No idea what this road is but I've never run or cycled it so the element of adventure made it even more fun. This is pretty hilly and dumps us out on Tridelphia just at the bottom of the big hill, so turn left up the big hill and back to Folly Quarter then head back to Columbia. The journey back along Folly Quarter/Homespun was enlivened by the number of female cyclists out training for the upcoming "Irongirl" triathlon. Just Sean, me and dozens of lycra clad females!
Despite the hills and the distance the run was great fun and I felt no major tiredness or soreness - the pace was slow but about what I would want to hit for the JFK 50. Good fun and good run, 16-17 miles (the initial distance was perhaps a bit optimistic) in 2 hr 30 min (somewhere around 9:30/mile pace). This run has really but the bit between my teeth in terms of desire to run the JFK 50 - we'll see.
Cheers (the biking's fun... but running gets it done)
Dogzbollux
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