http://www.nwultras.com/ghost_main.htm
The short: What started as a 50k, ended up turning into a half-marathon with about 7 miles extra credit.
The long: It was a morning of high hopes, but should have had lowered expectations. The idea of me pulling out a 50k or marathon distance after getting back into the running game in 3 weeks is something that only movies are made of (think Run FatBoy Run).
I got up at a fairly decent time and headed to Seward Park to get there for the early start at 7am. This was my third time at this race and it was my first attempt three years ago as my first jump to doing a 50k. Seems that after three years, you'd think I would have eventually hit that number. 2006 - I dropped after passing the half-marathon point. 2007 - I finished the marathon distance and opted not to do the 50k since it was my first double marathon weekend (2 marathons in 48 hours). For 2008 - I would try and get those 31 miles in as best as I could.
So, after the usual talk about the course by one of the best RD's around (Scott Krell), a group of us took off at 7am. I ran for a bit with my buddy Stan Nakashima, but he was running at a clip that my weenie legs couldn't keep up with. I let him go ahead and made a pitstop (for a race that is considered a fat-ass/low-frills event, the number of bathrooms along the course is quite remarkable.) The pitstop was a blessing, since that mild "rest" actually got my running mojo going and I was feeling very good and very comfortable running through the course for the first half. Running on the soft-surface trail next to the waters of Lake Washington felt very liberating. I saw my Marathon Maniac cohorts, always a pleasure to see them in passing, feeding off their positive vibes. I was right on pace, hitting about sub-12 minute miles. Then something odd happened after passing the half-marathon point, my left quad was starting to seriously bug out.
I thought that maybe I could walk it off. I proceeded to walk the entire Seward Park loop, about a 4 mile lollypop loop before returning to the aid station/start/finish point. I was moving at 15 minute miles at this point and thought that I could continue for the rest of the course. I had moved for about 17 miles and figured I could go for the remaining 9 miles to do atleast the marathon distance or if I could run again, finish the 50k.
After another mile of walking, my quad was screaming. There was no shutting it up without stopping. I had to take a hard look at myself and re-evaluate my objectives. Do I suck it up and keep going, even though I could mess myself up more? Do I wave the white flag and live to fight another day? In my head, I thought, "I was able to finish a killer course like White River with little training, why can't I keep going now?" Then I realized that I was better conditioned to handle a course like White River back in July. I've been deconditioned for several months and actually convinced myself that I could pull myself through a flat paved 50k. I cut my losses and opted to have my results down as finishing a half-marathon (actually closer to 14 miles since I did the longer out-n-back) plus close to 7 miles of extra credit. So I went for about 19-20 miles today. But hey, this marks the longest distance I've done now since my original stress fracture injury. That counts for something.
So, a nice freezing soak in the waters of Lake Washington to aid in the recovery (others followed my lead soon after) and some excellent aid station & post-race food that whups the Seattle Marathon's stuff, hands down. Chicken Soup, Vegan Chili, Vegitarian HotDogs, Boiled Potatoes with Salt Dips, Candy, Coca-Cola, Water, Gatorade, etc. Always kick-ass!
The amusing things that came from this event:
- Maniac Ray "McGyver" Shaw snagging the hotdog that I made up for myself (yeah, we all cracked up once I realized what just happened)
- Shawn thinking that she was done, then finding out she had another Seward Park loop left to complete a 50k. She was ready to start boxing someone, yo! :-)
- Watching people get use to the chilly Lake Washington waters. It's always funny to see people do that shiver-shake the moment they get in.
- Scott Krell's Scotty Dog trying to eat three sugar packets without anyone being the wiser. Good thing my "no-no, bad dog!" senses were tingling at that moment.
A kudos for those that ran this course to completion and an extra kudos for those that are doing their best with trying to handle the Northwest Triple. Good luck at the Seattle Marathon guys! And to Maniac Monte: Hope you get through your 100th Marathon tomorrow!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
It's all about technique...
Technique. You hear about it everywhere. Athletes hear about it the most and are constantly reminded to make sure their technique in whatever they do is as flawless as possible. But why? Why is technique so important?
Technique is defined as "The procedure used to accomplish a specific activity or task."
My experience with changing the procedure to accomplish a specific task was an interesting one today.
A fellow co-worker had given me some tips and advice on my workouts with the Concept2 Rower - an ergonomic rowing machine. In a former life, she was apart of a rowing team down in Texas and is looking to get back into it. After my first time rowing 2,000 meters, she told me what I needed to tweak out with my technique to be faster/stronger/better. So, today I did exactly as she told me. Push off with the legs first before pulling on the chain. Make your movement one fluidic motion. Make sure the chain stays roughly straight and don't go over your knees. I focused on these things as I started to row, row, row...and it worked!
My time the previous rowing session was going about 2:15-2:30/500m with the way I worked before. Today's time with those simple tweaks: 1:92-2:02/500m and I was not getting the same arm strain that I was the last time. I was able to complete a 2,000 meter row in under 8 minutes, shaving off 90 seconds from my previous time.
Although I was a bit jelly-legged (I was warned this would happen too and it's a sign that you did it right), I felt great! Added bonus, that quad strain that I felt was eased greatly after doing this workout!
In all sports, we're coached to move a certain way. Sloppy effort equals sloppy results. During my 10+ miler on Sunday, I felt better on that run than previous runs. Reason: Eric was coaching me on - SUPRISE! - running technique. Little changes to the way I move my legs, how I plant my feet, my body alignment, etc. All of those little changes gave me bigger gains. I felt more comfortable. I felt less sore. I felt like I could go on longer, even with my lack of a bigger aerobic base due to being sidelined these past few months.
When I was doing triathlons, the same thing applied. With better technique, I cut through the water like a hot knife through butter. I was able to ride uphill and not have to get off the bike and push it like a car with a dead engine.
So what's the point? You have a good technique and you can equalize the field of competition. I've seen guys on old steel road bikes beating dudes on $5000 triathlon bikes made of carbon fiber. Guys were the same size and had the same VO2. But the road bike dudes had better riding technique. I've seen ladies in their early 50's deadlift 200 lbs barbells that guys in their 20's couldn't do half the weight and the guys looked more "muscular".
Whatever you have a passion to do, learn it well and learn how to do it right everytime.
Technique is defined as "The procedure used to accomplish a specific activity or task."
My experience with changing the procedure to accomplish a specific task was an interesting one today.
A fellow co-worker had given me some tips and advice on my workouts with the Concept2 Rower - an ergonomic rowing machine. In a former life, she was apart of a rowing team down in Texas and is looking to get back into it. After my first time rowing 2,000 meters, she told me what I needed to tweak out with my technique to be faster/stronger/better. So, today I did exactly as she told me. Push off with the legs first before pulling on the chain. Make your movement one fluidic motion. Make sure the chain stays roughly straight and don't go over your knees. I focused on these things as I started to row, row, row...and it worked!
My time the previous rowing session was going about 2:15-2:30/500m with the way I worked before. Today's time with those simple tweaks: 1:92-2:02/500m and I was not getting the same arm strain that I was the last time. I was able to complete a 2,000 meter row in under 8 minutes, shaving off 90 seconds from my previous time.
Although I was a bit jelly-legged (I was warned this would happen too and it's a sign that you did it right), I felt great! Added bonus, that quad strain that I felt was eased greatly after doing this workout!
In all sports, we're coached to move a certain way. Sloppy effort equals sloppy results. During my 10+ miler on Sunday, I felt better on that run than previous runs. Reason: Eric was coaching me on - SUPRISE! - running technique. Little changes to the way I move my legs, how I plant my feet, my body alignment, etc. All of those little changes gave me bigger gains. I felt more comfortable. I felt less sore. I felt like I could go on longer, even with my lack of a bigger aerobic base due to being sidelined these past few months.
When I was doing triathlons, the same thing applied. With better technique, I cut through the water like a hot knife through butter. I was able to ride uphill and not have to get off the bike and push it like a car with a dead engine.
So what's the point? You have a good technique and you can equalize the field of competition. I've seen guys on old steel road bikes beating dudes on $5000 triathlon bikes made of carbon fiber. Guys were the same size and had the same VO2. But the road bike dudes had better riding technique. I've seen ladies in their early 50's deadlift 200 lbs barbells that guys in their 20's couldn't do half the weight and the guys looked more "muscular".
Whatever you have a passion to do, learn it well and learn how to do it right everytime.
The Joy of Massage
My wonderful wife gave me a helping hand and aided my massage of my left quad. Seems a few days ago, I mildly strained it with doing dumbbell squats (52.5 lbs in each hand). And since then, the muscle is still pretty tight and has a deep ache depending on how I move my leg or if I even tense/flex the quad. But the achey feeling does go away during my runs, so this won't sideline me for Saturday. However, I think I'll look into getting a sports massage or a deep-tissue massage after the Ghost. It's been some time since I've had an LMP turn my muscles into melted butter.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Dogs don't run...
Well, my dog doesn't...or rather she chose not to run yesterday as I had hoped.
I had woke up a bit later than expected, so running with the group was out of the question. I needed to do about 16-18 miles VERY SLOWLY. I had decided at the last minute to take the family dog with me. Well, our puggle pup decided that after two miles, she wasn't going to take it anymore and proceeded to trip me. Over and over. I wasn't too happy about that and decided that the run would have to be bagged. So after walking her for the remaining 2.5 miles (we were that far from the car), I was glad to take her home and just take that morning as it was.
However, despite that long run snag - the training plan went well. This is what I've figured will work with my work and homelife schedule:
Mondays: Rest
Tuesdays:
Lunchtime - X-Train during my lunch (weights, rowing, etc)
Evening - Group Runs of 6-8 miles (Although they're supposed to be "easy" runs, they feel more medium or marathon pace for me at the moment)
Wednesdays: Lunchtime Runs @ Work from 2-4 miles (Could be easy/recovery runs, could be tempo/intervals, could be just good powerwalks)
Thursdays: Repeat of Tuesday
Fridays: Repeat of Wednesday
Saturdays: Rest or Alternative Long Run (if I can't do a long run on Sunday for whatever reason or if's just some place too good to pass up.)
Sundays: Long Runs ranging from 12-35 miles, preferibly sticking around 18-20 miles weekly.
I followed this so far this past week and with the exception of Sunday getting botched, it went well. I'm still pretty confident that I'll hold up for the Seattle Ghost in two weeks. As long as I'm conservative on that day and take an early start, I should be able to complete the distance (not to mention giving myself a serious shock to the system) in the cutoff time.
I had woke up a bit later than expected, so running with the group was out of the question. I needed to do about 16-18 miles VERY SLOWLY. I had decided at the last minute to take the family dog with me. Well, our puggle pup decided that after two miles, she wasn't going to take it anymore and proceeded to trip me. Over and over. I wasn't too happy about that and decided that the run would have to be bagged. So after walking her for the remaining 2.5 miles (we were that far from the car), I was glad to take her home and just take that morning as it was.
However, despite that long run snag - the training plan went well. This is what I've figured will work with my work and homelife schedule:
Mondays: Rest
Tuesdays:
Lunchtime - X-Train during my lunch (weights, rowing, etc)
Evening - Group Runs of 6-8 miles (Although they're supposed to be "easy" runs, they feel more medium or marathon pace for me at the moment)
Wednesdays: Lunchtime Runs @ Work from 2-4 miles (Could be easy/recovery runs, could be tempo/intervals, could be just good powerwalks)
Thursdays: Repeat of Tuesday
Fridays: Repeat of Wednesday
Saturdays: Rest or Alternative Long Run (if I can't do a long run on Sunday for whatever reason or if's just some place too good to pass up.)
Sundays: Long Runs ranging from 12-35 miles, preferibly sticking around 18-20 miles weekly.
I followed this so far this past week and with the exception of Sunday getting botched, it went well. I'm still pretty confident that I'll hold up for the Seattle Ghost in two weeks. As long as I'm conservative on that day and take an early start, I should be able to complete the distance (not to mention giving myself a serious shock to the system) in the cutoff time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
