Training thread. Goals, updates, questions, etc.

The rain is not giving us much of a break here. The ground is so saturated that even a light rain is causing mud slides, fallen trees , compromised roads, log jammed bridges. Holy mole. My rain gear is getting used and tested like never before and that is saying something.

That said…..

Arms. Today I rediscovered my arms while running. I let go of the classic  road runner arms by your side swinging a bit and gave in to the urge to let them do…a whole lot more. I must have looked like I was having a seizure of some kind but I let them help my balance on sloped edges, while landing from a jump ( how fun) etc. Trail running is already taking me back to my childhood in a way and now letting my arms do what they can to help my balance …..I had the funnest (short) run yet. It made my day :)

Nice :)  There is definitely something about trail running that offers up snippets of childhood, freedom and escape.

^^^ very true.

I ran my 2 miles on Mon, Wed, Thu and today. Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday I will get a longer run in, up the coast. We are supposed to have four dry days and then another week of rain…

I did eat  a lot of carbs this week. Oh well, so it goes.

Kat

Glad to hear you are feeling better and back at it!

BJ

“I must have looked like I was having a seizure of some kind but I let them help my balance on sloped edges, while landing from a jump”

If you have the time and interest, google up a video of world class Ethiopian cross country runners in a competition.  Eloquent confirmation that you are on the right track.

@BJ thanks!

@ Tom, I tried but could not find one. Can you link one for me?

Below has the best coverage of what I was talking about.

Cool vids Tom, I love watching running.

Kat, good to hear you’re feeling free.  I can’t tell you how often I’m on the trail, pouring rain, soaked, wind is blowing, and I’ve got a goofy grin ear to ear.

I’m struggling right now, can’t shake this illness.  The flu wiped me out for a solid week, now lingering lung congestion won’t leave me alone.  I hiked 5K yesterday, mountain biked 4 to get to a 5K hike this morning, and I’m definitely not ready to run yet; got a coughing fit so bad I nearly choked.  I am swinging kettlebells still, so that’s good.  The kettlebell has done wonders for my core strength.

So it goes, soon enough back on the trail regularly.

^ I succumbed to a cold this week- my running mileage for the week is 4.5 miles, there is a better than fair chance it will stay that way; am feeling better today, but not great- had to donate $35 to the Forest Service for a cabin rental today- it’s about a 7 mile ski in and just didn’t have it in me :(

“Cool vids Tom, I love watching running.”

Me, too, but I love running even more.  I really miss it when I watch videos like those.  Mud runs and runs in the rain are some of my fondest memories.  Speaking of which, how about that Paula Radcliffe cross country mano a mano?  That was guts ball racing at it finest, right up the with the duels between Alberto Salazar and Rodolfo Gomez at the New York Marathon, or Salazar and Beardslee at Boston.  They’re out there on YouTube, if you’re interested.

I had a pretty fair hike this morning on a local favorite, Mt. Si.  7.2 miles/3300′, 3000 of it in 3 miles.  A nice day’s work in perfect hiking weather.  Less mileage this week, due to other commitments, but still OK.  14 miles plus in the mountains, 12 in the city, 26 overall with 5300′ of elevation.  Things are starting to shape up after a long, dark winter.

I’ll have to look those up Tom.  I’ve seen Salazar/Gomez, but not Beardslee.

I biked another ~8 miles this afternoon/evening running errands, had to give in and call Lusi to pick me up about 3 uphill miles from home.  I can’t breathe if I work too hard.  This stinks as I’m highly motivated to go put in some miles.  There’s a local 50K in a day hike that’s been calling me for weeks that I keep having to put off.

“I had a pretty fair hike this morning on a local favorite, Mt. Si.  7.2 miles/3300′, 3000 of it in 3 miles.”

Was it snowing? My brother hiked Mailbox and it was snowing pretty hard for part of his hike.

“Was it snowing? My brother hiked Mailbox and it was snowing pretty hard for part of his hike.”

No.  Si was pretty well socked in, with quite a bit of recent snow on the ground, but no active precip.  Is there a well trodden path up Mailbox by now?  If not, it can be pretty slow going.  I’ve been thinking of going up there lately, but I have to be in the right frame of mind anymore.  It’s harder for me than it used to be.

this was a challenging week for me, caught a cold Monday that’s lasted all week- the good news it’s on it’s last legs and I should be good to go tomorrow for running; in other good news my shoulder feels fully recouped so I can start hitting the weights a little harder

Monday- strength training

Tuesday- 4.5 miles trail running

Wed-zip :(

Thur-light strength training

Fri-zip :(

Sat-zip :(

Sunday- “Murph”

I haven’t done “Murph” in a long (long) time, so figured I’d give it a go

1 mile run

300 air squats
200 pushups
100 pullups

1 mile run

39:55 not too bad, runs weren’t all that blazing (with just getting over the cold)

Finally kicking this illness…got out for a 2 mile ride followed by a 3.5 mile trail run followed by a two mile ride.  Then kettlebell; 45 goblet squats followed by 100 swings.  First workout in two and a half weeks where I didn’t have to quit because I was choking on phlegm.  Was going a little nuts without getting into the mountains and getting my feet wet.

Time to get back on track!

Glad  to hear you are feeling better Craig!

I ran well all last week and this last Monday. Tuesday I had a pretty extensive bone grafting surgery so I have been out since and should wait another week before running again. I know I will be back on track before too long and I think my running and overall physical activity leading  up to the surgery will help my recovery.

Yikes….there’s no way you can say “bone grafting surgery” and it doesn’t sound horrifying.  Hope you’re OK.

Mike, I’ve got to try Murph, never done it.  Finishing it is one thing, doing it for time sounds very painful.

Kat- here’s to a speedy recovery!  no doubt that your fitness helped will help w/ your recovery

Craig- glad to hear you’ve turned the corner; Murph is a pretty good one- I break the middle portion into 20 sets of 15 squats, 10 pushups, 5 pullups- it’s usually the pullups towards the end that slow things down

Thanks Mike and Craig,

I am back on an anti inflammatory diet ( supposed to help with bone grafting success) . Cut ćoffee and sugar out too. When I get back to running I will have an even better diet to go with it :)

pretty good week for me

Monday- 6 mile trail run

Tuesday- hill repeats 4 miles

Wed- 5.5 mile trail run

Thurs- strength training

Fri- 5.5 mile trail run

Sat- 5 mile trail run (w/ over 2000′ gain) and strength train (pushups/pullups/situps)

Sun (and Mon)- 14 miles snowshoeing pulling a pulk- wife, our pup and myself into a USFS rental cabin

rest and recovery :)

@Mike what a lofty bed :)

My post op appointment went very well and I can start running again :):):) as long as “you really listen to your body” and a couple other things. That was really good news.

Next surgery will be  in late July and by then I hope to be kicking a$$ on the trail and be ready to face this other kind of uphill.

On the food end my diet has been super on point these last couple of weeks, even stopped coffee, at least for a while to reset the clock.

Kat- great to hear that, good news indeed :)

OMG not sure I could nix the coffee!

Yeah, coffee isn’t fun to go without.  I quit it for almost two years and missed it the whole time.  Not even the caffeine, just the taste and the ritual.  i’m back on and have no intention of stopping, I just don’t go nuts.  One good strong cup in the morning and I’m done.

I read a  great opinion piece on “listening to your body” recently, I’ll see if I can dig it up and link it.  On the one hand, it sounds quite sensible.  On the other, it’s a complete bull$hit throw-away statement for a health professional to give someone, basically amounting to “I don’t know what the hell to tell you, you figure it out”.

And if I listened to my body during a really long run or hard event, everything my body is telling me says that I should stop the pain.  It’s really an elusive concept when you think about it, especially given that so many of the more extreme endurance sports are actually about pushing through a lot of what your body is telling you.

I hear you Craig. I think it depends on what else is said. In my case she got into what I should be listening or watching out for so I don’t compromise the grafts. I didn’t get into the details because it’s not a pretty conversation so I left the generic version there.

I was up to 3 cups of coffee….so this wasn’t easy but I have a new ritual with tea now. Trying out different kinds and different ways. I like it .

Last night at Banff this was another great film

Btw, thanks Tom for those videos. I can see what you mean.