Let it Snow

There was talk several weeks ago about a storm front coming in to Salt Lake that was going to be for the record books.  Some called the Katrina of Utah, and others called it the Storm of the Century.  It ended up being a pretty mild storm that left us with 4-6 inches of snow and some big wind gusts.  I ran that night, right as the worst of the storm hit us.  I believe I went 8 miles and the only really tough part was the wind coming north on State Street.  Last night, it started snowing about 3:00 and by the time Dave and I headed out around 6:00, there was already 4 inches on the ground.  I was dying to try out my new CW-X tights, so waiting another day was out of the question.  The tights were awesome.  I'm not sure how much they helped my knees, but they were warm and very comfortable.  Actually, I was way too hot during the run.  There was a pretty stiff breeze, so I wore a long sleeve Under Armor shirt, a polyester mid-layer and a windbreaker, plus my balaclava.  I thought about wearing ski goggles, and wished I would have on the last two miles with the wind pelting snow into my eyes.

We moved along pretty well, especially considering another 2 inches dumped on us during the 40 minutes we were out there.  Dave got these snow traction things for his shoes for Christmas, which can only be used on heavy snow/ice days, but I think they helped him a lot.  I couldn't push off at all without slipping in the areas that were plowed, so I stayed more in the deep powder.  It was like running on sand, but I wasn't sliding all over the place.  As we were running passed a parking lot, I heard a guy tell his buddy, "now that is hard core."  I think a lot of people could have used the weather last night as a reason not to run and that was part of what made it such an intense thing to do.  Running 4 miles at night is not that big of a deal, but doing it in 6+ inches of snow, during a blizzard...pretty sweet.  I need to get some sort of traction device for the next one though to make it a little bit easier.

Shorts

I forgot to wash my cold weather gear from my run last Friday, so I had to improvise last night for a quick 4 mile run.  I wore some soccer socks that came up to my knees and some shorts along with a couple of long sleeve shirts.  I topped it off with my gloves and a balaclava to keep my head and neck warm.  Of course I also wore the reflective suspenders and even discovered that I could carry my phone in the pocket.  It worked out nicely.  I'm almost done with my book.  I'm looking forward to listening to "Born to Run."  My dad and a buddy of mine have both recommended it and I've been looking forward to reading/listening to it for a while.

I tried to really push myself last night, but the cold made it hard to breathe after the first hundred meters or so.  I normally use my first run of the week as more of a recovery run, but I still wanted to stay around 10 minute miles.  I ran the first mile in 9 minutes 25 seconds, then walked for a minute and ran the last 3 miles in about 29 minutes.  It felt good to run, but my legs were on fire when I got back.  It weird how the cold can burn like that.

Christmas Eve

I rested all week to give my body a chance to be ready for the 17 miles last Friday.  I'm glad I did because it was brutal.  Dave ran with me, but Dan couldn't because he was in Wyoming for Christmas.  We ran about 6 miles before we got to Dave's truck and got a quick drink then had sustenance lined up every two miles or so after that.  We learned something pretty interesting about creatine during our run...It is bad to take it before a long run.  Dave's fingers and forearms swelled up like crazy as a result and it made him cramp up really bad.  Lesson learned.

Even though the weather was warm (40 degrees), the cold wind made it feel like another sub-freezing run. I didn't dress quite as warm as usual, meaning I didn't wear a mid-layer and I was still plenty comfortable, but any time we stopped to drink the cold would hurt for a while.  I'm sure we stopped for too long anyway, but the cold makes it that much worse.  Race day might get up into the 60's, so the cold won't be a problem then.

For the first time, 26 miles seemed doable.  I was dog tired after 17, but I think with a few more weeks, I'll be ready for 9 more.  However, 5 hours is starting to seem like a tough mark to hit.

We were already a little late for Christmas Eve dinner at the Peterson's, so I didn't have time to take an ice bath.  My knees and ankles felt the effects of that all day Saturday and Sunday.  When school starts up again next week, it will be really hard to do the long runs after school on Saturdays.  I'm glad the race is almost here.

Slacker

I totally forgot to write about the 16 excruciating miles we ran as a team on Saturday.  Dan showed up in his black tights, looking good, but queer at the same time.  It was warm enough that I could keep my ninja suit on the shelf and just wear my mid layer, which is white.  It doubles as my snow ninja gear if I ever need it to.  I don't really remember what Dave was wearing, but I'm sure basketball shorts were part of it.

We decided to run a four mile loop 4 times.  We parked Dave's truck at Sports Authority and threw some water bottles in the back, so we could hydrate every two miles or so.  My lap times were something like, 40:10, 42:30, 45:30, and 48:00.  I think Dave was about the same, except he killed the final 4 miles in 41 minutes.  Dan hurt his knee, so he stopped after 12 miles.  As a result, he is downgraded to questionable.  Two days later, Dave's feet still hurt, so he is also downgraded.  I'm pretty sure dogging the last 4 miles saved my body from any serious injury...well, that and the fact that ninjas don't get hurt.

16 miles is a long way to run.  I realize that everyone already knows this, but until you experience it, I'm not sure you can appreciate how long it really is.  The worst part though...we still need to go 10 more to finish the race.  It's still seems impossible, which is why this is such a worthy goal.  Dave told me about a brother in law that ran a marathon down in Jamaica.  Every time he was about to quit, a little boy would come out of the crowd and run with him for a while.  I'm pretty sure I'll need more that to finish the race.

Last night I ran a quick 5 miles to finish the recovery process from Saturday.  My watch wasn't charged, so I had to run a familiar 5 mile course and just watch my time on my phone.  My left knee hurts a little, but mostly I feel pretty good.  I hate taking a 5-hour energy that late in the day, so I did the run without any caffeine.  I can tell a huge difference in my breathing and energy levels, but I was able to fall asleep last night, so it was a pretty good tradeoff.  This Saturday is Christmas, so I need to figure out when to run 17 miles.  I'll probably skip do 3 or so miles or CrossFit tomorrow and then run the 17 on Friday.

Breaking The 10-Minute Mile

I think I know how Roger Bannister felt back in 1954 when he broke the world record for one mile and did it in under 4 minutes for the first time.  He strongly believed that running a sub 4-minute mile was possible and that the only thing preventing great runners from accomplishing it was a psychological change.  Whenever I think of running more than 3 miles, my mind automatically goes to 11-12 minute mile pace.  For me, right now, sub 10-minute miles for any distance is impossible...or at least it was.

Since there was about 50" of slushy snow when I woke up yesterday morning (or at least 2.5") I decided to run after work.  Dave normally does his short runs on a treadmill, but decided to join me for the 8 miles.  We decided we were going to push it pretty hard, but just as we got set to go Dave got a call that the walks at the church needed to be shoveled and salted.  So, we spent an hour or so shoveling and salting before our run.  The service must have gained us some extra blessing because I felt really good the entire 8 miles.  We started off a little slowly, but ran about 4 of the miles around a 9 minute 24 second pace and finished the entire 8 miles in 79 minutes 50 seconds.  I didn't beat it by much, but it felt good to break that mental barrier.  Now, if I can only figure a way to run two and a half times faster I can break the 4-minute mile too.  Maybe I'll try 9 minutes first.

I Hate Running

I couldn't think of a good title for today's entry...

I guess I don't actually hate running, but I hate when I am running.  Yesterday was only 5 miles and I use Monday or Tuesday more as a recovery run than anything else.  The 15 miles took a lot out of me on Saturday and my body was trying to tell me not to run on Tuesday.  At least, I think that's what it was trying to tell me.  I'm not really sure though because I rarely listen anyway.  I tried running under a 10 minute pace the entire time and walk if I couldn't go at that pace.  This is a new concept for me.  Typically, I just slow down if I can't keep the faster pace and I end up running slowly for a long time.  I think it helped a little.  Overall, my time still sucks, but I had to walk for about 5 minutes, and I'm ok with a sucky time at 5:00 in the morning when it is 30 degrees outside...So get off my case.

Last week, a black, ninja-dog scared the crap out of me and Dave.  If I didn't have the reflectors on, he never would have seen me.  It would have been ninja against ninja.  I'm sure my ninja senses would have picked up on him before he jumped against the chain link fence and made me pee myself.  No big deal though.  The warmth was pleasant and the adrenaline created from being scared sustained me for at least a mile or so.  Needless to say, I'm heavily considering shelving the reflectors.

15 Down...

Saturday was one of those days that people shouldn't have to experience very often.  I had two tests at school from 8:00 until about 3:30 and a paper due and then, to top it off, I had 15 miles scheduled.  Dave ran with me and at mile 6 I turned to him and said, "just 20 more."  20 more?  Are you kidding?  Who in their right mind decided to run 26 miles in a single shot?  I'll tell you who, some dude that died!  He died!  You can't say, "no one ever died running a marathon" because someone has.  It is going to be really hard.  I'm not sure I fully appreciated how far 26.2 miles is until this weekend.  We finally finished 15 miles and to think there would still be 11.2 more on race day?  Impossible.

There must have been 5 or 6 times that I thought I was done.  Not only was I ready to quit running on Saturday, the thought entered my mind to give up on the race.  Of course, there is no way I will quit.  I just need to get over the enormity of 26 miles.  Dave asked me a couple of times what my symptoms were, what hurt the most.  I was just fatigued.  My knees hurt a little, my ankles hurt, my feet hurt, but mostly I was just really tired and hungry.  I may have been a little dehydrated from all the sugar I ate the day before.  I must have had 10 pounds of almond roca, laced with crack.  I couldn't stop eating it.  I really need to get my diet under control.

Dave finally registered for the race, so I guess I have to upgrade his status.  Also, Dan bought his plane ticket and got the rental car, so I'm thinking about upgrading him to "definite."  Dan also commented on this blog, which means I have at least one reader!  Wow, the pressure to provide stimulating, engaging, worthwhile reading is almost too much.  I guess I'll just have to step up my game.  Look for incremental improvements in my writing from here out.

A Ninja No More

I did 8 miles yesterday morning, starting at about 4:45.  The weather was nice (38 degrees) and I felt good throughout.  My pre-run meal consisted of a tortilla with peanut butter and honey and a banana.  The banana was separate, in case that isn't clear...although it might be more like a crepe if I add some warm, sliced bananas.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to eat before the marathon.  The peanut butter and honey is great for short runs, but not nearly substantial enough for long runs.  However, I can't eat too much or I won't be able to run at all.  A friend of mine recommended eating a quarter of a bagel every 6 or so miles during the race.  I'm going to give that a try this weekend during my long run.  Unfortunately, that doesn't help me much with my pre-run meal problem.  Maybe I'll go for a carb-loaded fettuccine alfredo right before the race...Office fans, you're welcome.

I don't think I've mentioned the reflector I've been wearing lately, but it is sweet.  My buddy Josh brought it over to me last week.  It's like a pair of suspenders that glow neon green in the dark.  You can see me from miles away.  It is kind of killing my ninja-like stealth, but at least cars can see me now.  Sometimes you have to give up on the fun stuff, like ninja vanish and hurling throwing stars at passersby, for the sake of safety.  I just leave my nunchucks at home now too.

Lesson Learned

I normally run on Tuesdays to give my body the extra day to heal after my long runs on Saturday.  However, after consecutive days of 3 and a half hour drives and way too much unhealthy food (mostly homemade caramels and frosted cookies) I decided to give it a shot this morning.  Also, instead of going to mapmyrun.com and figuring out my path, I just headed south on State Street and turned at 5900 south.  It was about the point when I got to 900 east that I realized there was a problem.  I had already gone a little over 3 miles and I still had close to 3 more on my current path.  I quickly figured the fastest route home and turned back to Vine to keep me within a half mile or so.  Unfortunately, my left knee started acting up at about 3.8 miles and was painful enough to stop me for a little while.  It was too cold to stand around feeling bad for myself, so I continued at the fastest pace I could manage.  I ended up going almost three quarters more than I planned.  I'll end the suspense by noting that I did not die, but made it home safely.  I'm sure the knee pain is a result of running today instead of Tuesday, but Charlotte wants Wingers for her birthday dinner and I know I'll eat way too much and not feel like running in the morning.  I'll go to CrossFit instead.  I know what you may be thinking, "Wingers?  For a 4 year old's birthday dinner?"  I had nothing to do with it.  We went there a few weeks ago when they had all-you-can-eat wings and she loved the ice cream sundae.  I can almost taste the asphalt pie.

New Record

I may have set a new world record today for longest distance run at one time...14 miles.  Of course it is just a personal world record, but world record nonetheless.  We were driving up to Afton to visit my parents and get a christmas tree today, so I had to go early.  I woke up at 4:45 and got out by about 5:15.  I was a tepid 31 degrees today.  Thinking that was still really cold, I wore the same thing as I did on Monday when it was only 6 degrees.  Needless to say I was a little warm, but once you sweat a bunch, you are kind of locked in to what you are wearing.  Everything was so wet after 3 miles that I had to keep all the layers on or I would have frozen.  Even unzipping my pullover made me too cold.  Next time I'm shedding a layer up top before I even go out.

I remembered a sports drink today.  I diluted it with an extra 8 oz. of water, so it wasn't too sweet.  I used 2 gu's and 2 full bananas along with 24 oz. of sports drink and 16 oz. of water.  I felt pretty good until mile 11.  I pushed through to almost mile 13, but I had to walk a quarter mile before I could finish.  My left knee was really sore when I finished, but nothing an ice bath couldn't fix.

We left for Wyoming about 30 minutes after I got home.  Lizzy drove so I could work on my paper.  3 hours in the car is tough after running 14 miles.  We drove up to Grover Park to cut down our tree.  It is very normal to see a lot of snow up the canyon, but today the plow apparently didn't want anyone going up the canyon because they had built a snow barrier right in the road.  I told my Dad, who came along in his Grand Cherokee, that if he could make it I knew I could too.  He gunned it right over/through the barrier so i had to follow.  No one had been up where we were, so we just drove in about 2 feet of snow.  It was awesome.  I just threw the M-Class in low range and never had an issue.


Lizzy picked a tree about 100 feet up a sheer cliff.  She couldn't quite make it up to where the tree was, so up I went.  It turned out the tree was a little taller than I thought from down below.  I cut down the 18 foot monster and took it down the hill.  It was about 30 degrees, so the kids had a great time playing in the snow without getting too cold.  We had a great time and got an awesome tree.

So my mom tells Lizzy and me that my uncle just had surgery.  Lizzy asked what kind of surgery it was.  My mom says, "Prostate surgery."  I say, "Ouch."  Lizzy asks, "Where did they do the surgery?"  I respond quickly, "Up his butt."  My mom thought it was hilarious.  That of course has very little to do with my training, but I thought it was the funniest thing, so I had to capture it here...you're welcome.

Warming Up

It warmed all the way up to 25 degrees this morning.  I felt strong the entire run.  I didn't have to stop for water at all.  I took a tortilla with me and ate it while jogging slowly.  It was a little dry, but perfect for energy at miles 4 and 6.  I had half a banana and a peanut butter and honey tortilla before the run, which is a good amount of food for a semi-long run.  The snow on the sidewalks is still a problem, so I spent most of the run in the street, which is no big deal since only 3 other people in the entire world are up at 5:00 am.

On an equipment note, my awesome new Saucony running shoes have a hole in the top of the shoe.  I'm not talking about the one you put your foot in either.  (That reminds me of the underwear joke...Do you have holes in your underwear?  No?  Then how do you get them over your feet?  I never said it was a funny joke.)  I guess my toenail somehow wore through my sock and through my shoe only a week or so after I got them.  I've got to take them back or just live with the hole.