Cold Day, Warm Tire

After wimping out yesterday, I made myself go out and run. The added incentive was that the Fort Collins Running Club was having it's first group run for Horsetooth Half Marathon training, and I needed a hill run, so I decided I would join them despite the 7:30 am start.

Driving across town the thermometers registered anywhere from 6 to 13 degrees. It was 9 degrees at our house when I left. I woke up early anyway so there was no excuse. I dressed warm, three layers, including 3 layers on my head plus my old kelly green Javelina 100 neck gaiter around my face thanks to my Arizona friend Geri Kilgariff...I bet she never thought that would be so useful on a bone chilling day in Colorado!

I kept my water bottles inside the cooler so they wouldn't freeze in the car. I was whining about the cold yesterday, but it was warmer than today! The lessons will be repeated until they are learned...

When I got there at 7:10, several other people drove up but I needed to go warm up before we started up the big hill. I ran down the road and came back, and then Connie DeMercurio drove up with Dan, and they went to warm up. Eventually all seven of us congregated near the parking area at Maxwell Trailhead and we took off up the hill.

I had my camera and snapped some pictures but then couldn't catch anyone until halfway up the first hill, when I caught up to the always fashionable Jen Sajbel. We ended up running most of the way together, the first time we've ever run together, so that was fun getting to know her a little better. It wasn't too bad once we climbed the first big hill and our feet and hands warmed up. There was ice on Horsetooth Reservoir, which didn't exist in January. That's how cold it's been over the past week or so.

We ran out to the north dam and before we turned around we each used the park outhouse, and sorry if this is TMI but when I pulled my windpants down, I had frost inside my windpants- on the outside of my super thick tights! That's REALLY cold if you're running with frost in your crotch!

We lucked out because the wind never picked up so we didn't have to deal with much of a breeze at all. It was cold enough. At the top of the big hill I took off ahead of Jen, I wanted to get back to the car and get my tire. I ate a yogurt, and then dragged the tire up and down County Road 42 twice, from Overland Trail to a little past the curve by Maxwell. I dragged the tire for a total of 30 minutes, and going up that slight grade was tough! I was having to use my arms and really dig in for power. I was warm in no time. I got some strange looks from people driving by, but I got another thumbs up from somebody, and a small group of runners watched me with curiosity as they headed down the road in the opposite direction.

I finished up a total of three hours of running, which was good. I never did a long run this week, but the combination of hills at Horsetooth followed by 30 minutes of tire dragging was a great workout in a three hour run. Next week it's supposed to warm up so I will save my long run for then.

I'm looking forward to my next hot date with the tire this week for Valentine's Day. Don't tell Dennis.

Isabelle's advice for a cold day

Twelve degrees. That's what it was this morning. What happened to our spring? The weather gods are making us pay for our sunny warm January. Isabelle was not too happy about it. She didn't want to do anything, and neither did I.

When I woke up it had been snowing all night and was still snowing lightly, and it was 9 degrees. We were supposed to run a race in Loveland this morning but we never signed up, and it was icy and freezing, and it wasn't worth the risk of injury. Dennis wasn't interested in running in those conditions either, so we had coffee and then decided to go out for breakfast at the Silver Grill, something we rarely do.

After breakfast I went over to Dennis Vanderheiden's house (a different Dennis) to look at a couple of baby jogger and trailer options, he's going to let me borrow those to figure out what will work best and how I can get them adapted to my needs. Dennis uses the baby joggers for Athletes in Tandem, which is a pretty cool organization. That was really nice of him to let me borrow them and figure out my plans, I will definitely be making a donation to AiT.

He was going to bring one of the joggers to me this morning at the race, but the weather changed a lot of people's plans. Since he wasn't going to the race either, I went over there. Standing outside looking at the strollers and talking, it was absolutely freeeeeeeeezing! We were outside about 10 minutes and then all the way home my hands and toes were thawing- that hurts!

Later it warmed up a little after I got home and Dennis (back to my husband, Dennis) took the girls for a short walk. They got ice balls between their toes.

So next time you feel like this,

take the day off from running, go out for breakfast, hang around the house, take a nap, and find someone to scratch your ears.

I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have the motivation to go out and run 30 miles, as I planned to do sometime this week, and it hasn't happened yet. A good ear scratching will do the trick.


BTWZAH8B6GFK

How I Trained for my 2011 Badwater Double

This is a re-post of a page I kept on my blog in 2011. I took it down a few months ago but decided to re-post it. I think it would be helpful to anyone looking to finish the Badwater race.

As you read it, keep in mind I was training for a double crossing, not just the race. As a result I did a lot more long consecutive (back-to-back-to-back) days than would be necessary for just the race itself. And my strategy in the race was to take care of my feet and hydration, and get enough rest so that I had something left over to do another 135 miles afterward, so I didn't push myself anywhere near my limit in the race.

If you're training for the race only, you'd want to add a bit more intensity and perhaps not so many long days. My goal was to finish in under the 48 hour time cutoff. So this would be a good guideline for someone who is a first-timer, and solely interested in finishing. If you're a speedster, there are lots of other places to look for guidelines on training.

Feel free to comment, or write me at sherunnoftatgmaildotcom if you have questions. I can't put a lot of time into answering specific training questions and I DO NOT coach, so please do not ask me to give you specific advice on your training routine. I will try to answer your general questions about Badwater as time permits.

2011 Badwater Training Notes

People ask me how I train for the races I do. They think I do mega-miles, which is not true at all. When I'm approaching a big race, I do a lot of miles on some weeks, but I don't sustain a high mileage routine week after week, all year. I probably do a lot less than many ultrarunners who are running shorter races.

I consider myself an athlete, not an addict, which means I respect my body and treat it well, as I ask a lot of it, so I do not overdo it. I'll be 48 years old this year, I have been running for 28 years, and I hope to be running into the future for at least another 28 years.

Keep in mind that at Badwater I am not going for any records or places. I am not running this race in competition with others, I am only trying to do the best I can so essentially I am competing with myself.

I won't put my entire training log in here but I will put the basics in, as the weeks go by.

When training for Badwater, you have to be ready to do the race distance before you even put your application in.

By the time you get notification that you're accepted into the race, you have less than 5 months until race day. So if you're not already seriously fit, you're going to be in trouble.

Fortunately the Badwater application process takes that into account. If you haven't done the equivalent of at least a couple or three serious (100 mile+) ultras in the year leading up to your application for the race, you won't get in.

A Little History

Let's backtrack for a bit: I ran Badwater for the first time in 2008. After that I took it pretty easy for over a year. I needed a break from training so hard, plus I had other things going on in my life, like a miserably stressful job, that made it hard for me to train well and consistently. So I basically took 2009 off from doing ultras. I ran a few 50K-ish runs and kept a base of 30-40 miles a week all year just for fitness, but that's all.

In 2010 I began to train again, with running Badwater in 2011 in mind. I changed jobs, which helped more than anything. I knew I was going to have to do a few long runs. I planned for 3 races: the Keys 100, the Lean Horse Hundred, and Across the Years 48 hour. I ran a few other short races (Old Pueblo 50 and Leadville Marathon) but that was it.

Racing can often set you back, if you work really hard, you will need a break from training. I try not to race too many long ultras each year, which keeps my training more consistent. My goal for the year was to set a PR at Across the Years, I wanted to go over 150 miles.

I unexpectedly set a PR at the Keys. I had no idea I was going to feel so good in the heat and humidity. I ran Lean Horse as a training run for Across the Years, in a relaxed 28 hours. And then I did get a PR at ATY, with 151.3 miles, even though I feel like if the weather had been warmer, I would have done better.

January 2011
After ATY, I took a couple of weeks off completely. I did not exercise except for a few very short walks with the dogs, ike a mile or two, and not even every day. Two weeks after ATY I began riding the bike on the trainer indoors. I rode two hours a day for about a week, then I was sidelined with a cold for a week, so I cut back to an hour a day.

February
In February I began running easy, short runs. I also resumed my three times a week weightlifting and core strength exercises on the exercise ball, and five days a week situps. The longest run I did in the month of February was 11 miles. My total mileage for each week went from 30 to 50 miles the week before Florida. I went to Florida the last week of February and ran the LOST 118. I DNFed at 114 only because a bout of diarrhea had caused electrolyte problems, causing me to cramp and slow down. So I ended up with a 114 mile training run, in a 125 mile week.

I took an easy week after LOST and ran a total of 7 miles, including a 4 mile run at Horsetooth on the big hill 6 days after the race, where I felt great!

March
I was tired for a few weeks after LOST. I kept my mileage low, wanting to make a full recovery. I started my Rock Repeat workouts, which are multiple repeats running a trail up and down Horsetooth Rock, minus the rock part. Each week I added another repeat and each week my legs got sore. I tried running fast for an hour on Wednesday nights with a group of faster runners, which is always difficult for me, but I managed to keep up. I call it my speedwork.

Three weeks later I did a 90 mile week. After that I was toast. I could feel that I wasn't quite ready to bump the mileage up consistently, so I took a 30 mile week afterward.

April
My strategy in March must have paid off because the next week I did 107 miles and felt good, like I could have done more.

I followed that with an 85 mile week, then a 101 mile week. For three weeks in a row I increased the mileage I did on consecutive days. 70 in 3 days, then 80 in three days, then 96 in 3 days. Still feeling good, I decided to force a rest week.

The 96 miles in 3 days consisted of an easy 20 mile run with a lot of walking, a 50 mile run in 10:12 in stiff wind and a lot of running, then a 26 mile day with 6600 feet of vertical gain and the same of descent, which was six Horsetooth Rock Repeats.

The rest week felt great. I did 17 miles throughout the week and that was all! I got caught up on life, organized a presentation I'm giving twice on May 5th, and did a lot of Badwater planning, a necessity. I also took several long naps each afternoon when I wasn't at work. Two of those naps lasted 3 hours each! I guess I needed it! I kept up the weight training and sauna time during my rest week, too. As of the end of May I'd be hitting the sauna three days a week.

May
I followed my rest week with a solid 120 mile week. Two runs of 30 and 34 miles where I felt strong, a 22 miler on Horsetooth Centennial Drive, a few shorter days, then a short three-Rock Repeat run to wrap up the week. I can feel how much stronger I am with sustaining a running pace and being able to pick up the pace when I want to, even at the end of the run.

After that I had a busy week between work and other things so I cut back drastically on my miles, did only one long run up at Carter Lake and Pinewood Reservoir climbing the hill that is like the Portal Road. The following week I went to Arizona hoping for heat training. The temperature only reached 91 but I did get some solid miles in. Got a 122 mile week with 3 back to back days. Followed that by a total rest week, because I was so tired from the drive on top of everything else, and had an extra work day, taking me up to Memorial Day weekend, when I worked Saturday and Sunday.

June
The week starting with Memorial Day I ran the Houska Houska 5K at a steady pace, and did 3 long runs of 32, 34, and 40 miles, for a total of 126 miles for the week and nearly 10,000 feet of vertical gain and descent. I also increased my sauna time to a full hour each day, and the sauna is 175 degrees these days. I have to get out and take a couple of 2 minute breaks, but I go back in until I have spent a total of one hour in there.

The following week was a rest week, except I did one 40 mile run of nearly 10 Rock Repeats, until I ran out of daylight, giving me 10,350 feet of vertical gain and descent. I continued in the sauna, an hour every day I wasn't working.

I followed that with a week in Arizona where I ran only a little over 50 miles for the week but did a 16 miler and a 34 miler in 103 degree temperatures, which felt relatively cool.

The week after Arizona, I worked three days, and took it as a rest week, only got about 20 miles in. I was back in the sauna, hard core.

I aggravated the tendinitis in my right leg with the 10 Rock Repeats training run, but the road miles in Arizona didn't bother it. After Arizona I backed off a little earlier than I planned, but I still ran 40-50 miles a week each week until the full week before Badwater. A week of careful stretching and icing seemed to do the trick.

July/Taper
The last full week of June and the week at the end of June/beginning of July, I did a couple of hill workouts on Centennial Drive, just 10 and 20 miles each and a Rock Repeat session of just three repeats. The tendon was fine. The full week before Badwater I ran only 3 miles a day for four days with the Buffaloes.

I did my last run on July 7th, 4 days before the race. Four miles easy.

Badwater 2011 finishing time: 45:30

For a recap of the return trip of my Badwater double, see the July 2011 posts in the archives.

photo credit: Nathan Nitzky

Rantin' N Raven

Another chilling day, it was in the mid-twenties all morning and I was going to go to the track, but then changed my mind and decided to do fartlek instead. That was a good choice because I ended up doing a little more work than I would have on the track. I took the girls for 2 miles first. Isabelle wanted to lie down in the snow and eat it more than she wanted to run. Iris barked at me when I went out the door again on my own, but she got over it.

It's been so gray lately. Our sunshine has gone away. It makes people grumpy. Just in time for another rant on my favorite rant topic of all: cell phones.

How many times have I been trying to cross an intersection while running and some bozo is clueless about their surroundings, and makes a one-handed left turn while jabbering on the phone in their other hand, and doesn't even bother to see that the pedestrian crosswalk sign is activated and their left turn arrow is no longer green, but decides to go ahead anyway and nearly runs me over...then some of them act like it's my fault and get pissed off at ME!!?

More times than I can count, and it happened twice on Tuesday at the same intersection- going each direction. Harmony & McMurry.

I'm still trying to figure out why so many people seem to think driving a thousand pound piece of metal at any speed warrants multitasking.

I read with amusement the article appearing in our local paper, the Coloradoan, this morning, an article on how to make pedestrian crossings safer. I laughed because on Tuesday of this week, I was thinking the exact same thing myself. Mr. Fort Collins Traffic Engineer, are you listening? The crosswalks are only as safe as the people who are using them. I think he had it right with the three "E"s: education, engineering, and enforcement.

As far as education goes, I'll tell you what I think. I think every able-bodied person who applies for a driver's license and renewal should spend some time outdoors, on foot, or on a bicycle, crossing these intersections and crosswalks. Then maybe they'd get it. Maybe they'd finally get it through their thick multitasking skulls that it's dangerous to be out there as a pedestrian or cyclist when you have motorists who don't pay attention, don't adhere to the rules of the road, and are at an advantage with the size and speed of their vehicle. Maybe then they'd be more considerate of people who are not in cars.

I'm not saying that pedestrians and cyclists always follow the rules themselves, but sometimes it's more dangerous to cross an intersection legally than it is to find some random place in the middle of the road to cross when there's a break in traffic. Harmony & McMurry is a perfect example. That's where I typically cross to connect from the north part of the Power Trail to the south end, there's a gap of about 3/4 mile through the neighborhoods south of there unless you go cross country by the power line, where there is no safe pedestrian crossing.

We have pedestrian-activated crosswalks at other crossings along the Power Trail and it's pretty common to see most of the cars stop, but there's always some idiot who is either distracted on the phone, or wants to be jerk, and plows through anyway. You can never assume that just because one lane of cars stopped, that the adjacent lane doesn't contain one of these bozos.

As they said in the article, if everyone were paying attention, there wouldn't be a problem. That's why the cell phone issue irks me so much. There are other distractions, sure, like playing with a car radio or rubbernecking, but from what I see on the roads, cell phones are the major distraction.

Did I ever tell you how much I hate cell phones?

A perfect day

About twelve miles this morning. Three miles with Iris, seven miles on my own with strides, and two with the tire. Plus some core work and some upper body work, too. I'm finally getting motivated to weight train again.

This is not bad for my first post-work weekend day, usually I'm exhausted. Plus we are definitely paying for our mild January. Today wasn't too bad, it's in the 30s and a bit breezy but not terribly cold. Not enough to keep me indoors.

Isabelle didn't want to go today. The girls did 4 miles with their dad before Superbowl yesterday, but Isabelle takes every other day off. That's HER decision, not mine. Yes, my Australian Shepherd is smarter than your honor student, and most runners!

I tried to buy a really cool purple baby jogger with 20 inch wheels on E-Bay the other day but someone outbid me at the last minute. I am looking for other possibilities. I need to find one soon so I can start training with it.

It was busy this weekend at work, and I had the best patients! People never cease to amaze me with their gracious and positive attitudes despite so many things seemingly going against them. Funny, last week I was listening to one of the local oncologists speak and she was saying how when people find out she is an oncologist, they say "I'm sorry." Just like people do to us nurses. When they find out I'm an oncology nurse, they say, "That must be depressing."

Well, it's the best job in the world. I am never sorry to be doing what I'm doing now. It's not depressing. There isn't a day that goes by when I am not blown away by something one of my patients does or says. Like bringing homemade cookies to their oncologist who is about to do a painful procedure on them. Or being excited about making wedding plans for their kid and buying a wig for the occasion while they are sitting in the chair getting their chemotherapy.

So when it's a less than nice day, and I'm tired from work, and I'm not feeling too motivated, I can look back at the recent days I had at work and think of these people. And suddenly it turns into a perfect day, like today.

Weighing in on Komen

I have to comment on the Susan G. Komen fiasco. I debated with myself whether to say anything. This isn't a political blog, but I am so tired of the divisive politics in this country. What happens is the most disadvantaged people get hurt. They are the ones who suffer the collateral damage of nasty politicking.

I care about cancer. I care about what it does to people's lives. And I care about the fact that there are millions of people in this country who cannot afford to protect themselves from being diagnosed with these diseases at a point where treatment is less effective, more costly, and more devastating.

I've never been much of pink ribbon fan. I'm the kind of person who, if I see a lot of people doing something, I am going to do something different. If everybody's doing it, I won't. I'm not a rah-rah flag waver or a magnetic ribbon wielder. You won't see me wearing pink or participating in events like Race for the Cure. I have no objection to other people doing it, as it has supported good causes. It's just that, I prefer to support these things in a different way, my own way.

Personally, I support all sorts of cancer research, support, and screening, for men and women. Men and women are affected breast cancer. But there's more than just breast cancer that deserves attention and money. When I see pink-wrapped candy and other garbage being sold in support of breast cancer, it turns my stomach. What message does that send? That gluttony is acceptable, as long as it's for a cause?

Susan G. Komen screwed up. Maybe they can save face, maybe they can come clean and pull themselves out of the toilet, but I wonder if public trust will ever be restored in this organization.

Our health care system is broken, along with our economic, taxation, political and legal systems. We need leaders who can work with each other for SOLUTIONS despite their ideologies. We all need to let go of our death grips on how we think things MUST BE and start working toward changing WHAT IS. Because WHAT IS is not working.

Unless, of course, you have endless buttloads of money and zero social conscience, then it suits you perfectly.

Fortunately many wealthy people do have a social conscience, but it sure seems these days that they are outnumbered and outpowered by those who don't feel any obligation to their fellow human beings who share this planet. I believe we all end up in the same place. And I also believe that no one greets you at the pearly gates to let you in preferentially just because you made more money than someone else.

Isn't it time we evolved as a society? This isn't the wild west anymore. We have over 300 million people to take care of.

We all have seen the civil rights movement, the womens' movement, the ongoing battle for gay rights. None of these movements are finished, there remains work to be done on all these fronts. The disparity of wealth, power, and resources is sparking a movement too. We need to change the way things are done. It's incremental, and it takes generations. Things don't happen without a lot of resistance and bloodshed by the powers-that-be.

That's where we're headed, folks. It's only a matter of time. When it hurts more to avoid action than it does to take action, things will change. We're getting awfully close.

Groundhog Day: What a Drag!

This is my new toy, just started playing with it this week.

Dennis and I put this tire drag together using Marshall's instructions, and it took all of an hour and a half to do it, including gathering the supplies. I used a free old tire from a junkyard, got about 10 feet of climbing rope and a carabiner from REI, a bungee cord, and a padded weight belt for $20 from Sports Authority. Total cost less than $30.

First, the inspector had to check it out, for quality control.

Once it met Isabelle's approval, I tried it out.

It works. It's awesome! Now I have to figure out some good places to play, with a nice grade, where there isn't much traffic and there won't be too many gawkers.

I'll be using this to help me prepare for my little adventure this summer. I'm still looking into used baby joggers on e-Bay and other places. I'll be making reservations this month, and once I have things fairly well-organized, I'll blog about it.

Fourteen miles this morning, two with the buffs, one with the tire, and 11 more unattached. I ran the Power Trail. It's sort of a gloomy morning, the clouds are hanging out and the breeze is starting to pick up. It wasn't too cold, maybe 35 degrees, but I wore three layers on top and my thickest tights anyway. This is my work weekend so I don't have a lot of days to run this week. That's okay, as long as I get my quality workouts in. I need to do hills and I hope it's not brutally cold and windy tomorrow for that. But if it is, I'll tough it out anyway.

It is February and the days are noticeably longer. It was still light at 5 pm. Another 5 weeks and we change the clocks again. Can that be possible? Spring is on its way, even if we get hit with a snowy month or two this year.

If you follow the famous rodent, Punxsutawney Phil, he saw his shadow this morning, so it looks like 6 more weeks of winter. Judging by our weather forecast, that is true. We've lost our sunny 50+ degree days for at least the next week. But the forecast isn't too bad, just a bit colder with a little snow, nothing major expected. I'm not a big fan of Phil. I say it's just a brief reprieve from spring, which has already been here for a month. Positive thoughts.

Whitewalls up!