Time for a Break?

The past two weeks have been very crappy for me as far as running goes. My mileage has decreased drastically, mainly because of lack of time and motivation. My body is just not into the running mode. I have felt very tired...almost exhausted. I have run four ultras since the end of January, so maybe it's time for a break. Maybe my system needs some extended rest. I guess I'm getting old!

I did have two great runs. A 21 miler on the yellow trail at Shelby Farms last Saturday and a 8.3 miler at Bartlett Park this morning. Today's run felt great and my body seemed to be getting back into the groove. I have the Scenic City Trail Marathon in one week, so I will take it easy the rest of the week.

After the trail marathon, I will take a much needed break. The next race will be in July (Midnight 50k). Then the wife and I are going to Hawaii for our anniversary! I hope to run up and around Diamond Head!

Long Run

Saturday's long run was at Shelby Farms on the yellow trail. I parked at the ranger's station instead of the kite area to add just a tad more distance to the run. Twice from the ranger's station to Germantown Rd via the yellow trail came to 21.5 miles.

The first outbound (5.4 miles) took 1 hour 4 minutes. I knew I could do better, so I pushed just a bit harder on the first inbound and came in 7 minutes faster by my count. Not much to brag about, but negative splits are rare for me!

The second outbound and inbound took a lot longer than the first, but hey...I needed to practice my "power-hiking" anyway! I also stopped at the Shell station on G'town Rd to fill up with H2O, Coke, and Pringles!

For the first lap, I ran in my trusty Nike Free 3.0s. These are my "go-to" shoes for non-technical trail running. For the second lap, I ran in my new Zoot Ultra Tempos. These shoes are made for triathletes, but I figured they could work for me as well. I was not disappointed with the Zoots, but at the same time, I was not overly impressed either. I may wear them for the trail marathon coming up, but need to get more miles on them first.

Today was supposed to be another long run of around 10 miles, but (as of 4:18pm) I have yet to get outside to run. Household chores come first!

Ouachita Video

I forgot to show ya'll this short video of me on the downside of Pinnacle Mountain during the Ouachita 50.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

I never cease to amaze myself (or my wife) at how stupid I can be. Today's run was at Bartlett Park. My plan was to run after work, before the rain came in. I haven't run here in some time and wasn't sure of the condition of the trails with all the rain in the past month(s). I also haven't run in my Five Fingers in a long time. So...my bright (stupid) idea was to run Bartlett Park in Five Fingers!

The trails were a total mess. There was long areas of mud bog throughout and the creek had about six inches of "stanky" water in it. With the FF's, I had no traction whatsoever. I lost count of the number of times I fell on my ass because my feet slid out from under me. Once down in the creek, I thought I would never get out! The sides were very slick, so I had to move down to where I could grab ahold of some roots and pull myself up.

The FF's force me to a mid-foot foot strike. I am by nature more of a heel striker, so the mid-foot strike starts to hurt my calves and hips after a few miles. I kept my pace slow and my feet under me the best I could.

All in all, I had a great time in the woods and in the mud! Today is my 41st birthday and I am just happy to be able to still run!

Long Run

I ended the day at 7pm with 20.63 miles on the blacktop (I figured the trails would be too wet and muddy today). All attempts to start my run early this morning were thwarted by my laziness. I finally hit the road around 11:30, which allowed only about 90 minutes to run before I had to get back home and get the car to the shop for an oil change. This first run was 9.16 miles. I wanted to keep running, but other appointments needed tending.

The second run was 11.45 miles. I wasn't really wanting to run by this point, but I knew that my ass needed to be out there. Midway into the run, I ran out of gas. I only brought one Hammer gel for fuel, which didn't help much. I finally made it back home in a somewhat respectable 2 hours and 15 minutes...having walked ALOT during the run and the entire last mile.

After a Recoverite drink and a delicious dinner, I feel ok. No pains and not too tired. I am planning on running at least 15 miles tomorrow on the trails at Shelby Farms to finish out the week.



Run #2
Run #1