A quick trip to Michigan

Tomorrow morning we're hitting the road for a quick trip to visit my mom in Michigan while Kendall is on spring break. It'll be good to see her, it'll be a treat to get out of town, it'll be fun to criss-cross at least some of this summer's planned route, and it will be a joy to run somewhere I haven't already run a gazillion times this winter!

Before heading off on our mini vacation (during which time I will have minimal access to a computer), I thought it would be a good idea to make a record of recent revelations:

• Always try to eat a little something before heading out the door in the morning. Even if you think you're going for a short run, you seem to always turn it into a couple of hours or more. (where "you" refers to me and not the reader who is undoubtedly much wiser than this writer)
• Do not top off the gatorade in your water bottle with water even if you've just emptied the gatorade bottle and would have to go downstairs to get a new bottle then open the new bottle and pour just a little bit out of it to fill up your water bottle. Diluted gatorade just doesn't cut it anymore, especially when the supposed short run turns into the unexpected long run.
• Running partners make life oh so much more enjoyable. If they offer to accompany you on a run, say yes! Even if you're grumpy and do not believe you are fit for public consumption, a few miles with a running partner will set the world right again.
• Sunrises are glorious. Sunsets are spectacular. Running at sunrise and at sunset all in the same day is marvelous way to start and end the day.
• When bored with the same old running loops, turn onto a street or path you've never been on before, then the next new street or path, and the next. Seeing new sights and/or getting lost does wonders for alleviating boredom. It is conceivable I will have run on every street in south Boulder by the time I start out across the country.
• Running through the changing of the seasons is a marvelous past time...and watching spring blossom forth even makes one forget about the 61 consecutive days of snow ground cover we had.
• Not changing your clothes between runs when you run three times in one day saves a lot of time and laundry - but one might want to minimize one's public exposure during said day.
• When running 100-180 miles per week, one should try to remember to eat and sleep.

Time to wrap things up. Gotta finish a library book before we hit the road (still working on that remembering to sleep thing)!

March quote

A high school buddy sent this to me for my birthday. As the date of my run rapidly approaches, and the miles grind on, and all the details pile higher and higher, I must remember this:

"She who attempts the absurd, can achieve the impossible."
~Robin Morgan

Spring!

Today is the first day of spring - and my 55th birthday.
The day started with a rather empty feeling: my sons left for college last night, my dad is gone, and my husband's work day is going to extend into the evening (parent-teacher conferences). So I set off on my run feeling rather blue. That was to soon change.

As a rosy sunrise filled the eastern sky, I met up with the Boulder Road Runners and an enthusiastic birthday greeting from long-time running buddy Patti. After a few miles with the Road Runners I continued on to higher trails.

Brilliant sky, greening cacti, tiny flowers in bloom, birds singing, butterflies flitting.
Blissful solitude in a magnificent venue.
Emptiness vanquished.
The day turned golden.
Ready to sail on through a new year.

Last of my sons' spring break days

(Devon & his mom)

Tonight my boys hop the train back to Galesburg, Illinois and Knox College. It sure was nice having them home. Of course, with 6.5 hours of running per day last week, I didn't see a whole heckuva lot of them - so today I ran only in the morning then hung out with them this afternoon. All feels right with the world when we're together.

(Paul & his mom)

Planned day off

As planned (to mimic this summer's schedule), I took today off running and just went for a walk with my husband and Jester dog. It was my first day of no running this year. Huh.

I've got 110 running miles and a drive to Petoskey, Michigan planned for the upcoming week. The trip, which starts Friday, should be interesting. I'll try to get most of my running done before we hit the road. While on the road, we're hoping to see migrating sand hill cranes in Nebraska, and do some first-hand investigation of questions I have about the Wisconsin portion of this summer's route. And in Petoskey, snow permitting, I hope to be running along Lake Michigan on some of my favorite trails.

180-mile week - made it to 157

The experiment of running 30-mile days (two runs per day) for six days to simulate what I'll be doing this summer is done. I only made it to 157 miles (four consecutive days of 30 miles, then 18 and 19). However, I do consider the experiment successful since the primary purpose was to learn what I'd be experiencing this summer and how to deal with it - and I did learn a lot:

• It takes me 6.5 hours (+/- a few minutes) to run 30 miles in a day.
• I seem to prefer a slightly longer run in the morning and a slightly shorter run in the afternoon rather than splitting the runs into 15 and 15. The morning/afternoon run mileage worked out to be: 14/16.5, 16/14, 16.5/13.5, 17/13, 16/2, 19.
• As the week progressed, most of my runs felt a lot like the last four miles of a less than stellar marathon; hopefully this sensation will dissipate as my training progresses.
• I began to include walking within my run: walking to cool down when I was overheating, walking while I was drinking or eating, walking on the occasional uphill, walking on downhills when my legs were so tired I didn't trust them on the trail. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to experiment with planned walking breaks (for example, run 17 minutes, walk 3 as Annabel and Caroline did in their Long Run from Boston to LA in 1984); it might help minimize that end-of-the-marathon feeling.
• Two of my worst runs were the first afternoon and the second morning due to temperatures in the 70s. I'm no where near acclimated to heat right now, but must get there before heading off across the plains this summer.
• Ice is a wonderful thing. Spraying my legs with cold water, sitting in an ice bath, putting ice packs on sore spots - all make my legs very very happy.
• Finding food to eat in between the morning and afternoon runs is very tricky. I only seemed to be able to get one meal in during that time span. I'm not sure that was enough but I was having trouble tolerating much food prior to the second run.
• My stomach was the body part that was most troublesome throughout this experiment. Ginger chews were quite effective at settling it down - and it almost always needed settling during the second run of the day.
• Foods to avoid between runs 1 and 2: nachos, large salads.
• Foods that worked well between runs 1 and 2: eggs, fig bars, potatoes, rice, soup.
  
• 1.5 hours was not enough time between runs; 2.5 hours was adequate; 4 hours was really sweet.
• By the end of the week, drinking gatorade and eating gu during the runs had lost a lot of appeal - but I absolutely must learn to tolerate this.
• I need more upper body strength. By the end of the week my arms, shoulders and back were oh so tired.
  
• The area I need the most improvement in is sleep. Monday I left for my run at 4 a.m. in order to make it to the train station in time to pick up my sons at 7 a.m. All but Tuesday morning I was out the door by 6:30 a.m. and wasn't going to bed before 10 - and, in fact, went to bed after 11 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. And there was no napping during the week. I think the lack of sleep is a reflection of the fact that I've got a life outside The Run right now; hopefully time to sleep will be more readily available this summer.
• My worst overall run was Friday morning: I was way too tired and my legs were really stiff. We had gone to the dinner theater the night before (special spring break treat for the family while my sons were home) - and I only had 45 minutes between the end of my last run and when we were sitting at the tightly-spaced dinner theater table. What I was doing Friday morning could barely be called a run, and I was so fatigued I couldn't even get a coherent sentence out. Thank heavens for tolerant running buddies. AndyE and Joe just plodded right along next to me, keeping the day cheery. By the time I got home, though, my right ankle/achilles area was extremely painful and I decided I'd best spend the rest of the day icing, keeping it elevated, and resting. I did go out for a short two miles just to test things out later in the day and was encouraged by the improvement.
  
• After Friday's scare with my ankle/achilles I decided to end the experiment and keep Saturday's run to one longish run (19 miles). Again, Joe and AndyE joined me for the middle miles - but I was much better company this time around...all the icing and off-the-feet time Friday afternoon and evening worked wonders. Today was a great day on country roads, moving smoothly and singing and chatting along the way. A lovely morning.
• One example of how my non-running life is taking up some time during this week's experiment: today's morning run finished in a neighboring town where my family and I spent the afternoon at the K&C RV lot - and we ended up buying the motor home we're going to use on the trip. WhooHoo!

180-mile week - 7/12ths done

This morning went something like this:

• 5:10 a.m., woke up, said "how can I do this," got a drink of water, went back to bed.
• 5:30 a.m., pulled off the covers and said "let's get this done."
• 6:25 a.m., went out the door to do a bit of a warmup before meeting up with the Boulder Road Runners.
• 30 minutes into my run I realized I'd have to really hustle to get to the BRR by 7; picked up the pace and said "Where'd this come from?!"
• 46 minutes into my run, did not get to the BRR in time; kept hustling in the direction I figured they went in.
• 75 minutes into my run, I spotted Patti and ran back in with her - pace getting faster along with the conversation.
• 1 hour 36 into my run, left Patti, slowed it down a bit, and started devising a route that would finish up with 15 miles for the morning.
• 2 hours into the run, energy flagging, I ate 3 bites of a cliff bar, followed by 2 gum drops with a gatorade chaser - it must be a miracle combination cuz energy levels rebounded in force.
• 2.5 hours into the run, I started devising longer routes vs. short cuts. Maybe it was the cool misty almost snowy morning (along with the cliffbargumdropgatorade elixir) that was working its magic.
  
• 3 hours and 25 minutes into the run, I decided to rein myself in and headed for home.
• 3 hours 37 minutes, 17 miles, and feeling like, yes, this is doable!

Week-to-date runs: 7 done, 5 to go
Week-to-date miles: 107 done, 73 to go

180-mile week - day two

Last week (a 110-mile week) was a confidence builder. This week, so far, is a humility builder.

Today's first run (16 miles) was another hot one, I kept getting slower and slower, and doubts about my sanity became more and more persistent. Coach Mark has never been a big fan of my plan to do a 180-mile week prior to The Run. But I can't imagine launching into Day 2 of the real deal and having these kinds of doubts surface. I definitely need to get the "Oh my gawd what the heck am I doing?" questions out of the way now! One good thing about the morning run: my younger son (Paul) came out on his bike and met me half way through the run. Delightful!

The second run of the day commenced about 2.5 hours after the first one ended. I was a bit worried about the shortness of the gap, but it's the price I had to pay after sleeping in this morning to catch up from yesterday's 4 a.m. start time. During the interim between the first and second runs, I did have enough time to spray down my legs with icey cold water and to eat decently - and then even had about 20 minutes to stretch out on the couch, legs propped up, and read the newspaper. Still, when I first set out on run #2, the machinery wasn't too happy. My tummy was especially unhappy, once again. About an hour into the run, I popped a ginger chew which settled things down quite well. Also about an hour into the run, my legs started aching. (They waited until about two hours into the run yesterday afternoon and this morning.) Again, the doubts surfaced. Then....things just started coming around. A slight wind picked up, the temperature dropped a bit, I headed off on some trails I hadn't been able to run since mid-December, evening quiet began to descend...and I found myself at peace. An hour more of running during the sunset, and another 30-mile day in the books.

180-mile week - the first day

This 30-mile day stuff is quite interesting. Whew!

The first run of the day was planned to be 15 miles and it went pretty well. Out the door by 4 a.m., dark dark dark outside, the occasional blindness by high beam encounter, a bit of misdirection through an area that has seen a lot of recent development, but a generally pleasant run. Due to a combination of timing and route issues, Kendall picked me up at 14 miles (with a cup of coffee awaiting me - yayy!), and we went off to the train station to get our sons. Double yayy!

The second run of the day was a bit more challenging...all part of the learning experience.

• After picking up the boys, we took them out to breakfast. Mistake #1: all I thought about when ordering my food was replenishing from the first run. I should have also been thinking about preparing for the second run. Instead I ate too much, probably ate some things I should have avoided, and I should have stuck with one cup of coffee vs. three. The second run started about 90 minutes after finishing breakfast - so all the mistakes I made with food choices had no time to correct themselves. Consequently, my tummy was rather unhappy throughout the second run (though a ginger chew did help settle things down considerably about 6 miles into the run). Note to self, bring lots of ginger chews along on The Run.
  
• Run #2 started at 11:15 a.m. (I was targeting a 3-hour run, to be finished at my massage therapist's table at 2:15). And the temperature got into the 70s today. It's been months since I've run in temperatures that high. Although I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I definitely overheated. However, this is not a new situation for me so I played it conservatively based on experience and slowed way down, ducked into a couple of buildings that I knew had drinking fountains and got real cold water in me and on me, and found shade where I could. I drained both of my water bottles (vs. this morning when I only drank about half of what I carried with me). Unfortunately, the gatorade I had with me was watered down a bit; I definitely could have used the full strength stuff on this run. I hope we have a string of hot days leading up to the Real Run. I've got some acclimatizing to do!
• Because I ran so slow going to my massage appointment, I only got in 13 miles. To get the total mileage up to 30 for the day, I walked home from my appointment (by the most direct route). Walking was a concession to the heat as well as to not undue everything that Magic Fingers Beggsy had just fixed. Though I do not generally count walking as part of my mileage, I figure it's a pretty realistic scenario for what will be transpiring this summer....more of an ultra approach to the run: walk the uphills, walk when drinking/eating, walk when you need to, run when you're able.
  

The good news is that, other than the lack of sleep, the too-full tummy, and the high temperatures, the final 15 miles felt pretty good. My legs are tired, but not trashed. I think I'll give it another try tomorrow!

110-180-110 - first 110 wrapped up!

Yep, 110 miles wrapped up with a bow on top. I must admit to being a bit dumbfounded by how well the week went and how good I feel. 106 miles in 6 days and a mere 4 today to get to 110. And it was a pleasant four miles indeed: me running with Jester dog on my left, Kendall bicycling on my right, and sunshine and blue sky overhead. Delightful!

So just what made this week go so well? Perhaps it's as simple as what my dad used to tell me: "If you just put your mind to it, you can do anything." I'm finally putting my mind to it instead of just my legs. This week was an exercise in pulling together the total package: miles + stretching + icing + eating + rest. I need to remember this.

Now on to the big test. 180 miles. 30 miles per day (split into two 15-mile runs) for 6 days. A dress rehearsal for the planned weekly schedule during The Run. Tomorrow, the first 30-mile day, should be quite interesting. My sons are arriving home for spring break from Knox College, via train, tomorrow, at 7:15 a.m. To get in both of my runs - and given that I would like to spend some time with my boys - I'm thinking I'll run toward Denver from Boulder. Which means leaving Boulder by 4 a.m. Hmmm. Drat that daylight savings time switch this morning. I'd better get to bed!