100 Miles of food

That's what will be fueling me this weekend.

Strangely enough, I'm completely calm about the weekend..  I don't know if its that I've gotten to a point where I'm no longer nervous before races, or that it just hasn't hit me yet.  Less than 36 hours until "go" time.

Rocky Raccoon

Next week at this time, I'll be in a great deal of pain or I'll be asleep.  Perhaps both.  I've kept it pretty quiet up until now.  I'm running the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler next weekend.  The reason I kept it quiet is that I've made multiple attempts to get to the starting line of a 100 miler, but I've ended up injured each time.  I don't feel like I've put in the kind of miles that I should have, but at least I'm getting to the starting line this time.  After that, it's all about just moving forward.  My only goal is to get across the finish line before the cut-off.

The Mind of an Endurance Runner

Two weeks before a 50 miler: Another race, can't wait
 A week before a 50 miler: Another race, should be fun
A day before a 50 milers:  I should have put in more miles, but I've done more on less.
Morning of a 50 miler: Oh man, this is going to be a LONG day, I should have trained more.
When the starting gun fires of a 50 miler: I'm just going to have fun, let's take it slow.
1/4 of the way through the a 50 miler:  Man, I'm feeling good.  Maybe I can PR this distance.
1/2 way through the a 50 miler: No way I'm going to keep this pace to PR, but I'll still easily put down a good time.
3/4 through a 50 miler: I think I'm going to die.  Why the hell am I doing this?  There's no reason to run this far.  I hurt, I'm tired, and and this sucks.  Maybe this is enough.  Not sure I want to do another one of these.  I don't even know if I can do the 100.
Near the finish of a 50 miler: Thank God, I'm almost done.  I hope they have beer at the finish line.
After the finish of a 50 miler: Where are my flip flops?  Get these shoes NOW!
An hour after the finish of a 50 miler: Whew, long day.  That sucked, but it wasn't too bad.
The day after the 50 miler: Holy crap, I can barely move.  I can't believe I ran 50 miles yesterday.
Two days after the 50 miler: Meh, the 100 shouldn't be that bad.

Yes, I did a 50 miler two days ago.  And the above is a VERY succinct play of the past couple weeks.  Every long race, I ask myself why I'm doing it.  I never have an answer for it at that moment.  But I keep coming back.

Another 50

I've been battling motivation issues lately.  I've been putting in a bunch of miles, but not the volume I need.  Now that I'm only a little over 2.5 weeks out from my next 50 miler, I can't really afford to be missing runs.  I've got a 50K training run on the schedule for this weekend, so that'll give me a lot of insight on how to structure my attack plan for the 50 miler.  The cooler weather has made it much easier to knock out the higher mileage, so I'm hoping the lower temps stick around.

Pouring on the miles

I've been a bit lazy with blogging since IMWI.  I took a couple weeks off from training, but I'm back on the road putting in mileage.  My weekly mileage is currently in the mid-50s and heading north.  I still feel slow, but the endurance is there.  The plan is to keep increasing mileage and add in some speed work one day a week.  Additionally, I'm attempting to supplement with some swimming, cycling, and light weight training, although I've been lazy on those thus far. 

I've been running 6-10 miles on my weekday runs through the hills of northwest Austin.  The runs are slow because the hills are ridiculously steep, but I'm starting to feel stronger going up.  Last night I got back in the pool for my first swim since IMWI.  I took it pretty easy, but it did feel good to get in a short swim.

I've got a few targets drawn on my calendar for upcoming races, but we'll see what exactly I end up doing.

Deaths in Triathlon

I survived IMWI, so I'm alive to post this article.  Some facts about deaths in triathlon (and a couple marathon figures).  It also dispels a few misconceptions.  Straight from the article:

We can dispel some common misperceptions:

• This is not a problem of beginners and is not a problem with swimming ability.
  
  
• The fatality rate has not increased in more recent years. The number of fatalities has paralleled the growth in participation rate in triathlon.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to using/not using a wetsuit.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to the type of swim start (mass, wave, time-trial). No particular start method appears to be safest.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to the length of the race.

It's almost "Go Time"

A week and a half form IMWI.  The work is done.  Just a few maintenance workouts left and then we head north.  The bike is what is on my mind.  Typically, I look forward to the bike, as I'm fairly strong in the saddle, but this will be the hilliest race I've ever done.  I have to really focus on not burning out my legs, which means taking it easy on the bike.  I have a hard time doing "easy" on the bike.  As a wise man repeated to me today, "there's no such thing as a good bike and a bad run."  I've heard it a million times, but it gets no less true.

I've got a week and a half to continue pounding that into my head...

Finding the podium

  

Yesterday was the first time I've won my age group in triathlon.  Katie, Creighton, and I raced the Georgetown Super Sprint.  When looking at the results for the previous event up there, I knew there was a decent chance that we could do well, and I had an even better feeling that Katie could win her AG or get on the overall podium.  However, we all know it really comes down to who decides to show up.  Adding to that, we weren't doing ourselves any favors for this race, as we were throwing down some difficult training.  On Saturday, Katie and I did a four hour hill attack ride on Saturday (attack any hill, no matter how short), and then managed to stay up/out late due to a dinner party and some friends playing a show downtown.

On much too little sleep, we headed up for the race.  After setting up, we lined up at the pool.  I'm typically a slow swimmer, so I was shocked to see how many people were seeded behind me.  Once in the water, I had a little trouble settling into a rhythm.  This was actually the first time I've done a triathlon with a pool swim.  Stopping to turn at the walls really kept me from getting into a good rhythm and getting my heart rate down.  I ended up passing one person in the pool, and then made my way to the bike.  I took my time in T1, and then headed out on the bike.  I tried to keep the pace somewhat easy on the way out to get my heart rate down and settle in.  Once I felt smooth, I picked up the pace and kept it over 20 mph for the majority of the ride.  I passed quite a few people on the bike and no one passed me.  My quads felt completely dead on the ride, but I continued to crank.  There was one small uphill on the course, but it wasn't anything that took too much effort.  Just before the end of the bike route, there was a roundabout that I made a wrong turn on, as there were several directions to head out of it.  They were not all marked.  I lost a few seconds, but it wasn't that bad.

I took my time in T2, and then headed out on the run.  It was starting to get warm, but with only a 5K I figured it wouldn't be too terrible.  Mile one came up too quickly.  My watch read 6:15.  I knew I wasn't running that fast.  Of course mile two was at around 9 minutes, so it became obvious that the mile markers were off.  I got passed by one runner around the 2.75 mile point, but he wasn't in my age group so I didn't give much chase.  My legs were completely dead, and I was just trying to finish without looking like a total chump.

Katie finished not too long after me.  I was pretty sure she had done well, as I had only seen two women ahead of me, and one of them started the swim long before I did.  I suspected I was ahead of her (I was).  When they finally posted the unofficial results, we had both won our age groups.  I actually finished 9th overall, and the 8th male finisher.  Katie was the fourth female and 17th overall finisher.  Creighton also finished 3rd in his age group for his first podium finish in his second triathlon.  Not a bad morning!

Relentless Forward Progress: Review

I've written tips on ultra running on my humble blog, but I might as well save my "breath."  Just go buy this book.  I've read plenty of books about ultra running, but most of them are composed of stories of runners over-coming challenges in life or compilations of race reports.  Until now, I've not found a good "how to" book on ultra running that really gives great insight on getting started.  Bryon Powell has written a fantastic introduction to ultra running and provides a great book to use as reference.

To a veteran ultra runner, there's nothing ground-breaking in this book.  You already know it.  You've pieced it together the hard way: through trial-and-error, through racing, by reading race reports, and by talking to the runners who have already completed crazy distances.  However, this book is fantastic for someone looking to start running ultras or the person who has just started down the ultra path.  Powell even highlights some training plans.

This book is no substitute for experience.  Reading it a couple times and following the advice won't make you the next Scott Jurek, but it'll go a long, long way to making your entry into the ultra world enjoyable.  If you don't find something enjoyable about suffering through long miles, then you shouldn't be running ultras anyway.  Kudos to Powell for finally putting out a fairly comprehensive guide to the world of ultras.

If you are thinking of venturing into ultras, pick up this book.  See you guys on the trail!

Coming down the home stretch

We are down to 6 weeks.  We've got 3 more long runs and 4 more long rides before Ironman Wisconsin.  Its time to really focus and get some solid training in.  On Saturday, four of us went out to tackle a mock half IM.  We ended up bagging it after 5.5 miles due to the extreme heat, as I didn't see how I was going to benefit from a long slog of run-walking another 7+ miles.  It was smarter to cut it short, recover faster, and re-focus on training.  Even with the shortened event, I got out of it what I needed to know.  I need to really focus more on the bike.  I've not put in near as many miles as I did last year for IMTX, and I think it shows.  I'll have no problem finishing the race, but I'd like to have a respectable showing.

Pre-mock 1/2 Picture

I sat down and revised the final weeks of training last night, and it is going to be grueling. However, I think it'll pay off in the long run.  With the high temperatures we are training through, I'm hoping for a huge payoff with the weather on race day.

Katie and are are doing the Georgetown Super Sprint Tri on Sunday for a little extra transition practice.  It should be a fun little event.