Eww.

Fruit punch flavored Endurox that has been sitting in the car for three hours tastes just. like. hot. vomit.

When properly chilled it rocks my face off.

8 Glasses a Day

Saturday was supposed to be my long run (3 hrs.). Apparently I was dehydrated. Bonked after about an hour. Tried to hang in there and push through but I think that would have been dumb. I felt shaky and dry mouthed. It's weird, but I know I'm starting to get dehydrated when it feels like my gums are shrinking and I can suck air from between my two front teeth with my mouth closed.

So I made it to the beach, refilled my water bottle and headed for the parking lot. That'll learn me to go out into the blast furnace unprepared. I spent the rest of Saturday resting and refueling. Getting some good revitalizing nutrients in me. Didn't sleep all that hot Saturday night, but slept in Sunday and made it back out to Afton for all three hours of my long run (which I finished, although the heat got to me towards the end) and then hill repeats on Campground Hill before calling it a day and running into the river for a nice swim.

The week prior to this long run = some very routine daily runs, keeping my HR in zones 3 & 4 (anywhere from 60 - 80% of max.). I found some singletrack along the Missisippi River Boulevard that was a pleasant surprise for my Thursday long-ish run. I still feel slow when I'm running with the HRM, but I'm going to have patience and stick it out. I've cut back on the cross training and am focusing a lot more on running. No speedwork, just building the aerobic capacity and endurance.

So...Glad it's a rest day today. I can focus on working, personal maintenance and watching Simon Schama's Power of Art this evening featuring Mark Rothko. I never really got him or his work (or "colorfield" paintings for that matter) but lately have been drawn to the simplicity and power of his paintings. We'll see what kind of moody sonofabitch he is, I guess.

My Achey-Brakey Heart...Rate Monitor.

Falling for what I am sure will prove to be yet another gimcrack on the path to becoming a better runner, I got me a shiny new Timex heart rate monitor. That, in addition to the VDOT training schedule I've been looking into has me running in different "zones" for different workouts.

I guess the goal here is to condition myself so that the 'easy' and 'marathon' pace becomes quicker and more consisitent. Also, I'm hoping the HRM will act as kind of a spedometer so I don't blow it by going out too fast at another race like Sour Grapes. I'm definitely guilty of redlining it up hills and then dying on the flats and downhills. I've noticed with the HRM I am forced to spread out the effort a little bit and pace myself.

I ran 18 long, slow (agonizingly slow, if you ask me) miles out at Afton Saturday in the "Easy" zone - somewhere around 60% - 70% of my max HR. Every time I hit a nice hill I wanted to sprint up, or a flat I wanted to race on the HRM was there to beep at me and say "hey. slow down. stay in the 'zone.'" So I did.

Also...Running slow (on purpose) is dumb. Sorry, "coach*," but that's just the way I feel. I was so irritated by the end of that eighteen miles I was ready to chuck that HRM into the trees. Hopefully frustraion grows into 'AHA!' here at some point.

Today was a little more fun...the weather still hasn't turned out to be the Al Gore hot they were predicting. Humid, I'll give them, but not hot. I sweated like a cool soda bottle out there, but was doing 80% - 90% of max, which meant yay faster. I hit the snowshoe loop and annoyed at least one happily hiking nature couple with my 'buh-beep! buh-beep!' of a heart rate gone completely mad on yet another hill. I guess we'll see how this works...I'm sure I'll get a feel for where I'm at just by feeling the rate eventually. But until then, I'll stick with the audible notification. It was a joyous nine miles, all the same.

Am currently enjoying some lemon-lime flavored Cytomax (recovery) and last night I whipped up 32 oz. of fruit punch flavored Endurox, which was also a fabulous recovery drink! The more I do this, the more I realize that the running doesn't stop when I leave the park...If I manage how I recover, I will feel better and stronger the day after I run, as well.

Gimcracks keep me interested...

* = me

Week 4 Moose Mountain Marathon Training

Last week's training went really, really well. I'm settling into a nice groove, but still challenging myself.

But before I bore you with all of that...I am going to throw a big shout out to Wynn, who took first overall at Psycho Wyco 50K over the weekend.

Also going to take a moment to ask for well-wishes to be guided to Alicia Gordon as well as her crew and pacers. Alicia is a regular out at Afton and on the dead runner's yahoo group and is running the Vermont 100 mile this coming weekend.

Now to recap week 4.

I am sitting here on my rest day in a chocolate chip cookie stupor. Last night I took full advantage of my post long run hunger to devour some tasty spaghetti and fresh cucumbers and about half a tube of Toll-House baked chocolate chip cookies and milk. Heaven, I tell you. But then I wonder why, for all of my situps and ab-work can I still not see the six-pack I can feel underneath my thin sheath of bellyfat?? Duh. But ya gotta enjoy life and the little indulgences at least once in a while, right? It's not like I'm fast or anything...but I do work hard.

My routine for last week:

XT (Cross Training)consisted of:
5x20 Push-ups on Bosu (when i do push ups i don't push myself up. i push the earth down)
5x20 Sit-ups on ball
5x15 Hanging leg raises
5x5 Pull-ups
+ or - Leg Program
5x10 Leg extensions @ 70 lb.
5x10 Hamstring curls @ 70 lb.
5x15 lunges & squats

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: 4 mi.@ 9:00 & XT - legs
Wednesday: 1 mi. warmup/4 mi. @ 7:30/1 mi. cool. & 1/2 (this run was grueling for some reason) XT - legs
Thursday: 4.5 mi. hard & XT - legs
Friday: XT + legs
Saturday: 12 miles @ Afton moderate/easy pace
Sunday: 10 miles @ Afton w/fartleks up hills

Sunday I also enjoyed getting to sit in the parking lot at Afton and rehydrate and chat with Tom, Nancy, Jim and Alicia. I also met John Storkamp who won the Half Voyageur last weekend.

I had so much anxiety from the week heading into the weekend, but most of it had completely dissolved after the last few miles on Sunday. Something about sweating out twenty-some miles in Mother Nature's backyard just makes me happy again. So restorative.

I am still dealing with a little bit of foot pain/bruising from the Afton 25K, so I got me some fancy red Vasque Blur's to run in last weekend. Daddy likes. They're a lot different than being barefoot or in VFF's, but I don't think I could train at the pace or intensity I would like and still be tenderfooting it. The added protection was welcome (as was the newfound ability to bomb down rocky gulches).

Common sense has got to enter into it at some point, right? I think the VFF's are a great tool for strengthening the feet (Tom and Nancy said I had strong looking feet and "nice peroneus muscles" :D), and absolutely my first choice for shorter distance trail running and most road running and working out in general, but for my long runs out at Afton...I'll take the added protection, thank you very much. The only drawback so far in the Blur's is the ankle area seems a bit tight/rubby on the two sinewey tendons that go down the crook of my instep (I'm not a doctor, I just play one in bed). They got a bit abraded and when sweat dripped down into that area it stung like a hive of bees. I'll figure that out, though...No problem.

This week looks to be a busy one, as well...I'm happy to have a rest day from training. "Even God took a day off" is what I wrote in my "analog" training log.

A Few Afton Photos

Gear Check The Night Before

50K Start: Frontrunners and Eventual Winner (in Montrail Shirt and Glasses): PR

A Small Sample of Afton's Beauty

Hardrock 100 Mile Race

http://www.hardrock100.com/

Holy Mother of God. Does that ever look like fun. Some kind of apotheosis. A grand calling. Something to keep an eye on...Something to look forward to in five to seven years?

Wynn will probably win this whenever he decides to run it.

Afton 25K: Breakthrough, Not Broken.

Well, kiddies it was another hot Saturday out at Afton. I woke early and went to watch the beginning of the 50K, getting there pretty much in time for the pre-race meeting and the ready, set, honk of the air horn.

It was gorgeous, nary a cloud in the hazy blue sky and after the start of the 50K, I had time to reflect on my game plan for the 25K. I got ready in the back of the Subaru and put on my Injinji's and Vibram FiveFinger Sprints. As usual, they got a lot of attention...in the parking lot, in the bathroom, down by the start/finish. I love to answer questions about them. It's a great way to meet folks.

I ran the first part of Afton quite a bit in the past few months, but I'd been saving the Snowshoe Loop/Meatgrinder just for the race. It was going to be a surprise...The course was very dry, no mud. The humidity was way up, though. It was plenty of the hot, even at 7:30 a.m...

Soon, it was time to line up and listen to the RD give the rules. There sure were a lot of 25K'ers! The horn blew and a herd of people five wide and god knows how many deep took off into the woods. I tried to shuffle back to the rear of the pack and let people spread out so I wouldn't have to get caught up in the throng to no avail. The mass of humanity was swallowing people whole. I just rolled with it, knowing if I headed out too fast to try and get out of the pack I would be sorry later. On the first good downhill, however, I got into a good rhythm and got into my own little cocoon of space.

I felt good for the first half of the race, making small talk with a bunch of folks I had met before and some I had not. I saw good ol' Tim Larson, who was doing his usual side shuffle and running backwards onto a damn good time (2:19:25) for someone who says he's got a couple of sore knees.

We chatted for a bit and he was off onto his own race, so I plodded along, enjoying the many long, steep climbs in the first six miles of the course. There were a couple of hills a South African dude I was chatting with said "You just gotta take it easy on these hills, man." in that unmistakable South African accent. I couldn't agree more. I didn't have any quad soreness but my IT bands were both beginning to whine a little on the downhills. I was taking it easier than I'd planned, but the pace was kind of dictated by a more conservative strategy to get me to the finish. For some reason, though I had trained a bunch out at Afton, I think the race director and a small crew of course groomers must have gone out and put extra rocks and roots on the first singletrack sections of the course. I was certainly noticing them in places I hadn't noticed them before.

I made use of the second water stop to top off my handhelds, because by that aid station I was completely soaked in my own sweat. I was also eating a couple Shot Bloks and sucking on some ginger chews at every aid station as well. It helped keep me going pretty well. I had put down a pretty decent effort right up until the long stretch of coarse gravel that tantalizingly ran parallel to the river. It was here that the cumulative effect of the rocky and rooty course started to become apparent to the soles of my feet. There was no one hot spot, but when I got to the aid station at mile 9.5 (thanks, Wynn for filling up my bottles and helping me wrangle the tops back on - lesson learned: don't carry two bottles of different brands/top threads) the long stretch of coarse white gravel looked like the Road to Ruin. I couldn't run soft enough to keep my feet comfortable on this surface. I haven't been able to yet, anyways. The grass on the sides of the road was unpredictable at best, and I thought it prudent to tough it out on the road instead of trying to negotiate a potential turned ankle in the ditch or something. It's funny. Rocks and roots in the singletrack aren't a big deal (unless I kick them) but a stretch of coarse gravel is positively loathesome in the VFF's.

By this time, the guy from Milwaukee I had been running with the last few miles talking about the amazing figure drawing show at the Walker was a speck at the end of the gravel road and I was still trucking along but my smile had faded some...

I welcomed the big hill that signaled the end of the Road to Ruin and the last six or so miles of the course, and used it to regroup a little bit. I drank liberally, pouring some GU into one of my handhelds and topping it off at the 12.5 mile aid station (Thanks Alicia and Tom, for helping me refill my stuff and get the respective tops back on and for the STRAWBERRIES!!!). Then it was only three more miles of some very intense singletrack, which was so enjoyable and totally unexpected (my surprise of the day). I hauled ass through this section (relatively speaking) and just had a ball up and down the millions of small hills and over the roots and rocks. I tripped no fewer than three times in this section, one time going completely ass over teakettle and just laid there looking at the leaf canopy and the blue, blue sky. When I got back up again and pointed myself in the right direction, it was like my body was running on its own. I could feel myself being propelled from my hips forward. It was a very strange sensation.

The open parts of the course had gotten quite hot towards the end of the race. It was a nice run through the meadow to a finish one couldn't really see until you were right on top of it almost. That's okay though, I didn't have much kick left anyhoo.

I made it in a respectable (for a guy with hardly any shoes on...at Afton...and the rocks...and the gravel...and the roots for 15.5 miles) 2:57:12.

The Breakthrough: I think this course is possibly the ragged edge of what I will attempt this season in the FiveFingers. As of Saturday night, I couldn't have imagined running another 25K loop for the 50K in them, at least not nearly as fast as the first loop would have been. And that's...as they say...okay. I will be looking into more substantial foot protection for The Moose Mountain Marathon and that too, is okay.

I positively gorged myself on salty and sugary snacks at the post-race. My custard filled donut was dripping melty chocolate and custard pudding on my potato chips and animal crackers and let me tell you, kiddies, it was like Christmas in heaven. They were grilling up hamburgers and I was trying to get pictures of the award winners and eat and talk to people all at the same time...[as of right now, my computer is refusing to recognize the memory card from my camera - photos will come as soon as this gets unfucked. I told you there was a lot of frosting involved -k.]

Not Broken: I drank plenty of water and HEED (the sports drink of the race) all weekend and I'm feeling pretty swell for a Monday morning. The balls of my feet smart a wee bit and my calves and ankles are a little tight, but I am looking forward to some recovery runs and getting back into my workouts tomorrow a.m.

A gigantic thank-you to all of the volunteers and race directors and everyone who makes Afton one hell of a fun race. I look forward to running it next year (although I think next year they ought to put a division in for folks who run in minimal shoes like the FiveFingers...:)

I'm not complaining about the VFF's at all. I knew what I was getting myself into with them. I'm just glad I recognize certain limitations they might have. It is a stretch to think that doing The Moose Mountain Mountain Marathon or even an Ultra in them would be completely accomplishable by me at this point in my minimal shoe running career. I'm not saying that running in shoes would have dramatically altered my time, or provided a significant benefit. Who knows...I might have been just good or maybe worse in shoes...But the experience was what it was and taught me certain things. It was different than running in shoes. That's all I can say.

More Q & A on the R & D

Anonymous writes (Q.):

I was linked to your blog via the VFF website. Your comments are very helpful, and I have two questions: Would you think a walker could also use these shoes - i do not run, but i do walk on pavement - or would the sole wear out too quickly on the heel?
and what is the top picture in your blog post of? it doesn't look like VFF but a similar product?
thanks much.

A: Thanks for your comment! I would definitely think a walker could benefit from wearing the Vibram FiveFingers Sprint or Classic. I have found that when I walk, or hike in them I am more sure-footed. I also land more gently (even when walking) and utilize more of my foot to distribute my weight rather than landing soley on my heels and rolling over to my toes. I have also noticed that my posture is helped out greatly by having more of a feel for the earth I am stomping on and because instead of orthotics or cushion or posting to do the work for my feet, it is my feet that are doing the supporting of my body. This leads to kind of a chain reaction all the way up my spine.

I have found the soles to be quite durable, putting literally hundreds of miles on one pair of Vibram FiveFingers Sprints in the last few months over all kinds of terrain: asphalt, concrete, steel grating, dirt trails, sandy beaches, limestone scree fields, rocky granite trails, pine forests, rivers, lakes...the soles still look like the day I got them and as an added bonus, I get to enjoy the feeling of all these different surfaces instead of having these sensations deadened by being in shoes.

I think you'll find if you try them that unlike shoes, there's no heel to drag, and you will have less of a propensity to push off with your feet. You will simply begin to walk by leaning forward and picking a foot up and letting it drop softly to the ground, just like if you were barefoot. They're also lighter than most shoes, lending to less fatigue at the end of the day.

Just remember to start slow, no matter how exciting it is to walk in them! Don't try to bite off too much at once.

The picture in my blog post is of the Vibram FiveFingers Sprint. It is a lot more adjustable than the classic.

Full Disclosure: Vibram does not pay me or provide me with product to endorse their brand. I just like and enjoy using their product.

Hot and Dry

Sunday I hit the Afton trails for a brisk twelve miles in my modified sprints and new green Injinji NuWool socks. I got there late so I could acclimate myself a little more to the summer heat. I've heard Afton in July can be on a hot one...And it didn't fail to disappoint! It sure was warm in the open spots! Nice, shady and cool in the lower areas down by the creek, though. Super fantastic. It was just one of those days where it felt good to just keep going. I tried to run back up every downhill I went down, adding to my overall workout (as well as taking a detour and having to turn back at a dead end). I stopped at the beach to soak my head and enjoy the breeze coming off the river, then climbed out of the river bottom and back towards the parking area.

The sun was out in full effect...I managed to get a little crispy on my back where I didn't put sunscreen and emptied and refilled my two handheld water bottles twice. I was filled with woe when my normally planned water stop on the campground trail was OUT OF ORDER!

I hit up LTF afterward for my workout (simple but exhausting) especially on top of a long run and then fully tuckered out I dragged it home for a nap before heading out to see some friends and grill up some delicious venison steaks, asparagus, corn and wild rice.

All I have left after that meatstravaganza are the venison tenderloins I've been saving, some venison round steaks and some venison roasts. I have a vicious craving for venison stroganoff, which will take care of the round steaks sometime this week. The deer my pops and I procured last November sure didn't last long this year. I had the processor we've been using make all my sausage and jerky without MSG in it and I have devoured it like it was going out of style. It's the best it's been in years.

I'm starting to get my mid-summer itch to head up to the farm and stake things out for the '07 season. See how the local deer population is doing and where they're moving now. It'll be too early to tell if there are going to be any good sized bucks yet but that doesn't matter since I'm usually after whatever fills the freezer with the best tasting venison, which isn't usually the big ol' swamp monsters you see harvested and turned exlusively into sausage. I like the fresh meat the best, which is generally your younger bucks and does. I've got a secret spot all picked out...and kiddies is it ever going to be some wild action come this opening morning.

But the focus this week is getting geared up for what promises to be a warm and humid Afton 25K race. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone I chat with out at in the parking lot there. Seems like the who's who of the MN trail running and ultra community will either be there running or working at aid stations. I'm hoping to bring Emily with so as to complete her transition from road runner to trail maniac. She had fun at Trail Mix, so she's bound to go nuts for Afton.