Pre-race Shake Plan and the Traveler Mini Loop 25M - 2/26/11

One of the main things I wanted to run this race was to try out a new "liquid" nutrition plan the morning of and a few days before the run.  I've noticed over the course of paying attention to my weight how greatly it can fluctuate depending on how much and what I eat.  Of course a lot of that is body weight, but even a greater deal seems to be "food weight."  The idea came from reading another ultrarunners website (the link can be found on this blog's homepage).  His idea included some exercise nutrition studies which found endurance to be increased with supplemental powders such as branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), glutamine, and another protein powder  as pre-race and during race nutrition source.  I tried this out and made a shake composed of 2 servings of a soy protein meal replacement product, a 5 g glutamine/BCAA powder (tropical punch), 2 tbsp of red Gatorade powder and 2 tsp salt.  This was taken about 2 hours before the race and I was happy to not have any stomach discomfort from this mixture.  (BodyTech - Bcaa & Glutamine, 6.9 oz powder).  Lab studies have found BCAAs to increase fat metabolism during endurance events and glutamine supplementation has been shown to increase endurance in rats.  FYI - endurance athletes are actually recommended to have more protein than bodybuilders!  I think that says something about our sport.

My last 2 days of meals before the race were also all shake based with a combination of the soy powder, bananas, cocoa powder, peanut butter, etc.  The idea to have what I'm going to call "pre-chewed" food to allow better digestion and less "bulk" build up.  By no means was I malnourished, each meal shake consisted of 1000 calories and was well balanced nutritionally.  The main reason I did this came to fruition race morning when I weighed in at 178 after starting the week at 188.  A ten pound drop is nothing to play with over hours of activity!  Coming from Jack Daniels, 1 pound of fat loss (healthy) can drop 2 sec/mile off your pace which can quickly add up to a PR during a race.  Since this, I have switched to having shakes for breakfast to increase my protein intake and I simply like my shakes.  I have also started using a pure protein powder to achieve the former.

The Traveler Mini Loop was a replacement race for the White Rock 50K in AURA's Ultra Series and, sadly, probably won't be ran again.  This was my first trip to this area where the AT100 is held (future goal!).  This is one of the most beautiful areas that I have ran in thus far.  Much of this is due to the pretty intense climbing that you have to do on old forest service roads.  There was about 3200' of climbing which was generally relentless throughout the course; it seemed you were always either walking up a hill or flying down one.  The highlight of the course came fairly early after a long climb.  I reached a vista overlooking Lake Winona where the race started - gorgeous.

It was also another great opportunity to meet and get to know some of the other crazy ultra runners in the area; a nice change from a traditional road race where there's just no time for that sort of business.  I covered the course in 4:17 which I am very happy with since I was taking it easy in preparation for the LR Marathon the next weekend.  This race gave me a great confidence boost going into the next week because of the way I handled the elevation and made me look forward to the next trail race.  It was also my first race to get to wear my Camelbak (packed with TP just in case).

Lake Ouachita Vista Trail Marathon - 12/11/2011

LOViT Marathon by sithkitty at Garmin Connect - Details

The LOViT run was my first trail run since being in Little Rock and was probably the most overall taxing run I have done to date.  The course was set on a nice single track trail on the southern coast of Lake Ouachita in what I imagine to be beautiful when you are not huffing and puffing through it.  It was also my first experience with elevation change during a race; involving 2600' or so of climbing with a large 800' climb to reach the halfway turnaround.  You can check out the details above.  The race is also part of the AURA Ultra Series.  It is a "fun run" meaning there is no cost but also no frills (medals, timing).  It was also my first week of using my new Garmin Forerunner 205 which I picked up on a "Deal of the Day" from Amazon.  It was my graduation of sorts from the low tech Nike+ system I had owned for 2 years or more.  It gets a bad rep for its "laptop on your wrist" look but you can't beat its functionality.

I hitched a ride to the race with friends and we arrived on the back edge of a rain front giving a drizzly and somewhat chilly start to the race.  From the race description that I saw, I didn't bring any fluid or fuel, an assumption that came back to bite me. At the start, I decided I was going to keep pace with the leaders and I did for a short time.  I was going at a pretty good sub 8:00 pace through 10 miles or so until I started to feel my inexperience on the trails as well as the flaws in my nutrition.  After the aid station at about 11 miles, I met up with Stacey who was doing her first trail run as well and seemed a bit lost.  We both hadn't seen another runner for a while and decided we would get lost together.  A short time after meeting her, I caught my first rock of the day and did a very graceful, stumbling lunge.  This shock immediately seized up my already cramping calves which gave me worse issue from that point on.  We reached the large ascent leading up Honey Mtn (?).  At this point we saw the leaders including Leah who was blazing to what would be a 3:15 marathon on a pretty tough course.  I reached the top where a more complete aid station was available.  I sat down and massaged my calves and inhaled what I remember to be about 3 bananas, 5 bite-sized candy bars, and peanut butter crackers.  I also took some crackers for the road.  I kept up my time honored tradition of spending too much time in the aid stations; wasting about 5 or more minutes.  Stacey had long since left and ended up finished at least 30 minutes ahead of me if memory serves me.

I continued the last half of the race with a run/walk strategy based on how I felt.  When I returned at the next manned aid station, a runner who had dropped out earlier let me know how terrible I looked and offered me some of his salt pills.  I pounded down some more crackers, thanked him for his assessment of my appearance and continued on my merry way.  Up to about mile 23, the run/walk/curse process continued until I felt the dreaded rumble of a very upset stomach.  I will spare the dirty details but I will say that I found a place off the trail and in the process lost my shirt for the sake of cleanliness.  This has had a long standing policy change on bringing toilet paper for all trail runs!  The good news was I felt better and I trudged along to the finish.  I decided to wait on Jenny to catch up so I didn't have to wait too long.  And Jenny being Jenny, I didn't.  We met up on the last straight away and finished together.  Overall, the run took me 5:14 and served as a humbling and eye opening event.  It has since helped focus my training to include a little more intensity and to appreciate what a little experience can do for a runner on the trails.  It was also a great opportunity to meet the quirky ultra community that abides in Central Arkansas including some people who have become my weekly running partners.  My lack of pacing at the beginning and my nutrition before and during stood out as well and began a long internet search for nutrition advice and sparked a love for hill repeats that I think most runners should include in their training.

"This parade sucks" - Tulsa Route 66 Marathon 11/21/2010

The title comes from a sign I saw during my first official marathon and OH BOY did I screw the pooch on this one.  My training went well leading up to this race.  I ran 4-5 times a week and, until it got colder, I rode my road bike for cross training.  There was likely some yoga and core synergistic workouts from the P90x program as well.  Up to this point, I had used the Nike+ system which I would highly recommend for a beginning runner with an affinity for Nike shoes, like me!

As my luck would have it, Harry Potter 7.1 was released at midnight Thursday before and you bet I was there.  To add to that, the night before the race, typical OK winds picked up their efforts and continuously made a high-pitched whistling noise through the hotel door.  So, race morning I woke up with a bit less sleep than I prefer.  I downed my pre-race breakfast (at this time it included 3 Clif Bars) and had my coffee.  At this time I weighed in at 185+ depending on how much I ate a particular day.  I later learned that each pound you gain/lose can be estimated at 2 seconds/mile on your pace, but I digress. At race start the temperature was at a humid 65 degrees and the wind was gusting up to 25 mph.  I carried a fanny pack stuffed with my world famous honey burritos.  Most embarrassing was the goop of Vaseline that I had (and still have) to put on my nipples to prevent chafing and the dreaded bloody nipple syndrome!  The stains have persisted and that shirt is virtually ruined!  This race had the worst pre-race ceremonies I have seen so far which included an Indian drum/dance ritual that clashed with the feel of the race.  But whatever.

The course went out on several loops crossing the starting area a couple of times making it great for spectators who can move a few blocks to see their beloved athletes every hour or so.  Coming through the first time, about mile 7, I knew I was screwed.  Helen had a Star Wars themed poster that said "May the force be with you" and my parents had two digital devices each recording my progress.  There was also a fire-breathing guy and miscellaneous cowbells which is surprisingly appreciated when you are suffering.  But that was the problem, I was already suffering.  I was carrying an 8:20 pace and it hurt.  Not good at mile 7 of a 26.2 mile event.  I persisted, of course.

I continued running and periodically munching on my burritos (3 I think) with a plan to have them done by mile 15.  The somewhat ironic moment came about mile 12 and is why I have since abandoned the honey burritos.  As my mother had warned, the breathing required for a marathon does not coexist well with eating solid food.  I choked, on the run.

This year, the race had a commemorative detour to a place called the "Center of the Universe."  Running the 0.3 mile detour earned you some extra hardware.  I decided to take it since my time was already looking pretty bad.  I didn't expect to be given the commemorative coin  in the middle of the race to carry around.  Thank goodness for a fanny pack. It was funny to hear people talk about completing an "ultra" after they took the detour.  Personally, 26.5 doesn't count.

Regrettably, the marathon course met back up with the half marathon which had split at an earlier point.  It was about our mile 15 and their mile 10 putting my group with a considerable slower group of halfers.  This bottleneck was angering and was probably the only complaint I have about the course.  About a half mile in, there was a plethora of emergency workers and sirens rushing to a particular spot on the course.  As I passed, I finally saw a runner laying in the grass with a defibrillator hooked up to him getting CPR.  That was beyond disturbing to see.  Worse, it was later announced that that guy, a 27 y/o CPA from Tulsa, died during what was his first half marathon.  Along the last 10K of the race, I met up with a lady who I ran with during the Hogeye Half five months earlier.  She helped me to maintain my pace for the rest of the race and, I will admit, was an excellent wind block for me when we had head winds.

My first marathon finish was anti-climatic.  I was glad to be finished but I think I missed that overwhelming joy that you are suppose to experience.  I finished in 3:38 for the 26.5 official miles I ran giving me about a 3:35 for the marathon.

I think this race is great for first timers; they give you a special bib and medal to commemorate your new achievement.  They also give an event cotton shirt and then a technical shirt if you finish.  Hooray for t-shirts!!  The medal was a neat spinner (like on a car).  I do plan to go back for some revenge in the future.

TATUR Midnight Madness 50M -7/2/2010

http://www.tatur.org/Midnight50/index.html

I've started this blog off the advice of two running buddies who may be the only people I can talk into reading this.  I decided it was a good idea considering now as, nearly a year later, I am trying to remember what I did last summer in preparation for my next 50M in the next 2 weeks.

The good news for me is that I didn't do anything to remember.  I did the worst thing someone could do for a race; I didn't train.  I've got plenty of excuses for that summer; vacations (2 weeks), sickness (2 weeks), injury (3weeks)... but that is an old song that will get played over and again by every runner at some point.  Going into the race, I had completed only two consecutive weeks of running, 14 and 30 miles, respectively.  Besides physical, I also failed to prepare for all the many particulars of trying to cover a week's worth of miles in one go.


I started the race already having been up the whole day; I never got to sleep before hand like I planned.  I was graciously driven there by my girlfriend, Helen, and our friend, Kara.  The TATUR group has an excellent packet pickup policy which allows for race day pick up.  This allows for skipping any hotel planning since you can arrive right before the race and be ready to go.  The race is ran on a 10.3 mile loop equivalent to the River Trail in LR.  The loop includes a steep uphill a Turkey Mountain with a long descent down back to the bike path to return to the start.  The race implements alternating directions, so the course profile changes whether you are going clockwise or counter-clockwise.  The good news is that an "over-the-top" aid station is at the crest of this hill (approx half way) stocked with all the goodies you could hope for as well as drop bag service.  There is also water drops halfway between the Turkey Mountain aid station and the start line (which has all the supplies as well).  I finished the 50K (3 laps) in roughly six hours relatively uneventful.  As planned, Kara joined me for the fourth lap while Helen continued to supply me with honey burritos after each loop.  The fourth lap is where it went downhill.  Sleep deprivation and physical fatigue began to take its toll as well as the incredible wear on my feet.  I had changed shoes between one of the laps and at this point had succeeded in filling both pairs of shoes I brought with sweat.  This would come back to haunt me.

Starting about mile 36, my legs and feet dictated that I begin mainly walking and I don't remember attempting to run much more after this point.  Kara also tells me that I began to be a little belligerent amounting to me making comments to those who were passing me in opposite direction.  She seemed to get a laugh out of it.  Luckily I can't remember a word I said.  Lap five was completed all by walking and I was accompanied by Helen this time.  By this point, obvious blisters had formed a were becoming increasingly painful; made worse by the heavy rain that began only a mile into the lap and continued through the finish.  The blisters formed and subsequently burst sending me into a panic.  I couldn't at the time imagine what was happening in my sneakers but it was not as bad as I thought.  After all, skin regenerates!  I finished the last lap, taking as much time for the last two laps as I took for the first three.  I was medaled with what is my favorite medal thus far, I climbed into the back of the car and was then whisked instantly away back home...

That night we drove to Fayetteville for a group dinner and I was on crutches that night and the next day.  I got into what I now know to be normal post-race soreness by Tuesday.  I took two solid weeks off to heal a concerning looking bruise on my left foot which I have assumed to be a fracture.

In retrospect, I have no regrets about this race.  To this point, it was the craziest thing I had ever done and heck, I survived.  If nothing else, I found a quality I seem to have an abundance of, stubbornness.  This is stubbornness to pain and to suffering but also to the inability to deal with the idea of not finishing something I've started.  I think it will take me places.