New Kicks, out in the middle of nowhere, and other random items...

Okay, after figuring out I had about 440 miles on my pair of shoes, I decided to switch it up. I read about these....Brooks Cascadia 5 Trail running shoes. These were designed by a fellow heel striker and ultra runner - Scott Jurek. (More on Scott here: http://www.scottjurek.com/#/bio/ )

Okay, Scott is in a different league than me, but still, a PT who designed a trail running shoe who is a heel striker? Sounds like some one who knows what he is doing.

I hit the trails over the past couple of weeks with John K to try out the shoes. Nice ride. I'm hooked.

John and I ran some land out in the middle of nowhere Iowa (I'm still not exactly sure where I was at). After "scouting" the land for about 4.8 miles, we came up with a 5k course. We ran it twice - once forward and once backward and came up with an even 3.1 each time.

The hills were killer. This was a tough 11 mile trail run. However, for some odd and likely unreasonable reason, the challenge was worth the 2 hour drive and the run was refreshing. I hope to get back there a few time before the summer races.

Here are a couple pics of the land

Rolling hills was basically all we ran, if you weren't going up, you were running down. Lots of good elevation change. Through the run, it was good to get in a 10 min mile. The change up in pace and terrain was a great way to mix up the normal pavement running.

While out on the run, we decided that we could hold a race out there. It would be an extremely challenging race.

I've recently switched back to drink heed during my runs. The mix seems to work best for me. Also, one item that is growing on me is this yogurt as a snack -

Also - I saw an ad in Ultra runner Magazine about Jason's Nut Butter. Organic peanut butter that I ordered and will try. It sounds yummy and it might be a good alternative to a GU pack on the run. Once I get it and try it out, I'll let you know my thoughts.

My running past for the past couple of weeks

3/11 - 5 miles - easy

3/12 - off

3/13- 21.2 miles in 2 hrs 50 minutes

3/14 - 5 miles

3/15 - 5.6 miles

3/16- Split day - 4 X 3k @ 7:10 with 5 min between - 10.75 miles; 3.6 miles easy

3/17 - 30/30/30 min E/R/T which worked out to e=8:30, R=7:10, T=6:40 = total miles was 12.2 miles

3/18 - Off (elliptical)

3/19 - 3 hrs with the last 60 min at race pace = 22 miles

3/20 - off

3/21 - trail - 7 miles

3/22 - 11.5 miles trail/pavement mix - easy

3/23 - 10 miles total - 1 mile warm up and 9 miles @ 6:47 pace

3/24 - 11 miles trails (HARD!)

3/25 - 5 miles easy

YTD total - 585.5

Sisyphus took my stone....

I've had a few great runs over the past week. While I was able to hammer away at my runs, it has been such a great change to get outside consistently to run. Spring is definitely close - I'm glad that John decided to officially pronounce winter over back on Friday, Feb. 26th at 11 am. I haven't touched a treadmill since. After this winter, the next time I'm on a treadmill for any reason will seem to soon.

Last Friday, I had something new on my running plan:

8 x hill?

60-70 seconds up

20 min warm and cool

Huh???? I understood the 20 minute warm-up and cool down - what was the whole hill thing - how hard should I run?

In an email - here is what my coach provided for an explanation - "For Friday's hill workout, depending on the hills that you have access to, ideally a hill that takes 2-3 min. to climb, moderate grade of uptempo, sustained running, probably T pace or slightly faster effort/breathing. Run the hill and jog down very easy, low impact and then run the hill again. You should fully recover on the downhill. The purpose of the workout is to get a harder, nearly anaerobic, strength stimulus while not beating your legs up too bad."

So I took off and found a hill. The hill is about .15 miles long and has an elevation climb of 250 ft. That is about a 30% grade. Although short, the hill is pretty ominous when standing at the foot and looking up.

I ran up the first time - 70 seconds, hard.

I do this again, and again, and again until I reach 8 times total.... and I am noticeably working harder to get up the hill in 70 seconds.

Afterward, I realized that I must look like an idiot just running up this steep hill over and over again. I guess it could have been worse if Sisyphus wouldn't have stole my rock....

After last week, I have a scheduled easy week this week. The highlight of this week was a 40 minute tempo run. I had a 1.5 mile warm up and 1.5 mile cool down with the middle 6 miles fast. (Bring it Tony!!)

Also - just cause I made it, a sample of this week's supper....

Grilled Chicken seasoned with Jamaican jerk and pepper served with brown rice and a few chips - and yes - the salsa and guacamole is homemade.

Yummy!

Runs since my last post:

3/2 - 9.15 miles (5 X 5min at T pace with 3 min easy between runs)

3/3 - 12.15 miles

3/4 - 5.5 miles

3/5 - Hills - see above - 5.4 miles

3/6 - 21 miles (3 hrs)

3/7 - OFF

3/8 - 7.1 miles

3/9 - 9 miles total with 40 min @ T pace (6:40)

3/10 - 10.1 miles am; 5 miles pm

YTD - 455.65 miles

Feb in the books

Inside my Franklin Covey Binder [and the answer is yes, I still use a paper binder to compliment my blackberry (work), smart phone (personal), and various Google calenders] is my scribbled upon half sheet action plan and running log.

Really - do I need all those things to stay organized??? I once heard only keep one calendar for everything and you'll stay organized. The calender in my Franklin is the key - but I do have a family calendar I check with, work calendar I check with, baseball calendar, etc.

Back to running....

Taking a quick review - the biggest highlight - or maybe more accurately non-highlight was missing the Run Toto Psycho Run on Feb 13. With the bout of injuries I've had lately, better to sit one out and live to run another day.

Coming in a close second was the full week of the 21st through the 27th. I was hitting most of runs on target - and feeling good. Basically, it felt good to go at the 7:10 pace for a lot of the runs during of the week. I ended the week with a 3 hour run, with the 6 miles at the end at that 7:10 pace. I'll take it for February.

I've let my nutrition slide, but will try to get back track in March.

New Race - I've recently signed up for the Trail Mix 25K on April 17 - just three weeks out from Ice Age.

Bring on the March madness!!

26th - 21 miles (2:49)
27th - 7 miles
28th - Off
March 1 - 5.1

YTD - 371.25