I marshaled through 14 miles Christmas morning. At first it was to be 10 and get 4 in later, but with the busyness of the day I just knocked it out. Towards the end there is a local ballpark I tend to run around the perimeter on. There is a little trail that does not look like much, but this time I ran it. To my surprise it actually leads somewhere. The one branch goes about a half mile to the Oconomowoc River. The other branch after a half mile I had to turn back. I’m hoping to explore this. It has signs set up for snowmobiles so I’m hoping I can find a tie into the Ice Age. It would be a cool find to cut out road sections.
The evening was gorgeous. While everyone played cards I took Cookie for a walk. Hardly any wind. Very few vehicles. Mid 50s. As the sun was setting a farmer showed up to gather what was left of a big field of soybeans. We watched the big equipment work for a bit. It felt great to be outside again. Some mornings throughout the year as I am taking advantage of getting out exploring, often I’m baffled at the lack of others not getting out. I can’t tell you how many splendid days you can be tooling along and see no one. Days like today...yes there are people out. On a crisp 20 degree day with low wind...virtually zero people.
The Bugline trail runs near our place. It is a 16 mile paved trail that is not plowed in the winter. The snowmobiles get it then. Now if your dog makes deposits wouldn’t you at least kick it to the side? What’s the thought process here? Also is it mandatory for bikers to drop the banana peels on the trail? Dole sticker included? And when I run down this fabulous road they put in by the house that looks like a speedway, what’s the deal with people chucking their garbage out? Paint cans, beverage containers, fast food bags, etc. It is a rural road about 2.5 miles long that curves through some decent looking area. Not much traffic outside of those who live there. Plenty of locals walking, taking out the dog, or bicycling. Why are you throwing out your trash and destroying the new shoulders with the big truck tires? I know this is everywhere, but give me a break. Do I sound like an old man now?
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Monday, December 23, 2019
Magic carpets made of steel
Somewhere in that first season at our home course about 25-30 of us took off across the golf course. We wore sprinters spikes back in the day for stuff like this. Those fairways were crisp and clean. By now we had literally ran against a couple of the best teams in the state. I say this because we still had no idea what each new team we faced had for runners. On this little adventure not too many were ahead of me after the first half mile. Another mile goes by and it is basically 2 of us and 2 of them spread out by maybe 40 yards. I don't recall anything suddenly changing, but by 2 miles I found myself in the lead for the first time in my life. Thoughts of securing a win for the first time ever entered my mind, but at the same time I was fearful it would suddenly be snatched away. This was all new to me and I ran on in fear. At each turn I was looking back to see what the lay of the land was. On our course after the final turn you ran 400 yards straight to the finish. It was slightly uphill the whole way and I felt if I had the lead by then I would win. Nothing dramatic to report. I continued on without a challenge and won the race. Even better for us is we secured our second victory of the year. Maybe we could be better than we thought with a little work. It never entered my mind before the season that I would enjoy this as much as I did.
Fast forward to today and I can say that getting out multiple times a day is hard on me. The easy nature of the pace and workout is not difficult, but the oldness of the body is apparent. Still hoping to get slower and eventually cover more weekly miles at a pace I feel I need to zero in on the day. Some days I get stiff and it is uncomfortable. Perhaps the body can adjust. I understand there are several better ways to train than this. If I stepped out of my body and looked at me I would advise me totally different. I also can't step out of my body because if I could I would step into someone else's and run the crap out of it. Kind of like the Vulcan mind meld. Not sure what the end game is other than I have stated before. Pile up miles when I can and a big taper. Life doesn't stop for stuff like this. Every day can be a kaleidoscope of work and events that others deem more important than climbing into your brain and leaning into the bitter cold dark mornings. Playing Green Grass and High Tides on memory only helps for tiny amounts of the continuum. At some point there has to be satisfaction in touching the orange sign way up through the woods at the top of the hill 4 miles away and then turning for home. Your worst enemy then becomes yourself as you think up another mini adventure you can add to this run. In the end it is best to get back. Not because it is the healthiest or best idea, but because in my little piece of America I have a job. Besides I need to save a piece of myself for the evening if possible. That's the joy of dog ownership.
82.5 miles for the week.
Fast forward to today and I can say that getting out multiple times a day is hard on me. The easy nature of the pace and workout is not difficult, but the oldness of the body is apparent. Still hoping to get slower and eventually cover more weekly miles at a pace I feel I need to zero in on the day. Some days I get stiff and it is uncomfortable. Perhaps the body can adjust. I understand there are several better ways to train than this. If I stepped out of my body and looked at me I would advise me totally different. I also can't step out of my body because if I could I would step into someone else's and run the crap out of it. Kind of like the Vulcan mind meld. Not sure what the end game is other than I have stated before. Pile up miles when I can and a big taper. Life doesn't stop for stuff like this. Every day can be a kaleidoscope of work and events that others deem more important than climbing into your brain and leaning into the bitter cold dark mornings. Playing Green Grass and High Tides on memory only helps for tiny amounts of the continuum. At some point there has to be satisfaction in touching the orange sign way up through the woods at the top of the hill 4 miles away and then turning for home. Your worst enemy then becomes yourself as you think up another mini adventure you can add to this run. In the end it is best to get back. Not because it is the healthiest or best idea, but because in my little piece of America I have a job. Besides I need to save a piece of myself for the evening if possible. That's the joy of dog ownership.
82.5 miles for the week.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Road to perdition
Last night I could feel it. Sha-Sha-dubbie I was in tatters. But I laid low and didn't want to mentally handicap myself for the following day. It was really feeling necessary to have a day off, but that is the bane of high mileage weeks. A freakin' scourge to the whole operation. When you go to the biggest dance of the year you dance with the one who brung ya. Fortunately Monday was an off work day so I had plenty of time to grab 14 cups of coffee and get my mind right. Come to think of it this would be perfect training. Part of the idea is to see how to get stuff done. I ventured out on the first effort and it went well. The second effort of the day went well also so I feel like Dick's hat band already. Three more hours I'll take Cookie out for a power jog.
Then there is the dog. She's pretty use to the idea of not getting involved early. Any time after that she's does that stare at you deal and follow you around at the slightest movement. Remember the movie Animal House when Belusi gives that big speech about the German's bombing Pearl Harbor?
Then everyone's a dead man and he gets up having thought he rallied the troops and heads out all fired up...but no one comes. The dog does this all the time. Jump up and down and look excited and then get in front of you and run to the door. It's annoying. Does the same thing when she thinks it is time to eat.
Then there is the dog. She's pretty use to the idea of not getting involved early. Any time after that she's does that stare at you deal and follow you around at the slightest movement. Remember the movie Animal House when Belusi gives that big speech about the German's bombing Pearl Harbor?
Then everyone's a dead man and he gets up having thought he rallied the troops and heads out all fired up...but no one comes. The dog does this all the time. Jump up and down and look excited and then get in front of you and run to the door. It's annoying. Does the same thing when she thinks it is time to eat.
Sunday, December 15, 2019
What brings you up so high
The plug has been pulled and I am officially signed up for the Big Hill Bonk event. This is a last man standing race and the winner does gain entry via golden ticket to Big's Backyard Ultra. Now I have no allusions of grandeur that I might be that last person. I am a reasonable sot. The mindset is around being in the arena. You know, out there slugging it out doing the best I can do because at the end of the day I can certainly point to things not in my favor. We all can. That is the attraction. There is also the fact that you never know when the adventure bus makes the last stop.
Here is where I am at with this thing. Now granted, there are many items one has to consider before the initial starter pistol cracks. I only think about those in passing for now because the event is April 3rd. I have a couple months to start chewing on strategies, fueling, weather, sleep, gear, etc. My concern is getting my body beat into shape to keep on trucking big mamma status. When I moved to Florida in 1984 and drove through the night, somewhere around the GA/FL border at 1am in the morning I saw a bumper sticker. That sticker said, "If you don't like Hank Williams you can kiss my a$$. That's how my training is going to be.
When training for a marathon I found the concept of knowing exactly what you should be capable of running per mile the correct strategy for me. The training is hard; grueling actually. Running hard requires a lot of recovery when you are continually dialing it up. That's mostly why we train so we can learn to run and train faster. Well I ain't doing any of that. This process is learning to run slower. I still like to know where I should be per mile, but learning to pace yourself to run slow is also challenging. But if you are going to be in an event that requires moving until no one else is then
you have to learn to be a bulwark gliding through the seas. You better be able to take a pounding.
In summary this means I will attempt to cover many miles slowly. I'm working on running strategies in MY MIND each day. Because my back/hip could make me cash this all in early, I'm going to attempt to fix this by trying to create a reproducible (Thanks for the verbiage Clem) effort everyday. I feel like I have many more ignoramus comments to make, but I will share those down the line with my trusted 6 readers later.
100.6 miles for the week. Back a bit tender.
Here is where I am at with this thing. Now granted, there are many items one has to consider before the initial starter pistol cracks. I only think about those in passing for now because the event is April 3rd. I have a couple months to start chewing on strategies, fueling, weather, sleep, gear, etc. My concern is getting my body beat into shape to keep on trucking big mamma status. When I moved to Florida in 1984 and drove through the night, somewhere around the GA/FL border at 1am in the morning I saw a bumper sticker. That sticker said, "If you don't like Hank Williams you can kiss my a$$. That's how my training is going to be.
When training for a marathon I found the concept of knowing exactly what you should be capable of running per mile the correct strategy for me. The training is hard; grueling actually. Running hard requires a lot of recovery when you are continually dialing it up. That's mostly why we train so we can learn to run and train faster. Well I ain't doing any of that. This process is learning to run slower. I still like to know where I should be per mile, but learning to pace yourself to run slow is also challenging. But if you are going to be in an event that requires moving until no one else is then
you have to learn to be a bulwark gliding through the seas. You better be able to take a pounding.
In summary this means I will attempt to cover many miles slowly. I'm working on running strategies in MY MIND each day. Because my back/hip could make me cash this all in early, I'm going to attempt to fix this by trying to create a reproducible (Thanks for the verbiage Clem) effort everyday. I feel like I have many more ignoramus comments to make, but I will share those down the line with my trusted 6 readers later.
100.6 miles for the week. Back a bit tender.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Chunks of guys
During the first season, it is hard to recall what we actually did for training. We met about 2 weeks prior to the first meet and then raced twice a week. Being a new team, we had no weekend invites to attend so we were on our own on the weekends. Actually, us not knowing any better was probably the best action. Race a couple times a week to get used to how all that worked and then a few days of easy miles with sprints thrown in. As mentioned before most of us operated at a high level of activity outside of any sport events. We biked everywhere, always had pick-up games, and every free study hall we were in the gym playing floor hockey. Every once in awhile we played dodge ball just to loosen up the wing a little bit. The main goal was not to catch one in the conch at close range.
So I'm still daydreaming here on how to train and execute at a last man standing event. I'm off today so I'm working on getting up the nerve to actually enter the event here in Wisconsin for April 3rd. I want to get in the arena, primarily because at 58 one starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel may be turned off due to indifference. I don't believe my biggest challenge is in the training. I'm just not any good at anything over 8-10 hours and that's probably generous. Off course this is part of the draw. The other item is reaction to lack of sleep. You really can't practice this. This event starts at 5:30pm so you have to get through the first night. I am sleeping by 8pm most nights and it is not uncommon for me to be asleep already by 7pm this time of the year. Yes...I am up at the crack of nuts. That's where all my best training slots are.
But this might be an advantage for me. Many multi day participants of note in various sports have noted that a 5-10 minute nap can be very helpful. Since you have to be at the starting line every 60 minutes, one would be very lucky to get this long of shut eye, but it is possible I'm told if you are quick enough and tired enough to go to sleep. As I will probably be tired due to my current routine, perhaps I can get a few micro naps in the first night. For those who choose to marshal through without any sleep it will be difficult to do during the day. In this event that is the rub. It will not get dark the second night about 26+ hours after the initial start. How many people are going to still be standing? Probably not this guy, but I would rather be the person who grab a few winks earlier.
One other concern is oldness. We all tighten up and get creaky after many hours of running. For me the issue is it seems to be multiplied in specific areas. Once you get off kilter it really plays havoc on the posture, back, and hip region. Heck this happens working in the yard. I've looked and there is no silver bullet for this. That's why my training plan is all about running/walking slow to mimic the pace and piling up miles. It's the only current way I know to mimic reality.
So I'm still daydreaming here on how to train and execute at a last man standing event. I'm off today so I'm working on getting up the nerve to actually enter the event here in Wisconsin for April 3rd. I want to get in the arena, primarily because at 58 one starts to see the light at the end of the tunnel may be turned off due to indifference. I don't believe my biggest challenge is in the training. I'm just not any good at anything over 8-10 hours and that's probably generous. Off course this is part of the draw. The other item is reaction to lack of sleep. You really can't practice this. This event starts at 5:30pm so you have to get through the first night. I am sleeping by 8pm most nights and it is not uncommon for me to be asleep already by 7pm this time of the year. Yes...I am up at the crack of nuts. That's where all my best training slots are.
But this might be an advantage for me. Many multi day participants of note in various sports have noted that a 5-10 minute nap can be very helpful. Since you have to be at the starting line every 60 minutes, one would be very lucky to get this long of shut eye, but it is possible I'm told if you are quick enough and tired enough to go to sleep. As I will probably be tired due to my current routine, perhaps I can get a few micro naps in the first night. For those who choose to marshal through without any sleep it will be difficult to do during the day. In this event that is the rub. It will not get dark the second night about 26+ hours after the initial start. How many people are going to still be standing? Probably not this guy, but I would rather be the person who grab a few winks earlier.
One other concern is oldness. We all tighten up and get creaky after many hours of running. For me the issue is it seems to be multiplied in specific areas. Once you get off kilter it really plays havoc on the posture, back, and hip region. Heck this happens working in the yard. I've looked and there is no silver bullet for this. That's why my training plan is all about running/walking slow to mimic the pace and piling up miles. It's the only current way I know to mimic reality.
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Atlas Shrugged
As the season progressed that first season I would get incredibly worked up and nervous before meets during school. I mean I was almost ill. The butterflies were that bad. On the bus ride to meets I was so mentally wore out that I would curl up on the bus seat and go to sleep. The over riding thing that I thought about was the pain. Though I was learning a little it still came hard. When we started off I fled to the front determined to venture out as long as I could. We knew no better, no one advised us any different, and being our first year we had no idea how good any of the teams were. It turned out more often than not that they were a whole planetary system ahead of us in most cases. As previously mentioned the one team in our county was state champs that year.
Back to the pain. There is something awesome about flying across a golf course or athletic field near full tilt. Everyone of us was ass over tin cup. Honestly it felt good to be in it for a quarter mile or so. For me that first year I'd hang tough about a half mile and then the cream of the crop easily ground my bones to make their bread. In a couple races I faded and our best senior beat me out. He ran the 880 during track season and he was the funniest guy on the team. He would have been great had he been able to have had a couple seasons under his belt. He was always yelling at people during the race in a comical way.
After that first half mile the pain was already on board. As I said earlier you also find out the people you are typically near by the mile marker are the ones you end up racing against. You just don't want to be soft and give in. If I could maintain contact there was a reasonable chance I could find another gear near the end. I have nothing like that now, but I did then. It is a nice thing to have and I learned not everyone has it...though at the time I believed everyone did. I know it was the lowest rung of XC, but man I loved it.
Finished the week with 83.7 miles and I'm signed up for the Ice Age 50 mile in May.
Back to the pain. There is something awesome about flying across a golf course or athletic field near full tilt. Everyone of us was ass over tin cup. Honestly it felt good to be in it for a quarter mile or so. For me that first year I'd hang tough about a half mile and then the cream of the crop easily ground my bones to make their bread. In a couple races I faded and our best senior beat me out. He ran the 880 during track season and he was the funniest guy on the team. He would have been great had he been able to have had a couple seasons under his belt. He was always yelling at people during the race in a comical way.
After that first half mile the pain was already on board. As I said earlier you also find out the people you are typically near by the mile marker are the ones you end up racing against. You just don't want to be soft and give in. If I could maintain contact there was a reasonable chance I could find another gear near the end. I have nothing like that now, but I did then. It is a nice thing to have and I learned not everyone has it...though at the time I believed everyone did. I know it was the lowest rung of XC, but man I loved it.
Finished the week with 83.7 miles and I'm signed up for the Ice Age 50 mile in May.
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