Mileage reporting week 52 of 2014

6.2 bf miles in today right around freezing here, which puts my week just shy of 20 miles... not so great for me... but I guess pretty good considering this was my 72hr work week, and well its gloomy winter time. Also Thursday did 69 flights of stairs at work, Friday 80 flights, and tonight I will try to do 80-100.

5k or 6k today in temperatures that were in the -35C range with the windchill. Got to love merino base layers for days like this. Too cold for the Sockwas today so I dusted off my KIGO's for today's run. Looked like Santa with frost covering my toque and facial hair, including eyelashes which were frozen together by the time I got home. Hope everyone had a great Xmas. :coldfeet:
Holy schnikes thats cold!


This week is a a big mileadge week for me...my last big week before slowing down for a couple weeks before my first ultra Jan 10.
Wow that is a lot of mileage. You may have the quickest progression that I've seen yet on the forums. I'm a bit envious, I've pushed myself so hard, wanted to do an ultra in a 'few' years, and its been 4 and still no ultra, and you're tackling it in what, 1 year? I've been debating maybe trying one next year but lots of doubts after my marathon in October kicked my butt. Have great luck!


Thanks, Tristan! Do you get stiff legs after your runs? Maybe I am still conditioning.
Be careful on those stairs!
I get tight/sore calves, but as far as I can tell the rest of my legs are fine. Calves have pretty much been my main problem since day 1. They have grown much stronger and adapted, but it seems like no matter what I do I'm always on the edge of what they seem to be able to handle. I hardly ever have any other leg soreness except for sometimes after a race.


Hello. Remember me? Apparently it takes more than a couple of days to recover from pleurisy :inpain:
Welcome back Songbird and Merry Christmas! Hope your feeling better now.
 
Hi all, just checking in. I've been lurking but not much time to post. I've been doing between 10-25 miles per week, but not much at all in the last few days.
I did one bf (treadmill!) and one sandal run (suburban trails) while at my sister's over Christmas, and lots of doggie walking. Though it was warm enough for bf outside, all the areas were way goose-pooped and I preferred getting shoes dirty rather than squishing my feet into the yuck.
Did one session of "hot" yoga, which was interesting. May post about that later if I get a chance.
I did a lot of weights the week before Christmas, and a run every evening to look at the pretty lights; now I'm up to swim swim swim, since I am not allergic to any other pool water except MN pool water. So I'm binging. In fact, on my way there now.
Happy New Year, All!
 
Hi Tristan...thanks.

Regarding doubts, it's all mental bro...quit telling yourself how tough it will be and start telling yourself how fun it will be ;-)

Another advice is to not treat it mentally like a race...treat it like a nice long fun run without time or pace mattering.

I'm treating this 50 miler like a fun trail run where I get to run on typically closed trails out to the end of the island and back...not even thinking much about the distance or time except for some logistic considerations.

It's just a fun out-and-back trail run ;-)

I say go for it if you want to do an ultra...what's the worst that can happen, if you don't finish, if you finish, either way, it should be a fun adventure.

But if you want to finish, put it out of your mind that you might not, leave only one option, commit.

Also, start embracing the Epic, instead of fearing it. ;-)



The human body can do far more than you think it can endurance wise.

Forget about how hard it's 'supposed' to be, and just go do it lol

The hardest distance I ever ran was my first half marathon, doing 3 marathon distanced runs in 4 days was actually easier.

Partly this has to do with improved form, but it's also largely about mental approach.

For my 1st half marathon I kept telling myself it would be hard, and that I was going to suffer through it...and it was hard and I did suffer through it.

Later, when I started doing 16, 18, and 20 plus mile runs, I told myself it was going to be a fun way to spend a day...that it was going to be an epic good time, and that's what it was.

Once you give up racing against a clock, running is a blast, and the enjoyment of distances above the half marathon is 85% mental.

Another thing is breaking the run up into parts. I go back and forth on this...when I start the run I pick a place pretty far from home, plan my bag of goodies, hydration, and lube (critical for long run enjoyment, nothing takes you out of the 'zone' like a chaffing issue), and the. I start running to that point with the body on autopilot....point to point running helps mentally a lot...

Having said that, often I'll intentionally mentally look at all the distance I have to cover, and let the overwhelmingnous, the epicness of it wash over me and let myself be awed and inspired by it...that's a great joy to.

And when I get REALLY tired, sometimes I kinda sleep while I'm running lol

Haha, On last Sunday's run, I think I kinda slept for a good 10 miles of it.

You just absorb so deeply into yourself that everything just kinda disapears into a kind of blissfulness.



Just go do it man, your epic ultra is waiting...but instead of telling yourself how hard it's going to be, tell yourself how fun and beuatiful it's going to be, and keep doing that all the way to the finish.
 
I guess this week being half in 2014 and half in 2015 we'll keep going on Week 52 ?

Anyway, I did another 23km between Monday and today, so that brings my tally for 2014 to 1910km/1187mi !

Since it is the last day of the year today (where I am), I wish everyone a successful 2015, with lots of running !
 
Hi Tristan...thanks.

Regarding doubts, it's all mental bro...quit telling yourself how tough it will be and start telling yourself how fun it will be ;-)

Another advice is to not treat it mentally like a race...treat it like a nice long fun run without time or pace mattering.

I'm treating this 50 miler like a fun trail run where I get to run on typically closed trails out to the end of the island and back...not even thinking much about the distance or time except for some logistic considerations.

It's just a fun out-and-back trail run ;-)

I say go for it if you want to do an ultra...what's the worst that can happen, if you don't finish, if you finish, either way, it should be a fun adventure.

Thanks for the advice, and I think its very true
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but not sure if that's going to work on me... I have the opposite problem. I'm mentally there, just not physically. I mean, I would love to go out and try an ultra. I love the long run and would do it more than once a week if I could. I've never hit a wall, or slumped into any kind of low during a run. Only time I ever had to bail was one time encountering leg pains that had me calling my wife for a pick up. My problem is more in the recovery. My marathons have taken me weeks to recover and still not anywhere close to where I was pre race. A typical long run well under marathon distance and easy pace may still take a few days. Irregular training schedule and long hours sitting in chairs doesn't help. Some of it I am still sure is my body adapting to new form (even a couple years may not undo a few decades of bad form), but I figure my diet and stress are the main culprits. I do however think I can improve both in the new year.

Treating it as an easy long run may help though. My problem with races are they are all road, and I get competitive and seem to have an ability to push myself way harder mentally than what I should physically. I think if I cross the bridge to a trail ultra, and not even worry about competitiveness and try to just take it easy and enjoy the experience that I might be able to pull it off. The one issue that I am most concerned with though is its in May and I'm usually not anywhere near that distance after my mileage dwindles through the winter. So far I've only got one >10mi run this winter (hope to make that 2, tomorrow). Typically I run a half marathon at the beginning of May, and I have yet to be up to that distance for the year by May. I hope to change that this year, working back up to it now since the snow hasn't accumulated yet. I'm still nursing a strained achilles from my marathon though, so building back up very cautiously. Its only a 50k I'm thinking about, so I'm definitely giving it some consideration.
 
Thanks for the advice, and I think its very true
thumb_zps8e8c0f54.gif
but not sure if that's going to work on me... I have the opposite problem. I'm mentally there, just not physically. I mean, I would love to go out and try an ultra. I love the long run and would do it more than once a week if I could. I've never hit a wall, or slumped into any kind of low during a run. Only time I ever had to bail was one time encountering leg pains that had me calling my wife for a pick up. My problem is more in the recovery. My marathons have taken me weeks to recover and still not anywhere close to where I was pre race. A typical long run well under marathon distance and easy pace may still take a few days. Irregular training schedule and long hours sitting in chairs doesn't help. Some of it I am still sure is my body adapting to new form (even a couple years may not undo a few decades of bad form), but I figure my diet and stress are the main culprits. I do however think I can improve both in the new year.

Treating it as an easy long run may help though. My problem with races are they are all road, and I get competitive and seem to have an ability to push myself way harder mentally than what I should physically. I think if I cross the bridge to a trail ultra, and not even worry about competitiveness and try to just take it easy and enjoy the experience that I might be able to pull it off. The one issue that I am most concerned with though is its in May and I'm usually not anywhere near that distance after my mileage dwindles through the winter. So far I've only got one >10mi run this winter (hope to make that 2, tomorrow). Typically I run a half marathon at the beginning of May, and I have yet to be up to that distance for the year by May. I hope to change that this year, working back up to it now since the snow hasn't accumulated yet. I'm still nursing a strained achilles from my marathon though, so building back up very cautiously. Its only a 50k I'm thinking about, so I'm definitely giving it some consideration.


Haha...if I was Dama I'd say take some ibuprophen, put your big girl panties on, and get out there and run...recovery is mental too lol



On a more serious note though, I go at an easy pace but a high step cadence...182 BPM step cadence whether I am going uphill or down, fast or slow...I weigh 240 pounds, so I have to reduce the damage of impact, or I destroy myself, literally, on every run....my trick, besides skin to ground running, is to super focus on running lightly, without breaking that cadence, and slowing down, which means keeping the cadence but shortening the stride.
I have found that this damages the body MUCH less.

I take ibuprophen and caffeine an hour before every run, and some ibuprophen afterwards with my protein shake....both reduce inflammation and help avoid the damage that inflammation causes, which you then need to recover from.

I also drink 3 vegetarian protein shakes per day with cinnamon, and a healthy dose of ginger, turmeric, and a dash of Clove added in to the shake to help reduce inflammation.

I also eat a fair amount of cilantro, onion, and garlic in most dishes I prepare, because those three clean out the kidneys, which again helps to remove inflammation.

If you have'nt guessed it, inflammation reduction is the key...the damage of inflamation is what one has to 'Recover' from after a hard or long run...if you have a lot of stress, then you are creating a lot of inflamation in your body even without running, which makes it even harder to recover from the added inflamation of a longrun....

I don't have a lot of stress, but I have a radish form of arthritis, so I have to be proactive about inflamation, which also causes a tremendous amount of chronic illnesses also.

If I were you, I'd research every way to proactively reduce or avoid inflamation that you can find, and incorporate tjose into your daily routine...

I emphasize the mental, but my lifestyle of inflamation reduction is probably just as important for me, I just don't think about it much because it's just daily routine now.

Hope that's useful to you in some way!


As an aside, I think with the right mindset, and form, and pace...combined with keeping hydrated and fed properly on the day of the event, almost anyone in just a little bit of shape can run an ultra...our body is made for it.

The greatest ultra distance runner in modern history took 4 months off every year with no running at all, and didn't do long runs at all except the event itself...he rarely ran more than 7 miles a day...and he holds 150 ultra distance world records.


So I say go for it in May :)
 
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I ended 2014 with 1122.2 miles of running (100% barefoot), at least 500 miles of walking just feeding my horses (99.9% barefoot), and an unknown amount of miles walking the dog and/or kitten, doing farm chores, hiking, going on trips/outings, etc (nearly always barefoot, but wore 4mm Xero Shoes huaraches when footwear "required").... So I guestimate my total mileage to be at least 1800 miles for the year :woot:
 
Did one session of "hot" yoga, which was interesting. May post about that later if I get a chance.
Just curious what you thought of hot yoga. I do some yoga stretches after exercising. I have a friend who enjoys Bikram. However, I'm wondering if it's a cold climate trend. Here in FL, everything is "hot". It's hot walking to the car, hot getting the mail, hot walking the dog, everything is "it's so hot I feel like I'm catching on fire". In fact, I don't do my stretches until after my shower. Perhaps, hot yoga is more enjoyable if one starts out cold? :D
 
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Just curious what you thought of hot yoga. I do some yoga stretches after exercising. I have a friend who enjoys Bikram. However, I'm wondering if it's a cold climate trend. Here in FL, everything is "hot". It's hot walking to the car, hot getting the mail, hot walking the dog, everything is "it's so hot I feel like I'm catching on fire". In fact, I don't do my stretches until after my shower. Perhaps, hot yoga is more enjoyable if one starts out cold? :D


The temperature of the room is a bunch-o-bs if you ask me, but what I liked was that it took focus, moved "quickly" for yoga, took a fair amount of strength and balance to hold the poses, so a wee bit of ST, and also helped limber me up. Loosened the muscles near some tense tendons that I could not (or would not) get otherwise. I was actually sore the next couple of days in my obliques and a few other back and ab muscles, in a good way.

Since I've been back to my town, though, I just tried a yoga class at the Y, and it was lame enough that I couldn't get through more than 15 min.
 
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Since I've been back to my town, though, I just tried a yoga class at the Y, and it was lame enough that I couldn't get through more than 15 min.
Thanks for the info!

I like this yoga instructor from Youtube, as she gets to the point and has several entire sequences. I do the stretches, but the other stuff looks like it could be good, too.
https://www.youtube.com/user/SarahBethShow/videos


My favorite stretch for tight back and shoulders after swimming is this one.