2010

My schedule for 2010 is slowly coming together. I have a solid year of already-confirmed races that I'm registered for, a couple that I'm seriously considering, some that I'd like to do but probably won't, and one or two that I might go to, but not run.

Monday February 15th (definite)
Old Croton Aqueduct Run
This is not a race, but an informal gathering of runners who would like to run the entire length of the Old Croton Aqueduct, from the Croton Dam to the site of the reservoir in New York City (42nd between 5th and 6th - Bryant Park and Library). If you'd like to come with us, even if you don't want to do the entire course, consider yourself invited!

Saturday March 27
Umstead 100-mile Endurance Run (definite)
This is the race that has occupied my thoughts for the last six months. 100 miles. Enough said. How I do at Umstead will determine much of the rest of the year for me.

Saturday April 10
Irvine Lake Mud Run (maybe)
There's an outside chance that I will be in California that day. If so, I'll be at this race.

Sunday April 18
Hook Mountain Half-Marathon (definite)
Local race, I'll be running it with some friends. I've done this race before, and the major feature of it is the giant hill at mile 9. It's short but very steep. I'll be power-walking the hill, and once again probably passing people trying to run it.

Saturday May 8
Long Island Greenbelt 50K/25K (maybe)
I like this race, especially the atmosphere. It's totally laid back and a lot of fun. However, I don't know how it's going to fit in my schedule.

Fri-Sun May 14-16
3 Days at the Fair 48-hour race (definite)
My first timed event, this is going to be a bit of a "baptized by fire" introduction to the genre. 1-mile loop for 48 hours is not going to be easy, and I'm really interested in seeing how I'll do.

Saturday June 19
Ride To Montauk (probable)
100-mile mostly flat bicycle ride. I've done it once before, and it was fun enough to want to do again, especially if I have friends doing it with me.

Mon-Tues July 11-12
Badwater crew (maybe)
This depends one two factors: 1. will Tony get into the race, and 2. will he choose me (out of lots of interested people) to be on his crew. Unlike most crew candidates, I have no intention of ever running Badwater, but I do want be there to see what it's like. Either way, I intend to join Tony for a trip up Mount Whitney on July 14.

Saturday July 24
Damn Wakely Dam 32.6 miler (probable)
It's neat that this race is 32.6 miles through pristine Adirondack wilderness without any cross roads or support of any kind, but the real appeal to me is the laid back atmosphere of this event.

Sunday August 8
Turkey Swamp Race Day (maybe)
I have volunteered at this event for the last two years, and this year may actually opt to run it.

Saturday-Sunday September 4-5
Grand Teton 50M or 100M (maybe)
In the past, it was a foregone conclusion that I'd be here. It's my favorite race. Awesome people. Problem is, it's kind of far, kind of remote, and thus kind of expensive. And there are other races I want to do. We'll see.

Saturday-Sunday October 23-24
Javelina 100M (definite)
This event looks like a lot of fun, and I have a lot of friends running it. It's in the Arizona desert, and that's new to me. I may go into this intending to do only 100K. We'll see how the year turns out.

Sunday Nov 7
NYC Marathon (lottery)
I really enjoyed the NYC marathon last year. I'd like to do it again. We'll see what happens with the lottery. I don't have much luck with lotteries, so this is not a likely race for me.



New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Brief Friday post: Umstead, Two Quotes

Time is limited this week, so today I have to give you yet another very brief blog post with content that is largely not my own. Apologies. At least it will be short.

Umstead
I'm at a point where 50 miles doesn't really intimidate me anymore, but I won't lie: 100 miles still scares the shee-ite out of me. I read something somewhere last week where someone doing a very long and difficult ultra was saying he was "having fun", and I think that's the attitude I need to approach Umstead with. It reminded me of last year before running the Caumsett 50K I announced my intention to "smile the whole way", and take it easy. I ended up with a PR.

Two quotes I read during the week. I thought one was inspiring, the other funny.

"I value the accumulative strength that comes with not missing any days of running; I think it's important that the body remain accustomed to at least a little bit of specific physical motion every day in order to not set oneself up for the strange weaknesses and aches that can come with inconsistency."
Anton Krupicka, Feb 1 source

"My mom is the worst crew ever. She is totally of the attitude that 'oh, it's so cold, why don't you come to the car and warm up' or '40 miles is more than enough, why don't you rest for a little while'. I haven't convinced her that motherly love is not appropriate during an ultra."
Danny M, Feb 4, via the Dartmouth ultra list

Have a great weekend everyone!

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

February Nutrition Goals

As promised, here are the nutrition goals for February (hopefully monthly goal declarations can be short enough to be a single 'blog post in the future - but in this case, Umstead is looming like an 800-lb gorilla.)

background in five pictures
Once upon a time, I weighed 400 lbs.


Then, in 1999, I lost a lot of it, bottoming out at 300lbs.


By 2004, I had gained about half of it back, probably to over 350lbs.


And in 2007, I lost a lot again, bottoming out at 270lbs.


Since then, I've fluctuated between 285 and 305.


September 2009
I decided in September that I've had enough of the fluctuation and turned to an Ultrarunnin' Registered Dietitian to give me a meal-plan that would prepare me for Umstead. She came through, and I was doing awesome for a couple of weeks, losing 10-15 lbs in a short amount of time. But even now, a familiar story returned - my discipline waned and I stopped sending updates to the dietitian. Before long, I had regained the weight I lost with her, and Thanksgiving/Christmas were taking over my attention, with predictable results.

January 2010
With the initiation of a planned year-long running streak, I paid a little more attention to nutrition, trying to eat healthy and limit calories - but when training hard, the balancing act between "caloric deficit" and "nutrition required to support training" is really difficult to maintain. I wasn't just jogging a half hour per day but rather red-lining most of those workouts; running them as hard as I could. That kind of training takes energy, and I wanted to make sure I got enough of it. But, try as I might, I apparently still could not maintain a significant caloric deficit, as I lost a little bit of weight, but not nearly enough to reach my goals.

I know what you're thinking the obvious answer to this was. I knew it too, but for some reason I ignored it. But by the end of the month I was frustrated enough to pull out the meal plan that the dietitian gave me. And I resolved that, from now until Umstead, I would follow it to the letter. Not only did it work last fall, it also was developed by a licensed professional who knew what she was doing. By not following the advice that I had paid her to give me, I just wasn't being rational.


Let's face it, irrationality is the largest reason people are obese.

Goals for February

So, here are my nutrition goals for February.

1. Follow my dietitian's meal plan
2. Log every food I eat. on paper.
3. Plan every bit of food I eat

I will do this every day, without exception, from now (Feb 3) until March 1.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

January Recap and February Goals

January

Ran 31/31 days in 32 distinct workouts.
Total Mileage: 112
Longest Run: 6.18 miles
Shortest Run: 1.02 miles

What Worked
This last week I ran 30 miles, which is the highest weekly mileage since the week I ran the RBC 50K, back in early October. I had one mild cold and I ran through it by going short and easy. Learned a lot about myself in that experience, and I have much less of an excuse to skip a run now.

Back in September, I made a decision that I had been focused too much on going long and slow, and my ability to run fast had suffered dramatically. I could barely hold a ten-minute pace for a mile. In December, my training turned a corner as I resolved to work on speed during the cold weather under the controlled conditions of a gym treadmill. As a result, my speed did improve dramatically. Biggest success of the month:

I broke 25 minutes at 3 miles. At a weight of 300lbs.

What didn't work

With all that speedwork, I neglected outside training, long runs, and hills. And, predictably, my ability to run long and especially to run hills has suffered. With Umstead looming on Palm Sunday weekend, February goals must focus on running long and running hills, because Umstead has both.

Going Long

I recover quickly and can get away with doing long runs as late as the Ides of March, so that gives me enough time to get 2-3 solid 20 milers and a 40 miler. Tony is planning on doing a group run of the entire Croton Aqueduct on February 15 (click here for info), which is pancake-flat for 41 miles. That is an outstanding opportunity for me to get that very-long run in. Additionally, I'd really like to get a 6 mile super-easy run on Tuesday, just to get my bones used to running while tired.

Then, the 20s are just a matter of getting them done. Tony and his friends always have extended a warm invitation for me to run with them at Rockefeller State Park in Sleepy Hollow. They run 20-30 milers there on weekends and I look forward to getting a couple of them done with him. The nice thing about "Rockies" is that the surface and topography are identical to the surface and topography at Umstead - a "specificity of training" opportunity that I'd be stupid to pass up.

Becoming Immune to Hills

Going long at Rockies is going to give back a little bit of the hill fitness I had last summer, but if I really want to get solid, I've got to do some specific hill-climb training runs. Without a doubt, the best place to do that around here is Bear Mountain, where I can get a solid 1000' vertical feet of gain in anywhere from 1.5 miles to 4 miles, depending on the route. As the days get longer, I intend to climb Bear at least once per week, preferably on weekdays, so I can save the weekends to long runs.

The Goals for February

Having said that, here are the goals that I intend to accomplish in the month of February:

1. Run at least 1 mile every day
2. Complete 1 run of 40 miles
3. Complete 2 runs of at least 18 miles (not counting the 40)
4. Complete 4 ascents of Bear Mountain
5. Run at least 6 miles the day after both the 20s

Nutrition

I have nutrition goals as well. But since this post is getting long, I will post that as part 2, on Wednesday.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Krupicka Video

I'm a little short on time this week, so I regret that I won't be able to write anything today. Instead, I'll post an Anton Krupicka video that I came across this morning.


(If you can't see the video, please click here.)

As in any niche sport, ultrarunning has its share of top performers that those of us involved follow. My personal favorite is Krupicka. Read his blog, his insight is very valuable and he's a great writerer as well. Here also is a recently published article about him that is very interesting: click.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Warning about barefoot running

This found its way to my email box yesterday:


I assure you, any self-interest these people would have in your buying running shoes is just a figment of your imagination.


On a completely unrelated topic, today is supposed to be an epic day in fanboy history. I can't deny my own curiosity. I'll be watching.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Listerv Gold Part IV - 100 miles is a long way

Time for another edition of Ultrarunning Listserv Gold, a semi-regular feature of this blog where I quote something I found inspiring, interesting, or generally valuable on one of the various ultrarunning email distribution lists I subscribe to. To view all editions of ULG, please click here.

After finishing my first 100, the next one was much easier, just because I knew I could do it. It sounds like you have a mission to make Leadville your first 100. But, in my opinion, you'd be MUCH better prepared for Leadville after finishing at least one other 100 first. Even if it's dead flat loops in a 24 hour event, or 'just' going 80-90 miles. It is going to give you a much better chance at finishing LV. A hundred miles is a long way. It's a hell of a long way when you're not sure you can do it. Throw in a couple of laps on Hope Pass and it could be pretty daunting. -Joe Judd

This is not the first time I've published something Joe Judd wrote to ULG.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Hard Work is its Own End

Here is an article that I started back in March '09 and never published. It's been sitting as a draft this whole time. I think it's pretty good, so I'm going to dust it off, revise it for what I'm doing currently, and post it now.

My Observation
The more serious I am about something I'd like to accomplish in my running, the less motivated I am.

In the past, I have set aggressive goals. Not what you're used to seeing if you're a reader of this blog, but the kind that are more typical of a runner. Think Boston Qualifier in a specific race, and you'll be on the right track. Almost invariably, they've ended up in failure - and I believe the failure is due to the fact that my training becomes a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.

Working Hard to Accomplish a Goal

Take speedwork. Normally, a runner who wants a BQ will go to the track and run speedwork sessions specifically tailored for that BQ. The speedwork is pain that the runner experiences in order to accomplish some other goal. It's a lot of hard work, and hopefully that results in delayed gratification.

Apply that to any running workout - tempo runs, long runs, hill training - and they all add up to a TON of time spent, working on a goal. People probably get some sense of satisfaction from the training, or perhaps even enjoy it - in fact, I find it hard to imagine a long-term consistent runner who doesn't - but their primary purpose to train is that goal race - otherwise they'd just be running, with no schedule or no plan. Nothing wrong with that, lots of people are like that. They rarely race and probably don't read this blog. For the rest of us, training is a means to an end. If you don't believe me, head to your newsstand and pick up a copy of Runner's World or Running Times. Half of the articles include a training or nutrition plan - usually in the context of a race goal.

Working Hard for Hard Work's Sake

There's something funny about me and hard work - I love hard work - but only for hard work's sake. Speedwork - I usually enjoy doing it, especially when I feel like I'm going to die. But here's the thing - as soon as I do it for some purpose other than to just do it, it gets tedious and the enjoyment goes away. I stop doing it.

I think this is why I enjoy trails so much. Hiking the same trails that I run isn't all that appealing to me. But when I run them, the hard work that goes into running up a hill unthinkably steep to the regular asphalt runner, or running down a rocky technical trail, or just zoning out in the solitude - the hard work - it actually becomes the reward.

Racing

And when I really think about it, I love to race for the social aspects of it, not for the competitive or the race itself. Looking at what races I'm interested in for 2010, a common denominator is that friends are planning on them as well - and going gives me an opportunity to see them and hang out. The culture lends itself to friendliness. The race is thus just the context of a get-together.

This isn't to say that the race itself has the same significance as a daily training run - it has more. This is evident just looking at my log. Clearly, I run extra hard or extra long on race days. However, I wonder if it's merely the mini-competitions in the back of the race pack - something unique to racing - that motivate me. Contrary to better advice, I tend to put in hard efforts on my daily runs - not quite race efforts apparently, but I'm definitely neglecting the easy days that runners are supposed to take in between hard days. The only difference between a routine training run and a race, therefore, is the competition.

One Day at a Time

So how do I apply this observation to goals that I have, and that I don't want to give up? Specifically, the goal of running every day this year? A friend, who is a cancer patient, said last week about his prognosis, "Today, then tomorrow. Nothing more." I thought that was a great attitude and I hope I'm not neglecting the significance of his situation by borrowing that mentality for my running goal. As of today I'm 22 days down and 343 days to go. That is a hopelessly long time for all but the most goal-driven people I know. But if I can manage to focus on Today, Then Tomorrow - Nothing More, perhaps I will find success come December 31.



New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

On running when sick

I knew it would happen. Didn't know how long, but - eventually - as certain as death and taxes, I knew it would happen.

Of course, I was hoping it would later, rather than sooner - but what I hoped doesn't really matter.

What I'm talking about is the first real challenge to my running streak - I've caught a cold.

You see, if I caught this cold 100 days in, I can rationally defend my stubborn adherence to keeping the streak alive. But 19 days in - it's not that big a deal to just get better, and re-start it. So since I can't be rational about it, I'll just use the fact that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer as an excuse for my stubbornness a mere 19 days in.

Opinions from people who are actually smart about such matters

The conventional wisdom regarding running when sick is that it's ok when all the symptoms are "above the neck" - congestion, headache, sore throat - not an excuse to avoid running. On the other hand, "below the neck" symptoms, specifically fever - are very good excuses. People who know better suggest that I'd be dumb to try running with a fever. So when I woke up early this morning feeling like crap, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. My wife commented on how hot I felt. I felt a little chilly. I wasn't sweating, either.

How I feel vs. objective measurements

Confident that my temperature was high, I dug out a thermometer and took an actual measurement and found that I was actually not running a fever. Relieved, I took three aspirin and waited a half hour. Aspirin happens to be a magic bullet in my Experiment of One, and I actually felt fine at 6:15am when I drove to the gym.

Still being cautious, and knowing that my current feeling of well-being was, frankly, drug-induced, I made sure to run very easy this morning - limiting myself to a mile on a treadmill in about ten minutes. Sorry smart folks, but this was unavoidable. Nobody but other runners will understand this - but no matter how sick I felt, nothing was going to stop me from slogging a mile this morning. It might have taken 15 minutes. It definitely would have sucked, I would have hated it, and it certainly would have been pretty stupid in objective terms. But I did it anyway. Like I said, if none of this makes sense to you, then you're probably not a runner. But for those of us who do run, it's at least understandable, if non-sensible.

By the way, Amanda S calls these short runs "fake zeros" and I love that term. Just get the job done, even if it makes no difference in the training.

Streaking and the problems streakers face

Of course, I'm not the only person who deals with this, and a quick google search confirms this. The USRSA provides no exceptions "for genuine excuses like being sick, injured or laid up in hospital." To maintain a running streak of any distance requires a little bit of luck - and for the 90 or so people with 20+ year running streaks, perhaps a lot of luck. These people have gone 20 years without any sort of hospitalization or severe injuries. But these 90 people didn't get there with luck alone. I'm sure most all of them have had their bouts with sickness (even fevers) & injuries. But they all somehow managed. So I'm guessing that I will be ok, too - especially if I keep the sick days to "fake zeros."

I'll leave you with a few quotes from the aforementioned google search.

He’s run hours after hemorrhoid surgery and aboard a cruise ship while a tropical storm hit. Then there was the day 20 years ago when he broke his left foot. Although he managed to get home and to the hospital, his foot “was so swollen they couldn’t even put a cast on it,” Covert recalls. “So the next day I wrapped it in an Ace bandage, put on a makeshift boot, and hobbled through. I wasn’t going to miss my run.” source

"Running with a torn hip flexor was the toughest," he said. The broken kneecap and the suspected burst appendix presented challenges nearly as daunting. But the day his wife, Irene, was in labor with their daughter might only have made Davidson run a bit faster.source

"A few years back I had a minor operation. I went running that morning, and actually got out of the hospital that evening. It involved getting a few stitches but I was still able to run the next day. Another time I had a very bad dose of the flu. I was in bed all day, with my mother looking after me. She went out to the shops for a short while, and I seized the opportunity. I was really knocked out, but said I’d go for it, and skipped out for a run."source

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

It's good to be on a trail again

I did something fun on Saturday.

I went on a trail run.

Now, unless they've been paying close attention to this blog and my training log, friends who know are certainly wondering, "So what? Steve is always trail running." And normally, they'd be right. But looking back on my logs, the last time I actually ran on something other than a treadmill belt, asphalt or track was October 17th - when I DNF'd a 50K after falling and banging up my knee.

This last Sunday was January 15th. Nearly three months without any dirt. What was I thinking?

I don't know - because let me tell you - it was downright glorious. Now, I was planning on hitting the trails that day anyway - and the weather was not being taken into account. But as luck would have it, Saturday was the first really beautiful semi-warm day we've had in a couple of months. It was well over 50F with blue skies. My schedule didn't allow me to run until the mid-afternoon - by then the trails were muddy, snowy - and in a couple of places, treacherously icy. And my hill-fitness desperately leaves something to be desired. But none of that matters. I ran a couple of flat miles and then hit the hills. Probably half of the run was rocky and technical. An hour and 16 minutes on the trails went by faster than 20 minutes on the treadmill. I walked probably half of the uphills - and averaged about 13:20 for the whole thing. Slow - but happy.

If you're a reader of this blog who deprives yourself of the pure unadulterated pleasure of trail-running - you have no idea what you're missing.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com