Cold ASS for my FAT ASS

So winter has finally set in this winter wonderland I call home. It was another long weekend of running. After that one day I ran inside the gym when it was cold & raining and on the way home I saw several runners braving the elements. I vowed I would run outside on the weekends no matter what the weather conditions were.

So Saturday was a sunny 28 degrees. I think I have finally figured out how to dress for this weather on these long runs. Layers of three seem to work out just fine for me. But I always managed to leave my unused YakTrax and figured I could run on icy conditions. Yet there I go again on the 19th mile of my trail run, a full on face plant onto the trail. The only thing saving my ugly mug was my outstretched arms that took most of the impact. The worst part was that after passing a fellow runner who took the wiser course and was walking. I was trying to look all cool and look like a runner and fell right in front of her..

Oh nice...

So 21 miles, 3.5 hours later, and a coyote darting 50 yards in front of me, I was done for the day..

On Sunday, another warm 8 degrees with a wind chill factor I didn't want to know about. I headed out the door before sunrise around my neighborhood. I knew I could not meet my fellow tri club members for there run/mountain bike session. They were all having their type of cold ASS crazy fun.

So after 15 minutes I realized how dang cold it really was. My CamelBak had frozen solid. Oh nice... I have a semi-long run and no hydration, plus trying to eat a frozen cliff or fig bar was not going to happen without hydration. But as my eyes lashes froze I managed to squeak out a 2 hour run, needed to do 3, but ran out of time. So another 50+ mile run week with some bike trainer, swimming, and strength session sprinkled in.

So this weekend might be fun,

Okay a hard fun,

Okay maybe just really hard ASS type of fun.

I'm tentatively scheduled to run my first FAT ASS race this weekend. The Crusty Dick 50k (31 miles) in cheese-land (Wisconsin). A FAT ASS race is no frills, no t-shirts, few awards (if any), limited aid, type of race or run, I'm pretty sure no whining out loud is allowed also.

Saturday's Forecast: Partly cloudy. Highs around 12.

So fellow bloggers, I need inspiration, tell me I'm crazy and I surely will be there, tell me I'm sane and then what is really the point to be there.

"Dreams and Goals"

Sometimes I always wonder what my daughter dreams about when she sleeps. When I hear noises at night from her room. I look inside and she is talking in her sleep.

I wonder about her dreams? (hopefully not about boys!)

When I was a kid, I dreamed of being an astronaut.

As I got older I dreamed of being a motorcycle motocross racer.

In high school I dreamed of being a jazz musician (I still have my saxophone lying around here somewhere).

After College I dreamed of being a Wall Street StockBroker (Okay, that didn't happen).

Now as I get older I dream about walking my daughter down the isle on her wedding day and her having a happy life.

So I think dreams should be mostly about that, because sometimes for me goals are easier to attain than the things I dream about.

Since starting Triathlons I have had goals every year.

1st year was about survival (mantra: If I stop swimming, I'll drown).
2nd year was about finishing a Half IronMan.
3rd year was about finishing an IronMan.

Now the goal of finishing a 50 mile UltraMarathon and another IronMan has been implanted in my head. Why? still a mystery to me. But Why not?

So after much deliberation running through my head, I took my trustee checkbook out and registered for the race. I really needed to stop being so indecisive in choosing which 50 miler I wanted to do, in case the race I wanted to do gets sold out. So I had to follow my heart on this one, not really my common sense, if I did that, I would not try this adventure at all.

"When you truly believe in something, and you carry it in your heart, you accept no excuses, only results." —Ken Blanchard

So I'm going with the one I wanted to do first, the McNaughton Ultra Trail race. Just somehow the craziness of it all appealed to me. I know it will be a tough race for me. Maybe even tougher than me. An all trail Ultra with 3 stream crossings and last year I think it rained.

Description from UltraRunning mag: "Rugged-ten mile loop repeated. Single track-dirt trails. 1,600 elevation change".

Yes this will be mentally and physically demanding for me. I know when I try something for the first time, endurance/racing wise, it has always been really tough for me, but I have found a way to finish so far. So I guess I know this race might "hurt" and so far I'm okay with that. So the "?" has become a "!" besides the entry on my race list for 2007. E-mail confirmation has been read and has been wife approved.

So what about my other choice, the ICE AGE Trail 50, yes, I'm going to "?" on that one also. No, not planning on doing another 50 miler just yet, but at least the 50k with the option after the McNaughton Ultra to do more.

Now, if I can just survive my training? Dang, it's going to be really cold this weekend.

Happy Trails.

"Me vs. the Trail"

This weekend, I thought would be any easy weekend of running for me. Recovery running week on the schedule this week. No heavy LSD miles, 1.5 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday.

Saturday started out well. I ran with some Tri-club members and did a 9.5 mile trail run in the cold. Even with sub 30 degree weather, the parking lot was full of people.

"Misery always loves company".

As we ran I actually saw a coyote for the first time in my life. "Dang" it was big, the size of a German Shepard dog, maybe it was a wolf. But I figured I was to salty to eat, so I figured our group would be fine.

Sunday rolled along, after a week of El Nino, it finally snows for real. It's a miracle I tell you.

So our group of TRi-club members started off in sub 20 degree weather. Snow falling as we started on our way. The only thing with snow on trails, it looks great, snow on the trees, really a thing of beauty. The bad part is that it can also hide things on the trail. Yes, you guessed it, "ICE". So after 5 minutes of running, I fell hard, one minute I'm up, then one minute I go down. I get up and run a little more, now my gel flask pops out of my fuel belt, lands on the ground. Okay the trail is also a horse trail. So yeah, my gel flask happened to land somewhere where it shouldn't have. So that was kinda of disgusting and therefore killed my hydration for the run.

Okay, I'm the one training for a Trail Ultra and the trail is kicking my ASS.

So I'm counting. Three times this frick'ing trail has got me on my runs here. Masquerading the snowy ground with black "ICE". Three times I had to pick myself up. Now I'm pissed and I'm coming after you again next weekend.

Maybe this will help.

So "trail" if you are listening, please be gentle with me next time, because we have a long weekend to spend with each other the next time I see you.

RunBubbaRun: Zero
Trail: 3

"One For The Road"

So another long running weekend for me.

So after last weekend's near miss of hitting 50 running miles for the training week. I was not going to be denied this training week.

I guess there are many ways to train for something. Ultra training is no different. But so far I'm going with the theory of back to back long slow runs.. (So if anybody has any better ideas on training for an UltraMarathon, let me know.)

So this weekend was no different, especially if I wanted to reach my goal of running 50 miles for the week.

On Saturday, 19 miles on the trail, nothing technical, but I had my headlamp in my hand for a pre-dawn run. Chickened out a little bit and waited for the sun to rise a little bit. "Afraid of the Dark?" maybe, especially running thru the woods with creatures who can run faster than me.

So Sunday was the bigger day, I needed to run at least 14 miles to reach my 50 goal. I woke early like usual on the weekends (around 5:00 AM). Fed the dogs, take the dogs out, OH!! crap
(not me anyways). It's raining hard and it is 30+ degrees. Treadmill at the gym, here I come. Man this is going to be mentally hard, but doable. So after reading some blogs, procrastinating some more.

I look outside, slight rain. "Game on", so stop being a "wuss" and run outside, I said to myself.

So 15 miles later, some freezing rain along the way and watching my breath for more than 2+ hours. I hit my goal of 50 running miles for the week, actually 51 and some change in mileage.

Plus:
4x's on the bike trainer/computrainer,
2x's swimming,
1x's strength training (I need to work on this).

So I guess calling myself a "wuss" does help sometimes.

So what's next, a recovery running week, a chance to do more swimming & strength training sessions.

Hopefully also put more mud on my mountain bike this weekend.

Week 3 of 16 is now done.

Blogger Beta or to not Beta

I just finished watching Star Wars, the one showing the identity of the Dark Lord.

So why not, I finally switched over to the "dark side". Blogger Beta or is it not Blogger Beta, I'm not sure anymore.

The conversion went well. Blog looked okay, but arghhh, some of my comments on my post have "Anonymous".

WTF, I thought it was fixed. But I guess once in the dark side, the force is to strong to turn back.

So on a happier note, went on my 19 mile trail run at the "dawn's early light" this morning. It was a little tougher this time, eventhough I felt rested.

During my run, a guy ask me if I'm ultra training, I was glad to say yes. Did I look that obvious, a Camelbak strapped to my back and running like a turtle. I told him a 50 miler and the race I was planning on doing. So I guess the wheels are in motion to the target race and let the games begin. Because now it is becoming more real.

Another long run tommorrow, I think they said something about it being colder and sleet, argghhh.

"Almost 50"

So on Sunday I finished my 1st full week of base training for my Ultra, while having the other eye on IronMan.

I had an internal goal of running my 1st 50 mile week. Plus some bike, swimming, and strength/core sessions.

But after some calculations and some time constraints during the week. I made it to 48 miles of running for the training week. Probably the longest I've ever run in a week in my entire life but reaching that 50 would have been a pretty cool breakthrough goal for me to accomplish.

Maybe I should have run around the block a couple of times and make up that 2 miles. But it's in the past, so I have to say to myself: "LIVE WITH IT", there is always next week, and then the next, and so on, and so forth.

Hmmm, 48 miles, I actually did 30.55 of those miles over the weekend. 11.55 miles on Saturday in Zone 2. 19 miles on the trails on Sunday. I met up with my TRI-club members on Sunday. I knew I had try to stay in zone 2, so I mostly ran solo except for the 2 miles or so with my unofficial pacer Keri. It was kinda hard staying in zone 2 during the whole 19 miles, my heart-rate kept jumping from zones 3 & 4, but I actually felt pretty good except for that last mile.

Alot of people on the trail that day. One guy wearing his Boston marathon winter running gear running with one arm in a sling. And I thought I was crazy. Then there was the lady with the "rat" dog, you know one of those dogs you could fit in a backpack, passing me up on the trails. So depressing, but I had to keep focused on what I had to do. Trying to make each training session with a goal in mind. "Train with a purpose," so they say anyway.

So after the run I did feel pretty good, drove home, changed, and went to my mother-in-laws house for lunch. Low and behold, she had carnitas (fried or is it roasted pork). So I could not pass it up, eventhough I knew it wasn't the best thing to eat after just running 19 miles. Let say I had a plate full. After that I think I crashed big time. I became pretty DAM tired and my stomach was not feeling the LOVE of what I just ate.

So the moral of the story, don't try this at home: Carnitas after a long run. Always a bad combination.

I have to work on my nutrition, you think?

Then again, maybe White Castle Slidders will work better for me next time.

Tag you are it!

So TriTeacher , here it goes.

Here's how it goes:

1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

The nearest book I found is "The Batak - Peoples of the Island of Sumatra" by Achim Sineth (I used to read alot of books on Indigenous tribes, mostly in Asia. Did you know they still practice headhunting in Borneo. Just in case you ever plan to go there.)

Page 123 is full of illustrations. Decorations found in the front of a Batak house.

So p. 122, 5th-9th sentences read:

"There is an enormous variation in the manner in which it is represented. Not only does the size of the singa heads, called house masks, vary, but there are many locals differences in style. Some singa show only the face of the beast, others the body and the legs as well, and decorative elements on the sides which can be interpreted as ears and wings."

So from Chi-Town. Okay I think Sexy-Rexy from the Chicago bears sucks as a QB and Paris Hilton used to date a Bears Linebacker. Go figure.

So for some more "tag you are it": Lisa , RunDMZ, and IronMomJenny.

"It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end." ~ Ursula K. Le Guin (American author, born 1929)

So a long 2006 training year is finally over. Long training sessions in the rain, heat, and wind I will not soon forget, even though I try to block it out now and then.

It was a crazy 2006: Hernia, IronMan race, and Hernia operation. All in that order. Lessons learned about training and hopefully a better understanding of how to maintain balance in my "Life". Still a work in progress every year thou.

So what's up for 2007?

Besides trying to manage my compulsive shopping habits.

Enjoy the year with my family and try not to let these endurance adventures consume me to much, at least not 7 days a week. Oh there is that thing about "BALANCE" again.

Another IronMan Wisconsin in 2007, this time with a group of friends and fellow TRI club members to share this journey with. I'm actually glad I'm the veteran in the group. I've done it once, even thou the finish line is never assured, but feel more confident with the right training I can cross that finish line again. Hopefully a PR in the process.

But that is not my "A" race for now. The journey in hand is my quest to finish a 50 miler UltraMarathon. Still don't why I want to do it, Hmmm, maybe just why not?. But mostly to experience a different journey. The end of that 50 miler will be definitely be experience in itself.

I'm still debating on which one I will do. Down to two in my area:

Mcnaughton Park Trail Runs : Actually sounds like a great race, tough ass race, for me anyway. The top finishers time was 8:06:32, The crazy thing is that they have a 100 mile and 150 mile route.

Ice Age trail 50 : An easier race (terrain wise), a bigger race. The top finishers time was 6:55:40.

Hmm? which one?

I actually started my 16 week UltraMarathon schedule on Thursday. Okay it was supposed to start X-Mas day actually. But I did get my long runs in over the weekend.

2:45 (15 miles) , Zone 2, LSD run on Saturday. Then did a 90 minute treadmill run on Sunday. On Sunday it was raining and cold, afterwards I felt like a real wimp when I saw two people running outside driving home from the gym.

So with all that, I'm staring my IM base training with a bike focus for the next 6-8 weeks. Even writing this, it seems like a lot on my plate. But my wife says I could always eat like a "oinker" anyways.

So for now I don't plan on hiring a coach, I actually have a swim coach (master swim class). I just need the freedom to change my journey as life takes it. Besides $150-$200 bucks a month is a big chunck of change right now to shell out each month.

So in today's Chicago Sun Times newspaper, they gave the 2007 horoscopes. At the end it said my Leo Mantra was :

"I gotta be me - I'm not hiding anymore. " ( I like the "gotta be me part")

Let everybody's journey, whatever it maybe, be a great one.