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Contest Training Journal for markc7 and WendyRC


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The race went well for both of us. Wendy did better than either of us expected in her 50 miler. I had a heck of an experience in my 100. I've written most of my report and I'll post it soon. For now I'll just say that I beat my time from last year and had 20 hours of some of the best running of my life, but also had a couple of the worst hours that I've ever gone through.

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As promised, here's my race report. Enjoy!

 

This weekend I ran the Sulphur Springs 100 mile trail race for the second year in a row. My goals were to finish and to beat my time from last year, which was 28 hours and 34 minutes. In the end, I achieved both these goals, but not in any way that I could have imagined.

 

For the first six laps of the course (20km each), I was honestly wondering what I would write about in my race report. I was running well and nothing very exciting had happened. I was very happy that my stomach wasn't giving me any of the problems that I've had in other long races. In fact, I wasn't nauseous throughout the entire race, which was a minor victory in itself. This was probably due in part to the great weather on Saturday; cool and cloudy with occasional light rain. Early on I had a bit of pain in my piriformis muscles, but stretching kept that under control. My lap times were steady at between 2:30 and 3:15. I was way ahead of my previous year's pace, and after 100km I was actually one lap (20km) ahead of where I was at the same time in 2006. I was feeling great and was confident that I could finish in under 26 hours.

 

Night fell at the start of lap six. Having had a lot more practice running in the dark, I felt much more comfortable this year than last year. 19 hours had passed when I left for lap 7, my second to last lap. The first 10km of the lap were fine, even though fatigue was starting to set in. Then halfway through the lap, it started to rain. At first this wasn't a problem, since it was fairly warm and I was running under quite a bit of tree cover. But as I reached the 13km point of that lap (just after leaving an aid station!) the rain became a torrent. Within minutes, the trail became an ankle deep river. It was still the middle of the night and flashlights couldn't cut through the rain, reducing visibility to a few feet. I was able to see trees on either side and stay on course, but I couldn't see where I was putting my feet so I took a few missteps. When I reached the next aid station, the volunteers lent me a poncho and a dry shirt, but the damage was already done. My legs were so cold that my left knee had seized up and I couldn't put pressure on it or bend it more than a few degrees. I kept walking, but my thinking was becoming more and more hopeless. There was no way I could run, and no way that I could cover the last lap at this walking pace. The last 5km of lap seven took me over two hours.

 

When I arrived at the end of the lap, Wendy didn't recognize me because I was limping so badly. I told the race director that I wasn't sure if I would continue running. I felt certain that there wasn't anything I could do to make it possible to run again. I was more upset about this than I've been at any race. I think I was most frustrated by the fact that I had been running so well for the first 3/4 of the race, and that all of that hard work was now going to go to waste. Also, the thought of dropping out with only 20km left was heartbreaking.

 

Wendy did her best to keep me positive. She brought me a change of clothes and some soup, but I kept insisting that I wasn't going on. Wendy still wouldn't let me drop out, so we agreed that she would let me sleep for twenty minutes and then I would make a decision. I lay down on the floor of the change room and slept for about two minutes. When I opened my eyes again, it was a whole new world.

 

As soon as I woke up, I realized that I had already made the decision to start running again. I left the change room and told Wendy that I was going to finish. She put on her shoes and grabbed a few things while I started down the trail with another runner. Wendy caught up to me and we spent the next twenty minutes or so running. Not walking, but running. Wendy told me later that she had some trouble keeping up with me at that point (she had run the 50 mile race Saturday).

 

About halfway through the loop I slowed down because my legs had started to hurt badly again, but by that point any doubts I had about finishing were gone. With 5km left to go, Wendy and I realized that I would almost certainly beat my time from last year. I would be lying if I said that we flew through the last stretch of the course, but we did keep moving steadily and we both ran up the last hill to the finish line. I crossed the finish in a little over 28 hours.

 

Looking back now, I can probably point out a few things that I would have done differently. I know there were people who handled the rain better than I did (and many who handled it worse). I managed to place 3rd in the under 40 age category (which is not a huge accomplishment in a sport dominated by middle age and older runners). I'm still feeling sore as I write this (Monday afternoon), but I felt good enough to walk home from work today, albeit slower than usual. I'm going to see how I feel in the coming weeks before deciding what to race next. All things considered I am very happy with how the race went, and am looking forward to my next 100 mile race.

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Great work I can just imagine how much better your time would have been if the weather wasn't an issue as it previously was.

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Great work I can just imagine how much better your time would have been if the weather wasn't an issue as it previously was.

 

Thanks veganpotter. I'm also wondering just what my time would have been. I guess in a weird way that's part of the attraction of events like this; you never know what to expect because there's always so many things that can go right and that can go wrong. I was planning on skipping this race next year, but after this weekend I'm thinking of doing it one more time.

 

Here are some pics from the race:

 

Food for the race

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0761.jpg

 

I'm still feeling good after 120 km, but the "fun" is about to start

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0771.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0772.jpg

 

Bananas and vegan cookies, what better way to refuel after 100 miles?

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0775.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0779.jpg

 

Me and the Race Director.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0784.jpg

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On Saturday I did a short run in the morning with my brother. I was best man at his wedding, and he needed to burn off a little nervous energy. It felt pretty good, which is a good sign that I'm recovery fairly well from the race last weekend.

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I finally sat down and read your 100 mile race report after looking at all the great photos! What an adventure! Torrential rains, a bum knee, and a wife who still believes in you when the going gets rough... what a great story! You should give yourself more credit for coming in 3rd in your age group!

 

How did you manage to run when your leg wouldn't even bend? At any rate, a big round of congratulations to both you and Wendy!

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You should give yourself more credit for coming in 3rd in your age group!

 

Well, I'm certainly very happy with the 3rd place finish, and proud of the fact that I beat a couple guys who are faster runners than me at shorter distances. But it's still true that the competition gets more intense in the 40-50 age group and especially among the +50 crowd.

 

How did you manage to run when your leg wouldn't even bend? At any rate, a big round of congratulations to both you and Wendy!

 

I didn't run too much at that point! I did a bit of a Terry Fox-esqe hobble but for the most part I walked. After Wendy got me to sleep and take a bit of ibuprofen, the knee loosened up a little bit and i could run again. It's really amazing how the body can adapt and do things that seem impossible, eh?

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I didn't run too much at that point! I did a bit of a Terry Fox-esqe hobble but for the most part I walked. After Wendy got me to sleep and take a bit of ibuprofen, the knee loosened up a little bit and i could run again. It's really amazing how the body can adapt and do things that seem impossible, eh?

 

Yes, indeed!

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I came across a neat, quick workout on the APK site the other day. Do 1 pushup and one pullup, rest 15 seconds, then do 2 and 2, rest 15, then 3 and 3, and so on until failure. Today I did two sets of this routine, each time reaching 6 reps of each. I could have done a few more reps but was limited by my grip on a slippery bar (it was raining out today and I was outside).

 

Between the two sets I did a 4x350m interval workout. Repeats were 1:23, 1:16, 1:11, and 1:10. I rested about 1:30 between repeats. My legs felt good until after the last repeat, when my left knee started bothering me again.

 

Since I've got lots of mileage in the bank and some short races coming up, I'm going to keep doing short fast workouts for the next couple weeks.

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I did a body weight workout at home today:

 

~150 pushups

15 1-legged squats on each leg

2x25 crunches

25 tuck-outs

bent over rows with a bungee cord

2x10 pullups (still feeling it from yesterday)

2x75 bodyweight squats (one set with toes straight, one set with toes out)

Edited by markc7
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I did a tough bicep and back workout this morning. I only did four exercises, but on three of them I varied the hand position, grip, stance or whatever throughout a long stripping set. I did barbell rows, cable pulldowns, and barbell curls. Then I also did 4 regular sets of deadlifts. i haven't done them in a while, so I kept the weight nice and low. Also because my butt was sore from doing BW squats last night.

 

After I got home I was feeling pumped so I took a couple pics:

 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0982.jpg

I forgot to flex my stomach in this one. Really, I do have abs.

 

 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0987.jpg

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do you even have bodyfat % ????

 

I just discovered your thread here.

Since I just started running again I'm sure it will help motivate me

 

(not sure about those 100 milers though)

 

thanks for posting!!!

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Thanks JW. I'm sure I have some body fat on there somewhere. Actually I lost about 6-7 pounds at the 100 mile despite good hydration, and it hasn't really come back. So I think I used up some of my fat reserves.

 

Today I did an intense chest/tricep workout. Same kind of thing as yesterday; few exercises but changing the grip or angle throughout long strip sets. It gives me a good feeling that I'm really hitting all areas of a muscle. Today I did bench press, dumbell fly, tricep pushdown, and dips.

 

I'm planning to go for a run this afternoon, but it's hot hot hot out there. I may make it a short one.

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I did a tough bicep and back workout this morning. I only did four exercises, but on three of them I varied the hand position, grip, stance or whatever throughout a long stripping set. I did barbell rows, cable pulldowns, and barbell curls. Then I also did 4 regular sets of deadlifts. i haven't done them in a while, so I kept the weight nice and low. Also because my butt was sore from doing BW squats last night.

 

After I got home I was feeling pumped so I took a couple pics:

 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0982.jpg

I forgot to flex my stomach in this one. Really, I do have abs.

 

 

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/markc7/100_0987.jpg

 

You are very hot stuff my friend!

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Awesome photos! I hope you don't mind but I shared one of them with the group in the photos section.

 

Great stuff. Soon it will be time to get you up on stage

 

Thanks robert. Please feel free to share them anywhere you want. At the end of the contest there'll be a whole lot more. Not sure about competing just yet but I'm thinking about it someday...

 

JW, my typical week isn't really typical. At least for the last month or so things have been a bit chaotic. I periodize my running training (base building phase, strength, speed, taper, race, recovery), and so my weight training has to fit within that structure. For example, until yesterday I hadn't been to the gym in almost a month because I was tapering and recovering from the 100.

 

This summer my plan is to run 4-5 days per week with a weekend long run of over 15km, go to the gym three times per week, and do bodyweight workouts once or twice per week.

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thanks

 

I imagine you have a rest day somewhere in there?

I seem to need one periodically.

 

I seem to be neglecting the weights. I maight adapt to running every 2nd day with a longer run on the weekend. I'll do weights 2x a week on non-running days.

 

Thanks for sharing. appreciate it!

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I imagine you have a rest day somewhere in there?

I seem to need one periodically.

 

Oh yes, I take lots of rest days, especially when my long run distance gets up there. Mondays are always rest days. Tuesdays I would probably do either the run or the BW workout. Wednesday/Thursday/Friday are runs + gym. Saturday is a rest day or maybe a BW workout, Sunday is a long run day.

 

But once my long run mileage starts to get above 30km, then all bets are off. Like I said in the running thread, I have a very cautious approach to running training and will back off significantly if I start to feel sore.

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Thanks bunnylalu!

 

Today I did a quick track workout. I ran at close to 5km race pace, doing repeats ranging from 100m to 1000m. My left knee started bothering me a bit on the way home, so I'll need to do some specific exercises and stretches this week to keep the surrounding muscles strong.

 

After I got home I did a core workout then took a couple more photos. None of them really turned out well though.

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I spent the last night being a participant in a study that a friend of mine was running. She attached electrodes to my head and face, put an earphone in my ear, and watched my brain activity while I read and slept and listened to beeping sounds. Needless to say, I didn't get a great night's sleep. But I went to the gym in the morning anyways and had a surprisingly good legs and core workout. Among other things, I increased the weight on the deadlifts and did a couple sets of 4x185lbs. Still not as heavy on those as I want to get to, but it's progress.

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