SLOW progress...

The last few weeks have been very tough on me. My progress with building R4OPL, with training for the Ultra, keeping up with work, and not ignoring my family are all very conflicting activities. I'm looking foreward to Scouting ending for the year soon and I've started going into high gear on training and feel fairly confident but today is a real test for me. I will be running 27 miles today in Monroe and Trumbull in the same configuration I plan to do my days on the AT... I'll run about 1/4 of the distance and then take an hour rest and snack, I'll run another 1/4 and then eat lunch and rest for about 90 min, I'll run another 1/4 and rest another hour, and then I'll run the final 1/4 to the campsite (or back home as it is today).

It's a Friday and I'm taking the day off to do this run so I don't lose the weekend with my family and work around the house (I'm building stone walls). The weather is typical for me when I have something big planned outdoors... 54 degrees and steady rain... oh bother.

I’m back and on my first hydration/fuel break…

Shoot! I forgot to weight myself before I started this day of running. I wanted to track my calorie and fluid intake and its impact on my bodyweight so that I could start gauging what I need to consume each day of the Ultra. I screwed that up! Because I came back home between each segment for my rest, I weighed myself after the first 8.57 miles and I’m at 148.4 lbs. We’ll see if there’s any change after my next segment. It’s not nearly as hot today as I expect it to be in late July though so I will be losing fluids at a faster rate. The first 8.57 went well, I tried to run as slow as possible and I ran on the dirt rail-trail to relieve some of the pounding, but the next few segments will be mostly on pavement which will be murder on my lower legs.

Time to stretch and work out some of that stiffness that sets in when you stop running. More when I take my lunch break…

I’m back and on my lunch/recovery break now. My mileage total is now at 17.3 miles for the day so I got in another 8.73 miles in this last segment. I am starting to tighten up so we’ll see how far I get in my afternoon segments. My only real physical problem so far is that I am suffering from nipple abrasion… which is when your shirt wears the sensitive skin on your chest raw. It sounds odd but is common with long distance runners. Many guys put band-aids over their nipples before a long run. I may have to do that for the afternoon session before they start bleeding.

I am going to go for another 7 miles, rest/rehydrate and then see what I can do for the last leg… I’d now like to hit 30 miles if possible.

Just got back from my third segment and I am at 24.3 miles so I got in exactly 7 miles as planned, which may sound great for me hitting my new goal of 30 miles but I hit the wall 1.3 miles ago and am hurting a whole lot now. I am fatigued but can get past that, what I’m not sure I can get past is an inflamed tendon on the outside of my right leg. As soon as I stopped running it settled down, we’ll see if it comes back when I start running.

I am hoping to run 4.7 miles in this final segment which would take me to 29 miles and then I’ll do 1 mile if possible on the treadmill to hit 30. Wish me luck…

I am back, and I ran into difficulty almost immediately with my tendon. I decided to cut my last run short at 3.25 miles because I was really having problems with my tendon and I just feel dead. At 26 miles my tendon was hurting so bad that I had to alternate walking and running a few times to get home… embarrassing but necessary to keep from damaging anything.

Back at home my final mileage count was just under 28 miles and I was wiped. I now know what hitting the wall feels like for marathoners. My final weight was about 145 lbs so I lost 3-4 lbs which means I need to rehydrate and refuel a bit more on these long days. I can’t afford to lost 3-4 pounds a day for a week when I do my Ultra or I’ll be in the emergency room!

Although I am happy that I ran longer than the longest day I’ll run in my Ultra, I am concerned because I know I could not get up tomorrow and do it all over again. I have a lot of progress to make in the next 2 months.

I am… Running for Other People’s Lives!