"Perhaps the genius of ultrarunning is its supreme lack of utility. It makes no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense."
- David Blaikie
Week 1 of 6 in preparation for Bighorn 100.
- Mon - 11 mi (am: weights. pm: twin FF loops at 44:20 and 43:55. Focusing on neg split.)
- Tues - 13 mi (am: 11 mi double hill workout 51, 48. pm: 2 mi recovery run)
- Wed - 16 mi (am: 4:20 start from Seawell. 6 single track, 10 mi on pumpkin 21:03, 20:44, 20:07, 19:47)
- Thurs - 13.5 mi (am: 5mi. Saw first box turtle of the season. pm: 8.5)
- Fri - 10.5 mi (pm: 2 pumpkin loops at 18:10 and 17:40 followed by a FF loop at 45:10. 82+ degrees!)
- Sat - 10 mi (am: 10 mi. 4:20 from Seawell)
- Sun - 26 mi (pm: 17 mi single track, 10 mi gravel roads. 4 pumpkin loops toward the end: 20:55, 19:52, 19:37, 18:39. Some heavy rain toward the end that was fun.)
Weekly total: 100
Pretty solid week on the trails of Carolina North Forest. A few more miles than I've done in the past, but enjoying my time "out there" and feeling pretty good. I focused this week on keeping my pace up and negative split most runs. I'm also keeping the total number of runs per week down to 8 or 9, which is at parity with my training for Jurassic Coast Challenge. So the plan here is more miles than JCC training, but same avg pace and same number of runs. That forces some longer harder runs. We'll see how well I can maintain this strategy heading into week 2...
Last week of rest before the buildup for the Bighorn 100 in Wyoming! This week was also my wife's birthday and with our 10 year anniversary right around the corner we decided to celebrate with a few nights on Elbow Cay in the Bahamas.
Elbow Cay is a six-mile long cay in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Originally populated by British loyalists fleeing the newly independent United States of America in 1785, it survived on fishing, boat building, and salvage but seems increasingly oriented toward tourism now. The main village of Hope Town surrounds a beautiful protected harbor with a red and white striped 120ft lighthouse built in 1863.
I somehow managed to squeeze 44 miles in between the rum drinks and Cuban cigars. Running barefoot on the sand definitely worked some new muscles! My calves sure are sore and tight. Running around the island was a great way to see some of the areas outside of town, but we got some strange looks from the locals.
I've been on a trail shoe bender the last 12 months, trying almost a dozen pairs across brands Montrail, Inov-8, New Balance, and La Sportiva. I've mostly settled on the New Balance 790s for training and racing, but after slipping around in the mud so much at the Jurassic Coast Challenge last month I decided to add something into the rotation that would give me better traction when needed. Enter the La Sportiva Crosslite. The description is spot on:"A featherweight racing shoe with a burly outsole for wet and muddy conditions. Features: Simple mesh upper with integral scree guard Wide-spaced lugs promote shedding of mud and grass."
The toebox may be a little too narrow for me, but I'm going to put them to the test with the upcoming Bighorn 100 training cycle and see how it goes... may need to make a few alterations.
And now a brief intermission from all the pretty pictures from exotic running locations. Here's what ultrarunning is really about...
I've settled on a pretty straightforward approach to removing toenails that have been damaged on long runs. By damaged, I mean fluid has built up underneath the nail separating it from the connective tissue. If it gets infected this can be very painful. And if you don't remove the damaged nail it can obstruct the path of the new nail, which gets a little wonky. So, I just pull 'em off. The process is 1) soak in the tub, 2) grab one side of the nail with pliers, and 3) pull. Afterward I'll put on some antibacterial ointment and a band-Aid. Viola.
Day 3: 5:46, 27.2 miles, 5th place overall for the 3 day challenge!
Overall Results
Pictures
The sun was out today and I got some beautiful pictures. They are truly worth 1000 words each... I'm knackered and should just leave it at that but I'll write a few words until I get to bottom of this lovely Lugger Ale I'm having.
Overall another Epic day. The coastline here is just amazing (when you can see) and pictures can't begin to do it justice. We got off to a later start today than I expected and the weather turned out to be a bit warmer than predicted. I overheated early on and hit a rough spell around mi 7. The 6th & 7th place guys got in front of me around this time, but I kept on the fluids and S! caps and managed to pull out of the death spiral just in time to reel them in. The last 9 miles I had to fly to catch up to those blokes. My Garmin showed 7 min miles for a few miles on a very crowded boardwalk through the town of Swanage. Some strange looks from the locals.
Beautiful views like this all day. I kept thinking, "Sheesus, I've got to run all the way down there?!" I'd rather just take pictures and walk a bit... (which I did).
The elevation was just crazy today. Hardest day of the 3 day challenge. Again, it's not the overall elevation change that's so impressive (check out today's elev profile below)... it's the grade. Oh, and the mud made for some very comical steep ascents and descents! I took many falls and ended up a muddy mess, but so was everyone else and it made for some light moments.
This year's JCC exceeded my expectations again despite the crazy weather. I made some great friends this weekend... including a couple who are now seriously considering Bighorn 100. I am very pleased to come away with 5th place given the level of competition and just the overall number of competitors (we started with somewhere around 130, but the crowd seemed to slim down some by day 3). Definitely my best performance in terms of the percentages.
Alright, my pint is empty and I've got an early flight back to the States. I'm going to be starring at this elevation profile for a few days. I'm feeling soreness in muscles I didn't know I had... fortunately I don't think there's anything of this grade at Bighorn 100.
Day 2: 4:49 and holding strong in 5th place. 27.5 miles.
Did I say yesterday was muddy and windy? Double that. Winds along the ridges in excess of 50 mph and rain almost all day today. Total mudfest. Today was dubbed the hardest day in JCC history. The oner (all 78.6 miles in one go) was canceled tonight as the winds are expected to increase.
I ran a bit faster today, and a bit further than yesterday. Spent much of the day in 2nd place but then took a break the last few miles dropping back to 5th. That keeps my overall position comfortably in 5th. I'd be very pleased to end up in 5th overall. The folks in front of me are very talented and experienced stage racers. Lot's of who have done the Racing the Planets 4 deserts series, Marathon De Sables, etc.
Tough to get pictures today with all the rain, but I did manage to snap a couple toward the end. This really is a spectacular course.
Topped the day off with a nice soak in my tub and couple pints with some new friends.
Hopefully some better weather tomorrow!
