Hungry for more...

I've got ants in my pants! I'm discombobulated! Give me a calmative! ~ Grandpa Simpson

Wed: 1:32, 10.5 miles, East Boulder tempo
Thurs: 00:40, 4.6 miles, Boulder Creek Path recovery
Sat: 00:40, 4.14 miles, Neighborhood surges
Sun: 4:12, 26.24 miles, North Boulder backroads

A crazy week got in the way of updates so I am playing catch up a bit. Things have been going relatively well... I am still nursing a tight hamstring and mildly sore knee but that doesn't seem to be holding me back too much. Wednesday's run was a bit of a cluster. My splits were okay but by the end, I was really just done and my knee hurt and so I cut that one a little short. Thursday was a bit faster than I should have been running but I felt okay so just cruised. Saturday was a squeeze run early. Went to the opera mid-morning so it was good to get out for a quick run while it was still quiet and calm. Sunday was the mad man of the week...

Headed to Boulder early hoping to get in a few miles before meeting up with the crew but that didn't happen so we started together shortly before 9:00. We wound our way around part of the Backroads course and I ended up way north on CO66 before heading back to Boulder. Not too much to talk about other than really working on managing lingering ailments and getting in the miles. For the most part, I was successful. After 3 hours things started to get a little ouchy for sure but nothing that sparked tremendous concern – mostly just the standard fatigue and soreness that comes with the territory when logging that much time on one's feet. These small increases every week are paying off, however. I am feeling super fit and recovery happens quickly.

People ask about nutrition during ultra running a lot and aside from some of the standard items (gels; "real" food like pb&js, wraps, fruit; etc.) I have started working in some fluid-based nutrition as well. I have been using nuun exclusively for the past year or so and find it to work really well. I recently started working Charles Corfield's famous "Rocket Fuel" into the mix. I'm trying to get more info about that so check back for a full report. Thus far, however, it seems to be working really well for me both during and post running. I have been using a 1:1 mix of Waxy Maize and Maltodextrin coupled with a tab of nuun per bottle. I have the feelers out to Mr. Corfield (3rd place in the '07 LT100) and will let you know what more I find out.

Most of the top talent whack down gels throughout the races. I am not quite sure how they handle this but it seems to work well for them. I will supplement with gels and do use gels exclusively during shorter, faster events like marathons (maybe that is the key – make 100 miles short and fast and you are golden!) but for longer runs, I tend to stick with more solid fare and try to work in as much real food as possible. When I did the LT100 in '07 and the Silver Rush in '08, I relied pretty much exclusively on real food. For the LT100, I relied on food my crew made for me: PB&J wraps, avocado wraps, bean burritos, fruit, trail mix, tomato/avocado soup and the like. I had decent success with this and found, for me, the avocado wraps worked really well (1/2 of an avocado and some pink sea salt wrapped in a tortilla). Being a vegan, I didn't want to rely on aid stations and didn't want to get into a situation where I needed nutrition but was unable to find anything that suited me.

I took a slightly different approach to the Silver Rush in '08 (mostly because I wanted to approach this event more casually to take some of the pressure off) and actually did use the aid stations which provided chips, pretzels, fruit (melons and bananas) and soda. I made the mistake of filling up with some energy drink at one of the stations that did NOT go down well, so definitely beware. I supplemented with my own food for the start (pb&j and avocado wraps) and put more in my drop bag for resupplying at the turn. The best practice is to well... practice! Grab a burrito and go for a run. See what works well for you. Be prepared for wacky cravings during events but try to stick with foods and supplements with which you are familiar and have tried in training. Nothing worse than stomach problems during an event.

~stubert.

Mixing it up...

Snow run shot courtesy of Sean.

Security is mostly a superstition; it does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~ Helen Keller

Sat: 3:17, 21.5 miles, Boulder Backroads course avec snow

Yesterday's skiing turned into a movie due to single-digit temps coupled with 40+ mph winds and a desire to keep Dad and Donna from freezing their tuchuses off so we went to a movie instead. Invictus, though somewhat charming (thanks mostly to Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Nelson Mandela), was entertaining at best. The secret service/bodyguard sub-plot felt really tacked on and Eastwood has handled shooting more adeptly in other efforts (which is saying a lot, considering I am not really a fan of his work). However, Dad and Donna enjoyed themselves so mission accomplished. Sometimes you have to take one for the team.

So I mixed things up even more by moving my Long, Slow Day to Saturday this week so that I could run with a buddy of mine with whom I am hoping to do a lot of adventure running this spring and summer. We have a few grandiose plans (including the John Muir Trail, the Kokopelli Trail and a full assault of the Colorado Trail in '11) and he is actually starting to get excited about another attempt at the LT100 this summer. So that means I may have some company along the first half of the event but am down one pacer if he decides to go for it. One takes the good with the bad (and I kid... I'd love for him to give it another shot). So I headed down to Boulder amid flurries, gray skies and cold temps to get a long run on.

We met at Sean's place then drove out to the Boulder Res to run on the Boulder Backroads course. This is a notoriously difficult marathon course spiced up this morning by snow-covered and icy roads. Relatively fresh snow, to boot, so while it did provide some relief from the pounding one can be handed by frozen pavement and hardpacked conditions, it married this to sloppy footing and loss of traction to which I am becoming accustomed. This was not going to be a record-setting pace day, however.

We had the benefit of a crew today in the form of Sean's father-in-law, Dave, who graciously not only drove us to the start/finish but placed drop bags along the route so we could resupply water and other goodies, loaned me his YakTrax (which I didn't end up needing but were good to have along) and hung around after his shorter run to drive us back to Sean's. Dave rules!

Overall, I felt pretty great and we managed to keep an average pace in the low 9s despite the conditions. The weather even broke for us within a few miles of our start and it ended up being a gorgeous day. No wind, sun shining... good stuff. We were shooting for 20 miles but mis-estimated the turn around spot on the out-and-back section of the course and ended the day with 21.5. Some minor aches and pains in the last couple of miles but those were to be expected given the poor footing we experienced throughout the run.

I am testing a couple of recovery techniques and will let you know how they work. Added full-leg compression stockings to the immediate post-run regimen and took an ice bath when I got home. I know this isn't ideal (should tee that up immediately post-run) but thought I'd see if it appeared to have any positive effect when delayed. I tossed the stockings back on after the bath as well so now am I not only super sexy but well... I don't really know how to finish that sentence.

Rach filled me full of amazing curry she just made up from whatever we had in the house and now I am feeling quite sated. Great Boxing Day for sure.

~stubert.