Country Music Marathon Final PREP Tips

A few thoughts during CMM race week to mull over. 

1. Relax. Channel that nervous energy! Get your race clothes ready, get everything in place and walk through race morning. Have a hydration and nutrition plan (gels every 4/5 miles water/Cytomax every stop, etc) Leave nothing to chance and leave lots of time to get there. Know you are ready and have done the work, deep, slow, diaphragm breathing will help you stay calm.

2. Sleep! Extra sleep early this week is a huge key. Know that Friday night will likely be fitful because, "racers are too excited to sleep!" and that is totally OK, just get what you can and do not worry about it. You can have a nap, Sat afternoon!

3. Stretch. Yes we all get an "owwie" or 2 leading up to a race so stretch, ice, roll, ibuprofen- just take care of yourself, especially your feet (pumice stone calluses etc.), get a new pair of Swiftwick socks @ Endurance Sports for the race.

4. Eat Right: Early this week till Wed pm go for a high protein diet, then switch over to fuel up time- carbs baby!

5. Hydrate: Starting mid-day Wed be mindful of extra fluids... your pee should be a light lemonade color. Friday mix in some sports drinks as well.

6. Confidence:  The work is done, the hay is in the barn, now it is time to display all the magnificent work you've put in. When the doubt monster creeps in, recall those hard training sessions you completed and did not quit...  

7. Caffeine: If you drink coffee, lower your intake to 0 cups by Thurs and Friday... then enjoy the energizing rewards on race morning.

8. Visualize success: See the hard miles, have a plan if things do not go according to plan, and be flexible and ready. See that finish-shoot and the clock with your goal time in sight. Feel it, be it.

May Christ go with you.

Run Far Stop Thinking

Post run, enjoying @Swiftwick Matt's new
favorite snack BUMBLEBAR.

This past Saturday, I ran 30 miles with HURC for some and Mash for all of it. Funny, when you get to a certain distance, it really doesn't matter which way you go, if you get lost, if you turn left or right or head out on another trail, because regardless, your out there for hours on end. So it's best to settle in, shut down the head-static and just run.

We started at 4:45 am. Ran the 11.2m Percy Warner road loop from Deep Wells. Then traded shoes and hit the trail system. The group fragmented after the road loop due to distance/pace needs and Mash and I were left to the miles ahead.

This is my kind of day. No speed sesh or twitchy interval work (both of which I enjoy) just low-gear, slow-dear, roll-over-a-dog near, miles. I was hooked up with a new (new to me) and improved nutrition element; Roctane which mimics the effects of a prescription stimulant in my opinion. Dan Powell at Endurance Sports and Rec has me using the stuff. I tell you, his high level swimming background and deep knowledge of the physiological workings of an endurance athlete make driving to his Cool Springs store worth it. That's what you get there- knowledge- and that is training gold.

My right ankle has been tweaking in the front, swelling a bit after road runs and registering a nagging  sensation. I put on the @Swiftwick  Aspire 2s for compression and did not wrap it. Today, ankle checks out, and I got in 10 miles on the Bowie trails on Sunday at an 8 min avg pace. It is nothing short of a miraculous recovery. I thank the Lord.

30m (road and trails)
5 hours
8500+ feet of climb

Biscuit Run

This past week was supposed to be a mid-level training week. It was not. It ended up being a full-on leg burning, air sucking hammer-fest. Highlights- on Thursday Mash and I hit up Love Circle for a mid day hill sesh. I ran from work and we rolled up and down the winding streets for repeats.

Friday a.m. I got to work at sunrise and headed out the door to Centennial Park. A friend asked me to pace him for his fitness test for the Marines. He said he needed to break 18 minutes for 3 miles. He was on pace after 2 (12:01) but blew a gasket at 2.25. I tried to get him to fight through it but his breath was shallow and it was not his day. That said, he did manage to rock 21 pull ups and 109 crunches in a minute each right before the effort. He ended up at 18:38. I think with a few weeks of training or so he'll be ready to make his time.

Saturday Mash, Matt Vest and I rolled out from Loveless Cafe for a biscuit run. Mash and I would run 26 while Vest would hit 22. Our goal pace was 7:45-8s in preparation for Strollin Jim 40 miler and Matt for the Country Music Marathon.

Natchez Trace Parkway photo by Brent K. Moore

I watched with concern as the diminishing figures slipped into the darkness over the crest of the next hill. My legs felt haggard and I had no clue where they had stashed the water, miles 7, 19, and something... but likely under some leaves, behind a stump covered with a camouflage net. I had managed to keep up until the first water drop but now they were moving fast. My legs ached and my feet thudded against the pavement. This was the Natchez Trace Parkway, which boasts a long series of climbs and descents and very little level ground. We would end up with about 3750 ft of vertical climb.

I struggled to keep them in sight and as dawn illuminated the brilliance of the spring countryside. I started to gain on them, determined to not miss the water. Out 13 miles was a struggle and on the way back I found my legs and was able to get into a rhythm. Mash and I traded lead and finished with an average of 7:41.

Swiftwick has some new Aspire 12s compression socks coming soon. I had a pair of prototypes and pulled them on after the run. They felt smooth and held the muscles really well. My recovery was aided in a big way by the new compression design and a cold water bath.

We were met by Matt who had already secured 3 dozen biscuits, tons of homemade preserves (peach, blackberry and strawberry) and big black coffees in styrofoam cups. We sat on the shaded deck of Trace Bikes next to Loveless and relished our reward. Biscuit Run #1 complete and 61 miles for the week.

Strange Days Nashville Running

Nashville locals are aware that downtown has a thriving homeless man population. Somehow this fact had to date, escaped my running buddy Matt (aka the Dean: he's the Dean of a Christian college in Franklin). It was his turn to pick our Saturday run route, and distance. He chose parking on 4th Avenue, downtown, start time 6 am. I had a strange feeling about this choice.

I pulled up to a meter spot. Ashly (aka Mash) and the Dean were already there, sitting in their cars making final preparations. We were running 22 miles of the Country Music Marathon course. The Dean is going for a Boston Qualifier this year.

The Dean was the first out of his car. He lingered outside waiting for us. Then he motioned that he was going to borrow the nearby Hilton's bathroom. So I stayed in my car not wanting to be accosted by the high volume of street walkers moving like sharks up and down the street. I texted Mash that I thought this was a sketchy place to leave our cars before sunrise. A bum in a trench coat shuffled past my passenger side window pausing and then continuing on.

The Dean returned saying, "Real funny guys, April Fools was yesterday." I had no idea what he was talking about. Mash looked inquisitively at him as well. This went on for a while and the Dean began to get hot. "OK gimme my bottle, I left it right here!" he finally said. We didn't have his bottle. Probably shouldn't have left it sitting on the sidewalk but he had. "Dude, maybe a bum took it!" said Mash.

Then I started to put two and two together. "I saw a bum hanging out by my car, maybe it was him. He wasn't moving very fast." I looked up and saw a figure in the streetlight rounding the corner by the Bridgestone Arena about a quarter mile away. The Dean was off in full sprint and I felt obligated to follow. Ok maybe obligated is the wrong word, I was curious as to what he was going to do and I got the Dean's back.

The Dean was on him when I turned the corner, his arms outstretched, exclaiming, "Not cool man! Not cool!" The guy wore a trench coat and just stood there.  I didn't know quite what to do, I just said, "Uhh come on Matt, Let's go, umm God bless." The Dean was furious, the guy had sucked down all his hydration, eaten his gel and taken his $10 bucks stashed in his handheld pocket. He did retrieve the hand held and the bottle though. Mash and I had extra bottles and gels we shared but the little occurrence stayed with us for the first few miles.

The run itself was fairly uneventful, we got off course several times and ended up with 23 miles, but the Dean involuntarily donated to charity and one homeless man was fueled up with electrolytes, caffeine, and a ton of nutrition. Who knows maybe that was the spark he needed to get off the streets.