Anything but Ordinary

Friday Night was decidedly going to be a long evening. After a full day at work the plan was to meet at Percy Warner and run Red/White/Blue x2 for a distance somewhere between 22 and 24 miles. I managed to eat "light" all day and had nothing but a few sorry bites of apple in the parking lot before we took off. Ashly Dewberry, aka @Mash,  and I trudged into the failing light on hard packed snow. The temperature fell as did my countenance as my nutritional deficit began to take its toll. I shoved gel cubes into my mouth by the handfuls just wanting to get through the run in one piece. All in all we ran for well over 4 hours and gained 7k in elevation. I know this training counted because it hurt and when it hurts in a good way, one gets stronger later. 


Sunday I braved the trails again for 15m at 6am at Bowie Prk. This time it was a solo run. I ditched my ipod for most of it and listened to the sounds of the woods. One can truly tune in on such a minute level on long runs; the rustle of leaves, the flapping wings of a redheaded woodpecker, the call of a crow alerting others of your approach.   Prayer was my companion offering solace through grace. The picture above is what I saw upon exiting my Jeep at 6am. It was destined to be one of those alive and wide awake times when living feels anything but ordinary.

FOR THE FIRE

Fueled by a drive that seldom sleeps, I admit a predilection for extremes. Probably how I found my way to ultra running, yet the path from being a pack a day smoker seems at best circuitous and at worse improbable. In all honesty, I was a high level candidate to die an early, ignominious death. Yet here I am. Thank God. Here I am.

LobLolly Pine Tr.

Today was to be a 12 mile run with tempo work and work it would be as snow fell furiously yesterday afternoon, making my 45 minute treck from @Swiftwick to home a more than 3 hour ordeal. It was highlighted by being stopped by an officer for passing some non-moving vehicles on a hill. I apologized and he was reasonable, along with being irritated.

I took on Bowie Nature Park for my 12 miler, running the Perimeter Trail for a warm up 5 miles, then 2 miles on Loblolly in 13:10, then a recovery mile, and then another 2 miles in 13:32. I finished up shuffling the final 3m taking pictures and admiring creation. The snow kicked up like fine dust. Flecks of rainbow colors shimmered on the white cover from the light that made it through the pines.

I was the first human to run this trail today, fresh tracks. I say human because I followed the path of deer, rabbit, and even a dog or fox at one point. I love being wrapped in the solitude of my own breath.

It was good to get home to my wife and son and stoke a warm fire. I was eager to get my compression socks on and my feet up because Friday I have a 22m trail night run with @Mash.

LBL 30 Mile Trainer

LBL Canal Loop overlook

We left in the darkness Saturday at 4:30 am. @Mash and I headed to Land Between the Lakes for a long training run. I needed to see what the trail has to offer in regards to terrain and climbs as I will be running the LBL 50 on March 12th. We arrived as the snow started to fall pretty hard, the wind gusts were quite strong and the temp hovered below the freezing mark. The plan was 2 loops on the 11 mile Canal Loop Trail and then an out and back to get us 28-30 miles.

We stashed food and liquids off the path and got under way. The first loop was slow and the weather beat on us. But the second loop, I had planned to run at a quick pace, ending up averaging 8:07s for the second 11m.

The real training took place in miles 22-26 or so, on the out of the out and back. I was reminded in these miles of a reality of endurance sports, suffering will come. I was hurting pretty bad- and it was like cold water on my face, a moment of clarity that dressed down some of my rambling, ancillary thoughts. It brought in to focus the three pieces of me- mind-body-spirit. I run in hopes that He may be glorified.

I was glad to finish with 30 miles on the day.


I wore a new prototype sock from @Swiftwick. They have a nice snug fit and hold the foot well. I was concerned they might not be thick enough to keep me warm, but I never had a problem. I managed to get my feet wet in the first few miles so I ran in wet or at least damp socks for well over marathon distance. The socks dried and wicked well, but the snow and mud kept coming. No blisters or issues to speak of. In the interest of full disclosure, I do cover my feet with Sportslick for long runs. The seamless toe is another key element that kept my feet blister free, no bunching whatsoever.

A great trip and wonderful adventure. We truly had to "embrace the wild" on this day. The elements were not to be ignored.

Lunch with Jamie Dial, TRT100 and winter training

winter

Jamie Dial is one of the very top ultra runners in the mid south. His race resume although impressive only tells a portion of his story, as his personal journeys into the great outdoors are that of local lore. Jamie was willing to sit down over lunch on Tuesday with Mash and me at Ted's Montana Grill and give us a run down of the TRT100. He came in 4th overall in this epic.

J. Dial arrived and proceeded to hold class on the race pouring information out. We would need to learn to run on full stomachs, go run after dinner and run late into the night after a day of work. We discussed hydration ideas and pack vs handhelds. Jamie said, we'd be fit enough, that was the "easy" part, (?) he said the mental part was what we were going to have to really work on. Saying, "I can't tell you how bad your gonna feel at mile 70." Jamie knows how to endure, how to overcome and most of all how to train creatively. He shared with us some little known trail routes where we could get the mountain training we most certainly will need to be ready.

Yesterday I went out for a 6 mile run at lunch with a tempo sesh of about 1.5 miles over the pedestrian bridge and around the Titans' stadium. I keep running over the conversation in my head, each time coming to new conclusions about the future months.

One thing is for certain, for now, I am going to focus on the LBL50, it is nothing to overlook and will be an incredible challenge. There is some comfort in that, being able to look only 5 weeks ahead- one training week at a time- it is much like my effort in races-  I can only run one mile at a time - so I run the one I'm on.

PWP early am

This morning Mash and I got 9+ in on the PWP red trail x2. It was snowing a bit when we started at 5am and was a not quite 20 degrees.