In my last post I mentioned meeting Mike, an experienced ultra runner.
Mike’s advice:
Training for Le Grizz is tougher than I thought.
This weekend, for example, the temperature was slated to get up to 95 degrees, and with the humidity, feel over 100. I was scheduled to do a 4 hour run Saturday, and a 3.5 hour run on Sunday.
In order to avoid the heat, I went to bed at 9:00 Friday night (Joce was not too happy about that) and got up at 3:00am to get my run underway.
I ran from 4 to 6 downtown (a separate post on this shortly). By the time I got back to my car for a planned 20 to 30 minute rest before the second 2 hour run, I began getting serious chills. It was 81 when I started running, and it was probably about 87 now. This wasn’t a good sign, in my book.
I got in my car and headed back to my house. I figured I’d run another hour if I felt up to it, and do the last hour later in the day.
It was now about 6:45 and the temperature was climbing fast. One hour went by pretty quick though, and in the last 2 miles I met Mike, another ultra-runner. He definitely did a lot to carry me through that last 17 minutes…
I managed to complete these 3 hours of running and meet up with my girlfriend for Coffee and a bagel before I had to go to a funeral. I guess I was pretty crabby at this point, because we got into an argument. She was trying to help me realize that I needed to really begin focusing on eating more calories, but I was too grumpy and snapped at her :( I called her about a half-hour later and apologized. I definitely think that this training has been as hard on her as it has been on me.
Sunday was just plain dreadful. I had a perfect 18 mile route laid out, and I’d run it before. Normally re-running a route is a good thing… I know when to conserve, and when to push it… This time it was a lot more conservation that pushing it… On Saturday I had completed about 25 miles of running, and my legs felt like dead weight.
The first part of my course was fairly good… The first 5 to 6 miles were on gentle hills where the down-hills were much longer than the up-hills as the road slowly descends from the DC suburbs down to the Potomac.
The back half of the run is all up a gentle uphill path that leads out of DC and back up through Bethesda. It’s an old rail-road, so loooong and slow uphill. And it was just enough to put me into exhaustion. About mile 10 I began taking 60 second walk breaks each mile. By mile 13 they had extended to 2 minute walk breaks. I managed a meager 15 miles in 3 hours. A miserable performance.
But having completed that run put me in an endorphin induced, caffeine enhanced bliss. I was so excited to be done that Sunday was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time!
Moral: Training for an Ultra is hard. You can do it, but be prepared. Remember, success lies in PMA – Positive Mental Attitude. There’s no one out there chasing me with a gun. I’m out there because I want to be out there. I can run 50 miles, and I’m going to prove it on October 8, 2005 at the Le Grizz Ultramarathon!
Bill
Today I had a 3:30 to 4:00 training run to do in preparation for the Le Grizz Ultramarathon.
Joce came along with me on her bike :)
We rode along the Canal from mile marker 13 (near Widewater) down to mile 3 and back.
She’s been trying to spend more time on her bike so she can get a little more comfortable (she’d like to start training for a Triathalon).
I was darn happy to have the company!
The 3:45 went by very quickly, and she was a big inspiration in the last hour and a half when my attitude was turning south.
I haven’t found runners willing to go out with me on these excursions, but company made it totally worth it!
It was a great bonding experience, to boot.
We are trying to see if she can ride with me along the Le Grizz route… It will be a LONG time on the bike, but we’ll see!