I led the Trail Nerds on a run last night at SM Park. Eight of us showed up to run. The first 5-mile loop went smoothly, and I was feeling "light on my feet" through the whole loop. (That's "light" as in effortless). Keep in mind that I ran a trail 50-Kilometer run two days ago and was feeling really crappy through most of the run, which I was attempting on very little sleep. Something I didn't mention in the last post: I had also ended up breaking a toe on my right foot, and twisting my left ankle pretty good, during the 50-K. Luckily, it was early on in the race, (mile 8 or so), and I had time to get used to running on them.So I was surprised that I felt good on the first loop last night. Two of the runners dropped-out after that loop, one due to puking, and the other due to lack of training. So I had 6 willing guinea pigs with which to push the pace up substantially for the 2nd five-mile loop, three of which had run the 50-K on New Year's Day with me. I hammered the downhills and flats, and pushed the uphills bigtime. We averaged a 7:30 pace on the rocky & rooty course, and only Kyle crashed a couple of times into the trees. We finished, and my breathing went to normal in about 10 seconds. My heart rate went back to resting heart rate in less than a minute, and I felt GREAT! Holy crap! I realized that I'm ready for Rocky Raccoon! This is a big thing with me...I have to KNOW that I am prepared and that I CAN do it. Now I just need to stay healthy and uninjured until February 4th.
Training notes:
Total miles since Sunday: 40+
Today, no running. I did my back and biceps workout this morning, and will hit the gym again tonight, ride the bike for 40 minutes and do bigtime abs. I may even hit the steam room...(I have a guest invitation for 24-hour fitness, tonight).
17 comments:
all of this with a broken toe and twisted ankle? You must heal fast!
No, the toe is still broken, swollen, and is turning a nice shade of purple. It's not my big toe, so what the heck...it'll be fine.
I lay my ankles down occasionally, and it hurts a lot, but this time it wasn't a bad sprain like I had last March. In that case, I taped the crap out of my ankle & foot (for 2 months) to continue to run.
Good luck at Rocky Raccoon - I hear it's a great race. It does sound like you are well-prepared based on all the trail miles you've been logging.
That was a good run. I rolled both of my ankles during the first loop and was really feeling it at the end of the second one. Good thing we were cooking though. Had we been going slower, I'd have been more tempted to wuss out. Looking at it today tells me I should've wused out. :-( It's pretty swollen so it matches my second toe on my right foot all swollen and black. Might've broken my toe as well. Good Stuff!
Well Good Ben, you're young; you'll heal quick enough! Good job on your first Ultra! Skipping the marathon distance is good for the ego. See you tonight at 24-Hr or at Thursday's run?
wow! that's incredible. i would have definitely whimped out and not run with the broken toe and twisted ankle. incredible!
Woo hoo!!! Way to go. Hope the toe heals ok. Good luck on Rocky Raccoon!
Maybe Thursday night. Gotta ice the ankle again tonight whilst watching the game!
Thanks Vaughn. That's a good goal to have. Maybe I'm partial because it's a goal I share, but I think most people don't push themselves enough in life. BTW, it should be known that BadBen has a shoe fettish (see earlier post) and when he says to "screw your shoes" then you might want some clarification before running to Ace hardware! ;-) J/K
Glad to hear that you have that confidence. I know exactly what you mean. Good luck with the toe.
Hi Bad Ben! this is wingtong.blogspot.com Thanks for visiting my blog! Happy new year to you & to all your blog readers! May you guys & gals have a fun & safe trail-running throughout 2006!
Smokin'!!! Tear that 100 up!
I tried my Inov-8s on a night trail run and hurt my ankle and foot a little bit. Of course I did it without a light and on a extremely rocky trail, but I know the Hardrocks would've protected me better.
I ran Rocky Raccoon in 1998; it's a great course, you'll love it.
If this is your first 100, a piece of advice that was given to me that worked: make sure you feel fresh at 50 miles, then you'll be OK.
Run well!
Thanks, but it's not my first 100. And it's my 4th consecutive Rocky Raccoon.
That's amazing. You amaze me with the distance and speed without mentioning you have a broken toe!
booyah!
look forward to reading your success in your race report!!
Love the leg shot. I always love seeing everyone covered in mud after a great trail run.
Hope the toe heals soon and you have a great race.
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