Going the Distance

Liam's swollen ear followed by me at 21 miles and Liam ready to help me push through the last 10. Thats right. 50k!
Even with the ups and downs this week was much better than last.

I didn't write last week because I failed to finish my long run on August 14th. It started like any other long run, 1:30am the alarm goes off and by 2:00 I'm jogging down Robinhood Lane. I had every symptom listed in a Pepto Bismol commercial. I was burping up battery acid, nauseated, and then...well let's just say I lost a bandana behind a tree on an otherwise busy road. I'm glad it was dark...only completed seven miles. I promised myself if today was going to be short the next run was going to be LONG.

This week I had some good runs, 12 on Tuesday with Liam. Wednesday I ran The Wolf River Trails with a friend and my blood sugar crashed at 2 miles. I had to walk for 5 minutes for it to stabilize then ended up finishing just over 6 miles. Thursday, another 12 followed by a trip to Liam's pediatrician he had a swollen ear from a mosquito bite but it scared us.

Friday was my last day at my extern site in Senatobia, MS. I celebrated by having a couple beverages and crawling into bed at 9:00pm. There was a dumbass show on the history channel called "Superhuman" that was on as I was dosing off. The first few people were really stupid. But then out of half closed eyes I saw a guy running. I said, "was that Dean Karnazes?" Sure enough. The Ultra-Marathon Man himself. He did a twelve hour run for the show covering 80+ miles. At the close, he decided that he really wasn't tired, so he was going to run back home to San Fransisco some 30 miles more. Humbling and inspiring. My alarm didn't need to go off on Saturday. I was up at 1:00am. I spent some time waking up and was out the door at 1:45am. 87 degrees 90% humidity.

This run was an experience like I've never had. At 2:00, I was running by the Highland strip. Bars, loud music, people every having a good time, then me, in tiny shorts and a reflective vest. I was heckled a bit but I can't hold that against them. I found amusement in considering the differences in our perception of "now." For all of them, they were about to end a long Friday. Simultaneously, I was beginning, my long Saturday. Nerdy, I know, but it was a long trip.

I passed back by the Highland strip 10 miles later at 3:40ish. The scene had changed. The bars were closed and there cars driving everywhere, but there was still no shortage of people. Smoking the last cigarette walking back to were ever home is. At at 4:00ish, the entire city dies. There are no people, no cars, no trains, no noise. Just crickets and street lights...and dumb ass runners. By 5, the world slowly wakes up again. I saw a lot of blue collar vans and trailers I assume were heading to work.
By 6:00 it was business as usual.

Pain report: Pain is inevitable when transversing any respectable distance. The always first pain, my arches, didn't hurt until 18 miles. Maybe I'm getting stronger.

I picked up Liam at 6:00 after 21 miles because Jessica had to go to work. We started and kept rolling. I wasn't sure what would happen after I crossed the marathon threshold. Its not that I thought my legs would implode but I was hesitant at mile 27. My feet were screaming! My toes were killing me. But me legs, quads, calves, hams, gluts, were in exceptional shape. I kept thinking of Mr. Karazes' run. He did 12 hours. I'm finishing in under 6. I can keep going.

I found myself wondering about the pain at mile 30. Is this it? Elite ultra runner, Ann Trason, says, "It hurts up to a point, then it doesn't get any worse." Have I made it to this point? Always the optimist, I think I have and if this is so, I can deal with the discomfort in my feet. I can go 50...100? We'll see.

So, I finished 31 miles or an entry level (50K) ultramarathon distance. The Bartlett Parks Ultra is in three weeks and thus, this was my longest run before the race. I'll taper then race. Originally, I anticipated running the 50k at Bartlett but I'm trained for more. Depending on the heat. My goal is now the 40 miler here.

8 weeks until 50 miles.

August Heat

This week was hot! This picture was taken outside my extern site's office in Senatobia, MS. My first run in this heat was last Monday when the heat index was bordering 120. This was also the first run that I did not finish. I tried the Tour de Wolf, Seeking some shade. It was to no avail. The open grassy areas were smoldering. The sun was beaming down at my face at about a 60 degree angle. The breeze pummeled me like the exhaust from a red-lining Mack truck. I made it 8 miles and had to walk the last mile back to the car. I broke the rest of my runs up into two a day, morning and evening to save myself the extended suffering of the hot evening runs. On Thursday, Jessica and I hiked with Liam's carrier for 5.5 miles in the morning. My evening run started out just as hot, but by the 3rd mile, a strong northern wind dropped the temperature about 15 degrees and the rest of the run was pleasant.

The long run was displaced this weekend due to some event that was happening at Shelby Farms but I found another trail that worked out fine. The Wolf River trail is a four mile point-to-point in the swampy flat area along side the Wolf River. Blaize rode a mountain bike with me for the first 16 miles. It was a good run, crowded with some 50 other runners over the 5 hours we were on the trail. The trail was almost entirely flat and consisted of a reasonable soft sandy base. Mom, Jenny, and Liam joined us after 16 miles. I strapped Liam to my back and re-entered the forest for another hour and a half of hiking. My feet really started hurting at 19 miles at I was glad to be done and change shoes at 20.5. I took Sunday off trying to recover, gearing up for another hot week and a total of roughly sixty miles.