How Hot is it? It’s Hot! It’s Damn Hot!

I ran just over six miles today with the In Motion Fit Group. Targeted mileage was five for the Yellow group, but I was feeling frisky, and so decided to run an extra mile. It was getting a little hot out there, even though we started at 7:30 AM. Heat and humidity can just kick you in the ass! It just is not pleasant and suffering is involved. All I can say is go into the run hydrated and keep drinking the water. If you are going any distance start taking some salt tablets. I usually take a couple an hour. You will probably look ugly as hell from some water retention, but small price to pay if you avoid heat stroke or malfunctioning kidney’s.

The picture below is my bloated self during the PCT 50. I didn’t loose a pound during the race, but the next morning I was down seven. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used Tequila as a recovery drink. That will make a good blog post title. “Tequila is not a recovery drink!”

Good luck to all you AFC Half Marathoners tomorrow. It is going to be hot! Take it easy and drink plenty of water. I’ll be cheering you on from the sidelines!

The 2008 PCT 50

Horse Flies Above Snappers Below

There is nothing like a summer evening on a lake in Northern Michigan. I try to spend time every year at my parents cottage on a lake near Traverse City. My daughter was married this past weekend, and it was great to relax at the cottage after the ceremony.

The evening was beautiful after the heat of the day, and I decided to do a little cross training. The lake is small enough to swim across and back without too much effort. The water a perfect temperature.

I love to swim at night, but I do admit to some uneasiness about something grabbing at me from the depths! True, no monsters likely living in an inland lake, although I had spotted a very large snapping turtle by the dock earlier in the day. Those Northern Pike have some sharp teeth also! I decided that swimming trunks were in order.

I dove into the water, and floated for a few minutes on my back. The stars are brilliant away from the city, and the trees were reflected on the water under the light of the moon. I could feel the stress of the wedding leaving me, and I turned to begin a nice easy crawl toward the other shore.

Perfect moments are rare, but this was one of them, and I flipped over to my back to stretch it out. Just as I did so a buzz came out of the night past my face. Shit! What is a horse fly doing out at night! The fly began diving runs at my head, soon joined by two more companions. These were monster flies, and my body remembered the large welts delivered in years past. I dive under the water and swim several strokes hoping to loose the flies, but there they are waiting as my head popped up. The trick is to let them land and then smack them before they can bite you. One of them fell to that tactic, but as you can imagine it takes a little courage to allow the landing.

My meditative state is of course blown out the window. General anxiety is rising and I’m wondering if snapping turtles swim around at night. When I was a kid I would allow a snapper to bite at a stick, and then see how long it would hold on. Certain appendages went into protective mode as I sped up my swimming stroke. This was turning into a workout! The flies intensified their fly overs looking for tender skin. I changed tactics and flipped to my back, my ass to the depths and just the oval of my face breaking the water.

I slowly kicked to shore thinking philosophically that my swim reflected my life at times. Horse flies above and Snappers below.

A Drinker With a Running Problem

You may have heard of this phrase most often used by the the Hash House Harriers. In this group, found in about every major city in the world, you join a group of Hounds (runners) to follow a trail is laid down by a Hare or Hares (other runners). This event is then followed up by some refreshment and perhaps a feast. Hasher’s are not a very reverent group. If you are looking for some fun to go with your running check out your local Hashers.

I have experimented with drinking and running extensively, and I can say with some authority, drinking will not help you in your running goals! In fact it will most likely hurt your running goals. Specifically, I found that if I drank at all on a regular basis (say two glasses of wine a night), I could not run more than 40 miles during that week.

There was one incident involving tequila and a hot tub the night before a 27 mile trail run. It is possible that I was a tad dehydrated. I don’t really want to talk about it.

This drinker has decided that reaching his hundred mile goal will involve some sacrifice, and therefore the booze is gone!

Speed Kills!

I admit it! I am really a slogger. I’m slow, very, very slow.

In order to get faster I must do speed work. I race how I train, and if I always do long and slow, then that is how I will race.

Even though my emphasis is on long runs, it is important for me to do some speed work once a week. I like to do (like is a strong word), I prefer to run on the grass barefoot doing repeats. I will work up to doing one mile repeats, but not now baby! I’m maybe good for quarter mile.

I believe that it is easy to get hurt running fast. (Maybe I’m justifying my slogging status!) Push too hard too fast and the body will rebel. In my case it was a stress fracture. That taught me to give my body time to adjust to my running.

I have to admit that a really nice 69 year old lady beat me by ten minutes when I ran 50 miles. I need some speed!

Some would say I am Insane!

I was happy to discover at the age of 48 that I love to run. Who would think it! I have been happily setting running goals for the last two years. I blame this all on Dean Karnazes and his book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner

From the beginning I wanted to run 100 miles but did not voice my desire. After all, I hadn’t run more than three miles in 20 years. So….I joined a running group called In Motion Fit, and I started to run.

Here is my first bit of advice. If you want to try running any distance, run with a group. It will truly make all the difference. Running can be a wonderful social activity. Runner’s in general are great people!

Several half marathons, two full marathons, a 50k and a 50 miler later I’m ready to confess to my obsession. I am going to complete a 100 mile trail run within the time allowed. Typically a trail race will allow 30 hours to finish, and to answer your next question…yes I will be doing a lot of walking!

The trick to completing one of these races is to keep moving forward. My goal this year is to make the jump from 50 to 100 miles. This blog will document the insanity.