Epic Fail

Dropped out of P2P 100

Trouble is where I chill

My knee is in trouble, because it is giving me some trouble and I don't plan on quitting.  First week back to try running.  Made it 1 mile up hill which was good, then headed on a slight downhill and instant pain.  Apparently where my calve tendon hooks on to my femur has a penchant for coming a little loose.  This is right on my hamstring just above my knee.  It manifests it's self by my knee feeling like it is locking up and I can't put weight on it.  Remedied, albeit temporarily, by some very intense massaging to the area.  Made it home walking.  

Went out 2 days later (yesterday) and ran at a crazy slow pace, just a half notch faster than a casual walk.  Made it 3 miles though without the same pain.  Knees feel a little tender today, but I can run again.  To get to the first aid station in the race will now take more effort than I have ever put out in a run.  I would be lying if I would say I am not worried, but I will keep doing all the training I can and just see what I can do when the day comes.  Faith and strength, faith and strength is what I need now.

o' brother shoot me in the head

I think I am going to try to figure out how to re-name my blog PDX Ass-clown.

On a positive note my co-worker who is signed up for P2P also pulled out a very nice 40 miler on PCT this last weekend!  Go Justin!  Don't think I am in good enough shape at this point to pace him!  How did that happen.  Thinking about maybe taking some steroids to help get me caught back up on training.  I wonder if I can climb little mountains over 100 miles with my pecs?  More of a thought experiment really.

ugh

Another knee injury and the flu.  Seriously... 

81 Days till P2P

Last night my wife called down to Ashland and got a hotel room for us the night after the race, and the lady who answered the phone has a Son who ran the race last year and is running it again this year and she crews for him.  After my wife got a reservation, good conversation, and some great advice from this very nice lady we realized that maybe we got a smoking room, oopsies.  So she called back and got the Son who is racing this year and just got back from Western States and then they chatted for a while, and he was also very nice and helpful.  God I love the ultra community, I hope to become a real part of it someday.

Well I cranked out about 30 miles (on Wildwood in Forest Park) in 6.5 hours on Saturday.  I bonked, but it went as well as I expected.  Being on a much better diet than I have ever been on before, my stomach did not desire the Gu packets and Gu chomps that I had brought with.  I didn't want to eat them so I only had a few and ran out of energy.  Luckily I had a Larabar with me which I devoured but later my stomach was a little cranky.  Not sure if it was from the Larabar or not, but that tasted way better than even really good Gu packets.  Will have to experiment more latter with different foods and maybe even some real foods.  As soon as I had that Larabar at about mile 23 I got right back to it and felt a lot better.  

My knees have been feeling pretty great, the last two runs I have done I have followed the advice and instruction of a Chi running teacher I heard on the Podcast 3 Non-Joggers.  The podcast is almost as annoying as it is good, but this is nothing new and it is kind of their bread and butter.  The Chi running instructor is a local lady, Alice Peters, and she is a certified Chi Running Instructor so I want to try to get in to see her this summer to help some more and I think my Wife would enjoy it also!


Well I will do more gear reviews later, but feeling a little back on track and motivated!

87 days til P2P

The title says it all.  So what have I been up to?  Not much.  Heeling the knee and testing it back out a smidge.  So out for a total of about 2 months and about a month to get back to running and some type of running shape, and through in going back to my Applied Kinesiogist / Chiropractor guy.  Oh and I went back to Wisconsin to stand up in my cousin Andy's wedding.  

So now what?  Fuck me is what, 87 days.  Last weekend I went on a good 13 miler.  Leaving the house and heading up hill to the trails by Council Crest, Marquem Trail, and then on to Forest Park onto the Wildwood trail and then back on the street.  Great run, a lot of fun, and the longest I have done since before the Knee injury.  So yes, I am pretty fucked.  Besides that though I feel great, ready to rock.

The big plan is to do the bare minimum of running during the week to do good long runs on the weekend.  Get the long runs in but avoid the high mileage weeks.  Before the injury I got up to about 50 miles per week and that felt like a good number, but we are in crunch time.  So no build just run for fun, focusing on long runs and lots of biking during the week.  Think is the best way to get ready and sounds like a blast to me for some Summer fun. 

I am listening to some Dire Straights right now and it is really fueling this writing frenzy I am putting together here, well comparatively at least to not writing.  Wisconsin sucks for food.  After living in Portland for a few years and getting used to the quality of food and selection we have I realize how much I value that.  

Well hope for maybe a Mt. Defiance or a Wildwood run this weekend.  Need to get a hydration running pack this week.  Thinking about the Nathan HPL #20. 

Paleo-ish Diet

The first thing you have to know about the Paleo diet, it is very strict, this is included and that is not.  But the Paleo diet has been adjusted to help many different people accomplish many different thing.  So it is not as black and white as being a vegan per say, or what ever that phrase is.  So the sub genre of the Paleo Diet that I adhere to that my Dr. also recommend for me is the Paleo Diet for athletes, in particular endurance athletes.  And you pretty much nailed it Kev, lots of meat and veges and water.  Next comes some fruit and nuts, but it is easy to go over board with those two.  The idea is you run your body off of the carbs that your body can get from fat and protein, not carbs that are already carbs in your body.  

To get the real skinny on all of this, which is pretty explained there than here.  Check out the pdf that is called Clif Notes for Paleo Diet.

Clif Notes for Paleo Diet

And the other pdf.s on there look pretty great.  

In short, cause I am always short on time and already an hour behind tonight (and please feel free to ask me any more on any of this, but won't ramble on for my own benefit), the Paleo diet has got me feeling better than I ever had before.  The only think I don't love about it is some of the implications of eating meat from an environment stand point.  This kevin you know much about, I would like to only add that all of our food is organic and local, or at least all of the meat and veges.  Beef that had come from local cows from the Oregon or Washington where the cows were grass fed and it is certified organic.  Chicken eggs that are from free range chickens that had organic vegetable feed that is local and so on.  So that means the food makes me not feel bad, as far as the small amount of conscience I have and it tastes great.  Wild animals are supposed to be the healthiest to eat, so just another reason to go hunting!  Might do that this year.

And my knee, I hate it.  Hurt it playing soccer about 3 weeks ago and haven't run since.  Been riding the bike again this last week and it is finally feeling better.  Jade said if she had hurt her knee I wouldn't let her run this race.  Which is probably true, and she reminded me of something else, I am an endurance runner, not so much an endurance racer.  But this race got my lazy ass of the couch this Winter so it is what it is.  Wonder if my weight loss has had anything to do with the knee injury, was down to 145lbs for awhile, before I started being able to put some back on.  Super light weight, too skinny, maybe need some more muscle just to hold everything in place.  Maybe too much running and not enough cross training.  Maybe too stressed out about work and this race and not just running to enjoy running.  I will be happy when the race is done and I can move on to the next stage in my life, but until then I am really trying to just enjoy the ride.  After all, I am just the PDX Endurance Runner.