Return to The Potawatomi

Diving more seriously into my harebrained idea of completing a half-marathon on the Poto in under 2 hours, I manned up and made the trek out there today for a practice run. Being my first real run in two weeks, it took some time to wake the legs back up. And it was one hell of a wake up call.

I’m always gripped with nervousness en route to the Poto. Is it because I perceive it as the only somewhat technical and challenging trail in the area? Compared to my regular haunts, it is a complete step up. Elevation, terrain changes, miles upon miles of rocks. A few miles into the trail, though, and I recognize that it’s all worth it. It’s also among the most scenic runs I’ve found within driving distance of Detroit – and I’m looking forward to a handful of return trips over the next few months (and probably into the winter).

The good news: I took it slow today. Mild run for 8 minutes, walk for 2 minutes. Walked all hills. Stopped to take pictures when necessary. I wore FiveFingers, which I personally think are a ballsy idea for such a rocky trail (as evidenced by the three inch bruise on the bottom of my left foot). All this said, I still did the loop only slightly slower than my racing pace from the last time I did the trail half marathon. Hopefully, slapping some New Balance 790s onto my feet next time for a little rock protection, cutting out the walks and holding a nice, brisk pace will help me reach my goal.

Also, and somewhat tangential: I forgot how much it sucks running with a Camelback. I noted today there are various “watering” stations along the route – basically a spot to pull up well water. I think if I run with powdered Accelerade in one bottle I can keep refilling and mixing the other. We’ll try that next time.

Iron Nate?

My wife’s first words when I told her I registered: “you’re gonna die!”.

It has been a great feeling cross training, and the benefits have been immediately apparent in my running. I’m getting outside more, stressing the knee less, and feeling my overall fitness increase markedly.

Inspired by a former classmate who just finished a full Iron Man, and trying to make good on a promise I made to myself years ago, I’ve finally set the date for my first Triathlon.

The biking and the running aren’t a concern – and I’m pretty sure I could tough out the combination with just a few months’ training. It’s the swimming I’m most concerned about. Hopefully, with the better part of a year to build up, I should be fine. Guess we’ll see!

I’ll likely try a sprint tri and an olympic distance earlier on next season, just to understand more how it operates. This will remain my training goal for the next year, though. Not sure how doing a specific 50k falls into the training, but I’m sure it’ll all fall into place eventually. The goal has been and will always be to spend as much time outside as possible and to enjoy every minute of it. Having plunked down a hefty $200 registration fee should really force me to get off my ass and make it happen.

New York Times: Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants

TODD BYERS was among more than 20,000 people running the San Francisco Marathon last month. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he might have blended in with the other runners, except for one glaring difference: he was barefoot. Even in anything-goes San Francisco, his lack of footwear prompted curious stares. His photo was snapped, and he heard one runner grumble, “I just don’t want the guy without shoes to beat me.”

+Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants

Methods, Goals and Plans

So I’ve been a little reckless with training lately, kind of feeling like I’m teetering on the brink of injury. My weekly mileage (bike and run) was 75 miles, with 30 miles running and the rest on two wheels. Nothing huge for many folks, but I still consider myself recovering from the knee injury. Also, to put it into perspective, the last week literally doubled my overall mileage for the last 30 days, which seems too aggressive a ramp-up in retrospect.

I will say I feel entirely (maybe too) motivated after watching crewing and pacing for Dirt Dawg at the Burning River 100 earlier this month. I feel ambitious, to say the least.

Things that have helped:
1) Biking / cross training: Immediate and obvious benefits come on uphill work. Heritage Park offers some bite-sized yet steep inclines, and they’ve been easier and easier the more miles I log on the bike. Also, cycling has helped me maintain and increase fitness, let me get outside more often, without worrying too much about my knee. I also never realized before – I really enjoy it.

2) Cutting out dairy and fish: I’m in my 15th year as a vegetarian, but never considered Veganism until last week when reading up on athletes like Scott Jurek and Dave Scott (a champion ultra-runner and a champion iron man, respectively). The more I read, the more I believe a strict vegan diet is more appropriate for athletes. Ethical considerations aside (which are also important to me, but maybe not to Joe Reader), a plant-based diet has more nutrients per-pound than meat. Also, less fat, less heart-attack causing stuff, fewer chemicals like antibiotics and growth hormones, etc. Anyway, there’s science behind it. My point here is that I’ve seen a noticeable increase in energy and endurance within the first week of this experiment. If it continues to go this well, I’ll continue to keep at it.

I’m currently scouting out events for my first 50k, which I’m aiming to do next year. I was planning on the Dances With Dirt in Gnaw Bone, but alas my younger sister chose that specific day to get married. I’m currently looking around, but maybe thinking something like the Vermont 50m later next year would be just as good – just stick to self-supported marathons in the interim.

Been loving summer, but I’m looking forward to winter/snow runs.

Anyway, this post has quickly lost its form. Just wanted to update and keep this thing alive.

Back to Lakeshore Park, Barefoot #2

This should have been a longer run, but I didn’t feel like emptying the tank. It’s both bogus and sad to me that 4 miles was all I did on this fine, beautiful, near tropical Sunday. But the dismay is diluted with pride in the fact that I ran these slippery, muddy miles barefoot, and that my legs feel wonderful, and that I feel like I could have gone twice as far.

Maybe I’ll try stacking on more miles in the near future. I’m just enjoying it right now.

This was my first post-snow run at Lakeshore for the year. I almost like it better when its frozen; the general pestilence like mosquitoes, horseflies, and Oakley-clad, shirtless frat boys on mountain bikes aren’t there in the winter.

They were out in full force today.

Still, Lakeshore is one of my favorite trails. Not too much climbing, though rife with rolling, gentle ups and downs. The trails are soft on the feet and perfect for barefooting. No huge stretches of wood chips, and maybe only a few spots of sharp gravel – nothing to really ruin your day though.

Great trail, and a great run today. I can’t wait for the summer. Especially once Max gets his mileage up.

Congrats to Dirty and Brian on conquering Trail Marathon today. Hope I can join you next year.

Too Fast too Fast

After a few sessions of tinkering with speed, I’m finding myself unable to control the urges. Used to be I was content heading out for hours on end, lollygagging at 11 and 12 minute paces. 4 hour, 20 mile runs were an ideal Sunday morning.

Just a little extra pushing and I found I could hold a 9 minute pace for a 10 miler. A little more effort and I could eke out 8:30’s and 8’s with relative ease but a bit of pain. With considerably more effort 7:15 started coming but not at length. With sprinting intervals I got down to a 5:00 pace, but for only 1/4 to 1/2 mile before my lungs felt like they were going to collapse. These are all very short distances and short runs – the most I can make due with given my new, increasingly hectic schedule.

But even that’s been too much for the bones to bear, so soon it seems. A few 4 and 5 milers at a 7:30 pace last week and the cartilage in my knees feels wasted, and standing up straight seems to hurt.

Taking another week off, then locking myself into longer distances at 9:30s until life balances out. Need to be in decent shape to accompany Mae on her first 1/2 Marathon in just under a month. I think I might be more excited about it than even she is.

Time for Donations

Anyone, friends, family, countrymen – the time for giving is nigh. Mae and I have teamed up with Brian Thomas as Lupus Runners, and we’re officially raising funding for the Lupus Foundation of America.

We’ll be running the Detroit ½ Marathon this October – and 13.1 miles is no small feat for someone suffering from chronic joint pain. It was hard enough for me to do my first one with a few extra pounds around the waist, so for her to attempt this is quite something.

Our goal is $10,000 for the year, and we’re only at around 30% at the moment. Whatever you can offer is appreciated (not to mention tax-deductible), so please don’t be shy.

Photos from Grand Island

As promised, they’re mostly uploaded now. I’m testing a program called Plogger as an alternative to Flickr. For one, it’s free and for two you can customize it and ideally expand on it. For now, I’ve just uploaded a few things and began tinkering with the stylesheet. But I digress – back to running.

Here are the photos.

Back from Grand Island

Sunrise over Lake Superior, as seen from Grand Island

We’re back from the U.P. and everything went very well. Mae enjoyed her first 10k trail and actually thought it was ‘easy.’ Her sights are now set on the Detroit ½ Marathon in October. I’ve promised to run it with her, though I promised myself to never do a street race again after running it last year – I’ve got to be supportive.

The Grand Island marathon was, as you could expect, ridiculously beautiful. At too many points, you can peek off the trail and look straight down 200+ feet sandstone cliffs with the waves of Lake Superior crashing into them. Latter portions of the trail were lined with giant ferns that gave the place a sort of pre-historic feel, and other parts were right along the water. Not a single part of the race was visually un-entertaining; particularly the part at mile 19 where I saw a black bear watching me from about 50 feet away. My heart dropped as I realized I was eating a Clif Bar, and I casually ate it faster than I could chew, walked past him and kept eye contact (as I’ve read you’re supposed to). He stayed put, and all was well.

Though the course wasn’t technical or too challenging, I found myself taking way too long. At times, just relaxing and actually sitting on the side of the course, absorbing the scenery. Around mile 24, not caring about my chip-time, I slowed it down to a walk to soak it all in, not wanting it to end. I know I could have pushed harder, as I felt absolutely fine the next day.

All-in-all, it was the best trip we’ve had in some time. That’s due, in no small part, to the hospitality Tim Looney and his friends showed us after the race. Great conversations, dandelion wine and a U.P. cover band doing songs from The Zombies and Santana were a perfect cap on an absolutely gorgeous day.

Pictures to follow. Life’s full-speed at the moment.

Into The Wild(erness)

By the time you read this, we’ll already be gone.

For this if you’re new here.

My hopes are 1) to finish and 2) to not get gnawed upon by any black bears. Give me that, and we’ll consider it a success. I suspect Mae’s aspirations are somewhere along the same lines.

Expect lots of pictures upon our return.