Why Trail Running Rules...

I recently had quite a bit of time of my hands and started thinking about how more peeps should be trail running. I get it...I get it...you may like running road, but it doesn't mean I can't try to convince you otherwise.

So I started percolating about some of the reasons I've heard runners say why they can't (or won't) run trails...

Myth #1: I'm gonna twist an ankle.

The reality is that you could twist an ankle no matter where you run - the sidewalk, the track, the street, etc. As a matter of fact, you could, really, twist your ankle walking to your kitchen. I know. I've been trail running for about 3 years and have only twisted/rolled my ankle once or twice.

Myth #2: I'll need trail shoes.

I've only purchased trail shoes once. I think I've run about 10 trail ultras ranging in distance from 30k to 100 miles, and each 1 was run in regular road shoes. In my opinion, you can run just about any trail run/race in road shoes. Spare yourself the expense, I say, and just run.

Myth #3: I'll need special/more trail clothing.


You'll actually need less clothes.

Myth #4: I have bad knees.

I think (depending on the trail, of course), that a runner would benefit from the softer surface of trails. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that dirt is softer than pavement/road...wait...

So there you go...like you needed a reason to run trail.

TIKKA XP 2 Headlamp Review

Being on the hunt for a new headlamp, local running store owner/guru, German Madrazo (of the Valley Running Co.), loaned me a headlamp to check out a few weeks ago. We had a trail night run scheduled for a few days later, so I anxiously awaited trying it out.

It was the TIKKA XP 2 headlamp.

First of all, the specifics for all of us night running nerds:

 - it has a white LED & a red LED
 - 80 lumens of power
 - 3 white lighting modes (high, low and disco...I mean strobe)
 - allows wearer to use long distance beam or flood
 - white light on low level provides up to 190 hrs. of use and high level up to 70 hrs

Going on a little 5 mile trail run at darkfall was a perfect opportunity to try it out.

PROs: It provides quite a bit of light & it is comfortable no matter how big your noggin is. The adjustable band adjusted well and kept it from sliding. The light also allowed to pivot the lamp up/down. The biggest selling point was the re-chargeableness (rechargeable battery option) of it. No more batteries - just usb it & you're ready to go.

CONs:The only concern that I have is not really fair since I haven't checked this out, but I'm curious how long the re-charged battery will last (although it claims up to 70 hours on high) on some of those much longer nite races that may of us will be doing soon. But I guess there's only 1 way to find out.

 Looks good, shines good, feels good...so it must be good. Yep, that's how I see it.

A Repeating Cycle (of running)

I'm due for my yearly physical very soon. I'm actually looking forward to it this time around because I've been incredibly fatigued this year. I'd like blame it on my (lack of a) thyroid (condition) but I think it's the fact that I've been running non stop pretty much for going on 2 years.

I was nerding on my past racing schedule (since I started keeping track of it) and I found that it's been pretty steady since the summer of 2011.

I tried listing the ones I have a record of (finisher's bling, bib, diary (yes, diary), etc), butbthere are some 5k/10ks in there that I'm sure I missed.  On top of everything else, I've been pretty lucky to have avoided major injuries.


July 2011 30k
August 2011 60k
August 2011 30k
November 2011 13.1
January 2012 50k
March 2012 50k
April 2012 50m
July 2012 60k
August 2012 30k
September 2012 60k
October 2012 50k
October 2012 100m
January 2013 100k
February 2013 100m
February 2013 13.1
February 2013 13.1
March 2013 50m
March 2013 30k

Within the last month, I've rested more than ever. Trust me, taking it easy for a month is big for me, but now it's time to start back up. The racing calendar looks pretty full starting in a couple of weeks. I've got either a 30k or 60k starting this month until August...and then the fun begins: CR 100, Bandera, and it doesn't slow down for a while.

How To Fix A Bad Day

I had a pretty crappy day at work this past Monday. It wasn't pretty. I kept telling myself: 'just breathe' and 'it's not the end of the world' but it really wasn't working. 

What could I do to make myself feel better? At the top of my list was to go for a run, but I couldn't do that 'til the end of the day, and I really couldn't wait. 

2nd on my list? Drink a strong scalding cappuccino, but I couldn't really get away. Dang. 

I finally thought of something: register for a race!!! Duh, why didn't I think of this earlier?

I registered for Pandora's Box of Rox Trail marathon, and you know what? I suddenly felt better. Much better. 

This could be an expensive solution to my bad days, but I think I'm gonna be looking forward to those types of days...

Tejas Trails

 

2013 Running (and beyond)

We've been filling up our 2013 race calendar during the last couple months. I didn't realize how time consuming it could be deciding what race and what distance to run. And how expensive it can quickly get.

The idea was to keep it at a race a month but have cheated a couple times and registered for a couple in the same month. 

We even made a wall calendar to write down the races, but this proved to be not such a good idea. Why? Well, now, we see an empty month and immediately start searching for races that we might be able to do. 

March - Nueces 50 miler
            - The Maze 30k
April - Hell's Hills 25k
May - Pandora's Box of Rox Marathon
June - Substituting a music fest for a run (but may be a cheat month)
July - Mule Shoe Bend 60k
August - Colorado Bend 60k
             - Reveille Ranch 30 or 60k
September - searching
October - Cactus Rose Relay, 50 or (maybe even ) 100 (again)
November - searching
December - searching

We stopped at 2013 because we already know what we are running Jan/Feb/March 2014, and think this calendar planning thing could go on forever...and, really, that is not a bad thing.

Challenge Accepted

It's apparent that when we don't have a race coming up the upcoming weekend, we have too much time on our hands. We do things...desperate things. A couple days ago, my running machine of a partner & I decided to try a little experiment: to see if we could go the entire day without talking (to each other) about running. Full disclosure: we could talk to others about running, but we just couldn't talk to each other about it.

Let me give you a little background: we both love running. We can spend hours talking about the hydration vest we must must have, the handheld we like, our running bucket list races, watching informercial videos of handhelds. Yes, videos of handhelds (if you run, this is probably not that strange). We're totally ok with just lounging around the sofa talking about...'it'.

I was a little worried almost immediately as the day began. We had a couple do overs and/or had to remind each other that we were on the verge of talking running. We tried (at least I did) being sneaky about it...you know, referring to it as "it". Sami was a bit sneaky also - saying something (that made no sense to me) and then 'wink wink'. "Oh, I get it...you mean 'it'".

Plus, sending links to each other about the best running dog breeds or the newest altra shoe doesn't really count as cheating. The link (about running) was sent...'it' wasn't talked about. Attorney mode: ON.

It wasn't as difficult as we thought it'd be. Overall, we proved it could be done. We graded ourselves/each other yesterday. I gave us a 95 and Sami gave us a 90. An 'A' is still good, right?

The best part of this experiment? It was only a 1 day challenge. 

Nueces 50 Mile Race Report...sort of.

The game plan for the Nueces 50 miler was simple: I was going to run the 50 miler and my g/f, Sami, was going to run the 10k. Once she was done w/ her 10k, she’d pace me the last 16.7 of my 50. I was really looking forward to running w/ her...maybe more so than the actual run. Just sayin'.

We left for Camp Eagle around 6:30pm Friday evening. To make a long story short: we got lost and had no phone signal. We ended up arriving at the room at about 2:30am. We took a 1.5 hour nap and then were ready to run.

We got up at 4am and were ready to run…well...1st thing's 1st ~ coffee 1st.

Loop 1: I started quite fast because I felt good. I started w/ a group of about 4 runners for a big chunk of the loop. Several of them commented that they were probably starting a little faster than they should. I agreed, but it felt too good. Besides, I didn’t remember this course being as runnable as it was. The total time for the 1^st loop was 2:5.

Loop 2: The result of starting out too fast seemed to take its toll on me. I struggled for the majority of the loop but still managed to finish in 3:30. I felt a lack of energy during this loop eventhough I was eating at the aid stations and drinking as much as I could. The few monster climbs started taking its toll on my quads. The thought of my pacer waiting for me kept me going. “I just have to finish this loop and then I’m running with Sami” I kept telling myself.

As I finished the loop, I immediately saw Sami and she had a baked potato for me. I knew I had banked a lot of time (and had time to spare) so I decided to take my time and eat. I took about 30 minutes before we started the final loop, and it turned out to be a life saver.

Loop 3: The highlight of my run (for obvious reasons). We enjoyed the pain/rocks/sights of the last loop. We’d told ourselves that we wanted to: finish, finish before the cafeteria closed (Sami told me that the dinner special was enchiladas - I kept thinking of 'em) and finish before it got dark. Mission accomplished.

Gear:

I got to run w/ my brand new Salomon Advanced Skin S-Lab 5 Set Hydration Pack (which was gifted to me by...well, you probably know who). It felt like it was a part of me. No bouncing, no shifting, no nothing. I only had a little difficulty in making sure there was no air in the hydration bladder. It was a little tricky. I had to figure it out - the sloshing of the water was too annoying/loud.

Hydration:

Sami surprised me with water with lemon and ginger shavings in it. I drank it during the entire run - not counting the obligatory (craving for) coke here and there. The last several ultras, (crystalized) ginger (snaps) has been very good to me. It's kept me from having stomach issues or nausea. I only felt sick on 1 occassion, but it quickly passed. The streak continues...

Observations:

 

1.      I think everybody, other than me, tends to fall gracefully. I saw Sami fall twice – wait…actually, I didn’t see her fall. I should say I heard a (very) light thud and when I turned around, she was on the floor. My falls? I tend to trip, stumble wildly for at least 10 feet and then I hit the floor. On a positive note, I didn’t fall at all during the 50 miler, but (I must admit) I was a little jealous of her falling style.

2.        I think my hokas finally met their match: after about 30 miles, my feet were very achy. They were definitely feeling the rocks they were crushing. Nevertheless, they will continue to be my shoe of choice – I can’t quit them.

3.     I think I run better on almost no sleep. We arrived at Camp Eagle at 2:30a on Saturday. Our plan was to get up at 4am to get ready to run at 6am. After a 90 minute siesta, we were up and ready to go. Of course, we hit the sack hard immediately after dinner after the race. Hard.

4.     I PR’d by over 30 minutes.

5.  When your car gets sprayed by a skunk, the odor lasts for days. We almost ran over a skunk, but, instead, scared it and it sprayed my car. The odor penetrated through the inside of my car. Now, my car and garage smells like skunk.

5.     …and to the couple negative nancies we came across, isn’t running supposed to make you happy? It does us.

Overall, it was an awesome experience. I got a 50 miler in and Sami got in almost a 23 miler in total. We spent alot of time together...running, talking & planning our runs together. We’ve got tons of plans to pace each other, race each other, crew for each other, etc.

Run happy. We did.