Preparing for the Pocatello 20 mile Trail Run

Well I have been a bad blogger the last couple of weeks.  I have been so busy with life that I have neglected my blogging duties.  Just a quick update on how things are going.  I took a week off after the AR50 to recuperate.  I suffered from some serious soreness for about a 4 days after the run.  I did not run for 10 days to recover then jumped back into  training.  My weekly mileage was a follows: April 17-23 - 24 miles, April 24-20 - 36 miles, May 1-7 - 45 miles, May 8-14 - 41 miles, May 15-21 - 12.5 miles.  I will run 3 miles on each day next week until Wednesday, take Thursday and Friday off, then compete in the Pocatello 20 mile trial run on Saturday. I did a 20 mile trail run last Saturday and included on pictures of the route in the Indian Springs area south of Twin Falls in the foothills of the Sawtooth National Forest This is one of my favorite running locations, providing lots of variety in terrain and a peaceful place to run.  I also included a picture of my big toes that are starting to regrow (as you all now from my video, I had toenail issues in the AR50). I look at my toenails as proud battle scars but my wife thinks they are disgusting and refuses to look at them. Maybe this will force her to see them.  Enjoy.  I will post my Pocatello 20 video report early next week. 

American River 50 Mile Endurance Run Video Logs

Check out my American River 50 mile race video logs (Parts 1 and 2).

American River 50 Mile Endurance Run - Race Report

I am still in CA and wanted to get a post up reporting on the race.  I plan on updating this race report with more details and put together a video  when I get back to ID, but until then this will at least give everyone a brief report.

Everything came together on April 8, 2011 for an enjoyable time on the trails between Sacramento and Auburn.  I had a great day both in terms of having fun and my body feeling great. The weather was beautiful. it was sunny and started out in the upper 40s and ended in the mid 60s. During the two weeks previous to the race, as you all know, I was battling a cold and sinus infection that had me feeling physically wore out.  In hindsight, the extra rest during the taper period may have been just what my body needed because I felt very strong for the entire race.

I finished in a time of 10 hours 23 minutes. My 26.5 mile split was 4 hours 58  minutes.  My average pace in minutes per mile at this point was 11:15 (this included all the stop time at the aid stations and restrooms, my running pace was between 9:00 and 9:20/mile) and I was in 412 place out of the 600 finishers (over 200 people entered and did not finish). I ran the second part of the course (the trail portion) in 5 hours 25 minutes (included at least 30 minutes of stoppage time while I changed shoes and attempted some first aid on my feet). My average pace over the entire race (including all stoppage time) was 12:28 and finished in 310 place overall.  I followed the advice given to us rookies from the veterans at the pre-race briefing to go out slow so you can finish and stay ahead of the cutoff times. During the first half I maintained a very conservative pace and felt great.  After changing into my trail shoes at mile 27.5 I hit the trail and passed over 100 runners before the finish.  In hindsight I could have went out faster because I had a lot left in my legs after the finish, but not having run a 50 miler before, I did not know how my body would react and respond to the stresses throughout the day.

I picked up Marilyn at Rattlesnake Bar (Mile 40) and she paced me to the finish.  It was nice to see her and the kids.  From mile 27.5 to 40 the trail was very technical with lots of mud, water, and boulders on narrow single track.  I had to work hard to get around slower runners because of the narrowness of the trail and the obstacles on the sides of the trail.  The only physical issue I had was at mile 39 when I noticed a odd felling in both of my big toes.  I stopped took my shoes and socks off to discover large blood blisters under my toenails (the dreaded "Black Toenails").  I had never had this happen before so did not know what to do. I was worried about the effect this would have over the remainder of the race. At Rattlesnake Bar, I popped the worst blister and put band-aids around both toenails.  They continued to bother me a little over the remaining 10 miles but it was not to bad. Now my concern is the healing process and the effect on my preparation for the Pocatello 50K at the end of May.

I will get the video up ASAP.

The Start - 6:00 AM

Me crossing the finish  at around 4:20PM

Paved Bike Path (1st half of the race)

Ice cream at mile 35

A climb on the trail (2nd half of the race)

Folsom Dam

My pacer (Marilyn) at mile 47

Toenail issues (post race)

Toenail triage at Rattlesnake Bar aid station (mile 40)

Another trail picture

I found my family waiting for me at Rattlesnake Bar aid station (mile 40)

5 Days and Counting Until Pain Time.

My sinus is finally feeling better. It is not completely better but my headaches have gone.  We will be leaving for CA at 5am Wednesday morning. We have tried to predict every contingency regarding our children to keep them content so we can haver a peaceful trip.  I have been having trouble sleeping because I am getting to excited about running the race (I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve).  I am going to try a magnesium supplement before bed.  It is suppose to have a calming effect.  I found out today that  the AR50 website is going to webcast live at the finish line from 11:30AM to 7PM.  I do not know what time I will cross since this is a big step into the unknown for me but my goal finish time will be by 5PM.  If you would like to see lots of people suffering and in pain check out the feed.  http://www.ar50mile.com/

American River 50 Mile Endurance Run

American River 50 Mile Endurance Run  This is the link to the race I will be competing in next week.

Stinking Sinus Infection

My stuffed up right sinus from my cold has been aching all night.  I have been up since 2:30AM.  I think I have an infection so off to the Dr. this morning for some antibiotics.  I hope it works, the big race is in 8 days. Months of training come down to this, I will not let an illness stop me now.

Update:  I told the Doc about the race in one week and he prescribed me an antibiotic (amoxicillin), a couple of medicines to help with inflammation. He said this is the best combo to get this over ASAP.  I have to take the antibiotics for 10 days which could reek havoc on my gastrointestinal bacteria populations.  He told me to eat three servings of yogurt per day to repopulate them.  I hope I do not have stomach problems during the race (when you run a ultramarathon or do any other endurance event you have to eat to keep a constant supply of glucose in your system and supply protein latter in the event).  I may lay off the antibiotics the latter half of next Friday until after the race.  I just hope I feel better soon so my body can recover and be well rested.

Sick

I have one week to go be for the AR50 and have developed a head cold.  My sinuses are clogged and I am blowing out cream of mushroom soup,  "THIS AIN"T GOOD".  I am currently trying every cure (airborne, elderberry extract, sinus salt washes, sudafed, acetaminophen, high vitamin D episode, etc...).  It is not the sinus issue that concerns me the most, it is that I am dead tired and have no energy.  I ran 4 slow slow miles today and it felt like I have not ran in a year.  I hope I get better and get my energy back soon.  I plan on sleeping in tommarrow and laying around all weekend.  This is conference weekend so I do not have to spend all day at church which will help.  I will give a sickness update before we take off for CA next Wednesday.