Canoecopia & Bike-O-Rama and 16 miles

The number of blog posts that I did last week equaled the number of times that I ran. I'll save you the time to go back and look. The answer is 0. I ran zero times last week. Because I was sick. I was feeling decent, OK, by Thursday and it was a lovely day outside when I got home but I just couldn't muster the energy to get dressed and do a run. So I didn't. And I didn't again on Friday. So I had doubts about my run this weekend. Would I really do 16 miles?

I meant to go running on Saturday early morning before Luke & I had plans but alas, I decided to sleep after my alarm went off at 7a and we actually didn't get out of bed until 10a, an hour after we were supposed to leave for Madison. Anyway, the wind was horrendous and the rain didn't help me get out of bed any easier.

Saturday, Luke & I headed to Madison to go to Canoecopia & Bike-O-Rama. (Sorry, no pictures of these places) He's all into kayaks (actually owns one) and his family owns a canoe. So we paid the $10 admission fee and toured the HUGE expo. I was very tempted to sit in a kayak but I didn't. Not like I was really gonna buy one. They had had presenters & speakers all day talking about various topics. We sat in one at the end that explained how to pick & buy a kayak that's right for you. It was very interesting, I actually learned a lot.

After that we headed on over to Bike-O-Rama. This entry fee was free and immediately you're hit with a ton of bikes. We browsed through the road bikes for a bit (I would really like Luke to get a road bike but I think he'll be able to keep up with me on his mountain bike just fine to be honest). And then looked at some accessories. I think my next purchase will be aerobars for my bike. Those look really nice to have!! Just lean forward and no constant pressure on your elbows from the handlebars. Oh and I would like a new bike rack for my car. Something that will fit my mountain bike (and Luke's) top tube easier.

So today was the day that I had to do my run. Unfortunately, the wind stayed with us but the rain went away! I got all the way out to my trailhead and then realised that I forgot my Garmin, so I drove all the way back just to grab it. On my way out the door, I told Luke that the run is already not starting out too well.

But it was a decent enough 16 miles. On my way out, I kept thinking that maybe I should do 5 out and 5 back and then 3 out and 3 back. But then I decided that once I get back to the start, I probably wouldn't do the 3 out again and what's another 3 miles once I made it to 5. Plus, this way, I HAVE to run (or walk) the 8 back.

I was also heading into the wind on the way there. Northeast is where it was coming from. At around mile 6, the wind started to pick up and it was actually blowing me a bit wobbly on my run. I was getting weaker by that time so no surprise. At the 8 mile mark, I stopped to drink some PowerAde & have 2 pieces of the PowerBar Gel Blasts. Then I had to run with the wind at my back, which I thought would help me speed up but alas, it was coming too far out of the north to aid me and the wind at my sweaty back was cooling me off too quickly.

By mile 10, my legs were feeling really sore & tired and heavy. Not cool. I was hurting. And my hip is STILL sore from skiing a couple weeks ago. So I was feeling that during the duration of my run. And a little my knee too, all on the same leg, the right leg. So I'm sitting here icing it currently.

The second half was a lot slower & I stopped a lot more. Boo. I was disappointed about that. But I overall I kept a decent time. I was just over 10 minutes a mile going into the last mile and so I really wanted to knock that down and I did (in the last 1/2 mile).

After running, I got into a cold water bath for 15 minutes. Took a shower and headed up to the gym at the high school and we played some basketball with my friends. Well, a little basketball for me. I did play 2 games to 10 of 3 on 2. Luke & I were even on a team and we managed to keep the score relatively close to the team of 3! Luke was the tallest one there so he got many rebounds, blocks & shots off. He's actually pretty good at basketball. :-)

Then it was pie (since it was Pi Day, March 14, 3.14!) of Coconut Creme & German Chocolate cake (yes, I know it's a cake but that was all the pie Wal-Mart had at 5:30p on a Sunday night)!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 873 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 03/14/10 Up/Downhill: [+252/-252] Time: 11:05 AM Difficulty: 3.4 / 5.0 Weather: Overcast 46 F temp; 82% humidity 46 F heat index; winds NE 20 G 24 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:40:11 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 01 /mi Calories: 1717 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 17 -0' 44 6.5 +0.5 +23 ft 2 9' 33 -0' 28 6.3 +0.3 +7 ft 3 9' 45 -0' 16 6.2 +0.2 -13 ft 4 9' 49 -0' 12 6.1 +0.1 +13 ft 5 9' 45 -0' 16 6.2 +0.2 -13 ft 6 9' 59 -0' 02 6.0 +0.0 +7 ft 7 10' 02 +0' 01 6.0 -0.0 -4 ft 8 10' 06 +0' 05 5.9 -0.1 +16 ft 9 10' 06 +0' 05 5.9 -0.1 -16 ft 10 10' 09 +0' 08 5.9 -0.1 +3 ft 11 10' 12 +0' 11 5.9 -0.1 -3 ft 12 10' 28 +0' 27 5.7 -0.3 +9 ft 13 10' 20 +0' 19 5.8 -0.2 -10 ft 14 10' 39 +0' 38 5.6 -0.4 +10 ft 15 11' 24 +1' 23 5.3 -0.7 -7 ft end 9' 50 -0' 11 6.1 +0.1 -23 ft Versus average of 10' 01 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Great Western Trail, Madison

Epic Fail

Or how I survived a 16 mile run. Or how running in a group really saved my ass today.

OK, wasn't really that much of a fail since I did actually get the mileage in. But were they good miles? There's a term in the running world called Junk Miles. They are defined as "Runs at an easy pace inserted into a program in order to reach a weekly or monthly mileage total rather than for any specific benefit."

I'm thinking that's pretty much what I did today. Not so sure. What I did today was not the brightest idea I've ever had. In fact, I think it was pretty much stupid. I ran 16 miles, with no running for 8 days, and my last run being 2 weeks ago of 8 miles and the week before that was 12. Can we agree stupid? :-)

The sun is now starting to get real lazy and when my alarm went off at 6am, it was barely up and definitely not above the roofs. Which made me feel lazy too. Not cool Sun, not cool!

I was still out to the trailhead of the Great Western Trail by 7:15am. I was getting everything ready to go when a bunch of people went running past me. I recognised a few people in the front of the group. Then someone from my NITRO group was there and he passed me saying that I could join them for their run to St. Charles on the path. I told him that I was only doing 16 (the email they sent out said that they were doing 18). He said that it's only another mile to the end. That got the wheels turning. So I asked if there was room for me in their cars (they had dropped some cars at the end) and he said yes. So I took off with the group!

This guy passed me. His butt was soaking in sweat.

They all didn't have any water bottles with them since a husband of a runner was out there dropping stuff along the way. I had my 4 bottle water belt with me though so I just went by the first stop.

But then my left shoe started to cause my toes to go numb. I loosened the laces and let them come alive again. Started to run. Got the same problem. Stopped again later on and adjusted them again. Took off running. Still went numb. This time I stayed with it and kept going.

This guy was like a Kenyan. Apparently, he was running 22 miles starting in St. Charles.

When I hit the horse farm, it was about 9 miles and I knew then that I was venturing into uncharted territory. Never been past that farm. At one point, I had to stop and take off my shoes for a little bit because the bottoms of my feet were burning. I also loosened up my laces a lot more at that point to let them wakeup.

The 3 women passed me at that point. And at the next water stop, I had joined back up with them and we were all keeping pace together. That was around 10.40 miles. Eventually though, I had to walk. At 12 miles, I started walking and one of them joined me but I told her to keep on going cause I had no idea how long I would take. I ended up walking the entire mile! But it was much needed.

2 of the women I was running with.

Once we got in toward St. Charles the path became paved and quite shaded so that felt nice. Everyone was having problems with the heat. Wasn't good. One guy ended up being picked up from our group.

Me walking in the 12th mile.

I thought that when I hit 13 miles, I would be able to keep on going with the running but that didn't happen. I had to pause and walk. Did so again in the 14th mile and the 15th mile. Once I hit 16 on my Phil, I knew I could walk and not care. It felt so much better. However, my calves started to cramp and my hip started to hurt as well.

Near the end! 3 miles to go!

I walked up to the shelter and the runners there were applauding me. I just told them that it was the dumbest thing I've ever done.

We actually didn't leave the shelter until about noon. I was thinking of taking an cold water bath immediately but wasn't sure if it was still going to be beneficary for me to do so. But I did it anyway. Felt good. Im laying here on my couch now and my legs are starting to hurt. So I'm gonna need to get up and do something here soon. Also, need to turn on my AC I think. It's hot today!

I was going to do an organised bike ride tomorrow but decided against it. There's no way my legs would be able to handle that.

My Garmin stats which does not count the pauses at the water stops.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 859 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: -79 ft Date: 08/15/09 Up/Downhill: [+331/-410] Time: 07:22 AM Difficulty: 4.1 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 76 F temp; 78% humidity 79 F heat index; winds S 12 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:54:51 Speed: 5.5 mph Pace: 10' 56 /mi Calories: 1651 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 18 -1' 38 6.5 +1.0 +23 ft 2 9' 26 -1' 30 6.3 +0.9 +7 ft 3 9' 36 -1' 20 6.2 +0.8 -10 ft 4 10' 22 -0' 34 5.8 +0.3 +9 ft 5 9' 36 -1' 20 6.2 +0.8 -13 ft 6 9' 53 -1' 03 6.1 +0.6 +3 ft 7 12' 00 +1' 04 5.0 -0.5 0 ft 8 10' 39 -0' 17 5.6 +0.1 +10 ft 9 11' 39 +0' 43 5.2 -0.3 +43 ft 10 10' 53 -0' 03 5.5 +0.0 -23 ft 11 10' 42 -0' 14 5.6 +0.1 -20 ft 12 11' 02 +0' 06 5.4 -0.1 -37 ft 13 19' 44 +8' 48 3.0 -2.4 -17 ft 14 10' 50 -0' 06 5.5 +0.0 -13 ft 15 12' 36 +1' 40 4.8 -0.7 -29 ft end 11' 28 +0' 32 5.2 -0.3 -10 ft Versus average of 10' 56 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Great Western Trail, NITRO, pictures

What a day!

Today is absolutely gorgeous out! Not a cloud in the sky, 48F degrees currently and hardly any wind. Which made for a great run this morning!

I slept in a little and went out at 8:35a for a 16 mile run. To be honest, I was little nervous about my run because of my rainy run last Saturday. I knew the sun was going to be sunny but I was still worried and especially so about my foot. So what did I forget? My cell phone of course. I decided to run on the trail instead of the backroads that I had mapped out.

I did 7 miles out and 7 miles back. The trail was fine on the way out. Though I tripped over the footprints and snowmobile tracks a few times. Not quite twisting my ankles but kinda messed them up. The trail was not so fine on the way back. The hard frost started to melt and the limestone started to be all muddy. Not fun. Was running in the grass on the side of the trail instead. Which turned my ankles just as much. They are actually quite sore as I type this.

I did 16 miles in 2:40:10 for a 10:00 min/mi pace. I tried to keep it slow this time around. And my pace splits are pretty consistent. The first mile was faster than all others but that's OK. I took lots of video on this run for RuncastTV and at 12 miles, I stopped and took some more video about the consistency of the trail and I actually paused a lot towards the end of the run just catching my breath. That's OK though.

Running on the side of the trail was more tiring than expected. I hope it dries out by next week!

I came home and I actually took a cold water bath when I got back. I haven't done that since early last fall, when it was still warm out. I also learned that my St. Jude water bottle holder is not enough for anything longer than 13 miles. I will have to go back to my 4 bottle holder so that I can have water & Gatorade.

I want to take my new road bike out for a spin today but I'm afraid that my legs won't allow it. They're really sore and tired right now. I also bought a new Belkin iPod arm band at the Dollar Store the other day for my Nano and it fits me perfectly! The Nike+ one is too big so the velcro doesn't match up and then there's a lot left over to hang and attach to my clothes or something. But this one there's nothing left over. It's all see through so that's cool, shows off the pretty blue Nano! It doesn't fit my Nike+ but that's OK, as I have my Phil (Garmin)!

Foot prints and paw prints!

A mile marker along the trail.

The sand that has accumulated in my sock/shoe. Both feet were like that, inside & out.

The last tree I hid behind on last week's run.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 867 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 03/14/09 Up/Downhill: [+229/-226] Time: 08:35 AM Difficulty: 3.6 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 38 F temp; 61% humidity 38 F heat index; winds S 5 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:40:10 Speed: 6.0 mph Pace: 10' 01 /mi Heart Rate: 174 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1717 184 bpm (Peak) Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Heart Rate (bpm) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Heart Rate Elev Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 41 -0' 20 6.2 +0.2 157 +23 ft 2 9' 58 -0' 03 6.0 +0.0 171 +7 ft 3 9' 54 -0' 07 6.1 +0.1 175 -10 ft 4 9' 51 -0' 10 6.1 +0.1 175 +13 ft 5 10' 02 +0' 01 6.0 -0.0 174 -23 ft 6 9' 55 -0' 06 6.0 +0.1 174 +10 ft 7 10' 07 +0' 06 5.9 -0.1 174 0 ft 8 10' 10 +0' 09 5.9 -0.1 175 0 ft 9 9' 53 -0' 08 6.1 +0.1 174 -3 ft 10 10' 06 +0' 05 5.9 -0.1 175 +7 ft 11 10' 48 +0' 47 5.5 -0.4 172 -3 ft 12 10' 18 +0' 17 5.8 -0.2 176 +10 ft 13 14' 29 +4' 28 4.1 -1.9 174 -10 ft 14 10' 23 +0' 22 5.8 -0.2 178 -20 ft 15 10' 48 +0' 47 5.5 -0.4 176 -13 ft end 9' 52 -0' 09 6.1 +0.1 177 +16 ft Versus average of 10' 01 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Great Western Trail, pictures

16 miles

It's been nearly a week now since I had my long run of 16 miles and I should talk about it before I forget it entirely.

I got up early and ate my oatmeal and bagel. That seemed to be enough food for me. However, getting Brent up and going was another task all in itself. Once he was up, he tried putting his new bike rack on his car but it didn't work too well. So he couldn't take his bike. Come to find out, that worked out quite fine.

Off to the park. After doing a lot of research, I found Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park and it sounded like their trails were long enough to make it work without having too much boredom or repetition. We found a parking spot and luckily, we passed a Casino on the way to the park so Brent said that's where he was going to go to hang out in the 2 hours and 40 minutes I thought it was going to take me.

It was kinda chilly out but Brent was nice enough to lend me his long sleeved shirt and said that I could dump it if I get too hot. I also had my gloves and a snot rag with me as well. I had my hydration belt, 2 bottles with water and 2 bottles with red Gatorade. I also had 2 different types of gels with me after the last week debacle with the Shot Bloks.

Off I went, things went well at first. I realised that I didn't have my battery pack for my camera so I ended up holding it for a long time. There was a Diabetes walk gathering up. The first time around I didn't see too many people. It was pretty easy out. There were a few bikers that didn't bother saying anything like "On Your Left" or "Coming Behind You!" Stupid ass bikers.

However the second time around, I started to run into groups of walkers taking up the ENTIRE path, on both sides of the yellow middle line. I was so pissed. There were many times in which I had to cut in the middle of the pack because no one bothered moving to one side after I said something.

Between mile 5-6 I ate my first gel. It wasn't too bad. It was a Raspberry HammerGel. I kept on moving. Things going fine. I had taken off my gloves at this point and tucked them in my belt however, I kept losing one of them and having to backtrack to get it. I had also taken off his shirt but just left it around my neck floating behind me and it wasn't that bad for me to do.

I was watching my Garmin, making sure my pace was steady and watching the Avg Pace to see that it stays around 9:35 or so. Sure enough, for a couple miles there, I was around 9:35! Pretty cool!

Between mile 10-11 I took my other gel. That one didn't taste as good and it was a Strawberry-Banana PowerGel. That's what a lot races use though and I have used in the past. Just gonna keep trying out the different ones.

Here comes the odd part: around 14.67 miles I got a really weird foot thing going on. My left arch was seriously hurting and my right foot started hurting bad too but I couldn't figure out where. But my left one I was most worried about. It seriously felt like my arch had fallen. It was sooo hurting. But after another mile or so it was gone. I'm not sure what happened there unless it was a cramp. I never had a cramp while running before. So that was a first.

At the end, I was back and forth a while trying to get my 16 miles. I saw my Avg Pace keep getting higher and higher but hey, 16 miles! Gotta give me a break somewhere! At one point, I was passing another runner and still in my lane and this kid comes running from behind his group of family and directly into me, making me scream and knocking me off my game. As I scream and he stumbles over me and into the girl that I was passing. It was just bad all over. The mothers just stare at me as I throw my hands up in the air in frustration.

I see Brent driving by, I wave, he waves and then he parks and comes running up to the path and runs the last .6 miles with me. That was nice. I ask what time it was. He said almost 12:15. So not what I was expecting him to say! All in all, I stopped my watch and it said 2:35. Which is 5 minutes faster than I predicted! and 5 minutes is HUGE in running! Come to find out that was an average of 9:44 min/mi which is good for 16 miles! If I kept that up (which I doubt I will) I'll have run a 4:15 marathon!

I didn't get much stretching done afterward since he had to go to his second whiffle ball game at 1p. I had to go to the bathroom too but that had to wait as well. We made it to the diamond at the very end of the first game and I took the liberty to stretch nicely after that on the grass in the sun. Brent also rubbed my poor feet a little bit between innings.

Once we got home, I took a shower. I had plenty of salt on me! Then Brent was nice enough to rub me down with his foam roller. And he quit enjoyed making me scream out in pain. But it was the good type of pain and something I really needed! Holy cow, it hurt but felt so good. And really good when he rolled it over my arches. My poor feet. We later went to Six Flags where there was a lot of walking but I managed to do it.

On Sunday, Brent again rubbed me down and found a huge knot in my left thigh that he just kept rubbing over and over and over. I think he was a sadist at that time because he had such the evil, devilish grin on his face. But I'll tell you what, it worked! My train ride didn't hurt at all.

So now to this week. I have been sick since Monday night. So no running at all since that Saturday morning. I have a 10k race on Sunday and was supposed to do another 6 afterward to make it a total of 12. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Should I run Friday evening to get out the cobwebs? Or run on Saturday morning to give my body a few more hours of rest? I have a great pain in my facial cavities now from sinus pressure. I'm taking decongestants but I don't think it's working too well. I have no idea what to do. I don't know if I'll be able to run at all until this thing clears up. I can barely walk normally. On top of all that I'm coughing like a fiend as well!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 450 ft Location: Earth City, MO Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/18/08 Up/Downhill: [+114/-114] Time: 09:49 AM Difficulty: 2.4 / 5.0 Weather: Partly Cloudy 56 F temp; 57% humidity 56 F heat index; winds NE 9 Performance Distance: 16.00 miles Time: 2:35:42 Speed: 6.2 mph Pace: 9' 44 /mi Calories: 1617 Map Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 18 -0' 26 6.5 +0.3 0 ft 2 9' 42 -0' 02 6.2 +0.0 0 ft 3 9' 36 -0' 08 6.2 +0.1 0 ft 4 9' 35 -0' 09 6.3 +0.1 0 ft 5 9' 22 -0' 22 6.4 +0.2 0 ft 6 9' 28 -0' 16 6.3 +0.2 0 ft 7 9' 40 -0' 04 6.2 +0.0 0 ft 8 9' 35 -0' 09 6.3 +0.1 0 ft 9 9' 56 +0' 12 6.0 -0.1 +19 ft 10 10' 00 +0' 16 6.0 -0.2 -20 ft 11 9' 35 -0' 09 6.3 +0.1 0 ft 12 10' 05 +0' 21 6.0 -0.2 0 ft 13 9' 34 -0' 10 6.3 +0.1 0 ft 14 9' 48 +0' 04 6.1 -0.0 0 ft 15 9' 59 +0' 15 6.0 -0.2 0 ft 16 9' 51 +0' 07 6.1 -0.1 0 ft Versus average of 9' 44 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: 16 miles, Ballwin, Brent, Creve Coeur, sick