Charles Keeps Going

What you are seeing is a little misleading.
I would say that 95% of the time when I am running on the official roads there, I am not on any gravel.
It is basically hard-packed dirt with all of the gravel washed off to the sides.
It is like a well-run dirt path in the woods most of the time.
Even when they re-gravel a road, it does not take very long for it to slide over.
It is pretty easy to run without stepping on much of anything of size.

Now it smells like a perfume factory with all of the blooming, but mainly honeysuckle.
I mean it is very sweet smelling around the refuge at the moment.
There are a fair number of people looking for mushrooms, besides the daily deer stalkers and fishing folks.
Very few walkers or runners out there, but everyone waves at me.

It is SO good to be out running again.
My main goals are my 50-miler and the Tecumseh Trail event.
I may do a trail HM on May 20 over at Morgan Monroe near Martinsville.

Last week I ran 40 miles and it all went well.
I continue to slowly, but surely increase my standard running pace which has been declining the past few months.
Yesterday I ran my fastest 7 mile run ever and I was not hurting at all.
I just have gotten used to 12 minute miles and forget to push myself some.
When I do get back to a faster pace I realize that I am not gasping or hurting.
I do realize that for the long haul of 50 miles, I will need to be very careful with my running pace or it will get very ugly for the last 20 miles. But these "faster" training runs are building up my stamina and mental endurance.

This week my long run will be 18 miles on Friday and the weather looks good.

Looking good, Charles! I think the best sort of gains are the ones that sneak up on you and leave you pleasantly surprised.

Keep it up! You're doing great.

This week I will end up with 37 miles.
I was supposed to do 5 on Tuesday, but I spent the day waiting for someone to do an estimate for some tree work.
I probably needed the rest anyway.

Yesterday, Friday, I ran 18.37 miles.
I got a late start - 8:00 AM, instead of 6:30 and I paid for it.
It got hot and it took a lot out of me, but I made it.
My long Friday runs coming up are:
18, 14, 20, 12, 22, 14, 24, 18, 14, 24, etc.
I am getting much better with the mental aspect and with not bailing out because I am tired or uncomfortable.
I also have embraced my inner turtle.

Mark B wrote:Looking good, Charles! I think the best sort of gains are the ones that sneak up on you and leave you pleasantly surprised.

Keep it up! You're doing great.

+1 You are putting in some serious runs lately Charles!!!!

This month my Friday runs were 14, 16, 18 & 18.
Next month it will be 14, 20, 12 & 22.

Today's 18 miler was in cooler weather and it was ok, until about mile 16 and I was shot, but kept moving.
I took a few extra walk breaks, but finished well.
As I was finishing, I was starting to question whether I could keep up with this schedule.
I was doubting if I could really do 50 in late August - it will be at the very least warm, but all in the shade on the Manistee forest.

I should perhaps not make a decision while I am suffering some at the end of a long run.

Anyway - this was not a normal week and it started out with non-running fatigue.
Monday morning, starting at 8 AM I spent over 4 solid hours of cutting with a chain saw.
We were cutting the ends off the brush pile left from the downing of three maples around my house - 2 very large. My son-in-law took most of all of the wood from the trees and I wanted the rest for campfires mainly.
It was a lot of hard work and I really wore myself out. then I went for a 7 mile run after lunch and a nap.
Tuesday I was supposed to do 5, but did only 4 - just too tired. I also dropped Wednesday's 7 mile run - which turned out to be a good decision.

I am feeling better now and I will continue to stick to the schedule, while paying attention to fatigue.
I still would like to do the 50 ultra at North Country, but by July I will know if it might be wise to drop to the marathon or half. I was discouraged today, but I know I was just fighting fatigue and some self-doubt.
I will end up April with about 140 miles (would have been over 150 but I dropped a couple or reduced a few) - my highest monthly total since I started running in January 2011.
Not much compared to most of you, but I don't compare with any of you!

I think you already have diagnosed the cause of today's less-than-great run. You're worn out from all the other things you did this week besides running. Physical stress is cumulative, and you pushed your limit.

So, as long as you don't decide to play lumberjack the week of your 50, I think you'll be fine.

Another busy week with a new concrete driveway being dug out and poured.
The crew did the work, but I did a lot of picking up and sweeping after they left.
YesterdayI spent much of the day moving dirt to fill in around the edges.
I shot time lapses of the two days - one of the demo of the blacktop and prep and then the concrete pouring day. I will post them in the coffeehouse later.

My runs were 5, 4, 6 and 14. I opted to drop the 5 mile run yesterday.
They all went well - I get to the refuge very early to avoid the heat - plus I get to see a lot more animals then.

This week my runs will be:
Monday - 10 - looks like a rainy day, but I will get this in anyway.
Tuesday - 5
Wednesday - 7
Thursday - rest or a walk
Friday - 20
Saturday - 5

And I am not sorry that I sold my Indy Mini bib!
One of my best friends ran her first HM and came in at 2:28 - she had been hoping to be under 3 hours.
She. Did.

Cool about your friend, Charles. Congrats to her! New drive looks good (video).

A 42 mile week - maybe 47 if I sneak in my optional 5 today or tomorrow.
On Friday I ran 20 miles and it went very well.
Today I am not sore at all, so I know my fitness and endurance continues to improve.
Next week the long run drops to 12, but is followed the next day with a 10 miler.
The next Friday after that the long run bumps up to 22.

So far, so good.

Whew! What a week and WHAT A DAY!
I ended up with an even 40 miles, but that does not tell the whole story.
Monday - 10
Tuesday - zero, though I was scheduled to do 5, but I felt I needed the rest.
Wednesday - 7
Friday - 10
Saturday - 13.1 in the hills of Morgan Monroe Forest - at one point it runs on the Tecumseh Trail - sorry Mark if that brings back a frightening flashback from December!

Lately I should have been doing a second shorter run on Saturdays after my weekly long run on Friday.
But I have not done them because I felt rest was more important for this 60.5 year old body.
Now, however, I believe I need to do these weekend back to backs to get used to running on tired legs.
in preparation for the North Country 50 Mile ultra in August.

So . . . . I did 27 miles this week and then today's difficult half in the hills of southern Indiana.
As Mark can attest, we DO have hills here that can do you in - I mean really do you in.
I went into to today's event expecting to be tired and I was, but not too bad.

It is not a huge event - there was a 5K, 10K, 10 miler and the HM.
If you wanted to, you could drop out of the HM and finish the 10 miler, but I chose to keep on and I am glad I did.
Maybe 200 total people and - I am guessing here - maybe 75 or so in the HM.
A lot of young people and not too many above 50 and less near my age.

I started in the back and at first had maybe 12 people behind me, but before long I let them pass.
I was with 2 other guys for several miles, but then they pulled away.
At times it was very runnable and downhill BUT then you had to go back UP.
I hiked up most of the ups, just not worth it wasting the energy running up too much of them.
I did run up some of them, but others were too much for me.
I actually felt pretty good and was moving well - for me and that is fine.

Around miles 7 - 9 there was an extended rising section that I chose to hike because all of a sudden I REALLY felt those 27 miles this week and especially yesterday's 10. I am sure many tapered recently to be fresh for this event, but I did not. Tim and Wendy's brother were there and I am quite sure that they flew up this section, but I am not in their league.

Now I am the last runner doing the HM and again, that is fine with me.
I momentarily thought about just doing the 10, but tossed that idea away.
I was there to force myself to keep making forward progress - and I did.

When I got to mile 10, I decided to just hike the rest of the way in.
It was only a 5K left, but I did not want to trash myself and screw up next week's schedule - which includes a 22 miler on Friday. But I did finish - so Jerry can't say "Charles, you only had a 5K to go - why didn't you finish it?"

It was warming up, but I was in the shade 95% of the time, but I got hot.
I am glad I used my Nathan vest, because I needed the water between the aid stations because of my turtle pace.
I used S caps and Gu gels religiously and I am sure that helped.

So . . . how long did I take?
3:41! The hiking sections really dragged my time out, but I did keep going. Good boy Charles.
And I earned my first unofficial DFL - Dead Freaking Last!
Which beats a DNF and DNS any day!
If I had been properly tapered I think I would have been done in 3 hours or so.
I was just too pooped and decided a lot of plain hiking would be the best thing to do at this point.

A good day for me building the needed mental toughness to move forward when the legs did not feel like doing it.
I have a little over 3 months left before the 50 and I think I will be OK. I spoke to a guy who has done the North Country and he said it is a relatively "easy" course and NOTHING like the hills of southern Indiana. BY then my endurance will be greatly improved and I am confident that with proper tapering in August, I will be able to make it within the time limit.

The. End.

Way to stick it out and finish, Charles. If you are talking about the North Country in Manistee, Mich. Not to scare you, but that course is full of hills, some steep, not that easy of a course. Ran the marathon it in 2010. So this one you ran today must be steep!

Well, I don't doubt what you say, but folks I have run with at Tecumseh and today's race compare the two types of trails and they say Manistee does not compare in steepness whatsoever with these hills. I have been told by several that they describe Manistee has having more rolling hills than steep hills. I guess it is all a matter of perspective. I will run a training run there in July. I just know that I will have fresh legs when I get there and my endurance will be better. There is a 14 hour limit, so I believe I will be OK.

Nice job Charles, it appears your training is going well.

It sounds like you powered your way through a tough course on tired legs. Way to go Charles.

It was great to see you again.

Now I need to do a Tim & Amelia 365 runner interview!
Wait! I think Amelia deserves her own separate interview! : )
I still feel guilty.

Sounds like an excellent training run for you. DFL has always been something I never wanted, but this is a trail race and trails are different with a whole different attitude. Whats the date for your August 50 miler? How many will you do at the Howl?

D

I expect it won't be my last DFL, but it beat DNS and DNF all day long!
North Country is Saturday, August 25 so . . . @ the Howl I will probably do 6 laps or so and then my TAPER starts!

I got to the wildlife refuge a little after 5:30 AM and started my 22 mile long run of the week. All went well until the sun came out. Not too bad at first, but it was really taking its toll on me. I ended up doing 17 and headed home before I got sick. As I drove away the clouds were rolling in and would soon be covering the refuge. I almost went back, but thought better of it. I might do a 5 mile hike later today, or not.

I really wanted to get the 22 in, but sometimes a decision has to be made about being smart or being legalistic about a schedule. This is the first long run of this training cycle that I have cut short and it was the right thing to do.

I decided to take the 5 miles I did not do yesterday and add them to today's run as a nice 17/10 back-to-back set of runs. I got to the refuge an hour later than yesterday, but was back home before it got too hot. I did stop and get a wonderful chocolate shake on the way home - I certainly deserved it!

I pushed myself and did the fastest 10 miles I have done in a while. I will end up the month with an average of a little over 40 miles per week - the most I have ever done. And I think much more would be too much for me.

A step back week - only 26 miles (should have been 9 more but I had to drop 2 days) with a long run of 14 on Friday.
This week will be 50 miles - 9 - 5 - 7 - off - 24 - 5.

Ending up with 46 miles this week. I moved my 24-mile run to Wednesday because of a trip to Champaign on Friday. We stopped at Danville and ran over to the site of the 8-hour ultra "Howl at the Moon" at Kennekuk Park. Susie and I walked the 3.29 mile route and I took a photo about every 10 steps. We also recorded some short video clips about the event. I will make a time lapse video and post it on Kennekuk Runners Facebook for people new to the Howl.

The graduation party for my wife's niece was Friday night and was a fun time.
My brother-in-law was running the Lake Mingo Trail Run on Saturday morning with 2 of his daughters, so I joined them. It was run by the Kennekuck Runners Club - who also run the Howl. Some of the race was on the Howl route, but then it goes off around Lake Mingo. A much harder route than the Howl with a number of very short, but steep hills. I enjoyed it and need the work for my quads. At the last AS, they offered small cups of beer or whiskey or water. This group DOES like to drink and the beer wagon was at the end, along with grilled food. Susie and I jumped in the car and headed back to Seymour. We had a cookout at 6:00 for members of her Haiti mission trip she just got back from recently. We are worn out, but it was a fun weekend. This week it will be runs of 7-5-7-off-18-10.

Starting this week, I will always do at least one of my shorter runs at the Jackson-Washington Forestry to do some hill work.

A 47-mile week ending with a back-to-back set of runs of 18 & 10 miles yesterday and today.
10 weeks until my 50-mile ultra.

A 41 week mile that went well, despite the heat. I ended the week today with a B2b of 14 yesterday and 10 today. Next week will be one of the longest of this training cycle - 51 miles ending with a 24 miler on Friday and a short 5 on Saturday. The following week will be 47.

This. Is. Work.

Moved my long run of the week to today because of the cooler temps. It was beautiful out there at 5:20 AM, BUT . . . 24 miles still IS 24 miles! It took me over 5 hours - 5:25 and that is fine with me. If I could keep that up, I could do my 50-miler in less than 12 hours. The North Country Ultra has a time limit of 14 hours for the 50. I think I will be ok in August if temps are good and I eat and hydrate correctly. My goal is to finish within the time limit and live to tell about it.