Felt a Hundred Different Demons

Terrific two days of workouts Martin. Hope you're feeling nice and relaxed after your early morning run and enjoying your birthday. Have a great day!

Seth Harrison wrote:Terrific two days of workouts Martin. Hope you're feeling nice and relaxed after your early morning run and enjoying your birthday. Have a great day!

Thanks for the kudos Seth, I it feels good to be regaining some confidence. Not that I every really lost it but I think:

1. It's always hard to get back into training after taking a down time after a marathon. That is why normally I like to stay active and do some running but that just wasn't in the cards after Boston this year. I knew my body need some much over due rest. And then right when I was starting to get back into it the Pirifomis stuff came out of nowhere. So it was a little rough getting back into the swing of things.

2. It's been a while since I have logged the mid-long runs that I have over this past week since Boston. Plus this week will be my first 100+ week since my Boston training and that is coming off a fun but party like vacation. It is always tough getting back into the swing of things after vacation let alone after a parting one!

I do feel that this past week will be the springboard that I needed to get me back on rhythm and into a groove. In a way it is reteaching my body to do something that it has been use to do day, week and month after day, week and month.

I might do another week of just putting in the mileage but also been tossing around the idea of adding a LT/Tempo workout into the mix this week.

Yes it has been a very relaxing and enjoyable day today! Listening to the Dead, drinking wine can't get any better then that or what maybe it could just a little. Going out to dinner in a little while and then walk around the big city and enjoy the rest of the night.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Great to stare down a challenge like that - good luck!

Hey what happen to the video you posted John? I liked the video and it is way cool to post that into my blog!!

Wow what a week of running after a vacation! Over 90 miles?!! Wow!

I think you'd like the Lakefront 50K if for no other reason than the fueling like you said and maybe you could even meet some other ultra runners who would have even more insights on your JFK training (although I know you have researched this and know what you're doing). The entry fee was pretty reasonable from what I remember. I know I've run more expensive marathons.

Kenny B. wrote:Great run to celebrate the b-day! Kevin has great experience at the JFK 50 and a good portion is on the AT which is technical from what I have read. If you have good technical trails by you it would make sense to run on them at times. I know when I do a 50 (soon) training on technical trails is not an option as I don't have anything near me. Most likely will be doing a 50 road race or easy trails to which I can mimic in training.

So exciting to move to a new level.

Yeah it was a great way to start my b-day off today Kenny.

I agree about Kevin having great experience with JFK 50! That is why he is my main crew dude and I know that he will help stare me into the right direction.

Yes some of the race is on technical trail and as I have stated I will be doing some traveling to some trails that have some place technical trails. Actually one of the places I will be doing some training is on the Superior Hiking trail were Scott Jurek started his trail running and even trained for WS100. I have done some hiking up there before and love the area it actually goes right into the Boundary Waters. It will be nice to get out of the city do some camping and running up there. So, yes I'm lucky that I have place to go to and train on some tough trails.

Happy Birthday Martin! Enjoy celebrating!

Rock on...

Really solid week of training Schuey. That's definitely the type of week that can serve as a springboard towards Chicago.

Carrying over from the back-to-back double discussion on my blog - are you planning to do many of those weekends before Chicago? Or are you going to focus on more marathon-specific training until then, then build on that before the JFK?

Schuey wrote:
... JFK 50 ...
Yes some of the race is on technical trail and as I have stated I will be doing some traveling to some trails that have some place technical trails. Actually one of the places I will be doing some training is on the Superior Hiking trail were Scott Jurek started his trail running and even trained for WS100. ... So, yes I'm lucky that I have place to go to and train on some tough trails.

So, when I was planning to run my first JFK50, I stopped in to our local Fleet Feet store run by Phil Fenty (father of Adrian Fenty, recent one-term Mayor of DC). There's a photo of Phil running WS100 behind the counter (a race he likes) and he's also run the JFK50 (a race he doesn't like). I mentioned I was going to try to run the AT portion of the race course several times over the summer just to get a feel for it. He made a look that was half and half ... "Nobody does that", he said. "Too much risk of injury." After running it, I agree.

It's important that you learn how to run trails. It's partly foot lift but mostly about concentration. Take a few spills and you'll get the idea. It's not important -- and in fact risky -- to train on technical trails. [[Experienced trail runners may benefit from training on technically challenging trails -- but accomplished road runners looking to break into the trail circuit would be well-advised to train on less challenging trails with good footing.]] You increase the risk of injury without learning anything more than a non-technical trail run can teach you (about foot lift and concentration). So take it from Phil [ ] and me ... don't seek out trails with difficult footing, boulders, rocks hidden by leaves, etc. Rather, run trails with good footing and possibly some fairly steep hills both up and down -- it will serve you well, in terms of learning the unique skills of trail running, without putting your knees, ankles, wrists, elbows and face at undue risk. Most of all, enjoy yourself!

Congratulations on the 50M acceptance, it's good to have that out of the way. The nervousness is actually smart, it would be difficult to be confident in something you don't know yet. With KB giving tips though, it will go a long ways to preparing you. I have to admit, that elevation chart made me a bit nervous, that's a lot of elevation in the first 6 miles. Good thing you are planning to train on some hills.

Dave-O wrote:Really solid week of training Schuey. That's definitely the type of week that can serve as a springboard towards Chicago.

Yep I agree Dave, I really think that this last week was a good one for me physically and mentally. Physically I feel like I'm finally getting my legs back under me but still have some work to do. Mentally there is no doubt cracking that 100 mile mark for the week puts my confidence high again. It's crazy when you don't do that for a while how you forget what it is like or how you mentally feel like you can't do it. Then you go out and do and your body and mind go "hey, I remember this" and it just becomes that much easier to do it again. Well I guess it never is easy to run 100+ in a week but it sure does seem easier.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Carrying over from the back-to-back double discussion on my blog - are you planning to do many of those weekends before Chicago? Or are you going to focus on more marathon-specific training until then, then build on that before the JFK?

I will most likely being doing back to back doubles the whole training cycle. Although there will be some weekends in the future will I will do long runs that are geared towards the Chicago marathon and then the next day it will be all about spending time on feet. Ideally until I start doing 30 mile runs, I would like to run with Lisa on her Sunday long runs and after running long with her try to go out again in the evening and do a shorter run. Still playing around with everything and again how I have things in my mind and down on paper will change depending on what signals I'm getting from my body.

As of now I am only writing up my weekly training for 2 weeks at a time. And even with what I have written that changes due to how I feel. Example this week I had planned to only run 103 miles, I ended up running 111+

JohnP wrote:Congratulations on the 50M acceptance, it's good to have that out of the way. The nervousness is actually smart, it would be difficult to be confident in something you don't know yet. With KB giving tips though, it will go a long ways to preparing you. I have to admit, that elevation chart made me a bit nervous, that's a lot of elevation in the first 6 miles. Good thing you are planning to train on some hills.

Thanks John and yes I agree that it would pretty dumb to go into my first 50 full of confidence like this will be no problem. Don't get me wrong I have confidence in my ability but I know that there is no doubt that I have a lot to learn about running a 50 mile race. It's not just going out and running and there is no doubt that the strategy is different then running a marathon. And I could not agree more about how lucky I am to have Kevin giving me some great input. His post above is just the kind of stuff that is going to help make my 50 mile debut that much better then if I didn't have his help. About that elevation yeah it is pretty crazy, man I'm looking forward to doing this.

Kevin point is well taken. Basically what he is saying is there is a good chance you will fall and/or get hurt or injured during the JFK 50 AT portion why do it during training. Something fun to look forward to.

Chicago Marathon To JKF 50 Mile Training:

M 7/11: am 8.14 miles - 1:00:01 @ 7:22 pace
pm 5.44 miles - 50:00 @ 9:11 pace w/ Lisa

T 7/12: am 10.07 miles - 1:15:44 @ 7:31 pace
pm 6.01 miles - 55:31 @ 9:14 pace w/ Lisa

W 7/13: am 10.10 miles - 1:14:43 @ 7:22 pace

T 7/14: am 8.11 miles - 1:01:42 @ 7:36 pace
pm 5.11 miles - 46:33 @ 9:06 pace w/Lisa

F 7/15: am 15.07 miles - 1:50:01 @ 7:18 pace
pm 6.10 miles - 46:12 @ 7:34 pace 1st 1/2mile w/ Lisa

S 7/16: am 17.13 miles - 2:07:47 @ 7:27 pace

S 7/17: am 7.25 miles - 55:19 @ 7:37 pace (87 degrees, 67 degree Dew Point)
pm 13.11 miles - 2:19:01 @ 10:36 pace w/ Lisa (97 degrees, 69 degree DP)

Total Mileage: 111.63 miles
Avg. Distance: 9.30 miles
Max Distance: 17.13 miles
Total Time: 15:02:28
Median Time: 1:00:51

Alright the start of the week was rough but I really think I got some cooking once Friday hit. It seems like for the first time since Boston training that I feel like I have my legs back and that my body feels ready to go. This past week is the first time I put up triple digits for my weekly mileage since Boston. Now it time to keep the train moving down the right track, look out here come Casey Jones driving that train high on........

I have already mentioned early this week that the start of the week was pretty rough for me were most of the runs didn't seem like a struggle but they were not so called easy. I just felt off most of the week and really felt like I had no zip. As Jeff F said in "Your week in Training" I really didn't start to feeling like a runner until the end of the week. It was on Friday when it just seemed like my body told me "hey ok we know how to do this" and it was from that point that things started to change.

I also said above in a response to Dave, that I feel this week was great for my physically and mentally. I do understand that I have some work to still do but I finally feel like things are back on the right track. Physically I feel that my body has come to terms of what it is like to train and to do it with a purpose again. Mentally there is no doubt that I have gotten myself over the hump of doing high mileage again. Yes it is always tough to run 100+ miles a week and it is a grind but this past week was the eye opener to my brain that it has done this before and there is no doubt that I can do again. It's funny how the body and mind forget how to do something when you haven't done it in a while but once you put you body and mind through that stress again and push through the thoughts that you can't do it the body adjusts to it pretty quickly.

Looking forward to this week all though it is going to be a big challenge with the weather.

I did start the week of on a good note today with my first run of the day in 95 degree, 72% humidity and a dew point of 75. Ended up running 6.10 mile @ 7:14 pace. More to come on this run later.

How's my 2:59 pacer looking these days......[reading]........yikes, you are too fast for me! If you really do want to slum it back there with me on race day, that would be fun but feel free to just run your race too and do something more aggressive.

Chris M wrote:How's my 2:59 pacer looking these days......[reading]........yikes, you are too fast for me! If you really do want to slum it back there with me on race day, that would be fun but feel free to just run your race too and do something more aggressive.

Um, yeah, he's not running with you. You're both going to run huge PRs and get more points for the Steamrollers! That's all there is to it!

Ended up getting in a double run to today, in some hot temps. One good thing for me is that I do pretty well handling the heat. For me it is more of getting my mind in the right frame of mind and I'm fine. If I don't get my mind in the right frame, well it isn't pretty.

Today happen to be one of those days were I was in the right frame of mind. I believe that most of it is due to expecting and preparing myself for this weather since last week.

7/18 AM 6.10 miles - 44:15 @ 7:14 pace. I was really happy to find how fresh my legs felt on this run after putting in my first 100+ week in a long time. And also for how well I felt in the extreme hot conditions. So I just decided to go with the flow of things but at the same was keeping myself under control and reminding myself there was no need to push it to hard. I did do a couple of pick-ups during this run one for .65 @ 6:38 pace and 2nd one for .39 @ 6:59 pace. Even in the heat this run was far better then any of earlier runs of last week and just seemed to pick-up from how I was feeling starting with my Friday run. All in all I was very very happy with this run and again things are starting to look better and better on every run.

7/18 PM 7.13 miles - 51:26 @ 7:12 pace. Alright now this is more like it during and after this run I now finally feel like that runner that was training for Boston. Something just started clicking after 4 miles during this run. It is almost like I just relaxed and wasn't scared to let it go a little. I know that this is not going to be the week to do any great 1st tempo runs but at the same time I feel that it is very important for me to pick it up some and start reminding my legs what it is like to run fast. So I guess in a way you could call this run a mini fartlek/uptempo run.
4 miles to 4.73 (.73) @ 6:53, next mile @ 6:57, next .31 @ 6:13, mile 7 @ 6:42 and the last .13 @ 5:55.
I will know declare that I truly feel that I'm official back and for the first time since my last training cycle I can honestly say that I have found that burning desire to want to train again. Most importantly I can say with 100% certainty that I'm having fun doing it. My body is feeling the best it has in a long time. Maybe all I really needed was signing up and then finding out that I was accepted into the JFK 50!

Also one more note I came up with new saying during my 7.25 mile run on Sunday morning and it is something that I repeated to myself on both runs today and just might be my saying for the rest of this training cycle. "REGROUP & CONQUER!"

I have read through your blog and wanted you to know I appreciate your sharing your journey with us on how you got to where you are today. It seems like so many that end up in addiction never seem to be able to muster the courage to break out of the cycle. Having never been through it myself, it's hard to understand from the standpoint of experience, but it IS inspiring to see that it can be overcome.

You seem to be much more of an advanced runner than I in terms of mileage and training plans and I look forward to learning from you and others on this board on how to maximize my running experience as I move closer toward senior citizen status.

Again, thanks for sharing and glad your week of training after vacation went well especially in this heat and humidity.

Schuey wrote:REGROUP & CONQUER!

I like it.

Great couple of runs after an impressive week. I love those days where everything flows like that. I like your mental preparation - seems to be working well!!!

Your training is looking great. It was nice to have lunch with you and Lisa on Sunday.

Hey man, Nice blog. You kind of threw me with the song reference. Can't place it even with all my head experience. Googling it brings up this blog, funny your blog is #1 google famous for "A Hundred different Demons." Anyhoo, glad you're back on course, boy are you back!!! Yeah, I could see you mixing it up with the nation's best Ultra runners and that ain't a stretch! Looking forward to sharing the experience with you at some point soon! Hey if you do Badwater some day sign me up to crew for ya! When will the smiley's do a "Steal Your Face," probably copyright issues?

Wow. Some great runs coming out of you and you seem to be in your happy place. What ever affirmation mantra gets you to your goal sounds wonderful.

I think getting into JFK 50 is huge motivational factor. You are moving to a new place (as we always are).

I'm impressed you handle the heat that well. I'm struggling and ready for some cooler temps/dew pts/humidity.

Good for you you sound like you're all fresh and motivated and ready to tackle the 50 miler. What date is it?

Schuey wrote:Ended up getting in a double run to today, in some hot temps. One good thing for me is that I do pretty well handling the heat. For me it is more of getting my mind in the right frame of mind and I'm fine. If I don't get my mind in the right frame, well it isn't pretty.

Today happen to be one of those days were I was in the right frame of mind. I believe that most of it is due to expecting and preparing myself for this weather since last week.

You are so right about the mental aspect of things. When you start out knowing that it will be tough, but are prepared and ready to face the challenge, it's a lot easier. When you walk out the door dreading what's coming, the miles usually give you a beatdown that's no fun at all.

I've never known you to not be in the right frame of mind though. Your mental strength is your strength (or one of them) for sure. I know I could use some of your toughness a lot of days.

"REGROUP & CONQUER!"

Seriously??? Magenta? That really doesn't fit the sentiment. Did Lisa or Hana pick out the color for you?

Nothing like jumping right back into it, eh? That's a big week, especially coming off of vacation. Good to see the legs weren't too beat up after last week and you're primed for another one this week.

Oh, and nice edit after Matt called you out on the magenta!