The scariest run of my life

    So I recovered from my back injury and have been attempting to get into a consistent training regimen.  Towards the end of February I went down to Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee with a couple of buddies.  My back wasn't exactly 100% but I was looking forward to the trip and didn't want to back out.  The athletic pubalgia injury was still present but not as terrible as it was.  A perfect mix to do some mountain running !!!
     We drove down from Indiana right to the park.  I did about 13 miles and climbed about 3600 feet on the first day.  My lower back was super tight on the climbs which caused me to take multiple forced walk breaks during the effort.  Snow was about three to six inches deep on average and some drifts were between one and two  and three feet at times.  I ran up a trail called chimney tops.  Named for unique rock formations at the top of the mountain.

      The trail was hard to follow since it was covered up by all the snow and I had to follow the footprints of my buddies who were ahead of me and, at times, the blazes painted on the trees along the trail.  The run was hard and my back stayed stiff most of the run.  At one point on top of the ridge by one of the chimney formations the snow gave way and my right leg shot down off the trail.  Nothing was there to land on and I suddenly found myself crouching with all my weight supported by my left leg with my right leg dangling down. I was on the verge of falling down about fifteen to twenty feet. There wasn't anything to grab onto and I found myself powering up with my left leg.  Kind of like an impromptu pistol squat.  I got my right leg on solid ground and a few seconds later realized how close I just came to being totally fucked.  Thank God for all those Bulgarian split squats my trainer had me doing at the gym.  I honestly think things would have gone horribly bad there if it wasn't for my leg strength and balance that kicked in at that moment.

Chimney Tops and the trail

     Thankfully the rest of the journey up and down chimney tops wasn't as eventful as those couple of seconds.  The formations were pretty awesome and the scenery amazing.   I mostly just followed my buddies footprints the rest of the way.  I eventually came out to a service road and a junction with another one after that.

I followed that down until I came to a junction with a trail.  A sign indicated that it was a mile and a half to the trailhead.  I kept following the service road for a few more miles until I was worried that my mileage would end up too high for the first day.  I decided to turn back and take the trail back to the where the car was.  Bad move.
     The trail was snow covered and I had to follow blazes.  Nobody had been on this trail to give me tracks to follow.  About a third of a mile down the trail, ice and loose snow hampered my progress.  My Altra lone Peak shoe's traction was useless.  I started sliding down the ravine every other step.  I resorted to a kind of reverse kick where I drove my heel into the ice and make steps.  The going was slow.  I had to cling to trees and saplings in order to keep from sliding down.  At one point I had to break a stick in two and use them to stab into the ice and snow.  At this points I was using all upper body to drive one stick into the ice, reach over with my right hand and stab the stick into the ice, reach over with my left hand and stab that stick next to the right stick, and repeat.  My feet couldn't get traction so I had to lay on the side of the hill.  I advanced this way for about ten feet or so.  The feat was straining the tissue of my abdominal injury.  The stinging sensation near my groin was familiar and was not comforting.  This sucked.
     When I got over a small hump in the trail, it become walkable again.  I contemplated keeping the two sticks just in case I encountered a similar section again.  I decided not to.  I pictured myself falling on them awkwardly and stabbing myself with them accidentally.  That's how my luck was playing out.
     I made slow progress sliding my way along the trail.  At one point I supported myself with a large stick to give me more stability.  This lasted a small while until I hit a slick patch of ice and found myself sliding down the ravine.  I slid about 6 feet then I stuck my right foot out towards a small tree to stop my momentum.  I hit the tree rather poorly and my big toe screamed at me !!!  At best I just jammed the piss out of it.....at worse I just broke my damn toe !!!  It hurt like hell.  I clung to the small tree and rested for a couple of seconds.  I had to climb up the icy edge to get to the trail on a compromised toe.  This sucked.
     About a three quarters of a mile down the trail I encountered some footprints and signs of a person or people falling.  Falling a lot.  Whoever the tracks belonged to, they were having the same traction problems I was having.  They turned around at this point and headed back towards the parking lot.  This was fortunate for me because it gave me some hint of where the slippy spots were.  The unfortunate thing was that there were a lot more slippy spots.  None were as bad as what I encountered previously though.  My progress was made worse by my compromised big toe.  Damn, it hurt.
     About a mile and a half to two miles down the trail I encountered a young couple coming towards me.  I greeted them and just as I was going to tell them about the suckfest they were heading for the young man asked me "Have you seen a set of keys on a red laniard?"
     "Nooooo,"  I said slowly.  I turned around and looked back the way I came and then at the couple.  "That sucks.  This way is no joke."
    "Yeah.  We might have dropped it along here," he said.
    "I'll keep an eye out for it and leave it at the ranger station if I find it,"  I said.  "Wow.  Good luck."  That sucks.  I felt so bad for them.  I immediately felt better about my situation.  This encounter meant I was closer to the parking lot....I hoped.  The trail became better and I kept an eye out for their keys.  I didn't find the keys but hoped that they did.

stream heading up to Chimney Tops trail

     I eventually made it back to the car.  The toe wasn't much of a problem, but that was probably because of a mixture of the cold from the snow and just moving on it.  I had just jammed the toe and had significant bruising.  Later that night I had a slight limp and hoped that things would be better on day 2.    

2015: New Month, New Injury......Grrrrrrrrrr

    The title change of my blog to "Breaking Banul" has become kind of prophetic.  I have been suffering from an old....old....super old injury on top of my sports hernia this past week.  A couple of weeks ago I strained my back doing Zercher squats with a 115 pound sandbag.  The strain didn't happen all at once.  On the first day I went to use this particular bag I slipped a rib out of it's spinal socket trying to lift the damn thing off the floor into the Zercher position.  I did my sets and felt a pain near my shoulder blade afterward.
    The next day I paid a visit to my chiropractor.  He plopped the pesky rib back into place.  Looking back, I think the rib pain may have masked the initial damage lifting too much weight caused.  Later that day I did hill repeats climbing a little over 3,000 ft. of elevation in about seven and a half miles. At one point in the run I had a slight twinge in the spot but didn't think anything of it. I get these twinges every so often.
     A little backstory:  I fist damaged the disc to my lower spine while playing tackle football when I was about 16 years old.  I was tackled awkwardly and the weight of the tackler came down on my shoulders hyperextending my lower spine.  Lots of ouch.   Then about nine months later I was in the passenger seat of a Ford Mustang that was hit by a freight train.  The impact either aggravated the same spot from the tackle or an area close to it.  These two events created a weak spot in my back that acts up every now and then.  In the decades following these two events, I've had a myriad of things aggravate the old injury.  Lifting tool boxes, violent sneezes, slipping on ice, landing from a big jump, etc....
     For the past week now I haven't been running or lifting weights.  The up and down pounding of running was irritating the injury.  I would feel fine, go for a run, then wake up the next morning with a stiff lower back.  And I mean STIFF !!!!   Then the following day the pain came.  Grrrrrrrrrr.       
       The beginning of my injury coincided with the first major snow we've had in South Central Indiana this winter.  It's a lot easier to miss runs when there is ice and snow all over the damn place. Instead of just laying around I have been working on flexibility.  Stretching my hips and glutes seem to alleviate the pain in the spot.  Turning my focus to stretching and yoga poses has been a habit I have been trying to get into.  Recently at work, if there aren't any customers, I'll drop behind the counter into the pigeon pose.  Doing this has helped the back pain.   I hope to continue the habit after my back has healed. 
      I paid a visit to my chiropractor and he adjusted my spine.  I felt like the injury had healed enough but a spinal manipulation would help relieve pressure off the area.  One "pro" of visiting him is that he is always saying that I am "in tune" with my body.  The manipulation helped.  On the drive home I thought of how I felt like I have been constantly falling apart since mid-December.  One "con" of being "in tune" with my body.  Ugh.... One bright side is that I'm hoping that a nice side effect of this back injury is that my athletic pubalgia injury gets a huge opportunity to heal further.
     So here I am on my day off.  About three more inches of snow was dropped overnight.  I hadn't planned on running or lifting weights today.  I spent about an hour stretching and have been mostly resting.  Doing nothing is kind of nice.  I wouldn't want to make a habit of it.

Thanks for reading.

New Year.....Old injury

     So I recovered from my first 50 mile race and went into recovery mode.  It took several weeks for my right shin muscles to heal.  When they did I attempted easy runs to get back in the habit of running.  This lasted about half a run.  I got a bug in my butt to attempt to run faster.  I spent most of the last year just doing the grind of long distance running.  I needed something different.  Why not just go for shorter, faster runs?  So this lasted a couple of weeks......and then....
     Somewhere along the way I irritated my lower abdominal tissue where they attach to my pelvic bone.  And by irritated I mean I created tiny little microscopic tears where the connection occurs.  This is called a sports hernia, a hockey groin, or athletic pubalgia for you Latin fans out there.  I always love how I get "non-running" running injuries.  (I'm waiting for the day when I'm doing an overloaded Bulgarian deadlift and get a running injury !!!)

     I had this injury two years ago but it was more severe.  I couldn't run without severe pain happening.  I spent several months doing physical therapy and taking prescription anti-inflammatory pills.  I healed up, got better, and gradually built up my miles.  The injury was some weird thing that happened because my core was weak.  Physical therapy built that up and I started going to personal training at a local gym.
     The sports hernia came back towards late December.  I would go for runs and then hours later a soreness would creep in.  Sometimes a dull ache.  Other times a sharp pain.  Sometimes a blend of the two.  Not good.  I waited a couple of weeks to see if it would clear up.  Some runs would be fine....others the pain would come afterward.  There wasn't any consistency to the symptoms...or so it seemed.
     I noticed that faster runs where I pushed my speed were the times when the pain was more severe.  Could trying to run faster be irritating my lower abdominal muscles?  All evidence seemed to say so.  This revelation sucked.
    I went to my doctor.  He said it was likely that going from the slogging pace of an ultra to more of a 5k pace could have caused weakness in the tissue resulting in the tears.  He also said that as long as the pain wasn't present while running that I was on the mend. This meant I could keep running.
     He prescribed anti-inflammatory pills and said to do my physical therapy exercises from the last time this happened.  Three weeks passed and I had a check up.  Some minor pains were present but overall he was pleased with my healing.  He said to stop taking the pills on a daily basis and take them as needed.
     For the last month I've been in a strange place with my running.  I've been running less and concentrating more on my weight training and core work.  I signed up for the Mountain Mist 50k way back when my training was going awesome before the OPSF 50 miler.  I had to back out of that.  Pretty much donated money to an Alabama running club.  No biggie.
    My legs, core, shoulders, and back have all gotten stronger from this shift from running less to strength training more.  Sometimes my running has become more challenging because my quads were fatigued, and sometimes downright DOM'd, from that mornings squat workout or doing weighted sled drags.  I slowly got more excited about going to the gym than going for a run.
    I don't know why this has been happening.  Maybe because I can measure my progress in the gym better.  Weights are easy to gauge progress...This week I'm squatting 60 kilos.....two weeks later I'm doing 80 kilos.  Progress !!!   How do you measure progress in running?  By speed?  Oh, great.  Trying to get faster fucks up my pelvis and causes pain.  Hurm.  Thanks a lot universe.
     So for the past few weeks I've been trying to find a balance between strength training and running.  I also have to squeeze in the physical therapy core exercises plus some more advanced ones that I've thrown in for the extra challenge.  So my weekly mileage has suffered, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. My weight training has picked up...It's a good substitution.   I keep trying to convince myself of that.  I want to remain consistent with running and not all the 2014 work I put in just fade away.   Who knows?  We'll see what 2015 brings.  It sure is off to a challenging start.
    
    

Taper time....Taper time.....Taper time.....

     So now I am tapering for my first 50 mile race, the OPSF 5050.  My training has went well....for the most part.  The course is on horse trails and goes up and down hills and valleys in the Owen Putnam State Forest in South Central Indiana.  The trails out there are rugged, muddy, and overgrown in places.
      I had a great summer training.  I managed to run about seven hundred miles and over 100k in elevation since June.  Not bad for being in Indiana.  Admittedly some of those miles were in California, Virginia, and Ohio.
      Friends of my wife and myself, who live in Southern California, opened up their home to us for a week.  We went on several runs with long periods of sustained climbs that ranged from 300' of elevation per mile to 4k of elevation per hill (or mountain in the latter case).  It was a great time and a great opportunity to pick the brains of two accomplished runners.  (Most importantly a technique to run hills more efficiently.  Always good to have.)
       I managed one 50k race (Not Yo Momma's 100) as a training run and managed to come in 3rd overall.  I was shocked at my placing but really feel like it was a fluke. Just a luck of the registered runners (or those who didn't register actually). The overall winner of the race came in an hour ahead of me.  Nonetheless it was a challenging course and it's probably an event I'd do again. Maybe a longer distance though.   The event had several distances 25k,50k,75k,100k, and a hundred mile all on a 25k course.  The start/finish line was a campground where my wife and I hung out after the race.  We had a great time.  Plus they give out sweet trophies.

    
    Since that overly successful training run I just focused on elevation.  Something I love to do.  I made up a training workout called the "Devil's Marathon" located in McCormick's Creek State Park.  Basically there is a hill there with one service road, two trails, and a staircase.  I did a circuit from the top of the hill down to one of the aforementioned things and repeated over and over.  The total length of each circuit is less than a third of a mile with about an average 175' of elevation gain.  I ended up with 27 miles with just under 7k of elevation gain.  This thing was ridiculous and mind and leg numbing.....but it left me with the confidence that I can handle anything elevation wise.
     Towards the end of the summer I started getting really bored of running the same trails over and over.  Part of this boredom led to the "Devil's Marathon" idea.  Totally illogical, "I'm tired of running these trails.  I'll just run the same 1/3 of a mile over and over and up and down."  Then I started getting in contact with another local runner who grew up in the area and knows all the nooks and crannies of all the local parks, state forests, and surrounding areas.  Fun and exciting things like bush whacking and running down country gravel roads and just exploring made the last several weeks of training more interesting.
     So now I just have to sit and wait for the race day.  My "hay is in the barn" as they say.  I cannot do any more work or preparation.  I had a couple of niggles show up the last week of running.  So the last week has been babying those.  I've been loading up with nutritious meals and stretching.  Letting my legs rest and repair.  I have no idea what race day will bring.  Victory, success, and possible disappointment.  If anything, it will be a fun day in the woods with friends.  Unless it rains...that will suck.....but as the saying goes "attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure"

General Bellyaching and Antsyness

     I've been getting antsy.  Normally I have Wednesdays off so I can do a long run as part of my training.  In the past month and a half I haven't had a Wednesday off.  My schedule has been disrupted by holidays and commitments I had made to friends running races or a mixture of tapering and recovering for/from races.
     I had a real nice rhythm going up until the DWD Gnaw Bone race.  Now it seems like my running and training have been wonky and inconsistent.  My weekly mileage has been fair.  I've gotten about forty miles a week for the last month or so.  I even managed to get about 57 in this past week.  Yet nothing over 13 miles.  This is a respectable amount but it seems like I had to beg, borrow, and steal for the time to get those miles in.  Nothing easy or relaxed in them.  This week I even got up at 5:30 am a couple of times to get some mileage in before work.  The runs were pretty good.  It was nice to know I can get an eight mile run in before work which is always a good option.  Maybe not ideal, but an option.  Perhaps the only solace in the week was getting 100,000' of elevation gain and getting over a thousand miles for the year already.
      Some of my antsyness could be the onset of summer and the heat and humidity that comes with it.  I don't know. It could be that I've been limited to running around the roads of the town I live in.  I just can't wait to get a day where I can get an uncompromised long run under my belt on a trail. Earlier in the year I had a great rhythm going and hope to get that going again.  Hopefully soon.

OPSF 5050

     So a few days after my last update (the one where I mention that I don't like racing towards the end), I went and registered for a 50 mile race that's taking place in my back yard.  The Owen Putnam State Forest 5050 is a trail race here in that is set to take place on November 8th.  The course, which I've run on several times over the past several years, is on public land that is primarily horse trails.

map of the Owen Putnam State Forest horse trails

      I like running the out there mostly because it's a challenging run.  Typically about three miles into my runs there I think "why the Hell do I come out here ?!?!?"   I haven't been too successful in getting anyone out there to run with me though.  I usually don't sugar coat my sales pitch about how hard the trail is compared to other local trails.  It's a rugged trail with multiple water crossings, steep inclines and declines, the trails aren't marked very well, it's very rocky, typically very muddy, there are sticks and branches everywhere, and tons of horse shit mixed in the mud. 
     There are steep hills meant for horse riders.  I guess horses would have an easier time getting up them.  If they were designed for hikers or runners, they would have incorporated some switchbacks to get up (or down) them easier.

my shoe the last time I ran at the OPSF

     Normally I get out there in the early spring because the foliage isn't as overgrown as it gets in the early to mid summer.  My last trip resulted in many scratches and my legs covered in mud and ticks.  Now that I'm registered for the race out there, I will probably try to make it out there more than I typically do in the summer. Knowing I have this race in November makes the humid training runs seem worthwhile.  I just hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew making this my first 50 mile race.
   

What I've been up to.....or something.

So it's been awhile since I updated anything.  In the last few months I just decided to just run consistently.  I was running about forty to fifty mile weeks.  I was training for a 50 mile race but I injured my foot and that was pretty much the end of that.
     During my injury time I turned my attention to weight training.  I started learning how Bruce Lee trained for his sport and his methods became the inspiration for my training.  He had an insane training regimen with the philosophy that you should train every part of your body.  Now he was a martial arts fighter so this makes total sense for that.  I just want to run trail.  So I decided to focus my efforts on a weight training regimen that would help me become stronger and more injury proof.  Lots of core work and shoulder and leg strengthening.
     I came up with the training philosophy of "Train for nothing; be prepared for anything".  This was directly inspired by Bruce Lee.  I don't really like to run races.  I like training though.  If it wasn't for being registered for the Prairie Spirit run I wouldn't have minded being injured so much.  Weight training has been a good compliment to my running and a good substitution when I'm experiencing an injury.
    After several weeks my foot was healed and I started running again.  This was about mid March and I was advised not to run the Prairie Spirit run (by my foot doctor, wife and friends).  I then set my aim on a local race called "Dances With Dirt ~ Gnaw Bone".  I wanted to do the 50K or the 50 mile race there.  I did an 18 mile run three weeks from the event and figured the 50K distance would be a better fit.  The fifty miler would have been too much for me in hindsight.
    So in that month leading up to the race I started focusing on hill training.  I had to abandon any what little adherence to the Maffotone method I had in order to train the way I wanted.  This switch was inspired by a Bruce Lee quote:

     I see the Maffotone method as beneficial.I enjoy running hills and the Maffotone Method prevents me from doing that at my present fitness level.    Basically I don't have the patience to build my aerobic motor to get to the point where I can run hills according to the Maffetone method.  Another Bruce Lee quote that influenced me away from strict Maffetone adherence is "Obey the Principles without being bound by them."  So I decided to train by loosely following Maffotone's method but have fun training.  And for me, running hills and charging up them as part of my training is fun.
      The Gnaw Bone 50K came and went.  I had fun doing it and met a lot of cool people.  I went in wanting to run the course in under 6 hours and accomplished that feat.  I found out what weaknesses needed to be addressed but overall was pleased with my effort.  I had a good time but I still don't think I'm sold on running races.  I would just rather say "On such and such date I'm going to run 50 miles" and then train to do that.  I don't really need a t-shirt to commemorate the event.  Or a medal that will just lay around the house or something.  Or to spend a hundred dollars.
     Shortly after the GB50k a friend asked if I would pace him for a 100 mile race that he wanted to run.  It was about a month away and I agreed.  I had never paced anyone before so I had my work cut out for me.  I'm bad about my own nutrition and taking electrolytes and all that other shit while running.  Now I've agreed to help someone with their own nutritional needs while running.  We're fucked.   This race was the Mohican 100 that took place in Ohio on June 21st and 22nd.  I ended up pacing him for about 34 miles.
     I didn't really train for this.  I had just been consistent with my running so I was able to do the distance.  (Whether or not I did a good job pacing or not is another story.  I would give myself a C+)  This fit into my new "train for nothing; be prepared for anything" philosophy that I started following several months ago.  The 34 miles was a new distance PR by a little over an hour.  I did 33 and some change at the cancelled "Eight hours of Payne" non-event event. 
     The last several months have gotten me out of my routine.   I've had to request some weekends off, I had to taper for the Gnaw Bone and Mohican races, and holidays have thrown my routine off.  I had to struggle to run consistent with my normal Wednesday "long day" run being vacant.  I can't wait to get back in a good routine. 
     
    

Stupid mysterious foot injury

   The big race is aborted.  My participation in Operation: Double Secret Bigfoot is a failure.  I seem to have a possible bone bruise between my fifth metatarsal and the cuboid bone.  I don't know for sure because my doctor wants to rest the foot to see if the area heals and the pain clears up.  In the meantime, I have to wear a compression sleeve on my right foot.  I also have to rub some prescription strength bengay ointment stuff on my foot.  It burns just a little while it's on but luckily it's bad smell helps distract me from the burning sensation

please excuse my runner's toes

      .  The inserts kind of suck.  I've been wearing them a whole day.  My wife, who wears inserts, says it takes some time to get used to them.  "About two weeks", she said.  Fun.   I used to have funky feet as a kid.  I had to wear corrective shoes when I was about two or three years of age.  Thankfully, I don't remember ever having to wear them.  I remember going to the doctor about it but since I was a kid I didn't think anything about it.  It was normal.  Normal for me anyway.  I never thought about that time til now.  I guess the inserts having me thinking back to then.  I really don't remember any of it though.
     It's been a week since my last run.  That run felt good.  I went to McCormick's creek state park and ran a little over 5 miles.  I felt good the whole time with only a minor concern in my foot.  I didn't think anything of it since I knew I would be hypersensitive and mindful of my foot the whole time.  I ran, jumped and landed, and launched off rocks all without any pain or issue during or later that afternoon.  I came home and iced my foot just to be cautious.  I thought I was in the clear.
     Then the next morning I woke up to the same pain again.  I hobbled through my morning and was totally deflated and in a bad mood most of the day.  I called and set up an appointment with a podiatrist and just waited for the appointment day.
     So here I am writing this.  Part of me wants to go for a run, but there is the fear of aggravating the injury before it's healed fully.   But there's the fear and a plague of "what if's" that are going through my brain.  What if the inserts don't work?  What if I screw up the injury again like last week?  What if you're just being a pussy and driving yourself crazy for no fucking reason?  Things like that.

me driving myself batty with my "What if?" scenarios.

     It's a relatively minor injury that happened to occur at an unfortunate time in my training.  There are people in this world with a lot worse injuries and conditions than me.  I'm being kind of a dipshit about this whole thing in the grand scheme of things.  It's been frustrating but I've been keeping myself busy with weight training, stretching, and yoga.   To keep my cardio fit I've been riding an exercise bike.  I have no idea what I'm doing on the thing though.  I rode 30 miles on it and then 18 the next day.  My quads were tired the whole ride of the 18 miler but it was better than just sitting on my ass.
     The race I've been training for isn't going to happen for me.  I don't know how I feel about it.  I've had plenty of time to consider the possibility of not reaching the starting line for the race in the last couple of weeks.  Unfortunately I have gotten used to an injury taking me out of a race in the short time I've been back running.  I have a very small success rate when it comes to signing up for a race, training for it, and making it to the finish line it seems.  Anymore I'm getting the pessimistic mindset that any race I pay to enter is going to be a donation and I'll get to run it if I avoid injuring myself.  I don't know how healthy this is but I get a small amusement out of it.
         Part of me wants to blame winter for this, but could I just have a flaw in my running footfall? There is obviously something wrong with my foot caused by how I land on it.  If there wasn't a mechanics flaw, then how did the injury occur?  Could it be that I've just been getting lucky so far and my increased mileage brought the problem to light?  I have no idea.  Could the injury just be shitty luck and a fluke?  I have no idea.  Could it be that all the running I did was on roads and not trails?  I have no idea.  Is it better that I get to rest through winters last hurrah with an injury rather than through spring?  Probably.  Was I ready for the race?  I don't know.  My last big run was the catalyst for the injury, so it's hard to tell.  All of this has shaken my confidence.  They say that a lot of endurance running is mental.  I'm wondering if I have the mental fortitude to keep at this.  This injury has me wondering if I have the physical fortitude to keep at this as well.  I know this will all change when the smoke clears and I'm back to training for some race that, hopefully, won't end up being just a donation to some race director.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.

thanks for reading this 
 

Operation double secret bigfoot

    So my wife and I have been "secretly" training for an ultra race.  I say "secretly" because the closer we get to the race the more people seem to be finding out or figuring out that we've been training for something.  I've told a handful of people (my doctor, my chiropractor, my trainer at the gym, my massage therapist, the guy who you have to give your day off requests to at work).  People that needed to know.  It's not a big deal that the cats getting out of the bag.   I think it's getting so close that it's better for our nerves to tell people.
     I originally dubbed the whole thing "Operation Double Secret Bigfoot".  The reason I wanted to keep it all hush hush is because the race distance is new territory for me.  I just wanted to keep the event to myself, my wife, and a close group of friends.  My wife and friends have utmost confidence that I can finish the distance.
     Fifty miles scares the shit out of me.  Mentally I think I can handle the distance.  Physically is a whole other thing.  At the beginning of February I had a strange muscle dysfunction happen to a stabilizer muscle in my right shin.  It was fine to run on except when going downhill.  It hurt like hell.  I basically rested it for four days and then it was fine.  This led to a cut down week and a huge snowstorm.  This combo led me to do some treadmill running for the week. I ran 18 on the machine and then did a 5 or 6 mile run in town to see if the shin muscle healed.  Thankfully it did and it was then time to taper for a 50k training run.
     The 50k (31 miles) training run was a mixed bag of success and one failure.  I've been getting in the habit of taking electrolyte pills every six miles on long runs.  I did a tour of Bloomington and hit a couple of businesses for water breaks and water refills.  I stopped and stretched when I felt the need.  I had a couple of Ugo bars and a couple of Epic meat bars.
     At the twenty mile mark I ran into my friend Deke and that boosted my spirit and energy.  Then somewhere around mile 24 my left knee started giving me problems on a stretch of snow packed sidewalk.  The pain got annoying and wouldn't go away.  I decided to walk to see if that would be better.  Just slightly.  Then when I tried to run again the pain was worse than what it was, but lessened as I kept going.  It was around here that I also realized that I dropped one of my Salomon skin flasks.  That fucker cost me eighteen bucks.  I decided to cut the run and get back to my car.  Shortening the scheduled mileage by four miles.
     I went home and iced my knee.  Used a foam roller and a runner's stick on it.  Then took an anti-inflammatory.  I went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night to take my dog out.  The knee was a little stiff and had a slight pain in it.  When I woke in the morning it was a little tender but totally tolerable.  By the end of the day it felt fine.  It was forty degrees outside when I got off work and I had to really resist going for a run.  I was scheduled for a rest day and common sense forced me to do it.
     I also had a slight weird twinge in my right foot the next day.  I was wearing my hiking boots at the time (which hurt my feet anyway) so I just kind of blamed it on them.  On Saturday I went for my a small five mile run and halfway through it I had a couple of sharp pains surge through the foot.  Then the next day,Sunday, I went for an eleven mile run with the intention of being mindful of the spot where the pain occurred.  It was a little tender at times but the tenderness came and went but never stayed.  I finished my run and was pleased that the foot pain was gone.
     So I started shoveling my driveway after the run and my foot started hurting.  Like Hurting !!!  Halfway through the task I started to hobble and my mood soured.  Damn !!!  I hobbled all day.  At the grocery store, at a charity dinner benefit, and in every parking lot.  I took Monday and Tuesday off of running and the pain has lessened.  I've been icing and taking anti-inflammatories. 
     So here I am typing this.  I'm confident the current injury will heal in time for the race.   I guess I'm worried that I'll have another injury pop up on the big race day.  If it happens; it happens.  It'll bug the piss out of me, but there won't be anything I can do. If it's something manageable I will just have to compensate for it.  I would like to finish the race but a DNF is always a possibility. 
     I look forward to pushing myself to a new distance personal record.  I know that I won't emerge unscathed.  I know I'll emerge changed, but hopefully for the better. My main goal is to finish the race and have fun doing it without destroying myself.  I guess I'm at the point where pushing myself to my limit and going beyond that is fun.  I like to think I'm capable of doing it....I just hope this aging body cooperates.  Hopefully, I'm getting all the possible injuries out of the way so when I get to the starting line I'll be nice and shiny.

Aerobic base building hill theory.....or something.

     So I've spent most of 2013 doing aerobic base building (also called heart rate training).  This type of training has been beneficial for me in several ways.  Not only have I built my aerobic base up but I've built my body back up from injury in a pretty gentle way.  Having a stronger aerobic base enables my body to use its fat stores as a fuel in an efficient manner.
   Using Dr. Phil Mafetone's 180 minus your age * method of calculating my maximum heart rate, I started the year off doing lots of walking. Especially with hills and other inclines.  Lots of walking up hills and inclines.  Just when I saw some progress with the method, Summer came in and brought heat and humidity with it also.  These things cause heart rate to increase thus slowing my running down.  (A person's heart rate rises with rising temperatures and humidity as the heart works harder to try and cool the body down.)
     With the coming of fall and now that winter is almost here I have started to show slight improvements once again.  My mile times have decreased and persistence has started to pay off.....again.
     Though speed is actually a bi-product of what I'm trying to accomplish.  At the moment I'm trying to concentrate running greater distances. It's always a bonus to be able to just go out and run without having to walk due to a rising heart rate.  Training my body to use it's fat stores as fuel would mean that I could run forever, in theory.   In the past, trying to get faster and faster just led to injury.  Running at or below my aerobic threshold uses my fat stores as energy which, in theory, are infinite.  Running at an effort greater than my aerobic threshold causes the body to use it's finite stores of glycogen and could increase chances of injury.  (This is the way I understand the reasoning behind the method, I could be wrong.  If I am, it wouldn't be the first time.)
     As I mentioned earlier, the summer was full of lots of uphill walking.  I spent all of 2012 tackling hills with gusto and charging straight up them like they owed me money.  My quads were hill running mama jamas.  Then I experienced several unrelated injuries.  Then I changed my training technique.  I went a year without being injured and dedicating my time to aerobic base building is the main reason I think I dodged major injuries this year.   (That and doing strength training.  But that is another rambling blog post.)
     I guess what I'm getting at is that I miss running up hills.  I miss the satisfaction of charging up a hill.  I miss the burning with acid quads.  Or do I?  Does running up hill have to be a glycogen depleting, anaerobic endeavor?  Some will say yes.  But these are the experts. These are the people who have been studying endurance athletes for years.  Some even decades.  I know next to absolutely nothing about the human body.  
     So that brings me to the experiment I'm been flirting with for the last couple of weeks.  I have a theory that one can train themselves to aerobically run up hills.  If enough time, patience, and persistence is given to running up hills or inclines at or below my maximum heart rate:  I will eventually be able to run up them at a moderate pace while staying in (or at least arms reach) of my aerobic zone.  The process will get easier.  My heart rate should stay at or below my maximum setting while my effort will be greater than before.  In theory. 
      I came up with this experiment idea while running up a wee tiny hill that I would have to walk up to keep under my maximum heart rate several months ago.  I've also noticed that other hills and inclines on other routes were requiring less walking breaks.  So far the norm is that I can get a good amount of distance up an incline before my HR raises and forces me to slow my effort.  Sometimes walking is necessary, but other times I just have to go at a slower pace.  Over the last several weeks I have been seeing improvement in my efforts.  Some of this is due to consistency, while some of the progress has to do with the heat and humidity of summer leaving.
     Is it working?  Will it work?  Will it work for me?  I have no idea.  I've only been at it for about a week and a half.  In theory it should.  If I'm just wasting my time at least I'll be getting in some decent hill work while I'm at it.  It's hard to say. I know the aerobic base building has worked for the past 9 months.
     I started using an online running log called STRAVA that collects data from my Garmin and analyzes it.  On STRAVA there is a Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP) feature that estimates an equivalent pace when running on flat land.  Most times of my GAP while running inclines is comparable to my pace while running a flat section.  This has helped boost my confidence that my theory will work or is working.  
      I know the 180 minus a person's age is based on an average (or peak bell curve) for all the clients he ever had.  My maximum heart rate for aerobic work could be above or below the number I use.  It's a good base number to be within range of.  I tried to find a lab that could do metabolic testing so I would have a better idea of what my aerobic zone is.  (And by "try" I mean I googled metabolic lab testing or something for 5 minutes once on a lunch break with no luck.)  But that would be something I would be interested in doing. 
     So in the meantime, I put together a neighborhood route that is about 8 miles long and has 1,000' of elevation gain to test this theory out for the winter.  Am I over thinking all of this?  Maybe.  I tend to over think when it comes to this stuff.  I reckon winter is the best time to try such an experiment since my efforts won't be compromised by hot weather.  As long as I keep my heart rate at an aerobic rate I can't do any harm to my ongoing base building project.  The worse that will happen is that I will build my hill running  muscles up in a slow, gentle way.  

*  http://philmaffetone.com/180-formula

Tecumseh Trail marathon

    So, the big race that I was trying to come up with a strategy for got cancelled due to severe weather.  The county that it was being held in was under an "emergency travel only" advisory for the day of the race.  I spent the Friday before securing rides, car pooling rides,  accepting rides, and offering rides.  Then at about midday Friday the race director and the Hoosier Hills Hikers Council made the announcement that the race was cancelled.
     No biggie.  My race entry was deferred from last year. To be honest, I was just glad to make it to "race day" uninjured and healthy.  That was my Tecumseh victory !!!
    

Post injury and Pre race concerns.....or something

     So I got over my strange injury.  My doctor had me not run for two weeks.  It really wasn't a big deal not running.  I just turned my focus to strength training three times a week for the two week period.  Instead of hitting the trails and roads, I hit the gym.  Ab wheel work, weighted planks with a 45 lb. weight on my back, box step ups holding a 50 lb dumbbells in each hand, resistance band movements, wide grip pull ups. rear foot elevated split squats while holding a 45 lb plate, squat rows with a ginormous resistance band, etc....  My plate was full while I was on doc's orders not to run.
     I felt like my foot was fine about a week and a half into the "rest" period.  I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to just not run the whole two weeks.  I was more than content on putting my focus on the anaerobic work outs that I was replacing running with.  When the running moratorium ended I drove to McCormick's Creek State Park to give myself a nice soft trail to run on. I went six and three quarter miles and the foot was fine.  The next day I did a run around my neighborhood on roads and my foot was fine.  I was back !!!
     The first week back I did about 34 miles total.  My legs felt stronger from all the weight work I did in the layoff.  I gained strength and I was running up hills with less fatigue.  The first couple of runs showed that my aerobic base suffered a little but my anaerobic running was improved.  I started to abandon the heart rate training I had been doing all year on my long trail runs and run by "feel".  I kept doing runs by heart rate on my road runs though.  I figured three runs a week on roads and then two on trails without the HR alarm would be good.  My aerobic base was improving.  I was knocking a minute or so off my mile time while my heart rate was staying at or below my set rate (143 bpm).  My second week back and I did over 49 miles.  Not a twinge from my injured foot.
     I've ran this way for the past two weeks. Heart rate alarm on roads, no alarm on the trails.  This was great and freeing, but then I stumbled upon a website called "the sock doc" by a doctor that does all kinds of articles and work with aerobic conditioning. http://sock-doc.com/2013/09/aerobic-endurance-superiority/
http://sock-doc.com/sock-doc-training-aerobic-intervals/These articles have caused me to rethink my training strategy and return to the aerobic building training I've been doing up until the brief injury.
     Which brings me to my current conundrum.  On December 7 I have a trail marathon coming up. It's the Tecumseh Trail marathon.  A point to point run on some hilly trails here in South Centrail Indiana.   Part of my thinking during the two long runs on the trail without using my HR alarm was that I would run the race by feel.  Now I am second guessing this plan because I wonder if it would be wiser to stick to the HR training and continue to develop my aerobic base.
     I just want to run the race for fun anyway. The Tecumseh Trail is a trail I've always wanted to run and a point to point supported run on it will be awesome.  I just don't know if I want to have my garmin watch buzzing the whole time because I'm pushing my HR too much while climbing a hill.   I can always take the hills easy instead of attacking them though.  Part of me wants to challenge myself and my discipline by running the event aerobically though.  Then the pressure of failing myself through a lack of self-control will be there.  Gah !!!
     I guess my problem at this point is physically I'm more than capable of doing the distance.  My last long run of 18 miles I did on an empty stomach and didn't "bonk" or even come close. Mentally I'm a fucking wreck for this.  I've been flip flopping on tactics ever since my foot injury cleared up.  I don't have anything to prove except to myself.  Man, this is why I hate races !!!  Why do I even do them !?!?  After this race my schedule is clear and I really don't have any desire to sign up for any because of the brain fuck the preparation this race is doing to me.
     So basically I have a little more than a week to decide if I want to use this race as an opportunity to stick to my aerobic building training or run the race by "feel".  I have no idea what "strategy" to go with or try to come up with a happy hybrid of the two.  Honestly, I just want to get this thing over and done with, take mental notes of the terrain so I have a better idea of the area for runs there in the future, and just get back to training without all this bullshit of an organized event.  Oh, and have fun.
    

Hurm.....Injured? Am I injured?......Hurm.

    So here I sit.  A couple of weeks ago when I got done with the "Eight Hours of Payne" non-event event, I had a slight pain in the outside of my left foot.  I didn't really think anything of it.  I had just ran a shit ton of miles so a little twinge in a body part wasn't unexpected.  The pain went away after a while anyway.  Perfectly fine and dandy. 
     I took a couple days off of running for some recovery and went back out for a four to five mile run around my neighborhood.  No problems.  Afterward I felt a little niggle in the spot that hurt after the big non-event.  I really didn't think anything of it.  The day after that I got about two miles from home on a post-work run and the niggle was back.  It was back and a little more bothersome.  I finished my route (which I was halfway done with anyway) and decided to give slack off on my running to let this heal before it snowballs into something worse. 
     Six days later, no problems from my left foot, I decide to hit it again.  Post work six miler: done.  Post work five miler:  piece of cake.  Post work five miler: hurm....maybe should have rested?  I just that small niggle creep up again.  I woke up the next morning and it felt fine.  I went to my gym and worked out.  Jumping switching lunges: fine. Weighted box step ups:  no problems.   Nothing.  Later that day.  Kind of a niggle.  What the hell?
     So Saturday, a group of us went to the Morgan Monroe State Forest with the plans to run the Three Lakes Trail.  I was kind of worried about the foot, but woke up with no pain in it.  So I decided to play it by ear.  I wanted to do two laps (each lap being 10 miles) and my friend Chris joined me. 
     The run started out fine.  My quads and glutes were experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness so the hills on this trail were tougher than I wanted.  We were cruising along and my foot was fine.  I decided the soft trail was just what the doctor ordered.  Pounding on concrete and asphalt aggravated the spot more than anything.  Eureka !!!  One more reason to not like road running.
     The day's run ended up being a twelve miler.  My legs were taxed from the previous day's weight work and I figured I could get a longer run on my day off in the middle of next week. My wife and I met up, said goodbye to our friends who wanted to do more miles, and we were off for home.
     While I was taking my socks off at home, I squeezed my foot where I was experiencing the here today gone tomorrow pain.  I immediately felt a sharp pain where I was squeezing.  Not good !!!  My foot felt fine otherwise, but when I squeezed it....Yipes !!!!  So, being the genius I am, I sat on the edge of the bed squeezing around the spot until I mentally mapped out the injured area and irritated the spot into hurting.  Hurm.
     My wife, who rolled her ankle on the run, was doing a cold water bath for her ankle.  When she was done, I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea for me to do so for my foot.  Twenty minutes in a cold bath will cure it all.  Then we decide to go downtown.  Walking around and no problems.  I get home and give the spot a slight squeeze and.......yipe.   Not so bad, but I'm not happy.  "I'll just not run tomorrow," I decide.
     So on Sunday I wake up.  Foot check:  slight niggle when squeezed.  Hurm.  Later in the day I do the worse thing I can do with a running injury: Google foot injury symptoms.  Mentally, I decide to reject anything that says I have any kind of foot cancer.  I look for running injuries.  Find that midfoot strikers could develop stress fractures in their metatarsals. Or that it could be a bruised bone.. Hurm. 
    Then I make the decision that if I'm looking up symptoms or causes for this sharp pain, I better just make an appointment with my doctor.  Monday morning I secure an appointment with x-rays and make a Jesse Pinkman meme and post it to Facebook.

     This leads to a couple of discussions on the thread.  Then my friend Savannah starts asking about where it hurts and how.  She says that she recently tore a ligament in her foot and it hurt her way more than just a little injury.  She posted this pic along with her comments

   Torn Tendon ?  Could it be that?  Hurm....So then I start googling all the possible tendons on the side of the foot and symptoms of tearing or injury.  Most of the injuries involve loss of balance as a major indicator.  I didn't have this, so I'm back to stress fracture.  Then something in my head tells me that I have a doctors appointment and that I need to get the fuck off the internet.  I decided to listen to the voice.
     The next day I get an X-ray done.  My doctor runs me through a battery of movement drill and I pass each one.  I tell him that I'm not really bothered physically by the injury, except when I run on roads.  (or sit and pinch, poke, and squeeze the area minutes at a time.)  He takes me to see my x-rays and I'm walking around the hallways with only one shoe on.  He says my bones look fine in the problem area.  No cracks, breaks, splinters, fissures....nothing.
     So we go back to the examination room and he tells me that my somthinginlatinus tendon may have a tear in it, but it is most likely tendonitis.  He then proceeded to tell me that this is an injury most commonly seen in dancers.  (Dancers that do lots of leaps and jumps.)  I told him that the week prior to the injury I was practicing running down hills and trying to get faster at it.  Then how at the Paynetown event non-event I was trying to bolt down the hills in order to give my quads a rest.  This information seemed to back his diagnosis. 
    I was given two choices:  a pricey MRI scan to help determine for sure what is causing the sharp niggle or to try not running for two weeks, do ankle strengthening exercises, and take an anti-inflammatory. I chose the latter and he agreed with my decision.  He gave the go ahead to cross training and weight workouts but to avoid any running.  
     I'm relieved there aren't any bruised, fractured, or broken bones.  Tendonitis or a tear is something that can heal more quickly than a compromised bone.   I'm more disappointed in the fact that I have a "dancer's injury".  Shit, my last major injury was more commonly found in soccer and hockey players.  I'm amused and lucky that I've been avoiding typical runner's injuries but shit.  I'm really resisting the urge to squeeze the spot though.  I haven't had any niggles today.  Technically, I hadn't run two days prior to the doctor telling me not to run for two weeks so I'm kind of on the fourth day at the time of this writing.  Piece of cake.  My personal trainer wrote me a leg heavy program and didn't want me running too much while doing it anyway.  (just look at that optimistic silver lining attitude !!!)  So, I'm winning there.
     But still......hurm.

Eight Hours of Payne....or the "non-event" event

      A couple of months ago my friend Rick and I signed up to do a two man relay at an event called "Eight hours of Payne."  This event was an eight hour endurance run where a runner would run either a 10k course or a 5k course for eight hours.  Each runner can pick and choose which distance they wanted to run each lap with the idea of running 8 total hours.  The event was to be held at the Paynetown state recreational area.  I guess I say "was" because the event had to be cancelled due to the government shutdown.  The state park is obviously run by the state of Indiana, but the trails we were to run on are in the Hoosier National Forest.  The powers that be decided to revoke the land use permit that the race needed to be an event.
     The silver lining in the whole thing was the fact that one section of the course was on state property.  So the race coordinator decided to go ahead and be there with the intention of just kind of hanging out.  Salomon shoes had a tent there and had a wide assortment of shoes for people to try on.   There was a small group of people there to just support Bill (the race coordinator) and Ben (his son).
    I didn't really have any expectations going into the event.  When I signed up with Rick it was with the understanding that I my legs wouldn't be fresh because the same week I would be hiking in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park with my wife, Erin.  (A vacation that also was compromised by the government shutdown.  Originally, I wanted to do this event as a solo runner but my wife talked me out of it.  Then Rick approached me to do a 2fer.)  He reassured me that he wasn't in it to win it and just wanted to be a part of the event. This took the pressure off to hold back during my vacation for the event.
     So anyway, back to the event.  I guess my game plan was to run four laps.  Twenty four miles was about what I would have run partnering with Rick in the two man relay.  So that was my primary goal.  The idea of doing a distance personal record was there, but only if I was feeling good about it.  I had already run about 20 miles and hiked about 30 already in the week, so a PR distance goal was a long shot.
      Erin talked me into trying a pair of the Salomon lab shoes.  A pretty minimalist shoe that had a pretty good tread on them.  I always wear Altras and love them.  Altras have a very roomy toe box that these Salomons didn't have.  I figured I would wear them for a lap (10k or six miles in american) and put on my beloved Altra Lone Peak 1.5's.   
     We started running at 9am and everything was good.  The running groups thinned out while people rushed ahead of me and others stayed behind.  I quickly found myself in a familiar situation: by myself.  It was kind of strange.  I expected to run with people but I seemed to be in a pace limbo between packs.  Oh, well.
      I've run this trail dozens of times so I knew what to expect.  It's constant uphills and downhills with no real flats anywhere.  The first six miles just kind of cruised by and I kept a lookout for a part of the course that was a junction in the trail that I was unfamiliar with.  For some reason, I was real worried about missing that turn.  I eventually came upon it and went up and followed the flour trail markings down and then a turn and then another.  Then I lost the markings and had to make a 50/50 decision.  Turns out I made the wrong choice and ran downhill about a quarter mile til I came to the lake.  "Well, shit, this can't be right,"  I muttered to myself and headed back up the hill.
     I saw two guys at the same junction trying to decide which way to go.  "Not this way," I called out to them.  I caught up to them and we went down the other way.  It was only a couple of hundred yards to the parking lot and the completion of the first lap.  I was at an extra half mile or so after the first lap and the second "event" in a row that I had gotten lost.  I got skills.
       I came to the parking lot and gave Ben a low five.  The salomon rep asked how I liked the shoes and I had positive things to say about them.  The traction was great and I hadn't really had any problems.  The lace system is cool.  They are similar to the Nathan "never tie" laces that I use on my Altras.  You don't tie them as much as you pull them up and they "lock in" which are great because then you don't have to worry about your laces becoming untied.  I decided to keep the shoes on for another lap.
      The second lap was pretty uneventful.  The coolest thing to happen was that all of a sudden several miles into the lap the forest's bird population suddenly came alive.  All kinds of birds were waking up and calling out in various chirps and songs.  The birds were silent and seemingly non-existant during the first lap.  It was pretty awesome.
  So anyway....the second lap:  Up,down,up,down. I had read the book Chi-Running on vacation and had been trying to apply some of the principles from the book.  I was basically going to concentrate on form.  Keep my posture erect without slouching and keep a steady cadence.  Some of the things in the book were useful and some weren't.  (It's a quick read but the author tries to oversell the "Chi-running" as a brand which comes off as gimmicky.) So far in the day, experimenting with with different stride lengths, the different angles I can lean, and keeping my cadence constant were keeping the run interesting.
     My pinkie toe was starting to rub in the shoe a little.  This was no surprise.  (My left pinky toe kind of sticks out a little ever since I broke it running a trail in vibram five fingers last year.) I came to the parking lot and when the Salomon rep asked me how things were going I told him about the toe issue but didn't really make a bid deal of it.  I don't remember much of this pit stop.   Two laps down and onto the next one.
     About a mile and a half into the next lap I caught a glimpse of two runners coming up from the back fast.  I kind of skittled over so they could pass and saw that one of the runners was Ben.  I kept pace with the two for a little while and Ben asked about the trip my wife and I took.  This exchange didn't last very long though.  I couldn't keep their pace so I slowed down so I could conserve energy .  I was only about half way through the day's goal and trying to keep up with these two would have thrown that plan in jeopardy. (Not that I could sustain their pace anyway)
     Things were going smoothly and then at about the 14 mile mark or so the salomon shoes started constricting on me.  Every downhill I went down my toenails just started to grind into the shoe.  And by grind I mean it felt like the shoes were peeling my toenails up and back.  It fucking hurt !!!  The miles started to slowly tick by with the pain happening on the downhills and then spreading to the uphills too.  Good lord this sucked so much balls !!!  At about mile 16, I started to check out the trail debris situation to see if taking the shoes off and just running in socks was an option.  Small twigs and some acorns littered a good portion of the trail.  "I'm fucked for the next two miles," I thought to myself.  Then I remembered that I ran an extra half  mile and that it would be two and a half miles until I could get the shoes off.  "Man, I'm fucked for the next two and a half miles !!!"   Ugh.....I can only guess that my feet swelled just enough that the shoe became too tight.  I reached down and loosened the laces.  It helped some but not much. 
     I finally reached the turn from the main trail that lead to the parking lot.  I couldn't wait to get out of these shoes !!!  I caught up to an older runner and he asked how I was doing.  I told him the tale about the sudden constricting shoe phenomenon and he laughed.  He had been running with a thirty pound weight vest on.  He told me why but I don't remember the reason anymore.  At any rate, we came upon the clearing and I hoped the salomon rep wasn't around to ask me what I thought of the shoes.
     I saw my Altras under the salomon table and ripped off the shoes to put on my trusty pair.  Immediate satisfaction !!!!  Oh lord Jeebus !!!  It was like I put on shoes made from the hair of angelic cloud kittens !!!    Erin was at the aid station and asked what I needed.  At this point I needed to fill up the bladder of my camelbak so we skittered to my car, thus avoiding the shoe rep.  She asked how I was doing and I mostly complained about the shoes.  We filled the bladder and I ate a larabar or two or something.  The rep found me and asked me about the shoes.  I told them that they just squeezed up on me.  He made mention of the Altras bigger toe box, but that was about all I can remember.  (Boy, I was more civilized than I thought I would have been.) Then I was off for lap number 4.
     Lord, I felt so much better now !!!  My pace and my spirits picked up and I was back in business.  I could only guess that me and those salomon shoes were only good for 12 miles.  At any rate, this was a happy accident to make the fourth lap all rainbows and unicorns.  My first goal was going to be accomplished.  I had about five miles left to do it, but I felt great at this point.   My quads were getting a little fatigued but I was trying to run downhill loosely to help alleviate their workload.
     I was about three miles in and coming right towards me was Ben.  He had run the course backwards to run with me.  How cool was that !?!?! After running solo all day it was great to have him there.  I must admit I wasn't much of a conversationalist at this point. I can't remember two words I said to him.  At one point we came upon our friend Christy and we high fived each other.  She was looking good and strong.
     "This hill is where Paynetown PR's go to die,"  Ben said as I shifted from running to an aggressive hike to get up the last hill til the turnoff.  It was at about this time that I knew a fifth loop was in the cards and I wanted to conserve my legs.  We ran all the way to the parking lot making this the best lap of the day so far.
     Another uneventful parking lot pit stop and I was off for lap five.  Everything was going smoothly after changing shoes and I was looking forward to this lap.  I got up the whitetail trail hill and coasted down to the switchbacks and then up the long incline to the 10k/5k split off.  I was doing a decent effort and then somewhere around mile 27 my tendons started to ache.  My hamstrings and calves just got a little too tight and were starting to effect my tendons.  My pace was starting to suffer and I stopped to stretch here and there.
     Coming down one of the switchbacks, I saw an amazing bright green snake.  It was about a foot and a half long and I stopped to check it out.  Of all the times to not have my camera on me !!!  I nudged at its tail to get it off the trail but it wasn't moving.  Aw, well.  I continued down the switchback and back up the other one on the other side.
     I finished the lap and my pace dropped considerably.  I told Erin I wanted to do a distance PR and that I was going to do a 5k lap.  Starting the trail again I passed the 50k point and knew I could stop there and be done.  My tendons were aching but my ego started to take over.  "It's only a 5k, you can do that,"  my ego told me.  My ego can be a bad influence and an asshole, I decided.  So I kept at it.  When I came to the split I remembered that the 5k trail is mostly uphill.  I got halfway up the first part of the hill to a small flat section that only led to more uphill.  Shit.  It might have been easier to run the 10k trail again.  My tendons ached and I cursed myself for letting my ego make this decision.  Ugh, what a fool.
     I pushed through those last three miles and didn't feel very strong about it.  I came to the parking lot and, for the first time all day, it was empty.  I reset my Garmin so I wouldn't be tempted to go out again.  33.44 miles and over 6,100 ft of elevation gain for the day.  I had been at it for about six hours and forty five minutes and knew I had more time to get another lap in.  Physically, it would have been the dumbest decision ever.  Luckily the tendon pain I was experiencing was loud enough to drown out my ego's other bad idea of going out for another lap.  I walked down the parking lot hoping that my legs would loosen up and ease the tension in my tendons.  Erin grabbed me a coconut water and I chugged half of it down.  Bill came up and called me an "animal".
     "I'm a moron," I said, correcting him.  He disagreed.  Bill's a good guy.
     I stretched and walked.  Endorphins and other things were starting to kick in.  Oddly it felt like I was going to cry for a second.  I walked to my car and leaned back on the hood and started seeing a dozen tiny little pinwheels twisting at the scene before me.  "Fuck....I'm having an acid flashback?"  I thought to myself.  Oh, boy.   This is getting weird.  Then it stopped after about 20 seconds or so.
     I went back to the tent area and people were back from wherever they disappeared to.  I sat down and just kind of zoned out.  I guess endorphins were kicking in but I felt an amazing calm overcome me.  I don't know if I was smiling on the outside but I definitely was on the inside.  It was a great feeling.  My friend Heather sat down on the ground next to me and we chatted a little.  I was just enjoying the moment and the accomplishment.  My legs loosened up and the tendon pain subsided.  Some group pictures were taken and I felt well enough to drive home.
     Looking back, I didn't finish as strong as I would have liked.  Things started to fall apart at about the 27 mile mark.  I have no idea why.  It's possible that the week's hiking and running had a hand in it.  At about that point I would have been at about the 77 mile mark for the week.  I would have like to finished my PR distance run a lot stronger than I did.  But I think the most valuable lesson I learned this day was that I need to ignore my ego a lot better in the future.  Risking my physical well being for a small amount of glory was a pretty foolish thing to do.  Luckily I managed to get through the day without any major injuries.  My recovery was fast and had no real case of delayed onset muscle soreness either.  I guess what I'm trying to say is:  I can't wait to do it all again next year !!!

Vacation to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park (or how the government shut down nature and we became disciples of civil disobedience)

     Months ago, my wife and I decided to book a vacation and visit the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  Little did we know that the federal government, in all it's infinite wisdom and glory, would get all fucking dysfunctional and close down.  This totally affected our plans of glorious hiking and trail running in the mountains of Tennessee.  Being just as stubborn as those dickheads in Washington D.C., the wife and I chose to go ahead with our plan and make the best of it.  Mostly because if we didn't; the terrorists would win.
     I have never been to this national park so I had no expectations.  I was severely disappointed that all the daydreaming of trail running in the mountains was to be about as close as I could get to actually trail running in the mountains though.  Days before we were to leave Erin, my wife, took to the internet and found some promising things to do though.
    I scoured the internets and found some great places too.  Great places that were all in the park.  Or great trails that were out and backs with a total distance of a half mile.  The day before we were to leave I slipped into the library and checked out some books about hiking in Tennessee.
     So then we were off.  On the drive, I discovered that one of the books I got was for the wrong region and the other two focused on the park.  "A" for effort, but an "F" for execution.  It turns out Erin, my wife, found a pretty cool place in North Carolina called Pisgah National Forest.  Technically it would be "shut down" as well but since there are so many roads in the area, it was impossible to enforce.  This sounded perfect and we were off for adventure !!!
     The way there was a single lane dirt road that winded up the mountain side and when we got to the trailhead it was super foggy.

     We took the trail up and around until we came to a junction that led to the Appalachian Trail !!!  This was going to be awesome.

  

     This portion of the AT was either all uphills and downhills.  No flats whatsoever.  The fog made the run a real awesome experience.  I hadn't run inclines like this since Erin and I were in Yellowstone National Park last year.  Just when I thought a hill was done, it would take a turn and continue to go on for several hundred more feet !!!  Then the decline part of every incline went on for for a long while too.  Quad killing awesomeness !!!
     I did about 12 miles total and, according to my Garmin watch, it took forever.  I loved every minute of it.  During the run I made a habit of running up a hill and then turning around to go down the way I came until I found Erin and then turned around to retake the hill.  It was a good system to keep close to her and get a good run in.  Overall, it was about 3,400 feet of elevation gain for the out and back that I did.  At times I was grinning from ear to ear and loved every minute of it.

    

    When we returned to Gatlinburg we stopped in a local outfitter store to check it out.  While there, Erin struck up a conversation with one of the employees who was also a trail runner.  He gave us some advice about the park.  It turns out there were some parking areas that the park rangers had to open up because people were parking unsafely along the road.  Eureka !!!
     The next morning we headed for the "closed" Gatlinburg trail.  It was a two mile out and back and it was an easy trail.  I did about 4 laps of it for a total of eight and a half miles.  We were trying to be conservative since we wanted to hike later in the day.  This trail runs by a park ranger station.  On one of my laps a ranger drove by in a SUV and I thought "Uh-oh" but he just smiled and waved at me as he drove by.  I smiled and waved back.  Totally awesome.

     We headed for the Newfound Gap area that afternoon and for the rest of the vacation.  The main way to the Appalachian trail had a street barrel barrier thing standing in the middle of it.  There was a note saying that the trail was closed and to expect a delayed response if you choose to ignore the barrier and break you leg somewhere up the trail.  We decided to take our chances and go enjoy some nature.  We switched up hikes going one direction to the chimney tops one day.  And then to a site called Charlie's Bunion the next.

     Overall, I was really happy with our vacation.  Luckily the Great Smokey Mountains National Park has a major highway running through it so it is near impossible to shut down.  I must admit that my hopes were crushed when the pinheads in Washington D.C. were going to effect our plans.  Luckily civil disobedience is still alive and well in the land so we got to appreciate the natural beauty of one of the most gorgeous places in the world.