Where have you been?

I know, I kinda dropped off the face of the earth for a little while. I needed some serious down time.

A wise man told me that we need to do this at least once a year. I replied: "This is the first break I've taken from running since I started in 2004." I took up my last 11 days of vacation, and tonight I go back to work.

I have gotten a lot of stuff done around my house while being off work. I need to go back to work just get some rest.

A lot of you know that this year I had faced a huge struggle with headaches and injuries. The injuries believe it or not is caused by what is causing my headaches. I have a Macro Adenoma Brain Tumor. It is the size of a small lemon, and is located right on my pituitary. Sounds complicated and scary. The one part is complicated, the other part, not so much.

I'm not scared even after my second consult this week. The simply put it this way: "There's nothing we can do for you." I have one option: Surgery. If I go this route, they cannot get all of it out and will most likely return. The big problem is afterward, I would have to be on hormone replacement meds the rest of my life. Total suckage there.

Regarding the headaches, the tumor itself is not what's causing the headaches. The medication, which is a Parkinson's drug (Parlodel) is what knocks me down and laughs at me when ever I take it.

Then there is the anti-nausea meds, which sorta work, but knock me out when I take them.

I don't take pain meds other than Excedrin. I refuse to be on heavy doses of pain drugs.

As I stated, the tumor is not dangerous in that if it grows any more, then it can put pressure on my optic nerve and cause me to go blind.

The second opinion guy told me that the tumor did not shrink if at all. My thinking is, why am I still taking this medication. I think I might stop taking my meds here soon as I simply can't take the pain. It is easily 10x's worse that my worst ever headache.

I may break down and ask for something to make me comatose while the drug wears off.

My back feels much better. I took some time off from working out and running. My Crossfit membership had expired. I think I am going to go in a different direction with that.

I know a cool Cat that owns a Kettlebell gym and she's damn good. Her business Partner Dave Clancy is a Badass too. The name of their gym: "State of Fitness" in Gahanna.

I'm not sure CrossFit will be something or me to do in the immediate future. Don't get me wrong, CrossFit will be incorporated for sure.

I have been bad about reading blogs.....my apologies.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas.

Let me know how you all are doing.

California Makes Everything Better

After some much needed relief from the Arizona debacle, my friend Bret and I hopped a jet to Los Angeles. I had never been to California and knew I just had to make the trip while out west. Our final Destination was just north of Malibu at a campground called Thornhill Broome Beach. It is the only place on the California coast that you can camp right on the beach. We arrived after sunset, but I was able to snap off a few of many pictures to come. After scouting over a camp site or two we headed into Oxnard California for some supplies. This is where we felt like fish out of water. Everything was so busy. We had to just take everything in stride. We finally made our way back down to our campsite, we set up everything and were fast asleep in our tents in no time.
The next day, I was up at 5:00AM watching the sun come up over the mountains that lined the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Just like Arizona, the sunrises and sunsets were amazingly colorful and always worth getting up for to see. I was a little sore the next day but my back and feet were hurting the most. I was lucky enough to have an inflatable mattress to lay on the entire trip. We were quick to set off to explore our home for the next few days. We made a beeline to the closest Starbucks in Malibu for a Venti 1/2 decaf Mocha with whip. These were breakfast and possibly lunch for the next few days.
After some caffeine, we drove around checking out a few beaches. Our first stop was El Matador Beach. I had read it was an awesome beach and all the reviews didn't lie. I had a little trouble walking down to the beach as the decent was a little steep. Anyway, the beach is beautiful. Turns out a couple of days later Maria Carey was on the same beach shooting a music video. We never saw her and actually didn't know why there was such a security presence and what all the movie production vehicles were for. We even saw paparazzi staked out on top of their vehicles with long telescopic camera lenses. We asked some locals and they said it was so common that they ignore it anymore.
In fact, they were shooting a commercial right at our campground and the surrounding areas including the PCH. They had been shooting for a couple of days and we didn't know what they were doing until we were caught at Point Mugu by the camera crew and couldn't leave. We asked them and they said it was a commercial for Nissan. They had the entire Nissan production vehicles lined up driving up and down the PCH for shots to be used in the commercial. The first day we noticed this, there was a helicopter buzzing our campground at 6:00AM and the surrounding canyons and beach for camera shots.

We were out driving one day and we took a wrong turn and ended up down by Malibu High School. It was there I spotted Bruce Willis driving a Black Mercedes. He had a couple of other people in the car with him. Looked to be kids. Anyway, I wasn't sure it was him at first, but the more I thought about it, and when I talked to other people, they said it was him. Apparently they see him all the time in Malibu. There was no mistaking that face.

After El Matador Beach, we ventured down to La Peidra beach and took a look at the wonderful views the coast had to offer. All day we ventured up and down the PCH taking in the stunning views of the coast. The nights came quick and at times we found ourselves still on Ohio times and we were eating dinner at 3:00 and in bed by 7:00. We felt like old people.

I was finally here. The place I have wanted to visit since a kid. Now, I felt like that kid again. All we had were the coast, mountains, and all the views we wanted. What else could I want?

After a couple of days, my feet and back were feeling up to walking a little and I decided I wanted to walk on some trail. We went right across the street and walked the La Jolla Trail to the campground. In all, it was about a 5 mile round trip. I loved this trail as it was an unimproved trail with a lot of narrow rocky sections and drop offs. We saw signs warning of Mountain Lions and Rattlesnakes. We didn't see any, but we did see a few caves that could have been home to anything. I ended up getting a little sunburned that day and was thankful the next day brought cool winds as I had to wear a long sleeve shirt most of the day.

We went down to Point Dume and had a blast looking out into the bluest water I have ever seen in person. I was a little bummed that the Pacific Ocean was so cold. We had warm days that we could have went swimming, but apparently the Ocean around there doesn't get above 64 degrees. About all I could do was wade around in the water. One day we were there I decided to wash all my dirty clothes in the ocean.

You'll have to look through my California pictures but there are a few shots of my California Laundry Service and me getting nailed by a huge wave coming in on the beach. The seafood was a must have. I really love North Carolina style seafood and just had to try what the West Coast had to offer. We stopped at Malibu Seafood which did have decent food. By far, our favorite was Neptune's Net. We went there two days in a row. I had the Neptune's Platter. How could I not? The next day was a Lobster Roll which was incredible.

I was really astounded by how friendly everyone was. I think this is due to how incredibly awesome California is. I love this place, and I cannot wait to get back there. We had not one incident with anyone. We did witness our shuttle driver to LAX nearly go "Postal" on a driver of another car who cut her off. So funny.

We had a total blast in California. Absolutely no stress at all. I had never slept so good in my life. I went to sleep and woke up to the surf crashing on the beach just 30 yards from our tents. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Seemed everything fell in place for us.

Every morning, I walked out of my tent and watched the marine wildlife go about their daily business. I saw Sea Otters, Dolphins, Sea Birds of all sorts, Starfish, etc. The first morning I woke up to watch the sunrise, I saw just 40 yards from me, a head pop out of the water and then quickly disappear only to resurface 50 yards away. It was my first Sea Otter spotting. Totally awesome. The dolphin sightings were so common throughout the day. I was so glad we didn't see any snakes or Mountain Lions. Totally cool with that.

California has a lot to offer and I am sure it will quickly become a mecca for me with Ultra races and vacationing.

Okay, this Blogger tool totally sucks. For some reason, it won't let me move my pictures around. I have wasted so many hours trying to type this up and add pictures. Please see the links below for all of my pictures. I am warning you, I took around 1400 pictures, plus they are no longer in order.

Arizona & Javelina Pictures

California I Pictures

California II Pictures

California III Pictures

Javelina Jundred Race Report

Okay, I gave a short version earlier in the week while I was in Arizona waiting for my flight to California.

Honestly, I hope this doesn't end in a long ramble, and I hope to keep it positive. Scratch that, I am going to keep it as positive as I can, thus making it a short race report. Actually a lot went right but just enough went wrong that put an end to my quest for a buckle.

First of all, I love Javelina Jundred. It was an incredible race. Jamil Coury (race director) went out of his was to make a great race happen. The volunteers were awesome. They fed us well and allowed me to harass them as I do all volunteers during my races.
This event is highly recommended.

It is a runnable course...if you are prepared for the temperature changes and are able to run in sand. Your energy expenditure is increased just with the sand alone. It gets hot and it gets cold. There is virtually no shade. THIS COURSE IS NOT FLAT! I REPEAT, NOT FLAT! Coming from Ohio and what we run here, IT IS FLAT! But, IT IS NOT FLAT! Got it? : )

Arizona is stunningly beautiful and amazingly wild. You almost forget how wild things are until you are in the dark with no headlamp and you hear coyotes about 5 yards from you carrying on with one another. I'll get to that story later.

The wildlife diversity was amazing. I saw Road Runners, Jack Rabbits, Coyotes, a Bald Eagle, Wild Horses, a Tarantula, a Scorpion, a snake (of some sort).

Pre Race

I decided to skip the pasta dinner as I didn't want another Dances with Dirt GB incident. I didn't camp at the Jeadquarters either. I am such a light sleeper that I didn't want to risk not being able to sleep before the race. Turns out, I still cannot tell you if I made the best choice either way. The night before was filled with being awaken by the freezing cold. I was not warm enough pretty much the entire time out in the desert at night. We had camped out in the middle of nowhere. There was no one else around for miles. I was in awe at how quiet it really was out there and at how cold it could get.

1st Loop:

I remember Rick Gaston reminding me, to not go out too fast. I also remembered the promise I made to Mike and Mark about taking the first loop as slow as I could.

The start of the race was like all others...except, it was the desert, and I felt like I was at a huge Jalloween party. (Yes, I know I spelled Halloween with a J.....it's Javelina! Pronounced Havelina, Confused yet?)

The sky was full of the many shades of Oranges, Yellows, Reds, Purples, Blues, etc. What a view!

The first mile was a walker as the field was slow to stretch out. Soon after a mile or so, I was running the little rollers while watching the sun rise. So beautiful. I loved it. This race was awesome. The trail was more than I had dreamed. This was it. What a freaking phenomenal experience.

I could see the front runners a few miles ahead way off in the distance making their way toward top of the first climb.

The climbs here go on for miles. The trail after the first 2 miles is nearly unrunnable because of all the rocks on the trails. I did my best to focus solely on the trail and to not look around and site see as I didn't want to end up tripping and landing into one of the many millions of Cacti and hitting my head on one of a few billion sharp rocks littered all over the trail. DNS...Do Nothing Stupid was my motto during the first loop.

The first AS (Coyote Camp) soon came upon us and I was quick to exit as I am not there to socialize. The volunteers by the way are like most other Ultras. They were Awesome!

In and out as quick as possible, and down the trail as slow as possible.

This next section of trail brought us closer to the mountains and the boulder formations. There were more ups and downs, and steeper climbs in and out of small canyons. Nothing major really. Nowhere near as hard as what we run at Mohican. I was just being cautious.

The back end of the park is where it started to flatten out a bit and the decent began. I came upon the second AS Jackass Junction (JaJ AS). Below is a picture of three wild horses running behind the AS. How freaking cool! I grabbed some water and some potatoes with salt, and moved out as quick as I could.

The decent into the Jeadquarters was not too bad at all. By the time I reached the Jeadquarters, it was getting hot. It seemed I had no warning about the heat. It went from Great to Hot in a matter of minutes.

At times, I felt like I dilly-dallied as much as I could. I think I did the first loop in 3 hours and 36 minutes. My goal was to stick around 4+ hours per loop.

2nd Loop:

I grabbed my stuff from my pacer/crew guy: Bret. The loops are washing machine loops. Meaning, you go back the way you came opposite of what you started.

So, I started the long climb back up to Jackass Junction. I took it easy on this section and walked the majority of it. The heat was coming on and by the time I reached the AS, I had drank over 40 ounces of water. By the time I reached the JJ AS, I had drank over 70 ounces of fluids! I was taking two Endurolytes per hour, but I still noticed I had some cramping in my calves even at mile 25.

I called Bret when I had about 4 miles to go and told him to fill my entire Ultimate Direction pack up with ice water.

When I got to the JJ AS, I was hot. I took a few minutes to gather what I needed and took off onto my 3rd Loop. I was pouring so much water over my head I decided to fore go the camera and gave it to Bret to hold onto. Turns out, this was a huge mistake because only 200 yards out of JJ AS, I saw a beautiful Coyote within 20 yards of me. Oh well.

I didn't have any sloshing in my stomach, I felt great for the most part. I grabbed a little food and headed back out. Maybe 10 minutes for an AS stop.

3rd Loop:

The Coyote sighting was about the best thing that happened on this loop. By the time I reached Coyote Camp which was 5 miles away, I had drained the entire UD pack that held 64 ounces of water! I was so worn down from the heat. My head was thumping something awful. It was worrying me a little as I never felt a headache like that before. My back was starting to hurt from the climb up to CC AS. I decided I was going to sit down for 10 minutes at this AS and get some fluids in me. Turned out to only be less than a 5 minute break. I just hated to sit there.

I went against one of my rules and drank a bottle of Gatorade and a bit of Coke. I usually won't touch this as it gives me stomach issues. This never had any affect on me at all.

Stomach felt great, head and back was not so well. I noticed I had severe salt stains on my shirt, hat and shorts.

I pushed on down the trail over to Jackass Junction AS. It was a slow go as my back was tightening as I wound my way through the small canyons. By the time I reached the AS, the sun was setting and the temp was cooling down. My head still hurt and the back was still at it. I decided it would be a short stop only for water and some potatoes. I was really doubting myself at this point as the head pain was awful. It was like the worst hangover headache you'd ever had and couple that while running. My back pain was bad too. I couldn't run more than a 100 yards at a time without either stopping or bending forward and walking. This ate up valuable time.

I wasn't planning on taking this long on this loop and I didn't have a headlamp or flashlight available.

It was dark when I left JaJ AS. The moon was out and it lit up the trail just enough to get by. I was a little creeped out at times as I could hear packs of Coyotes just yards away from me scurrying around and chatting with each other. One said: "Hey that runner looks tasty" "No No, He's too fat" said another. This went back and forth until eventually a little Coyote yelled out and said: "Naw, Naw Mang, let's git him on a Stick!" ; )

Okay, no ones reading this anyway so I can put that in here. : )

The downhill into JJ AS seemed to help out my back a lot. I came into the AS running and feeling not too bad. I wasn't tired much at all just hungry and thirsty.

I had a hot spot on my right foot and I decided I'd better have it looked at. I went to the medical station and had them look at and treat my foot. I thought there was a blister but turns out there was nothing there. Maybe I'll explain this later.

4th Loop:

This was where I had picked up my pacer as I wasn't too sure what to expect on this loop. I was so bad earlier that I decided it was best to call him and have him be ready to go out.

I took about 20 minutes total at the AS stop. I grabbed extra food and drank a lot.
By this time, my headache was gone and I was feeling great. We walked a little ways out of the AS to finish our food and drink a little more.
I decided to take it slow the first couple of miles. I was running and walking until I got to the first road crossing. At that point, my back was getting really bad again. The spasms were getting too frequent and I found the best spot to be in was hunched over like a 90 year old man who broke his back 40 years earlier. I couldn't stand upright much less run.
I had to hold onto my pacers backpack a few yards at a time. By the time I reached the JaJ AS, I knew it wasn't safe to go on. The terrain in the next section was too much especially if they had to carry me out. I tried to lay down on the ground and stretch it out. Some one gave me an instant hot pack which didn't help at all.
I laid down, I stretched, I sat there, I walked around. One guy even rolled my back out. Nothing helped.
My back was hurting opposite of the side that I injured two weeks prior. This meant that the other side was over compensating for the weaker side. It had just finally had enough.

This sucked so bad. I could not believe it. This is what an uncontrollable DNF was like.

I knew I could do it but, my hopes of finishing this race was gone. Damn It!

There was nothing I could do. Over, and done with. I was in good spirits most of the time, had no stomach issues. My feet actually felt great.

Up until the point my back started hurting, I was doing well, had no issues other than it was hot and I didn't realize until it was way too late, that I was dehydrated.

I'm not disappointed in myself. I cannot be. I did what I could and gave it my best but, came up 50 miles short. Not sure my exact time to 51 miles.

Thank you to Mark, Mike, Stuart, Luc,  for calling me during the race. To my big sissy for calling me to wish me well the day before.....I forgot to call you back.

Bret, I could not have gotten to mile 51 without you. I bet that was the heaviest piggyback ride you ever gave uphill. -kidding! it was downhill ; )
Turns out the Javelina course record set by Karl Meltzer was broken this year by Dave James in 14:20! I saw him running all day and the performance was phenomenal.

c

Exactly 50% dropped out of the race for one reason or another.

I did mention the course is runnable, but if you go out too fast and don't respect the course, you will go down. I saw it happen over and over as the day went on. I saw one guy, who eventually dropped at the same time I did because of the cold. He had 1 1/2 loops to go and I was just starting my 4th loop.

I wished I knew the temps out in the sun. Standard temperature is taken in the shade. It got up to 85 degrees that day...I think. Out in the sun it was a different story.

I know I am missing a lot of information and story content I had previously thought of.

California To Be Continued.........

Javelina Jundred - Short version

Okay, I DNF'ed at mile 51. My back gave out on me when going up uphill the last 3-4 miles before I dropped.
I had it in me, just couldn't push through the back pain and spasms.
This course and race is awesome. Highly recommended, but don't take it for granted. The heat will eat you up and the cold will leave you curled up on the ground crying (as I did see).
I have some great pictures I will share later.
Coyotes within yards of us. Kinda freaky, but awesome.
I will write a longer entry later when I get a chance.
Thanks too everyone who called me and wrote messages of support.
I'm not dissapointed in myself. I was in good spirts (most of time), had energy, I knew I could do it.
I had a terrible headache between mile 30-46, and my back was hurting pretty bad. I started questioning myself, but when my headache and back started feeling better, I started running again. When I hit that long uphill towards Jackass Junction, it finally was too much.

I know one thing, I am taking a while off from any races. I need to get a few things settled before I make anymore plans.

Back is not Back

My back is not back to normal that is. Close, but still having some residual pain. I took my pup out tonight to Sycamore Creek Park here in town for a run in the Arboretum. I wore my Vibrams as I didn't want to cross Sycamore Creek in my Trail shoes and get them soaked before I run my race. I started out slow and noticed my back was really tight. I took it easy and concentrated on lightly hitting the ground with my feet. I was a little worried as 1 mile approached, my back didn't feel all that great. I wasn't in a lot of pain just some radiating from my lower back.
I stopped and stretched a little on a park bench and it seemed to help....a little.
We left the Arboretum and headed out to the open soccer fields. I was pushing Buxton to go a little further so I could at least get in 2 miles. We stopped for a few photo ops, and met up with one of his buddies; an 8 month old Belgian Shepard named Tolkien. Seemed Buxton didn't want much to do with Tolkien as he tried so hard to get away from him a few times.

Anyway, we got back to the car and not sure what it was, but it seemed that last 1/2 mile I didn't think one thing about my back. Seemed it had loosened up a little.
I'm just worried what will happen over a 100 mile span. I may need to just suck it up and work through it. Enjoy the pictures.

He wouldn't cross the creek any further.....so I had to go back.

Tolkien and Buxton playing. He looks like a little wolf.

Seriously?

Okay, now I am totally freaking out. Last week, I was at CrossFit and we were doing Deadlifts.
Nothing major, I only had 275 lbs on the bar doing like 1 rep at a time.
I knew not to push anything since I am getting closer to my race. In fact, I was concentrating on good form the entire time.
The next day I was a little sore but not a big deal. I went to Crossfit that night and we were doing Turkish Get Ups. (Just google it.)
These TGU's are an awesome all over body workout in themselves. I was using a 35 lb KB. Again, nothing major.
Later that night, my back started spasming.
Every once in a while I get this, and a day or two later it's gone. Well, it's been 4 days now, and it's not getting any better.
I am so pissed off right now. It's my luck with my race looming, I may not be able to make it.
My race might become a volunteer adventure for Javelina.
At this point, I think it is only a Grade 1 strain, but how will that hold up over a 100 miles?
They say it takes about 1-2 weeks for them to heal. We'll see.
I've been icing, heating, cursing, massaging, E-Stim, Prescription Naproxen, cursing some more, etc....

Update:
On the other post from yesterday, I found out my bruising and swelling is caused from my medication I am taking. This is totally messed up. It's not an option for me to stop taking them.
My Endocrinologist said that my recovery from running will take much longer than other people. The bruising and swelling in my feet and ankle just won't go away overnight.
No freakin wonder!

Can I catch a Break Please?

I am writing this as the 13th day is now upon me for Javelina. I'm also writing this as I lay here in bed with a pack of ice on my lower back. I've been doing contrasting hot/cold therapy for it for a couple of days now.
Not sure really if this is a blessing in disguise to keep me from running until the race or what.
Also, it seems I continue to have foot problems. I went to watch the Columbus Marathon yesterday and when I got home, I noticed the top of my foot was bruised and slightly swollen. WTH?
I've been bruising really easily in the past few months. Seems like ever since Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone this has happened.
I have no idea what it is.
Maybe I can tell my wife it is from too much housework?
Any questions, comments, concerns, complaints.....leave a post.

On saturday, it was 101 degrees in Fountain Hill, AZ. ................Cool it. Now!

Pup Run

My Pup Leading the way:

I decided to skip Crossfit tonight and take my pup on a run through Sycamore Creek Park here in Pickerington.

He was looking like he needed some fresh air and I need some too.

The weather here sucks as always, but it didn't deter us from going out.

We only made one circuit around the arboretum, and a quick crossing of Sycamore Creek. It was Cold!

We only went a mile, but it was a good one.

I went home and fired up the treadsauna. I taped up my foot and started out slowly. The temp was about 75 degrees but quickly climbed to 95 degrees.

Oh man, this sucked.

I was feeling it about mile 2 1/2. I was running about race pace, but in all, I felt at ease. I am hoping this is a good sign.

My hope is to get acclimated to this kind of heat. I looked at the Farmers' Almanac, and it was supposed be cool and raining at Javelina this year. We'll see.

Totals:

4 miles

1 mile with Vibrams, 3 miles on treadsauna.

My wife says.......

"This has got to be your worst idea ever"

?huh? -She must be smokin something 'cause I think it is the best idea ever!!!!

After some consultation with Mike Keller, it was decided that I needed to build a sauna around my treadmill to do some heat training for Javelina.
Right now in Arizona, the highs are mid to high 80's. Here in the cold Tundra of Ohio, it is in the low 40's. Yeah....worst idea ever? Don't think so.
So I build this "room" out of 2x4's and plastic sheathing. Then I put Mikes heaters in there and got the heat up to about 85 degrees. I walked/ran for about 10 minutes. It will actually work just fine. I have a few more things to do so I can really crank up the heat.

I will report back tomorrow on how I do with getting it really hot in there.

Beer and Bacon....something to settle the nerves

I suspect that exactly 24 days from now, I will be sitting on a nice California Beach with a cold Beer in my hand watching the waves come in, the sun setting, and hopefully having the privileged in telling Paris Hilton to get lost. Now, what I am not sure of is that will I have a Javelina Belt Buckle in my hand. Don't want to jinx myself.
I am nervous beyond belief. I started getting this way in the past week or so with the thoughts of the race looming in the near distance. Now that it's October, that nervousness has climbed a little more. I also suspect that it will continue up until the time I toe the line and start my race at 6:00AM MT on October 31. Once the race commences, I will relax and run my race. I will run my race as I see it. I will run my race to finish. Whatever hand has been dealt to me that day, I will go with it. I will DNS this race: Do Nothing Stupid. I will be smart and run as conservatively as I can while giving myself some room to breath for the cutoffs. I don't care if I am DFL: Dead F'ing Last.
I was looking over the Pemberton Trail pictures that Lynn David Newton took one day while out exploring the trail.
This trail is where I will be making my first 100 mile attempt. Now, I know I ran Mohican 100 this year, but my goal there was to go half way, and if I did that in the allotted amount of time, I would go as far as I could go. I made it 64 miles. Much more than I ever conceived.
This time, I am going to attempt to run and finish my first 100. Right now, with the weather changing, I'm nervous. The heat in Arizona, although mild at the time I will be out there, (and I don't give a crap if it is dry heat), it's still hot and will sap all your energy if you're not prepared.
The temps here in Ohio have dropped down into the 40's and soon will dip further.
Mike Keller let me borrow all of his Space Heaters, and I plan on building a sauna around my treadmill. I am also praying for Indian Summer to come and sear us like bacon.......mmmmmmm.......Bacon.....Sorry, I couldn't find a real picture of bacon :)

Anyway, I was talking to a young lady at Dances with Dirt-Hell, and she said be prepared for the heat at Javelina. Most people keel off from the heat. The finishing rate in the past years at Javelina has hovered around 49%. The odds are not in my favor 'cause I don't do well in heat. Although, I didn't have too many issues with the heat like so many did at Mohican. I never felt hot, let's put it that way.
I have a feeling I will learn a lot during this race. I'm doing my best to take in all the advise I can from my Veteran Ultra Crazies. I've decided to heed their advise and not make a long distance push of 60-65 miles for my final long run. It's simply not needed, and they're right, I won't recover in time, and I will just risk getting myself injured.
Well see if I have what it takes to dig deep and push myself past that buzzing pain I felt at Mohican. That pain was stupendous. I can't imagine it would be any worse. Can it?
I'm hoping for some good drugs that will be produced by my body over the course of those 30 hours....or less.

Totals:

CrossFit Workout:

30 squats

30 push ups

100 Flutter Kicks

WOD:

21-15-9 of:

Thrusters: (65 lbs)

Mountain Climbers

500 m Row

3 Rounds for time.

My time: 12:12

Vibrams and some Ninja trail miles.

I went out for a quick trail run with my pup at a local park here in Pickerington. I wasn't really looking for any kind of work out, it was more about getting my pup outside for an adventure.

I finally received my Vibrams on Friday and have been wearing them as much as possible. Today was a perfect chance to get them out on some sort of trail and do some initial testing.

The day before I CrossFitted in them and they did great. I ran a mile on asphalt and was doing Power Cleans in them.

To me this has been my best purchase so far this year.

When I got to the park I knew right away I was going to test these out in the creek that went through the park. I was walking all over rough terrain through gravel, roots, water and dirt trail.

I was amazed at how well the protected my feet. Now, don't get me wrong they weren't like my Brooks Cascadia, but they did offer some sort of protection. The water drainage was great and seemed dry in no time.

I tested them out on dirt trail, gravel road, creek beds, and grassy fields. All around they did very well.

After the run, Mike Keller called me to see if I wanted to go for a night run. If he hadn't called me, I probably would have been a lazy bum and watched TV all night.

We met in Reynoldsburg and went for a run on a trail that I cannot disclose. : )

Mike showed me his recent medals from the North Coast 24 hour Ednurance run and the Akron Marathon. Awesome! We chatted the entire time which helped keep the pace slow. I was in no hurry.

We ended up with 4.8 miles.

Totals: 2 Miles on trail with pup: Vibrams

4.8 miles: Trail

Same old Tune

I am totally lazy about blogging. I hope this all changes after Javelina. Seems I have nothing interesting really to blog about. I'm also slacking on the reading of other peoples blog entries. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I went to CrossFit today after about a week of not going. I am going to do my best to get there at least 3 times this week.

I've been working out at home, but it isn't the same. At least I am doing something.

Sunday I went out to Mohican with Luc, Luca and Bret. The plan was to meet Rob Powell at the CB for a 13-16 mile run.

Rob ended up not feeling well, so it was just us.

The weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was kinda cold at the start and you runners know it changes soon after you get going. The miles just clicked by as we were chatting with each other and harassing one another.

Fun times like this on the trail don't happen often but when they do, I'm loving life.

There is a new trail that Rob had shown us on our last run up there. The plan was that we were going to take the trail back to Bridle Staging and then back to the Covered Bridge. It would give us 16 miles on the day.

The trail was great. Pine needles were everywhere and made for a nice landing with each step.

At one point, I was taking pictures like a dummy and tripped on a root or a rock, and hurt my ankle that was injured months ago during a CrossFit workout.

Not good at all. I don't need this to happen before a race. So, it's back to icing, Prescription Naproxen and easing off a little.

After we got back to the Covered Bridge, I talked Luca to getting in the Mohican River with me to cool down. This would end up being a smart thing as the cold water helped my ankle.

Sunday totals: 16 miles on trail

Monday: Kettlebell workout: Swings, Snatch, Burpees

Tuesday: CrossFit WOD see below:

Warm up:

Run 1 mile

2 rds. of Cindy: 5 Pull ups, 10 Push ups, 15 squats

Skill:

Power Clean

3 sets of 5

WOD:

10 pull ups

10 ring dips

AMRAP 15 minutes

My score: 9 rounds.

Beer Run

Tonight I met up with Autumn, and her group tonight for a Beer Run at Hal and Al's in Columbus.
I've been wanting to get back to this group run for a while now, I just seem to always have something come up and I can never make it.
I was a tad nervous as the last couple of times I've done this beer run, I've ended up with a terrible headaches. I would have a beer and then have a headache before we reached our next destination. It kinda sucks if you are at a Beer Run and not drinking.
We started off at about 7:00PM, and clicked off a little less than a mile and a half to Roosters in German Village for a beer. Rita buys two pitchers and for some reason, I have to help finish the second pitcher. I had two pints of Bud Light and we were off to the next.

I cannot remember the next two places, and it had nothing to do with the beer. We ran past Schmidt's Sausage Haus. I wanted to keep running right into the place and scarf all the cream puffs and Bahama Mama's and German Beer I could get. Maybe next time.

I know I was having a blast and chatting it up with Rita Barnes who is a Mohican veteran and a Vol State finisher (a 500k Ultra Run across Tennessee). It was great to meet new people on this run. To me, this is what it is all about.

I do remember I had a Stella Artois for the first time and it was really good. The third stop was an IPA from Avery Brewing Company. It was a good IPA, but not my favorite. I think I am forever ruined by Stoudt's Double IPA. To me the best IIPA I have ever had. Funny I remember the names of the beer, but not the places we went. Hmmmm.

The final stop was back at Hal and Al's where we were treated to Pizza and I had a Rogue Dead Guy Ale. I wished I didn't have to go to work, but I had to get going, enough fun for the night, and not too much beer. I will be back in November for the end of the month Beer Run. I am sure it will be beyond cold at that point. I think we got down to below 50 degrees during the run.
It didn't feel like it really.



Totals: 4 1/2 miles: road

What an Awesome Sunday.

I met up with a great group of ultra runners on Sunday for another awesome day of running at Mohican State Park.
This group of runners consisted of some of the best around: Mark, Rob and Michelle.

Mark apparently didn't get the memo regarding the Mandatory Red Shirt rule for this run.
He was excused for this mix up cause he had the same shorts on as me and he went and changed into a Red shirt.
After looking at this picture, It appears that Mark and Rob have skirts on, but I cannot confirm nor deny this. I know I didn't. You be the judge.

The rain was coming down but the forest canopy kept us somewhat dry for a little while.
I knew I was gonna be in trouble, cause Mark was leading the charge up the Red Hill switchbacks and he made it look like it was all effortless, Rob was a quick second behind and Michelle seemed to be running in place gnashing at the chance to blow by us all.

"Man, I am in for it." I thought. "I hope they take it easy on me."
This rain wasn't going to help any with my lack of clothing. I was cold at first, but it was soon to change. By the time we reached the top of the hill, I was burning up, and wishing no one was around so I could take my shirt off. -I know, bad mental image.

Anyway, we were cruising along catching up with each others' lives and laughing so hard at the small talk and great stories that come from these long trail runs. There is nothing like being out on the trail with this group of runners. All of them are so inspiring.
It was brought up that every ones advise always sucks, but with these guys, I love to hear what they have to say because they have been there and seen it all.

A mile or two into the green loop we happened upon a old man who ran his car off a driveway bridge. The car was near it's flipping point and the poor guy was unable to move.
Officer Richard Noggin and Deputy Douchebag from the Loudonville Police Department arrived on the scene beating on their chest and acting like a couple of jackasses. Before they arrived, Rob and Mark were talking to the guy assessing the situation and trying to keep the poor guy calm. These guys show up barking orders and talking like they were King and Queen of the Hill.

Before any of us said something to set them off even more, we decided to exit the situation. We couldn't help anymore because the Calvary was there and they needed no help because they had all the solutions. These dumb asses are what give good Police Officers a bad name.

We had a hard time getting started again as we were freezing cold from standing around and the rain never stopped. The stream crossings were cold, yet refreshing.
My energy level seemed consistent throughout the run. I felt as good if not better than when we started. I was running along and I looked back and noticed at times I was alone. Opps. I was kind of in a zone and didn't think about it. I waited for everyone to catch up.

Now, this is nothing really because, Rob is coming back from a debilitating injury that he has been dealing with for a while now, Michelle was up all night with her duties of being a mother and working. She had maybe a few hours of sleep. Plus she ran 20 miles the day before.
Mark had ran a 50k the previous week with an incredible 5:17 for a (from what I hear) very technical race course. He was probably still sore and recovering.

Any of these runners, Michelle who is attempting to run a sub-3 hour race for Columbus Marathon coming up, Rob who ran the Green Jewel 50k in 4:12, and Mark who is one of the modest guys I know, but will kick your ass down the trail on any given day.
I was feeling good and just excited as always for being out on the Mohican trails and running through the rain.

Mark and I challenged each other to run up the biggest, baddest hill on the Green Trail.
I have never ever ran up this hill. When you think it sucks, it gets worse. When you look up at the top of this hill, you have to get it out of your mind that you have to go up there. It just goes on and on and gets steeper with every step. You actually cannot see the top of it.

Mark sent me a reply signal as he neared the top in response to me yelling "Come On Mark"
We were both wiped out, but we both ran up that beast.

It was a day I never wanted to end. I tried to get them to run the Purple loop with me, but in reality, I didn't have enough time.
I was headed to Peninsula Ohio to run with another group of runners at the Virginia Kendall Park which is part of the CVNP.

I met up with Brian and Jeff Musick. I pleaded for them to take it easy on me as I just ran 21 miles and drove and hour and a half. I was freezing up. Brian told me there would be no fast running today.
There were supposed to be more people showing up, but in the end, it was just us three.

We started at the Happy Days visitor center and I was feeling like an old man.
Each steps was a little achy. "Suck it up" I said to myself. "It's only 10 miles."

The more I run these trails, the more I like them. I'm envious of those who live so close to such a great park system.
One of these days, I will run the Burning River 100 and see for myself the Beautiful Jewel this park really is. Here is a picture at the overlook trail. You can see the Cuyahoga Valley in the background.

The pace seemed fast, but in reality it wasn't. I was still trying to warm back up from the run at Mohican. My body was too cooled down. I needed this push to help with leg turn over. We descended down a hill that helped a little. These two brothers are no newbies at running and have a feeling this run was effortless. I was shocked to see Jeff, who was only carrying a camera and no water. This is a sign of incredible efficiency. I suck down water like drain. I don't even think they were sweating.
We decided to cut the run short and instead of running, we'd head to the Winking Lizard for a beer. All we could think about for the last 4 miles was Beer! It was my fault, I got it started.
Then I started craving the "Hanson Burger" as you see below. I just had to get one.

After the Winking Lizard, I headed my sorry sore ass back to Pickerington which was 3 hours away. I was gonna attempt to make it in 2 1/2 hours.....which I did.
Today, I am a little sore but, nothing that is too bad. I will make today a rest day and get back at it tomorrow.

Totals:
31 miles on Trail

Loving the Rain

Not sure why, but rain seems to bring me outdoors more often than not. I am an inclement weather runner.....to a certain degree.
I decided to stay home tonight and follow the Rogue WOD posted on the Facebook homepage.
Since I love Clean and Jerks I jumped at the opportunity to work on these.
I skipped the warm up and since I don't have anyone looking at my form, I did a few C&J's just to get a feel for the weight. My bumper selection is lacking as I only have 45 pounders, so, 135 lbs for the C&J workout is was. This weight is about my limit for multiple reps on these.

After the run I hopped into my running gear and off for a slight off road (trail)/road run.
The pace was a little faster than I planned but, slow none the less.
This was to be a test to see how my foot would do with the bruising. Turns out it did just fine.
The trail I was running wasn't technical enough to fully test it out but, in overall the foot never hurt one bit.
The run was uneventful other than the pouring down rain and being dark and foggy. Made for a great atmosphere to run in.

On a side note, I am sure many of you being Ultrarunners and all have heard about the story of the two very experienced Ultrarunners in California being lost for over 3 days without food or water. Maria "Gina" Natero-Armento and her brother-in-law Fidel Diaz, were lost in the Cleveland National Forest. Search parties were sent out to look for them and many Ultrarunners in the community united in the search. When I heard of the story all I could think about was their well-being and the hope for their safe return. I had no idea who these people were but, it didn't matter. They are part of a tight-knit community of people who love run in the most extreme conditions. This week probably proved to be the toughest test of their endurance and instincts to survive. Please read more about the story here: Ultrarunners Found Safe

I was thinking about purchasing one of these GPS tracking devices for emergencies like this.Can't tell you how many times I have ran alone out at Mohican. There is no cell phone coverage out there and far and few homes and people to seek help from. At only a $100.00 it would seem like a bargain to save your life if you were stranded. Check them out:
SPOT

Totals: 4.5 miles
CrossFit WOD: Clean & Jerk with 135lbs
400m Run
AMRAP in 15 minutes
I was able to get 2 1/2 rounds.

Back at it

I pretty much took all last week off to relax and get my severely bruised foot healed up a little.

Today I decided to go to CrossFit and workout a little before heading off for a run at Blendon Woods Metro Park with Cat.

At CrossFit, things seemed weird. Actually the last two or three times I've been in there the atmosphere has been different.

Seems like the number of clients at CrossFit are dwindling.

It got me thinking a while back and I just attributed it to being Summer time. Not sure why exactly but I have not seen a lot of people I once worked out with in a long time.

I think CrossFit for me has ran it's course. I will continue to do CrossFit but probably on my own. To me, it's wasting my time and money when I go in there for a workout and end up with a massive headache in the middle of the workout. My Endocrinologist says I can still run and workout, but to keep an eye on myself and stop when needed.

Thank goodness we have great instructors that allow me to scale back my workouts and intensities.

As a runner, I think I am going to begin focusing on doing more Kettlebell work and throw in CrossFit workouts on my own in my garage. That way, I have control over how things go and what works for me. Oh yeah, I need to focus more on running.

Last year as some may remember, I messed up my foot at the Columbus Marathon. To this day, it still has not healed fully. I wanted to do CrossFit to supplement my running. I definitely think it has done it's job. I still remember my first Month of CrossFit. I wanted to throw up every time on my way home from the gym. Thanks Eddie!

CrossFit will still be with me, I'm just sure it will soon take a back seat to other adventures.

Today's run:

I met up with Cat (aka: "Snake Wrangler") - more on that in a minute. We decided to get a few miles in on trail at Blendon Woods Metro Park. We ran a few loops to give us about 5 1/2-6 miles.

This run was a lot of work. I felt like I was running with a Barbell loaded down with weights.

The terrain wasn't that hilly, but I felt like I just smoked a carton of cigarettes and was wearing lead shoes. I think this was because I wasn't recovered enough from last week. Plus, I'm not eating enough Bison......Note to self: "Buy more Bison......Eat more Bison......Will run like Bison"

Okay, back to the "Snake Wrangler". We were running along and I jumped about 3 feet into the air. I was totally freaked out by what I saw on the ground....a snake.

Now, I don't give a flying hoot how big a snake is, I hate them, always and forever, hate snakes.

I went back and looked at the poor little guy. We started laughing cause the snake was probably about 5 inches long....if that. I'm not sure what kind it is. Cat seemed to think it was a Copperhead. All I cared about was that it didn't bite me.

She grabbed a stick and started poking at it. The poor little thing seemed to be dead.

When we were driving back out we spotted a flock of Wild "City" Turkeys.

They just stood there and could have given a crap less if we were gawkin at them. Real Wild Turkeys, like the ones at Mohican, would have been long gone.

Totals: Run 7 miles plus CrossFit

Warmup

Row 1000m

20 walking lunges ea leg

20 pushups (10 HSPU if able)

20 pullups

20 4 count flutterkicks

20 rollovers

Skill

Overhead Squat5 sets of 7 - Increase weight each time

WOD

21 Deadlifts / 225#M / 150#W

Run 800m

15 Deadlifts

Run 800m

9 Deadlifts

Run 800m

Dances with Dirt - Hell Race Report

A sign for things to come:

My plan was to run the race with no Watch, no Garmin, no Pace Chart, no Drop Bags. In fact the only plan was to just take it easy and get the miles in.

I was ready, feeling great and was going to settle in for a long day.

I met up with Clara at the start of the race. She was running the 50 miler and at the time of this post, I am still unsure if she finished or not. If she did, my hat is off to her. She has not trained running wise that much since Mohican. The times I saw her on the trail, she was looking great and moving right along.....way the hell ahead of me. : )

Well, what can I say. I hate Hell. The race was going good until I got to the section called:

"This Sucks".

This is the section I got totally lost for about a good 15 minutes...no kidding!

Then I get sucked down into a Bog not once, but 2-3 times in sternum deep nastiness. I believe it was the Ann Arbor Sewage Treatment plant. Anyway, I was covered with this thick black nastiness for miles on end. My bottles were covered in it, and there was no way I was drinking from them.

Check out this link for pictures of last years run through this mess: http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf3c5052803d

This picture does no justice as to how muddy I really was.

Let's not forget the Stripper Pole. This is a hill aptly named that because it is a 70% grade. Yep we had to climb up it. I wasn't able to get many pictures after my bog incident as I didn't want to chance getting my camera ruined.

My plan was to run the 50 miler and use it as a training run for Javelina coming up in only 7 weeks! The race really wasn't that bad and had they not thrown the craziness in, it would have been an even better race. This is what the Dances with Dirt series are known for: Insanity!

I was mentally and physically drained by mile 18. I had to crouch down and try to run and avoid the low lying trees, briar's, weeds. The constant darting in and away from trees and thick brush while looking for course markings made it so much more difficult.

On a side note, I was a little pissed off that almost every aid station I came upon was out of friggin food. This was uncalled for and they need to make better preparations. I needed a change of pace from my Perpetuem and Hammer Bars. They were out of sandwiches, potatoes, no soup, no real food anywhere. I stayed away from the fruit and candy as it can cause stomach issues.

In fact, I had not one stomach issue...not even a pain. My plan worked very well for me. Thank you Hammer Nutrition!

Everything was going well until about the final 6 miles. The final aid station until the 50k finish, my foot start killing me. I keep plugging away and the pain came and went. Eventually, I pull over and lossen my shoe laces a bit and make some adjustments. It helps a little but, it's too late. At this point I start to mull over the idea of going on and completing what I came here for.

It wasn't until I saw the trail leading back to Half Moon Lake that I knew I should be smart and end my day. Going on could have had serious consequences for my Javelina Race coming up.

I don't need to be nursing injuries leading up to the big day.

I have no idea what my time was, but I did place 5th in my age group. Check out my sweet rock I got.

A huge shout out needs to go to Mark Carroll. He single handedly kept me from getting blisters on my feet by taping them up for me a day before the race. The tape job he done has become a necessity for his Ultras. After a while, I never felt the tape job on my feet. It was smooth and ready to keep my feet friction free. This tape job had no bearing on my foot pain later in the race. I will for sure be taping my feet the way he showed me when I head to Arizona and all subsequent Ultras after that. It worked!

By the way, for the best blog reading ever, read this guys blog. Seriously.

All in all, DWD-Hell was an adventure. These races are notorious for torturing you in the final miles by making it seem to drag on and on.

One thing for sure people in Michigan are really nice and the times I have been there, even in Detroit, they've always been helpful.

DWD Hell Pictures

Devil's Backbone 50 miler

Just signed up for 2010.

Mohican Fun Run - Short version

I am wearing the Sweetest Shirt this side of the Mohican River........

I went out to Mohican today since I was a sorry ass on Sunday and over slept. I really needed to get some miles in and today was "No Excuse Day".

My original plan was to get in at least 38-40 miles. I wanted to run the Red/Green, Orange, and Purple Loops.

I was feeling awesome at the start and decided to just take it easy and enjoy the nippy cold air and the quietness of the Mohican Wilderness. I can tell you the temps have dropped here almost to a Fall like feel. At the first water crossing, I let out a "Whoa that's COLD"!

After a while, I decided to turn up my pace a bit. If any of you have ran this loop, you know it typically takes you longer to run 21 miles on it versus 21 on the road or any other trail for that matter. Typically around 5 hours is what to expect. I think the last time, we ran it in 5.5 hours. I ended up running the entire loop in 4 1/2 hours. I shaved an entire hour......down to the minute off my previous time around this trail. I decided to hit the Orange trail and run it backwards, but somewhere around mile 25, I decided I wasn't going to have enough time to do the distance, get back home, and get some sleep before work. I never want to start work tired. Alertness is key for my job.

Anyway, I cut the run short and ran around the campground to get in exactly 31 miles. I'll take it. This should help me with Dances With Dirt...coming up.

Purdy New Shoes and some New Camo Gaiters about to get some mud.

On a side note, yesterday I bought a pair of Brooks Cascadia version 4. These shoes freakin ROCK. Out of the box I slam 31 miles on them. My feet had no blisters at all. The shoes felt great, but I will need a few more miles on them to call the "Broken In". I'll periodically put up a review on them, but so far, they are awesome.

Totals: 31 miles - Trail: 6 hours 20 minutes....I think this is a non-race PR for me at a 50k.......

Slackin again -on the blog

I've been working out just not posting anything. I've been lazy about adding up my mileage and everything. Sometimes I want to just train and not keep track of it. I hate having my running/lifting logs. I have no CrossFit Log as I simply want to use my races as a gauge for my training.

I've mainly been running on my Treadmill. I think it's been a convenience thing plus, I can train in the heat of my Garage. I like using the treadmill to help keep the legs turning over and it is nice to force yourself into a Tempo run at the push of a button. Plus, the kegerator is close by....for water that is.

Tonight I finally went to CrossFit after a week and a half. I simply cannot make it on time and have been just working out/running at home.

After CrossFit, I decided to do a Tabata Run. I love/hate these.

Try them. They are different, and are definitely not fun. At the same time, suck it up and do them sure beats a 5 mile tempo run.

Tabata: 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, 8 Rounds - which is 4 minutes.

Turn your treadmill up as high as you can stand it, set a clock...and GO!

I have about 2 1/2 weeks left for Dances with Dirt. I am not looking forward to this at all. If I do decide to run the 50 miler, I think it will be used as a training run and not "raced". Those of you that know me, I am not a racer anyway, so...I guess they all are training runs.

CrossFit:

Warm up: 30 Squats, 30 KB Swings (53lb KB), 30 Push Ups, 20 Roll Overs

Skill: Pendlay Rows 5x5 (135 lbs)

WOD:
50 Mountain Climbers
40 Flutter Kicks
30 KB High Swings
20 Box Jumps
10 KB Lunges
20 Box Jumps
30 KB High Swings
40 Flutter Kicks
50 Mountain Climbers

My time: 9:03

TreadKill Workout

Another TreadKill workout tonight as I am trying to work on getting my legs to remember what it was like to run at non trail running speed. Meaning, I need to speed it up a little.
If you're a trail runner like me, you'll notice that you're not as fast as you are on the road. Now, this is an obvious observation, but it seems when I go back to road or treadmill running, I am still as slow as when I am running on trail. -Not a good thing.
I've never claimed to be fast, with the exception of when I was younger, a lot younger. When I was in Elementary, Middle School and even in High School, I was hard to beat at short distances.
You shoulda seen my sisters trying to catch me to beat the hell out of me for something I did. They couldn't catch me......until later when I had forgotten all about them chasing me. Wham!

My 8th grade year, I believe my 400m PR was around 53-54 seconds. I wished I could go back and see my stats for when I ran.
Fast forward to now, and I am slow as dirt. Who cares. Actually, In reality I do care 'cause I really don't want to come in Dead Last in a race.

I've skipped all my CrossFit workouts this week for some reason or another. Mainly busy stuff, and running. I may go tomorrow, who knows.
Anyway, I'm still planing my Javelina Race and California Trip in October/November. I don't want to wish away time, but I freakin cannot wait.
I'm hoping to get a little running in on the beach. I decided to camp out on the beach for 4 days and just relax. Hopefully, I'll be sore as hell, drinking a beer and smiling from ear to ear from my Javelina finish.

Treadkill workout: 5 Miles total:
Mile 1: Warm up: 10:48
Mile 2: 8:46
Mile 3: 8:46
Mile 4: 8:34
Mile 5: Cool Down: 9:39

Treadmill Run tonight

50 minutes.....easy

5 miles

20 miles on 20 gallons

Yesterday was Brew Day once again.

In my world, Brew Day can trump any previous day I've had that week. I brewed with my brew club, actually, it was just Patrick and I. We both love Belgian Beer, and decided to brew a Witbier.

This Witbier was to be brewed using techniques barely known by most homebrewers. I won't go into details, but we used a type of Mashing process called Turbid Mashing. You can see in a couple of the pictures during our first Turbid Mash runnings, we got this milky white Wort from the grain.

It is a lengthy Mash schedule, but I would gamble to say it will turn out to be some incredible beer. Patrick really knows his stuff, and it is from him that I learned to do All Grain Brewing.

We ended up with about 20 gallons. Check out the Link to the pictures: BREW DAY!

Today, like a crazy fool, I decided to go out and run 20 miles, all on road, in the heat of the day.

I paid dearly for it. My heart rate was high as it typically is when it's hot outside. I walked a little more than I wanted to, but it was just to get fluids in me and to keep moving.

I needed to do this to help me get ready for Javelina. It probably won't be as hot in October/November out there, but I want to be prepared.

You'll see me posting more on my heat training in weeks to come. I plan on running in my garage on my treadmill with the door shut for extra heat. It gets so hot in there.

I plan on some more crazy "training" so stay tuned. Just when you thought I was nuts.......it's gonna get more interesting.

Yesterday's 20 miler

I didn't have much time to post this as I was busy planning my work night. Sorry, no pictures. I traveled lightweight yesterday.
My plan was to work outside by my fire pit and watch the Perseid's Meteor Showers.
I had a blast watching for them while taking small breaks from work. Every time, I would look up for a minute or two at a time and would see at least one.
The meteors shot across the sky in various colors ranging from bright greens, blues, to oranges and yellows.

I went out for a run last night not knowing the exact distance I was going to run. I knew I was at least going to run a half marathon distance to maybe 15 miles. I ended up with 20 miles all on road.
Today, I am so sore. Much more sore than when we ran 21 miles this past Sunday on Trail. I hate road running, but it must be done.

Anyway, not much going on the next couple of days. I am brewing with my Brew Club tomorrow. Maybe I'll post some stuff about that.

Totals: 20 Miles

......and we Pay to do this to ourselves?

Sometimes I wonder why we do it. More specifically, why I do it to myself. I guess I am a glutton for punishment and a glutton for Chocolate Pie.
Today, I noticed I was whipped from the workout from the day before. I need to do it, otherwise, I will suffer later in my crazy quests for adventure.

This goes along with races. Why do we pay the exorbitant amount of money for entry fees, travel expenses, gear, etc?????
If you are like me you like the adventure. Some people are competitive about races. Myself, I really could care less. I think for me, it is about the adventure and seeing how far I can push myself. In the sport that I do, I am very self centered. The exact opposite of who I really am when I'm not out running, cycling, CrossFitting or whatever.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the punishing workouts that are handed down to us. They build character. Right?
I guess that's why I Pay to do this to myself:

Warm up:
1 Mile Run
30 OHS (Overhead Squats)
20 K2E's (Knees to Elbows)
10 Pull Ups

Skill: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 - Power Cleans

WOD:
50 Burpees
50 Squats
50 Push Ups
50 Pull Ups (Assisted with Pull Up band)
1 Mile Run

My time: 23:05

Just when you get comfortable.....

Yep, you got it. I went to CrossFit today thinking I'd wing it and then be ready to go out and ride 20-30 miles on my bike as I had planned. Wrong.

I knew something was up when Tonya wrote down the Warm up, and she said "I thought I'd take it easy on you guys during the warm up". Not sure what she was talking about 'cause the damn warm up was hard.

Typically the Skill isn't all that bad. It about learning correct form and concentrating on quality not quantity.

We had to use the rower and row 3 sets and the best average time won. For some reason we had problems with our rower and we weren't able to get an accurate number on my 1st and 3rd set.

I think the first set was about 1:45. The second was correct at 1:50, and the 3rd I think was about 1:50. After all the sets, I nearly passed out from lack of oxygen. I was toast. -Sweet!

After the Skill, we were all thinking maybe they'll feel bad for us and let us skip the WOD. Wrong.

When Tonya wrote on the board: 21-15-9, we knew it was gonna suck and by that I mean: Fran.

Fran is the kind of workout that makes you nearly blackout. during the entire rowing skill, all we saw were those numbers. We had no idea what it would really be.

After the row session, I really wanted to be done. No more. I couldn't take it. The humidity was bad and this isn't an air conditioned pansy ass gym either. It smells of steel, rubber tires and sweat. -Awesome.

When we learned of the WOD, I really wanted a catastrophic event to occur so we wouldn't have to start the work out. It didn't happen. AS I stood there at my station looking at that Barbell, the only thing I could do was tell myself Suck it up. It's workouts like this that will make your body change.

My time: 15:38

On a side note, my shoulder is toast. I think I'll be calling and Ortho to have it looked at and possibly some surgery after Javelina in November. There are so many people with shoulder problems anymore that is almost common. This is regardless if you workout or you don't.

After Rogue, I decided no more. I was done for the day. Instead, I took my pup swimming. See video below. Sorry for the wind. A Storm was rolling through.

What an awesome freakin weekend!!!!!! (Beer)

The week hadn't gone that great for me from the start. I'll spare the details, but going into this weekend I wasn't so sure about how it would play out. I told Luca that him and I would go up to Mohican on Sunday and run 21 miles on trail. I was fighting a cold and wasn't sure this would be possible.
I told a friend of mine (Bret) that I would be brewing a huge batch of Beer on Saturday with him. I knew this would be possible as there was no running involved. The last time I brewed, I had a lot of problems that resulted in a lot of frustration. One reason being that I was brewed that batch alone.
I woke up really late on Saturday and called Bret to head on over. He brought his little Beagle over and my pups and his was worn out by the end of the day.

Regarding the brew, I was a little nervous as I have never brewed a batch this big before on my own. I was really counting on him to help us through this batch. Turns out, he was a huge help and we ended up with no problems at all. We ended up with 12.5 gallons of Honey Kolsch........SWEET! Best of all he really like the previous batch of Honey Kolsch I brewed. That's always a plus.

After the brew day, I gathered all my gear I needed in order to get ready for the run on Sunday. By this time I felt that my cold was gonna be held off and that I could just wing this run.
I've ran up there sicker than this and got through with no problems. I knew going into this that the day would be hot. (Don't laugh, but we were supposed to hit 90 degrees today)
I chatted online with Rob P. and Michelle B. and learned that Don, and Terri Lemke would join us for the run. Awesome!

Here is a picture of Luca (aka: Funny man) and I in the first 5 miles or so of the run.

I was slightly nervous as Terri is super fast and Don is a machine of the trails.
Mine and Luca's plans were to chill out and take it easy. -We did.

We started off at 7:30 on the Red/Green trails. The humidity was creeping up but I didn't notice really until it was too late. About mile 10 I was nearly exhausted. I was wondering what was going on. The heat wasn't too bad as most of the trail is shaded, but that humidity was eating away at us and I didn't even put 2 and 2 together.

Terri and Don were fed up with Luca and I slowing them down so they shot off like lightening.
I don't blame them, I would have left us too!
Luca and I came upon a stream crossing and I had the bright idea to start running up stream through the water. The splashing around felt so good and I didn't want it to end.

Fast forward to about mile 17, we find Don laying down on a gravel mound resting. He ended up getting light headed from the heat and thought he'd send Terri on her way to finish up her run and just wait for us to slog up the trail.

After a few minutes, we wondered up the trail in disbelief that the heat had done so much damage to all of us.
After we got back to the covered bridge, Terri was already back there wondering what the hell happend to us. She beat all of our asses! Luca and I headed straight to the Mohican River. We had been talking about it during the run about going up to the lake for a swim. We also talked about cold......Beer!, and pizza. Luca was killing me all day talking about Italian cooking and even brought along some Tuscan style flat bread that he cut up in small bites for us to munch on during the run. It was awesome. Rewind to a few hours earlier, he had made me a cup of coffee Italian style. Again, awesome. Fast forward back to the talk of......Beer! We couldn't stop talking about beer. We were thirsty and needed......Beer!

Okay...back to the River.....I went on down to the river and found Luca in the water just soaking it up. I promptly joined him. You would have thought we were Kings....Kings without......Beer!
After the much needed soak, Don offered us a beer at his house and we were quick to accept the invitation.
Don, you're a life saver. I am not sure Luca and I could have made it back to Columbus without stopping somewhere for a .......Beer!
The weekend turned out great. This run today made me realize I need to suck it up and do more heat training for my run in Arizona. What an awesome weekend. All these guys are awesome and I look forward to many more runs with them.

Good Ride, Good Beer with Good Friends

Yesterday I went on a ride with Luca, whom I met during the Mohican 50k back a few month's ago. We were pretty much running the entire time together back and forth throughout the entire race. Him and another guy kept me entertained for miles.
Well, fast forward to now. We finally met up for a ride out in the country. I told him it would be very quiet in terms of traffic and noise. This was not the case. There were a ton of cars. I couldn't believe it. Needless to say we had no incidents and made it back safe.
One thing is for sure, he killed me on this ride and I don't think he was trying. So funny.
It was a great workout and I needed to be pushed.
Maybe I was so tired from the CrossFit workout I did prior to the ride. Who knows.
Afterward, we sat at my kitchen table and drank a few home brews and relaxed.
What a great way to start the week.

Totals: 32 miles road bike
CrossFit WOD:

Warm up: 800m run, 50 KB swings (45lbs)
Skill: 5x5 Front Squats
WOD: 100 push Ups, 2000m Row, 100 Squats

Anyone else Burned out?

This is not a good position to be in. Not sure why, but I seemed to be really burned out on everything starting with....gasp....CrossFit.....and second....gasp, gasp...Running!
I need to get rid of this lazy feeling and suck it up. This is my body wussin out on me.
Today was a kicker for me. I simply didn't want to push myself that hard during the workout. It's nothing they did, it's just me. Seems every time I do a workout I push myself to extreme exhaustion. Painful exhaustion. Kinda getting burned out on that I guess.

I know the answer is to not back off the CrossFit, but maybe scale back while doing the workouts. Maybe mix it up a little. Go heavy on the weights one day, make it a heavy Cardio day the next.

I'm a little disappointed I didn't get a chance to go for a run today. Simply not enough time to fit it in.

Kim "The Trail Goddess" is running the Burning River 100 this weekend. I will be crewing and pacing her the final 30 miles. I think being back in these kinds of surroundings will help me get back into it. Wish her luck. This is gonna be a great finish for her.


CrossFit WOD
Warm Up: 1 Mile Indian Run

Skill: 5x5 Back Squats: Weight: 205 lbs

WOD:
11 Power Snatch (ended up doing 3 sets of KB Snatch because of my shoulder)
400m Run
AMRAP in 20 minutes....my score: 5 Rounds

Pluggin along and feeling good.

I purposely slept in today thinking I may get a little heat late morning into the afternoon. This would not be the case. We have had some weird weather here in Ohio. We've had maybe 1 or 2 days that hit in the 90's. That's it!

When I went out this morning it was in the low 70's and pretty much stayed that way.

I need heat to train in!

I took the bike out for a ride around town to do some exploring.

It was great to explore new parts of town I had not been on my bike.
It was kinda uneventful. No police were involved though. Ended up with about 30 miles.

After the ride, I went home and got my 40 lb vest on and headed to Chestnut Ridge Metro Park.

I ended up just power walking as I have not used my vest in a while for running and didn't want to chance injuring myself. I kept a steady pace throughout the walk and never stopped on the uphills.
This workout felt great. I ended up with a little over 4 miles for the walk. Again the time out at Chestnut Ridge was uneventful. In the pictures below there is an opening in which you can see Downtown Columbus off in the distance. The zoom on my camera was able to pick it up better in the second picture. With the naked eye, the view is awesome.

The final picture (I hope you can click on it to see it). There was a small Garter snake, maybe about 3 feet long slithering across the trail.