Adios Ultras

Back in the Day - me at the 2009 Bandera 100k

This weekend saw the 38th running of the Western States 100 mile race - the Boston marathon of the ultra world - and it prompted me to write a post I've been meaning to do for a while but never actually got around to doing.  Last year I seriously considered entering the lottery to run it, yet this year I had no desire to do so.  For everything there is a season, and I think it's time to bring down the curtain on this chapter of my life and retire from running ultra marathons.  50 and 100 milers require a considerable time commitment to a largely selfish pursuit, and with a young family and a new job, that's no longer a commitment I'm willing to give.  It also requires a certain amount of intensity and passion to fight through the low points, and for me that passion is gone.

To be honest, it's been gone for a while.

I got into the ultra scene several years ago almost by accident, and what attracted me was the challenge of the unknown - exploring the question of how far I could push myself.  But after running and completing 17 ultra marathons (including 2 one hundred milers), I've lost the sense of challenge.

When I ran the Rocky 100 earlier this year, I had come off the best race of my life two months earlier at the White Rock marathon, and had exhausted much of the passion and determination I usually tap into.  I had also picked up a nasty hip injury in the weeks beforehand, to the point that I could barely walk the week of the race.  I debated about whether or not to even show up, and several runner friends a lot wiser than me had advised me not to.

And at some point between mile 30 and 40, I just gave up.  I was limping along and realized the idea of hobbling around all night just to say I finished a race I'd already completed once was not enough motivation to continue.  I had never DNFed before, and always thought it would be something I would never give up without a fight.  But I found it really didn't matter to me any more.

And that's when I realized that doing these bizarre races just wasn't that much fun anymore, and I wondered why I'd even signed up in the first place.

And I knew my ultra days were over.

I don't regret anything about my time in the trail running community - I had some wonderful experiences, met some great people I am proud to call friends, and contorted my ankle into many interesting positions.  I pushed myself to levels I didn't know I could reach, and discovered a lot about myself on many a moonlit trail.  It taught me that I am a gutsy and resourceful little fighter, and it gave me a level of self belief and inner confidence that has translated to much success in my professional life.

And while I will probably still run trail from time to time (oddly enough I'm meeting a few buddies for a trail run tomorrow night - my first time back on the trails in months), I'm checking out of the long races.  Maybe I'll still do a few 50ks here and there, but I'm done with 50 and 100 milers.

Maybe a few years down the line when my boys are older, perhaps they'll enjoy running in the woods with daddy and relight the flame.  But for now, I'm going to concentrate on road running.  I can fit a lot more training into a much shorter time span than I ever could with trails, and I do enjoy the sheer exhilaration of pushing the pace, feeling the wind in my hair, the road flying past my feet, and not having to keep an eye out for snakes!!!  I also have the advantage of regular training buddies to keep me honest, and time goals I can aim for.

However unlikely those goals may be :-)

San Antonio Stroll: Week 4 of 23

It's been a tough week, with travel and long hours at work cutting into my training plans. At least I'll be at home this week, so I'll have less excuses. Coming up this week, I notice I've started to add in some midweek 10 milers. Whatever happens on race day, at least I won't be able to claim I don't have a base.

On the other hand, the 6:50 treadmill run this week made me wonder how I could possibly hold on to that pace for 26.2 miles. I'm wondering if maybe the sub-3 goal is a little out of my range. Oh well, I'll still aim for it and see how it plays out.

Saturday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
14 miles	8:30 to 9:00
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Ah, real life intervenes. Had to work today, and if I don't make my early morning run I'm not going to carve out any time later in the day. No worries - we're that far out from San Antonio that missing this run doesn't matter that much.


Sunday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
7 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
7 miles	58:40 (8:23 pace)

Notes: 5:30am, 78F and really humid. Felt good, and enjoyed the run.  Maybe I'm acclimatizing to the heat (or maybe that's just wishful thinking).  Thought we were booking it at one point, but turns out we were only doing 8:23 pace.  Go figure :-)


Monday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles	7:42 to 8:10
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	No idea

Notes: 6:15pm, 102F. Met up with some buddies I haven't seen in a while to run the trails at Bull Creek. It was good to catch up, though it was brutally hot, especially on the ridge.  I didn't take my Garmin, and didn't even start my watch - just enjoyed the run.  I led the way, and felt like I pushed it at some points, but that's probably wishful thinking on my part.  Wore my camelbak, which I don't really like that much because I can't pour water over my head to cool off.  We did cool off afterwards with a few beers and a good old chin wag though.  Good times,.


Tuesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
10 miles	7:59 to 9:00
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
10 miles	1:26:22 (8:38 pace)

Notes: 4:20am, 80F and humid enough to drown a cat.  Embraced the idea of base building this morning, and slowed the pace down.  Am very proud of my self restraint, and found a nice little rhythm I could zone out into.  First midweek 10 miler in a while, felt good.  Drenched by the end - shoes and socks felt (and sounded) like I'd been jumping in puddles.  Note to self - 10 miles seems to be about the upper limit of the "one handheld bottle" range in this weather.


Wednesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles	7:42 to 8:10
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
10 miles	1:29:06 (8:54 pace)

Notes: 4:30am, 75F and humid.  Ok, so I switched my days around (and added on a few extra few miles).  As Clea said, "I can't believe you're cheating on your own plan"!!!.  Yes, I will admit it - I am a blatant tinkerer (though I prefer the term "personalizing" - haha).  I will run 4 tomorrow instead of 8, but it's always good to have company for these early morning runs, and as Clea had 10 on the schedule for today, it made sense to jump on in.  Nice run, easy pace, good base building, lots of conversation, happy days.  Still drenched by the end, with soggy shoes and socks - summer in Texas.


Thursday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 9:00
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Didn't happen. Was up working on an emergency project until 2am. Glad I switched the mileage around and did 10 for the last two days. Maybe I'll do 4 tomorrow morning.


Friday
Rest Day

San Antonio Stroll: Week 3 of 23

I'm on the road again this week, so my midweek runs will be confined to the treadmill. Since 4 miles seems to be my treadmill patience limit, I have altered my training plan accordingly and simply upped the pace to compensate for the shorter distance.


Saturday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
14 miles	8:30 to 9:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
14 miles	2:02:00 (8:42 pace)

Notes: 5am, 79F and humid.  Did an initial 6 mile extended Enfield before looping back to the rock and joining up with my friends for an 8 mile Jefferson.  Been feeling a bit under the weather for the last few days, and wasn't in the best frame of mind for a long run.  Felt pretty drained by the end and was glad to be done.


Sunday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
7 miles	59:34 (8:31 pace)

Notes: 5:30am, 76F and breezy. The breeze actually helped keep the humidity at bay this morning, and I enjoyed a fun Danish run with Clea. She bought me a copy of Tim Noakes "Lore of Running", which I will enjoy perusing while I'm on the road this week.


Monday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles (treadmill)	7:00 to 7:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	29:31 (7:23 pace)

Notes: Another long day - up at 4am to drive to Lewisville.  I'll sleep well tonight.  Hit the treadmill at the hotel after work and felt tired.  Dialed it back to the lower end of my pace range, then headed out to my favorite local Italian eatery for supper.  Sitting here in my hotel room about to delve into Noakes and watching the sky outside that is promising the mother of all rain storms.


Tuesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles (treadmill)	sub-7
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	27:36 (6:54 pace)

Notes: Do I really think I can hold this pace for 26.2 miles?  Hmm, we'll see.  Stranger things have happened....I guess.


Wednesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles (treadmill)	7:00 to 7:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Didn't leave the client site until nearly midnight. Needless to say, didn't get to run.


Thursday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles (treadmill)	Sub-7
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Another late work night, followed by a 4 hour drive back to Austin. I am one tired puppy.


Friday
Added a Friday run into the schedule to make up for the days I'd missed this week.  Did 7 miles with Clea in 58:58 (8:25 pace), and got told off for breaking my own training rules and scheduling some fast runs on the treadmill while I'm still in base building phase.  Of course she's right, but sometimes it's so hard to reign in your own ego.  That's the big advantage of having a training partner who can call you out when you do something stupid (of course, for me that's 95% of the time - haha).

This morning, I took a break from shirtless running (all of Austin rejoiced) and wore a new running shirt a manufacturing company sent me.  They wanted me to road test a tech shirt specifically designed for hot conditions.  Yours truly - little welsh boy who runs hot, sweats like a pig and lives in Texas is an obvious test candidate.  It felt ok during the run, but it did retain a lot of moisture and got significantly heavier the further we went (and it was "only" 74F this morning).  When I finished the run, we noticed it was absolutely saturated (see the picture below).  Despite that, I liked the shirt - it has a very smart look and design, and I can see myself wearing it casually, or during winter runs.  It may not be enough to cool my werewolf nature during summer runs though.

Sunflower

Look at how much my sunflower has grown - I can't believe I grew this thing from seed!!!

San Antonio Stroll: Week 2 of 23

Saturday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
13 miles	8:30 to 9:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
12 miles	1:42:15 (8:31 pace)

Notes: 5:30am, 78F and humid.  Start at 43rd and Duval, down through UT, Town Lake North shore, Scenic Drive to 35th, looping back to Duval.  Whoops, thought I was supposed to do 12 miles today.  Not a bad run, but not great either.  Never got into a rhythm, and never felt I had that extra gear, but as this is base building I'm not worried about the pace.  Got the run out of the way, now we're headed down to Galveston.


Sunday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
6 miles	47:46 (7:57 pace)

Spotted in the harbor on Galveston island

Notes: 8:30pm, 85F and really humid.  You would have thought that spending a few days being salty toasted sea dogs, spending hours in the sea and the hotel pool would have worn out my two boys, but instead it seems to have invigorated them.  I was going to get up early this morning and run, but Dylan beat me to it and I wasn't heartless enough to leave Nancy to chase him around a hotel room for an hour.  So we spent a brilliant day splashing in the waves, swimming in the pool, eating ice cream and exploring Galveston island.  By around 8pm, Nancy thought Dylan was just about out of it, so I took the opportunity to jump out the door and get in a few miles.  I ran the mile or so down to the sea wall, and then ran alongside the ocean for a few miles.  The heat of the day was still in the air, but there was a cooling breeze off the sea that made it slightly more tolerable.  The almost full moon was reflecting off the water, and the seawall was crowded.  I didn't have time for the full 8 miles, so I turned around at 3 miles and retraced my steps.  With about a mile to go, I turned away from the sea and back toward the hotel, at which point I lost the breeze and realized what a warm and muggy night it really was.  Was glad to be done, and pleased I'd managed a sub-8 minute mile run.  Got back to the room to discover both boys still awake and lively.  Decided I needed to cool off, and invited Gavin to come down to the pool with me for another night swim (last night I took both boys for a night swim).  We swam around together, told stories and watched the moon.  It was a great end to a great day.  He's now fast asleep on the pillow next to me.  Think I'll join him.


Monday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles (optional)	7:42 to 8:20
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Long drive back from Galveston. Took an off day.


Tuesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
8 miles	1:05:44 (8:13 pace)

Notes: 4:30am, 76F and humid.  Hot and sweaty 8 miles - better get used to it because this is what the next few months will be.  Ran right in the middle of my pace zone - legs felt a little leaden but no problems keeping it going.

Cross Training: PM - did 30 minutes of core work


Wednesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles	7:42 to 8:20 (or recovery)
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
0 miles	N/A

Notes: Skipped - bad wolf*!!!


Thursday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
8 miles	1:05:13 (8:09 pace)

Notes: 4:30am, 78F and humid as all hell.  Twisted my ankle about half a mile into the run, being my typical clumsy old self.  Kept plodding away in the knowledge that the deposits I make now (and for the rest of the summer) can be cashed in with interest come November.  It's kind of sad though that I could run a 7:20/mile marathon 6 months ago, and now I feel I'm pushing and am lucky to break 8.  Dang Texas summertime - that sub-3 hour marathon seems a very long way away right now!!!


Friday
Rest Day



* obscure Doctor Who reference

Feral

Look at what pulled up into the parking lot of my hotel this morning.  I took this picture with my phone and sent it to Nancy.  She texted me back "wait until you get home to boys gone wild".

It's good to be home, and the boys were wildly happy to welcome me back.  Taking the family down to the coast this weekend - looking forward to it.

San Antonio Stroll: Week 1 of 23

Week 1 of my training plan for the San Antonio Rock & Roll marathon. This is going to be a good indication of my commitment to the cause because I'm going to be traveling to Flower Mound all week, which probably means I'm going to have to hit the dreaded treadmill at the hotel. To counter that, I've loaded up the ipod with a bunch of podcasts, including Marathon Talk, This American Life and the Jillian Michaels Show.

I hope it works because I hate the treadmill!!!


Saturday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
12 miles	8:30 to 9:00
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
12 miles	1:42:39 (8:33 pace)

Notes: 5:30am, 76F, Mueller. A nice breeze this morning, kicked off my season with a relaxed 12 miler with Clea.  Warning to all Austin residents - I suspect most of my runs for the next few months will be shirtless!!!


Sunday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
7 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
7 miles	57:28 (8:12 pace)

Notes: 5:30am, 69F, Danish route with Clea.  Another nice run - we picked up the pace the further we went and definitely pulled a negative split.  Once again comfortably in the middle of my pace range without expending too much effort - we never pushed to the extent that we shifted out of conversation zone.  I seem to be in a lot better shape than I was this time last year - this bodes well.


Monday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles	7:42 to 8:20
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	29:26 (7:21 pace)

Notes: 5:30pm, hotel treadmill at 1.5% incline.  OK, so I cheated and ran faster than I should have, but I hate running on the treadmill so I give it a bit of "hurry up".  Long day today - was on the road at 4:30 this morning to drive to Lewisville.  Checked into the hotel this evening, unpacked and headed straight for the fitness room - had it all to myself, and wondered why it felt so warm.  When I finished, I discovered that somebody had turned the heater on - it was 85F in there!!!


Tuesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	27:33 (6:53 pace)

Notes: Time is a strange beast.  When you're watching your family grow it moves so quickly, when you run a race it can be your enemy, and when you're on the road you sometimes don't have enough of it.  Today I was supposed to run 8 miles, but I didn't get back to the hotel until late so I decided to do a fast 4 miles on the treadmill instead. Managed to hold marathon pace for the whole distance, and beat yesterday's time by nearly 2 minutes.  I still hate running on the treadmill.  Good run though - gives me some hope I can actually go out and hold that pace in November.


Wednesday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
4 miles	7:42 to 8:20
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	29:21 (7:20 pace)

Notes: Beautiful blood red sunset tonight.  I drove into Dallas for dinner and a few beers with my buddy and his wife, so I really had to steel myself to go run when I got back to the hotel.  But I did it!!!  I dialed the pace way back from yesterday and ran really comfortably while catching up on my Marathon Talk podcasts.  Maybe I'll make my weeks away from home my speed weeks.


Thursday

Required Mileage	Required Pace
8 miles	7:59 to 8:30
Actual Mileage	Actual Time/Pace
4 miles	27:21 (6:50 pace)

Notes: Ah, the irony of the treadmill - it makes me push the pace to get done before I die of boredom.  But it seems to be working - tonight I ran 4 miles just under marathon goal pace (6:50) and it felt a lot easier than a few days ago.  I really think that doing these short, hard, fast treadmill runs are helping me.  I think this will become my plan for those weeks I'm on the road.  All in all, pretty satisfied with my first week of marathon training.  Now I'm off to enjoy a real gem of an Italian restaurant I found here in Lewisville.  I ate there Tuesday night, and it was wonderful - the only Italian restaurant I've ever been to that I can confidently say makes a better pasta dish than I do.


Friday
Rest Day

San Antonio Rose

Deep within my heart lies a melody
A song of old San Antone.

Though actually it's more rock and roll than country, because today saw the start of my training plan for November's San Antonio Rock & Roll marathon.  It is my goal race for this year, and my lofty aim is to try and run a sub-3 hour marathon - that equates to roughly a 6:50 average pace.  A pipe dream perhaps, but if you're going to set a goal you may as well aim high. The plan I designed is partly based on the concepts I learned at the RRCA coaching class, and partly on things I know to have worked for me in the past.  It is a 23 week schedule, split into three phases - 13 weeks of base building, 7 weeks of sharpening and 3 weeks of tapering that takes me up to race day.

I have given myself a specific pace range for every run from now until November.  This morning my schedule dictated 12 miles at an 8:30 to 9:00 pace, and I averaged 8:33.  In the base building phase, we concentrate mostly on building mileage, and don't really worry about the pace - that comes in the sharpening phase (though I simply refuse to slow down to the extent that the RRCA recommends and have cheated on my pace ranges accordingly).  The plan calls for me to run 6 days a week (Fridays are rest days), with long run progressions on Saturday and alternating short to medium distance runs midweek at varying paces (I hit the short 4 mile runs harder than the longer ones).  I will add in cross training (yoga, weights, core and the bike trainer) on hard run days as I see fit.

I put a similar plan together for Clea (my regular running buddy), who is also running San Antonio and shooting for a 3:20.  Again I cheated and made all of our weekend runs the same distance and pace (it's so much easier to do those 20+ milers when you have somebody to run with), and left in our fun Sunday morning Danish runs (can I build treats from a bakery into a training plan?).


I'm in two minds about whether or not to publish my weekly training plan/log on the blog.  I did it for White Rock last year, and it worked pretty well for me.  What do you think - anyone interested in seeing how many runs I skip, or reading my sarcastic rants, moans and curses about Texas heat and humidity?