Running: My legs were pissed at me, so I took the elevator today.

It's been about 5 weeks since BR100 and I have been having a lot of fun. Quite on purpose, I did not schedule anything on the remaining 2011 calendar as far as ultra's go. It's biting me a little bit because I would love to do a couple of them that are timed well and are already sold out.

I was "running" on day 2 after br100, but ended up running myself over to the pool and aqua jogging a while. I think I logged about 25 miles that week, and a couple 1,000meters in the pool. By week 2 I was up to 45 or so, and by now I logged 50 last week as well as a 60 mile road ride. My speed is not there, but it'll come.
So, after all the wondering about what happened to me shooting for a 22-24hr 100 miler, I realized that I showed up with a fuel tank full of nothing (did not even eat breakfast, idiot), and tried to chase that for the rest of the run. Why? Who knows, maybe I was getting over confident and under-experienced about it all. So, long story short....I have spent some time talking to folks who know what they are doing with regards to nutrition (thank you Crystal & Chris Basich, and Jody @ Fleet Feet!). Looks like for now, I have settled on getting my calories through multi-hour bottles of Hammer Perpetuum. It may change, but I am going to stick with the plan for a while and see how it goes. At least I know what I really need to do now.

I'll continue to pop my nuun tabs as my hydration strategy and may even mix 'em all together for some ultra martinis (although, I have a couple friends who use it for the morning after a few too many beverages :)

With all that said, as I was talking to folks about it, I kept thinking that I had been doing this to myself for a couple of years. A 50k or even 50 miler, you can get away with a lot of different products...I still think I could run an ultra on coffee and cookies..... but it all reared it's ugly head at BR100, exposing the fact that my calorie plan was simply not up to par. My hydration plan has been solid for a while, especially since I discovered nuun, but it's the calories that really made me suffer. Such an interesting sport, this is why the experienced runners do so well, they know what works, what doesn't work, and continually tweak it as time marches on.

Blah blah blah, so what's next?? Run With Scissors Double Marathon if family, work, travel all work out. If not, I am going to reproduce the Johnson Five-0 (50 miler), shirts and all.

After RWS, looks like the USSSA (US Snowshoe Association) accepted my January 15th Race as a State Championship race and qualifier for the USSSA Nationals in Frisco, CO! Boo yah! I feel kind of like I have discovered an untapped market in Ohio, we have snow, we have winter athletes, why not race on the
snowshoes??? Well, I got a 3 race series planned for you:

Jan.15th - 5k/10k USSSA National Qualifier, Lake Farmparks, Kirtland Oh.
Feb.11th - 5k Race at Girdled Rd.
Mar.03rd - 5k Race at Chapin Forest (night race), under the lights.
-z