Week ending May 27: Assault on Mt. Pisgah

Mon 5/21 3 miles

Tue 5/22  3 miles. Still pretty tired after the long weekend.

Wed 5/23 Off. Took heed from last week’s one-mile day when I shouldn’t have run.

Thu 5/24  8 1/2 miles at Croft. I haven’t been on the Chapters for a while.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to Chapters to Palmetto

Fri 5/25 4 1/2 miles on Cottonwood. Felt very good: made myself go easy.

Sat 5/26  26 miles North Mills River Recreation Area to Mount Pisgah and back: Big Creek Trail, Laurel Mountain Trail

Definitely a highlight run of the year. I met up with a group of western North Carolina trail runners who put on a pile of self-supported group runs through the year. Seth and I have internet-stalked them for a while, and I finally got up the nerve to go run with them. I'll thank Adam fopr organizing this one, and the rest of the crowd here for putting on these great runs, and for promoting trail running in beautiful places.

This run (“an almost perfect loop of about 26 miles”) started at the North Mills River Recreation Area, which was the start of the overnight relay that I blame for this long-distance habit. I flitted about through the crowd, finding my place as we climbed slightly along a fire road. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember much from that first ten minutes or so, other than meeting people. At some point I found myself pulling away from the guy I was running with, but fairly far behind the folks right in front of me. I decided I’d speed up to catch them--did I mention I had no map and no idea where we were going?

I ran with Stan, Lindsey and Hayley for quite a while. The trail ran along a creek (Big Creek, I’m guessing, since that was the name of the trail), crossing it several times, just stunning deep valley running. All that flat running--probably 5 miles or more--meant the climbing would come pretty sharply. But we were rolling right along there, chatting and easy in the deep woods. We talked about jobs (Hayley’s a lawyer, Lindsey teaches middle school; why didn’t I find out what Stan does?) and running and I don’t know what all.

And then it happened. Right at a little cleared spot by the creek, the trail turned steeply uphill. We stopped and ate. “Fuel now,” Lindsey said. I did. Hayley turned back here, and for the most part, Lindsey took off up the climb. She stayed in sight most of the way, but she was on a mission and tearing it up. Stan and I separated some, and the climbing just kept me in that in-my-head place, feeling good and running (imitating the running motion) when I could. 

I knew what the loop was in theory, but I was still eased by having Stan, who had run the course before (and was planning to run another long run in the mountains with these guys the following week--strong runner, in other words) right behind me. We got to Blue Ridge Parkway, the top of the longest climb, in a little over two hours. We ran along the Parkway to the Mount Pisgah rest area where Terry had a fully stocked aid station. I had brought peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, but didn’t want to eat any at all. Lindsey had an orange, and shared another with me. I ate half, and left half with Terry for someone else. But that orange was spectacular, cold and wet. I should have eaten the whole thing. 

At the top of the long climb to the Blue Ridge Parkway

From there the course climbs to the peak of Mt. Pisgah, and you turn around and come back down. The trail was pretty crowded--a good thing as folks renew themselves by coming in contact with nature. Made for a little less free running. And the trail was nice and flat for a good piece, letting me unwind my legs a little. The steep pitch to the peak ended the climbing for the day. Stan and his girlfriend/wife, who met us at the parking area (she’s running 29 miles next weekend, and rested this day), were at the observation deck when I got there. All the way up I saw other runners coming down; we all exchanged enthusiastic greetings. I passed Lindsey on her way back down from the peak; “Great orange, huh?” she said.

The drop back down to North Mills River was more gradual than the climb, basically one trail from the parking area traversing steep hillsides, at times in cool, narrow slots. When I say cool, I mean chilly. The day turned very hot, and although I didn’t overheat, I didn’t drink enough water. I started to crave some flavor in my water, actually, and tried a gel in one. Chocolate, at least, did not taste good. 

Buttery.

But these little naturally air-conditioned sections were relieving, and the running easy and downhill. About 2 miles from the end of the trail, and about 5 miles from the end of the run, my stomach really got upset. I felt crampy, and tried to soothe it with food. I think I was depleted. I’d taken two SCaps, which always leave my jaw a little tight, and starting eating a Shot Block every ten minutes or so. 

Yeah, I was clobbered. Sean had caught and passed us earlier, and Stan had disappeared around the switchbacks and ridge lines. I just put it on cruise, walking and running--mostly my decision when--to the finish. It took me a half hour or so to feel like being social, including a brief hurl session about 15 minutes after I finished. Thanks to Dave for hanging with me then. He was leaving, but stayed until I was conversational again. 

I feel certain the hurl-fest resulted from dehydration. I was drenched early in the run, and still only finished one bottle on the way up. I finished three total, I think--about 60 ounces, probably. My waist pack ended up rubbing me a little raw at the belt-line, too. I’ll have to figure out a better system for such long runs. Highlands Sky will be well supported, so I think I’ll be okay with my one bottle. I may invest in a vest, too, which seems to be least restrictive of the pack-type hydration systems.

I felt great about the run, though. As far as I can figure, the trail climbs 3500’ from the camping area to the peak of Mount Pisgah. I’m sure that steep climb was well over 2000’ in about two or three miles. I don’t get that opportunity very often, and my quads know it. Stan said he ran 5 hours 26 minutes last year; I ran 5:14, and Stan was well under that.

I met a bunch of cool and interesting people, some real studs of the ultra-world, and was reminded again of the great camaraderie of trail runners.

Sun 5/27  Didn’t see why I should run, and spent a great day with my Gorgeous.

Total: 45 miles in 5 runs

Fortnight ending May 20

Mon 5/7 5 miles on Cottonwood

Tue 5/8   0 miles: A visit with my Gorgeous to Urgent Care took precedence.

Wed 5/9 6.5 miles around the neighborhood.

Thu 5/10 8.5 miles at Croft.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to Lake Johnson Loop to Palmetto

Fri 5/11 A huge day with various work commitments, kid-driving, and getting on the road for a visit with EO and Betty. This one was special, for reasons I’ll go into in a future post. Just Q and I were able to go, so it was a man’s weekend. That much time with Q would be special no matter what. 

Sat 5/12 Running? What’s that? Showing Q around my home town, seeing my niece dance in her recital, and just generally hanging with EO and Betty centered the whole day.

EO is predictably slow, and he is driven door to door most of the time. But he’s sharp as usual in many ways. I’m glad to have seen him in person rather than talk to him on the phone. 

Sun 5/13 15 miles on the Kanawha Trace Trail. Planned through the magic of facebook, I met Gregg at the finish line of a race I dropped out of last summer. The Boy Scouts manage and maintain the Kanawha Trace Trail, and have now for 50 years. Challenged by a farmer who let them camp on her property to build trails where they didn’t have any, the Trace runs through private property and Boy Scout property and connects by a few roads, both dirt and hard pike.

It poured rain, and we hardly noticed. We talked, and ran, and hiked, and slid through the mud, and turned around a few times when we missed the trail. All these things make a great run.

Total 35 miles in 4 runs

Mon 5/14  4 miles 

Tue  5/15  6 miles around the neighborhoods. 

Wed 5/16  3 miles

Thu 5/17  8 1/2 miles at Croft. Nice and easy, with some good moments of just letting my legs turn over.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to Lake Johnson Loop to Palmetto

Fri 5/18  1 mile. Youch. Shouldn’t have run at all. 

Sat 5/19  10 miles at Croft with Joe Parker. Running with Joe is always fun. He’s directing another race at Croft, this one a marathon. We ran the second half-ish nice and easy and chatting.

from the riding ring: Palmetto across Fairforest Creek, right on Southside Loop through parking lot down Centerline to Lizard to Southside to Palmetto

Sun 5/20  19 miles at Croft. The best part about this run was my motivation level. I felt a little fatigue from Saturday, just what I was looking for, but I pushed reasonably hard throughout. 

Need I add that Bristol crushed these two runs, too?

from the riding ring: Lake Johnson Connector to Foster Mill to Lake Trail to that little lake trail to TC’s to Palmetto to New Edition to Lake Trail all the way to the hut to Foster Mill to Lake Johnson Connector

Total  51 1/2 miles in 7 runs

Very good week. The back-to-back days both felt easy and restrained; I’m pretty confident about Highlands Sky--confident about finishing, that is--especially knowing I have one more 25+ mile run planned with some folks in North Carolina. 

Fortnight ending May 6

Week ending April 29

Mon 4/23  1 mile. Only the second time I’ve done this--run one mile and called it a run. It’s a little longer, about 11 minutes. Just had to do it, so I did.

Tue 4/24  3 miles. Again, did it. That’s about all.

Wed 4/25  5 miles on Cottonwood. Felt much better, and would have run farther, but I had ukulele. Still late, of course.

Thu 4/26  5 miles on Cottonwood. Again, I felt pretty peppy. I have a big weekend planned, with 43 miles or so over three days. 

Fri 4/27  9 miles at Croft.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to Lake Johnson Loop back to Palmetto

Sat 4/28  5 miles at Croft with some crazy Greenville Trail Runners. Very muddy Rocky Ridge trail good for those folks.

Sun 4/29 0 miles. A nightmare of mis-timing. At the last minute, the timing fell completely apart.

Total 27 miles in six runs

Week ending May 6

Mon 4/30  4 miles on Cottonwood

April Total 150 miles in 24 runs

Year-to-date Total 681 miles in 106 runs

Tue 5/1  7 miles at Croft. Bonked like crazy in the middle of this run. What?

Wed 5/2  4 miles on Cottonwood. Bonked again? So I play ukulele with my buds on Wednesdays. There’s a scale there, and that generally marks the only time I weigh myself. Usually, with ukulele and all, I weigh about 163. Tonight, I weighed about 152. Yipes--what am I doing? I think I’ve just been neglecting my eating, and I still haven’t been to the chiropractor after saying I need to for two weeks. 

Thu 5/3  5 miles at Croft. Bonked! I’m trying to eat more, but today I even had a massive hamstring cramp that left me hurting for a couple of days. I have to get myself back to health.

Fri 5/4 Due to a major event at work (can you say 10,000 spectators at the Downtown Criterium?) I did not run.

Sat 5/5 4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot. Feeling better. Focusing on calories. According to calorie-per-day calculators, I should be eating about 3100 calories a day. I may actually start to count so I can get up that high.

Sun 5/6  6 miles on Cottonwood. I did not feel at all motivated today.

Total 30 miles in 6 runs

This has been a rough couple of weeks for my training. I remember other times when this has happened, and know that it will pass. Plenty of time for two long runs before Highlands Sky.

Thoughts on my training

I am a romantic, yes, but also to a great extent a scientist and a realist. This creates the conflict from which I emerge occasionally victorious, but out of breath.

Henri Matisse

I had planned to run a piece of the Foothills Trail this weekend. I’ve been threatening to dip my toe in that monster that a bunch of my local runner friends have made their personal Moby Dick, doing it in pieces, or the entire length, or one crazy cat’s double crossing. I had hoped to have company, but I’ve run thousands of miles alone in both familiar and strange woods. 

Then life popped up. My children take precedence over everything, and they have made some sacrifices for me to go running all day. All of a sudden, the timing fell apart, and late Saturday night, the Bench became impossible.

I figured I’d replace the run with 25 or so miles here at Croft, and cut out the 3 hours driving time. But I woke this morning nauseous, through all the preparation for the run, including the drive down to Croft and the 100 yard jog to stash water. I bagged the run.

The Bench
from www.foothillstrailultras.com 

Cue voices: The Bench isn’t going anywhere (unless some crazed runner throws it into Lake Jocassee). I’m more fit than I’ve been in years, and my endurance is at its highest ever. I have to let these life moments and physical hints in, even though a significant part of endurance training lies in ignoring those signals. I guess I have to decide when to listen.

All this reminds me of an interesting discussion that has gone on in ultra-running for some time now, and which was elegantly added to by two top ultra-runners these days. Geoff Roes (Western States 100 and Wasatch 100 course record holder) and Ian Torrence (a long history of running, coaching and winning) have opposite views of the importance of speed training for ultra-running, but the bigger question they raise is about their own tendency to plan or not plan a training regimen. 

Torrance, a more old school runner and coach, holds that training for any distance requires three parts: endurance, stamina, and speed. The structured plans with the scheduled workouts keep him focused and confident when he races. Roes runs by feel, and says he doesn’t decide more than a day or two ahead of time what he’ll run. He may have a goal in mind (strength, or endurance) that informs his decisions, but other than that he runs with no plan.

Deciding which is “better” is pretty impossible, given the success each has had. Obviously, what works for Roes and Torrance works for them. But over 28 years of running, “what works for me” has varied greatly, depending somewhat on job, school, family, maintaining or regaining fitness, and all the other variables of life, the universe, and everything. Sometimes I have been very focused, and fairly rigid in my plan, in part to schedule with my running partners, too. Other times, I have run when I could, balancing family and career needs, especially when my kids were very young. Now I have one plan--to run every day. Beyond that, I still fall between Roes and Torrance.

I run long one day every weekend, with very few exceptions unless I’m injured or sick or worn out. “Long” has varied, but I generally have time at least one day a weekend to wear myself out. These days I count backwards from a race and write “20+” or “25+” on particular weekends. So I have some sense of what my schedule may look like.

But even then, I will change my plan if circumstances call for it. At this point in my preparation for Highlands Sky, I need to stay rested, mentally and physically. I know I’ll get some long runs in.

It seems to me that what this comes down to is art versus science. But we know that the best art involves science and the best science involves art. No one has yet come down on which is more important, or “better.” Certainly there is science behind Roes’s penchant for the vertical, though his approach may be more like art. Torrance’s art comes in the arrangement of the parts, the structure of the structured plan.  

The Snail, 1953, Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on white 
paper, 287 cm × 288 cm (112 3/4 × 108 inches), Tate Gallery, London


This could be my training plan.

I train in patterns: long run on the weekend, a medium run or two (7-10) during the week, and the rest recovery runs. Since I’ve been running every day, I run three hard weeks building mileage, then one down week to recover. Because I’m running a 40-mile distance I’ve never run before, I’ll add some mileage to my weeks, which will likely fall in the 50-60 mile range. The pattern flexes in many spots, which is to me its strength.

Through all of this I keep in mind something that George Zack, a versatile runner and popular blogger whom I admire for his commitment to training and family and the balance, has been writing about lately.  We have goals, we train to improve, we sometimes put a hurt on ourselves for it. But I’m not making any money at this. “This ain’t the Olympics,” he says. 

When I lived in Charlottesville in the mid-80s, I was running faster and faster times. I’d been running for a full year by then, and I was logging higher and higher mileage. I had no family, no girlfriend (hence all the running, right?), and Charlottesville was (and is) a great running town. I was starting to get into the idea of training, learning from running guru Mark Lorenzoni about training strategies. We did weekly speed workouts, weekly long runs, some tempo running, and my times were plummeting.  

I wanted to break 17 minutes for 5K, and went to local race to do it. There was an accompanying 10K. Mark told me another fellow was also trying break 17 minutes, and said I should hook up with him. I asked this fellow if he minded if I tagged onto him. As we talked more, he told me that he preferred 10Ks, and if “I had my choice,” he said, he would run the longer race that day.

“Had his choice,” I thought? Who is keeping this guy from running whatever he wants to run? I guess it was his training plan. I knew then that I would not train like that. I was loving the 5Ks at the time (and other than the local beer and doughnut run, I haven’t run one in several years). You can imagine what happened. I ran about 16:40, the other guy about 17:20. I ran a distance I loved, he ran a distance he didn’t.

Those Charlottesville days were my schooling. I’ve never had a coach, and days hanging out in the Ragged Mountain Running Shop lacing shoes with Mark were my education. I still value Mark’s greatest running lesson: to love what I’m doing, and to do what I love, whether it’s art or science, romantic or realist. 

Week ending April 22, with the Alabama Shakes

Mon 4/16  4 miles on Cottonwood

Tue 4/17  5 miles on Cottonwood

Wed 4/18  12 miles at Croft. Great run in the pouring rain. So yesterday it was 84 degrees and sunny; I figured it was good heat training, and that I’d pay attention to that this spring anticipating heat at Highlands Sky. Today it was 54 and raining. So much for heat training.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to TC’s to the little lake trail to Lake Johnson Loop to Palmetto

Thu 4/19 2 miles wobbling. After a full day, observing Q’s ballet class, meeting a friend for a beer (or two), I ran around the neighborhood.

Fri 4/20  4 miles on Cottonwood. Mountain laurel and wild roses blooming, cotton from the cottonwoods blowing.

Sat 4/21 3 miles

Sun 4/22  20 miles at Croft. One of the best runs I’ve ever had. Gordon and I set off in the chill and rain, and hit almost all the hilliest trails. I felt easy and strong the whole run. Bristol seemed to be feeling about the same. We ran a few extra steps to see if we could catch some of the mountain bike race going on at Southside. 

from the Riding Ring: Foster Mill to Boy Scout Hut and Lake to New Edition to Palmetto to TC’s to the little lake trail to the Lake back to the Boy Scout Hut and Foster Mill.

Total  50 miles in seven runs (101-11)

"I travelled a long way

And it took a long time

But I found you, I finally found you."

Week ending April 15

Mon 4/9  8 1/2 miles at Croft. Good relaxed, loping pace.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to Lake Johnson Loop all the way around and back to Palmetto.

Tue 4/10  3 miles  Busy day.

Wed 4/11  5 miles at Cottonwood

Thu 4/12  5 miles at Cottonwood. I thought I might go farther, but felt tired. A little niggling pain in my lower back, my right ankle, my left IT band: Get thee to a chiropractor!

Fri 4/13  4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot.

Sat 4/14  12 miles at Croft. Again, I thought I would go over 20 today, but just didn’t feel like I could muster up the mental strength to do so. Since I’m still just 3 weeks from Terrapin, I feel like I can still look at recovery. I haven’t raced much in the past few years, so I don’t want to press the comeback from a good, hard race. I am focusing on Highlands Sky, and need to be mentally and physically prepared. 

That said, and knowing I would do two shorter back-to-back runs this weekend, I went after it. I felt very easy at 7:30 pace for the entire run, even with some slow climbs. 

at Southside: Southside Loop all the way around, including High and Dry and Rock Creek.

Sun 4/15 9 1/2 miles at Croft. I set off to explore a new trail, but a tired back changed that plan. I did end up running longer than I thought I would.

from Dairy Ridge: New Edition to Lake Johnson Connector to Lake Johnson Loop all the way around to Hensington and Palmetto

Total  47 miles in seven runs  (94-11: In order to start my year on January 1, I have added in the week before I started my first streak to my count of on and off days.)

Old shoes, new shoes: the old ones
have about 530 miles on them.

In the interest of keeping track of the miles on my shoes, I will record here that I bought a new pair of shoes after Terrapin, and have been wearing them since Wednesday, March 28. 

The shoe buy was a good lesson, too: I’ve worn the Montrail Rogue Racers for a year now (3 pairs). After last year’s Terrapin, I had some foot problems, and I blamed them on the Rogue Racers’ lightness. I bought a pair of Brooks Cascadias, a heavier and more cushioned shoe. My foot problems continued until one day I wore an old pair of Rogue Racers to work. My feet felt great, so I returned to them. 

Later I felt like my calf problems were related to the Rogue Racers, and bought a pair of Mountain Masochists. I did not like either the Cascadias or the Mountain Masochists. They were both too stiff, too heavy and clunky for me. I stuck with the Rogue Racers, but was excited about the coming Montrail Bajadas, which were only slightly heavier than the Rogue Racers. I thought I would buy them, but C reminded me of something I have held to all through my running: when I find a pair of shoes I like, I stick with them. As usual, C is brilliant.  

Week ending April 8

Mon 4/2  7 miles at Croft. I felt steady but still fatigued.

from Dairy Ridge: New Addition to Lake Johnson Connector to Palmetto

Tue 4/3  4 miles at Cottonwood.

Wed 4/4  A great hike with Q, who did his longest hike (6 miles, about 5 hours). We left from Graveyard Fields on the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked 3 miles and about 1400’ up to Black Balsam Knob. The hike involved a long traverse, some serious climbs, and a little cross country through the grasses toward the top of the bald. 

As always, we laughed a lot, talked about camp and outdoors and history, stopped to eat. I thought about the difference in pace and effort when I run, and actively sought to make this one a hike. We sat at a few overlooks, and a few times just to rest. 

I felt a little pain in my IT band, and I took that to mean I should not run--another conscious effort to train smart.

Thu 4/5  A crazy day of work, family duties, and two evening presentations. Again, I chose not to run. I did ride my bike to work.

Fri 4/6 Work ride, but again, no run. On the unmotivated side, I am resting.

Sat 4/7  11 miles at Croft. Today is eleven weeks out from the Highlands Sky 40 miler. If I start my streak this coming Monday, I’ll run the Highlands Sky 40-miler on the 76th day, the same day I ran Terrapin. I’ll go for the mojo.

from Dairy Ridge: New Addition to Lake up past the pool to Hensington to Palmetto.

Sun 4/8  Spent a great day with C and her family. Starting the Highlands Sky streak tomorrow.

Total  22 miles in 3 runs

On the way up.

Approaching Black Balsam Knob

Q rarely misses the opportunity to take a dip.

Up there.