Week 31: Ending the calendar year

Mon 12/24  4 miles on Cottonwood

Tue 12/25  4 miles on Cottonwood

Wed 12/26  4 miles on Cottonwood. Overnight 3 inches of rain fell. The Cottonwood Trail runs through the floodplain of the Lawson’s Fork Creek, and I love going there after so much rain because you can really see how the floodplain works. In the dark, I could hear the creek flowing hard and deep, and the trail itself was under water in the usual places—out by the wetlands in particular. The full moon was out, and Venus and Mars floated around it. A nicer camera would have gotten better photos.

Thu 12/27 4 miles around the neighborhood

Sat 12/29 18 miles at Croft.  I set off to run longer, but, and you’d think I’d learn after 30 years of running, I bonked from not eating enough breakfast. Generally I get up, eat, and am out to run within an hour. Today, not meeting anyone else, I dawdled at home. I should have eaten twice before I ran.  I also ran one of the hardest loops out here, with endless ups and downs, some of them steep. From what I’ve read about the Ice Age course, Croft will be good training grounds.  By the end of this one I was doing some walking, energy-less despite hitting a few gels in a row. Even though it was chilly, I didn’t drink enough water, either. Eating and drinking remain my difficulties, especially during training without aid stations to use as cues.

from Southside: Centerline to Lizard to Southside Loop over the bridge to Fairforest to Jerry Perry to New Edition to the Lake Trail to the riding ring and back across the bridge to Southside Loop to Centerline.

I love a full creek.

The floodplain in action.

Flood plain functions.

What qualifies as a peak at Croft.

I love these areas of moss, found throughout the park.

As always, Bristol the Enduro-Dog amazes me.

Required lake shot.

 Sun 12/30  8 ½ miles at Croft. I went out this afternoon in clear sunshine and chilly temperatures. I wasn’t sure how I’d respond to yesterday’s long run, especially with bonking at the end, which often leaves me feeling pretty sore. I felt good, though, and ran one of my favorite trails, with longer climbs than most out here. I have to say that it always feels good to drop mountain bikers, even when they’re just other old guys (do y’all read this blog, Ralph and Steve?), and the technical drops and climbs are my strengths.

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to the Chapters to Palmetto

Total  42 ½ miles in six runs

This was my first week with six runs since June, and my first over 40 miles since May. I’m starting to get that fitness feeling, and Sunday’s run was the best example: despite a long run on Saturday, I felt smooth and easy through a hard loop. The weekday runs were fun, all in the dark with a bright moon rising. Even the sloppy parts were satisfying. I could have done a longer run, but with the kids home, and my gorgeous off, taking 35 minutes or so to run from home fit well. Eventually I’ll add that longer run midweek.

As for planning, I will run a 50K once a month, and an over-20 once a month. This was a good start, with the Last Chance 50K; I’ll take the 26 ½ mile weekend. I had registered for the Uwharrie 40 mile run, but will have to drop out: travel with L for her auditions takes precedence, and with the joy of seeing my child grow and expand, I will miss it.

Just discovered this stuff this week. I find the first song remarkably moving, and all of it fun.

Week 22: The Nu-Way 5K

Wed 10/24  4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot. Had a pile of reasons not to do my whole barefoot routine: I got to the fields to find that darn high school football team practicing, or something ridiculous like that. That they were only using half a field still kept me to the one field. My usual 2:30 lap turned into 1:30 laps. I hate running that many circles. 

But I stayed with it, and ran 17 or so minutes. I stopped halfway through to watch a little of the practice. I think they must have been JV because they weren’t that big. But they were good and played hard. I always appreciate good coaching, and these guys were all over the place, teaching and not yelling.

Fri 10/26  7 miles at Croft. I started this run in stunning sunset light. The trees were glowing anyway, but with the changing colors were particularly shimmery. I intended to finish with my headlamp, and did. Note: get new batteries. The light was pretty dim, and I haven’t run a whole lot in the dark, and not at all since last winter. In other words, I had a great time. I really practiced picking up my feet, and rolled a few times, something my tendons must respond to really well--I rarely hurt myself.

I also wore one yellow Rogue Racer and one red Rogue Racer. I bought a couple of new pairs--thanks, Montrail--and needed to break them in for the Nu-Way 5K tomorrow. I’ve given up on 5Ks--they are either too short or too painful or both--but this one is special. My friend Cate came up with the idea a few years ago, and it’s taken off. More than a hundred will run tomorrow. Since it involves drinking on  the street, we’re a little nervous the city may shut it down, but since two council members run it (and one of them organizes it), we feel pretty safe for now. It’s a great community event, and highlights our commitment to beer drinking, doughnut eating and run/walk/crawling. 

Sat 10/27 5 miles, including Nu-Way 5K. As always, the Nu-Way 5K is among my favorite Spartanburg events. This year over a hundred folks signed up, even paying five bucks to make some dough for a local arts non-profit. Costumes are de rigeur here; I wore my usual cape. The cape, I say, changes the way I see wind in the face. Where I used to feel some letdown if I turned into the wind during a race, in this one I know it’s blowing my cape back.

I actually had a good run here, too. I felt pretty easy, running with a woopie cushion and  another caped superhero, among others. I even met the physical therapist who rehabbed me after meniscus surgery in 2002. As usual, the beer went down easy, the donut sucked. Then again, I’ve been slacking on the donut eating, but I’ve been crushing the beer workouts. 

Trying to drop the woopie cushion.

One of two Elvii. The Charlotte Hornets guy won.

Unkle Burt and Elvis at the start.

Beer and donuts.

The second half went equally smoothly, and another guy and I decided to let the woopie cushion finish ahead of us. After all, he was dressed as a woopie cushion. I finished a minute faster than last year, but deeper I think. Thing’s getting pretty competitive. I ran 25:30 including the three or four minutes at the beer stop.

Sun 10/28 13 1/2 miles at Croft. Ran the half marathon course with John G., Clark, Scott and Seth. It became clear pretty early that I didn’t have legs this morning. I trudged along; thought I might run some extra miles, but I was satisfied with what I got.

 Total 29 1/2 in four runs

Weeks 19, 20, 21: Living in the process

Tue 10/2  4 miles on Cottonwood

Wed 10/3  3 miles. 

Sat 10/6 8 miles at Croft. Injury warnings, for sure: my sore left-side lower back/upper butt (‘m sure it has a name) was aggravated all morning, and never really loosened up on the run. I went to Croft expecting to run a new route, maybe 14 miles, and feel fit enough to do it. The odd thing is that I felt strong on the run--leg turnover easy uphill and down, and feet quick even with some added Achilles pain in my left leg. But my back was not happy on uphills, and even with my trying to smooth out my gait on downhills, I felt accumulated pain. I’ll do something about it.

from the riding ring: Foster Mill to the Boy Scout hut to Lake Johnson Trail to Foster Mill

I registered for three races this week. On November 2 I’ll run the KT (Kanawha Trace) Darkness Falls 7-mile night race the day before seeing a Marshall game with my mom. I finally signed up the Camp Croft Half-Marathon (November 10) where I hope to better my last year’s time (1:53:00). I also found the Last Chance 50K in the Francis Marion National Forest in December. That should be a good long run before, should I get in, the Uwharrie 40-miler in February. 

I’m excited about the races to come, even with this tinge of injury. It feels like something I can get worked out, especially because the Stick does wonders itself. Add in a little chiropractor voodoo and I’ll be fine. 

Total 15 miles in three runs


Sun 10/14 13.5 miles at Croft. Ran the Camp Croft Half-Marathon course with Cate and Bristol. I haven’t been on the entire course for quite some time. I felt good the whole way as we both were feeling a little out of shape. 

from the riding ring: Foster Mill to Rocky Ride to Foster Mill to Lake Johnson-Fairforest Connector to Fairforest to Palmetto

This was a tough week. I had evening events four days, all of which kept me from running. I do feel good about Sunday’s run and my fitness, such as it is. I had an excellent chiropractor visit, and feel some better. I’m still sore in my left lower back/upper butt, but the Stick continues to do its magic.

Total 13 1/2 miles in one run



Tue 10/16 4 miles on Cottonwood. I felt loose and easy.

Wed 10/17 3 miles. I felt tight and labored.

Fri 10/19 0 miles. I started out the door on a beautiful day as the sun was setting. Within about 8 steps I knew the IT band pain I’d been feeling, especially after sitting for a while, was not good. I kept on for a few hundred yards, but before I really started into the long downhill that drops down into the flood plain of the Lawson’s Fork, I turned around. 

I’ve had IT band issues for a while, though never with pain particularly. I have some scar tissue built up, but my voodoo doctor tells me that if it’s not bothering me at all--no pain, no gait reaction, no limitation in flexibility--that there’s no reason to worry about it. The pain I have is above that little knot. 

I came home and iced my knee, which left it stiff. Using the Stick and my hand to massage right at the pain spot helps. I hit some ibuprofen, which I don’t take often, and stretched, another thing I don’t do often. I’ll try to stay on top of it.

Sun 10/21 18 miles at Croft. What a great run. Seth, Carroll, Scott and I met down at Southside. I’d planned to do two laps, and they all wanted to run 10 miles. The pace was a little hotter than maybe it should have been--and I led for the first few miles. It was just such a beautiful morning, right around 50 degrees, probably, and we had a good group going. Scott and Carroll pulled away in the last few miles. Carroll will finally be fit for the Camp Croft Half Marathon; knowing the course the way he does, he’ll be smoking. 

Southside Loop is definitely an easier run at Croft, especially the four or so miles that wind through the flood plain. There are some climbs, though,and some rough trail that I like for how it strengthens my feet. Through the climbs I felt great, with little or no IT band pain. 

Setting off for the second lap (which I knew I would cut short) was easy. I drank a bottle of Perpetuem, which I’d not tried, and which settled easily. I did hit the hills harder than I’d expected, and ran hard the whole lap. This was a real confidence builder, a run I’ll remember for a while. Even got to trash talk with the cross country team from a local community college.

from Southside: One lap of Southside Loop, then Centerline to Fern Gully to Southside Loop to Rock Creek to Centerline.

Total: 25 miles in 3 runs

Coming up next week: the Nu-Way 5k. I may be a little behind in my running and donut-eating training schedule, but I’ve been crushing the beer drinking workouts. 

Just been listening to Lucinda Williams a lot lately.

Week 15: New trail

Mon 9/3 4 miles, including 2 miles barefoot. One of the best recovery runs I’ve had in a while. With sore quads from Saturday, and sore hamstrings from pulling weeds on Sunday I set off a little wobbly down the street. The air smelled like the sprinkling rain after an afternoon of thunderstorms. I loosened up soon enough, and decided I would run some barefoot miles on the high school fields. In the rain, and through puddly soft grass in my socks--let me tell you, it was a good day to feel good. The laps clicked off unnoticed. 

Tue 9/4 2 miles. Hmph. What a difference one day made in this case. Felt little niggles in my left IT, my right calf. My left hamstring was very tight, I think a little injury from weeding on Sunday. No, seriously.

Wed 9/5 2 1/2 miles.  A little better, but thought I shouldn’t be running.  

Thu, Fri 9/6-7  No running. 

Sat 9/8  4 1/2 miles on Cottonwood. Felt much better, easy and loose.

Sun 9/9  12 miles at Croft with Bristol.  A beautiful fall morning with temps in the mid-60s is hard to beat for a long run. Make it a new loop that includes a trail I’ve only been on once and I’m a happy camper. 

I started off running backwards on the half-marathon course, not something I’ve done often. Then after a short road section and about 6 miles into the run I turned onto a trail I’d heard of for a while and run once before. The tread is pretty obscure, and that always keeps me interested. The run ended along the larger of the two lakes, climbing up several draws to skirt the fingers of the lake.

from the riding ring: Fairforest to Lake Johnson Fairforest Connector to New Edition to the un-named trail. When you cross the camp road the trail seems to get more traffic, but I’ve never seen it on a map, and didn’t notice any blazes.  

Total 25 miles in five runs

Week 11: Nutrition plan, and a cool version of one of my favorite songs

Mon 8/6  3 miles.

Tue 8/7  4 1/2 miles.

Sat 8/11  12 miles at Croft with Carroll. Again, I hit the wall. This business is getting old. I decided that I would develop a nutrition plan the same way I have a training plan. The training comes naturally, the eating does not. I had eaten a huge amount of pasta on Friday evening, and two servings of oatmeal Saturday morning. Still, within a few miles, I was hungry. I ended up eating 6 gels in less than two hours. 

So I came home and made a pile of rice, and cooked up some black beans. I’ll make certain to take enough food for lunch, lots of whole grains, and plenty of calories. I should be eating around 3000 calories a day--yogurts in the fridge at work for snacks, bagels for breakfast, food, food, food. 

from Dairy Ridge: Palmetto to TC's to that lake trail to Lake Johnson Connector to Palmetto

Total: 19 1/2 miles in 3 runs.

Haven't heard this version of this song before, one I sang all week.

"It balances on your head just like a mattress on a bottle of wine."

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. 

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 November 27

Wednesday 11/23 9 miles at Croft: felt dead-legged and a bit sore for some reason, which didn’t bode well for the Turkey Day 8K.

Thursday 11/24 9 miles, including 4.6 Turkey Day 8K (well, almost 8k) in 31:51. The Turkey Day 8K started seven years ago as a bet between two friends. Entry fee is a can of food, and 40 people showed up the first year. This year there were 735, by far the largest race in Spartanburg. Tempo felt easy and relaxed. I had no idea I was running that fast (6:47 pace). Warm-up and cool down with Seth and Carroll (on his bike this year) is a Thanksgiving tradition.

Friday 11/25  11 miles at Croft: felt a little dead legged, but not sore at all.

Saturday 11/26 4 miles on Cottonwood. Yeah.

Sunday 11/27 11 miles at Croft, including 8 x 120 yards barefoot on football field. Felt pretty crappy at first, maybe the result of a late night watching huge guys bash each other and toss around an oblong air bladder.  Felt stronger as the run went on.

Total: 44 miles

Thanksgiving week often turns into a mini-camp: days off from work really help. The accumulation felt great, the first week over 40 miles since June. Nothing particularly long, but good mental training with tired legs.

Had this song in my head for most of my runs this week. Saw this show a few weeks ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25R8AOcE_hYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25R8AOcE_hY

Injury, the Camp Croft Half-Marathon and "That's not your man"

In early September, I planned a long run at my favorite nearby state park, Jones Gap, where 2000 foot climbs abound and the scenery rivals about anything I’ve ever seen. I've run most everything there, but had always opted to run the spectacular Rim of the Gap Trail rather than the entire length of the Pinnacle Pass Trail. That day, cloudy and cool, I would complete Pinnacle, adding another 1500-foot climb to make a seventeen mile or so jaunt with about 5500 feet of ascent.

Along the Rim of the Gap Trail

I arrived just as the gates were opening, and packed up. About ten steps from the car, my familiar calf-cramp seized up. Thinking I was already done for the day, I carried on. My calf didn’t complain on the initial hefty climb up the Blue Ridge Escarpment that makes all these trails so tough, though I could still feel it. I decided then that I would cut my day short since there was no way out once I passed the six mile or so mark.

Returning down the escarpment, my calf did complain, and I dialed back the pace. Since then I’ve had pain that sometimes receded enough for me to think it was gone, and sometimes made it hard to walk. My plans to run a hard Camp Croft Half-Marathon went by the wayside. With the race tomorrow, I’ve had three or four hard runs in the past eight weeks, including a speed day—my first formal fast workout in a couple of years. I’m expecting a hard training run, but not much more.

This week and last I’ve been pain-free. I didn’t push much last weekend, but this week has included two fairly hard runs. Tuesday I had a running meeting with the cross-country coach in the town where I’m doing some work. We are planning a greenway along their sewer right-of-way, and I wanted to show him and get his support. We had a fantastic run that included some bushwhacking that left me a little bloody from the briars, and then a quick loop of their cross country course. Mostly we had a terrific chat about running and life in general.

On Wednesday I was out at Croft to help my buddy Seth by marking the last 4 ½ miles of the course. I came back by the road in the dark, and for no reason whatsoever it turned into a good 2+ mile tempo effort under 7 minute pace. As I was finishing up, I noticed headlamps on the wrong side of the road, opposite the trail. It was the Sheriff’s Department tracking team out training. As I approach I saw the bloodhound on a line, and heard the deputy saying, “That’s not your man, that’s not your man.” I was pretty glad I was not his man!

Tomorrow’s race should be fun: with recent rains, it’ll be a mud-fest, for sure. I had thought I’d run in the Montrail Rogue Racers that I love so much, but will instead go with the Montrail Mountain Masochists I just bought. After the run, I’ll perform with Snidely Sidewinder and the Unrepentant Uke Boys, so my afternoon will, after the beer drinking required for any Snidely performance, involve a nap.

Sunday I’ll get Bristol the Enduro-Dog a little exercise as we both gear up for the hard training I have planned this winter. I’m guessing all that will add up to about 40 miles in five days. Here’s hoping my calf cooperates.

Bristol the Enduro-Dog