You Live and You Learn

As we have now integrated feeds into our runs, I have been experimenting with gels, drink mixes, protein bars, etc. to see which ones I like.  So, when Hubey and I schedule our 20 miler for 8:30am this morning I set got up at 7:30 to grab a light breakfast and hydrate.  I had this pre-workout drink mix sample and decided what better time than now to give it a try?  The other option I had were these gels that make me unbearably thirsty.  I followed the directions, poured half the powder into my water glass, and started to drink 35 minutes before we were to depart.  I had accidentally poured too much powder in, so I refilled my glass with water to consume the rest of the powder.  Hubey met me (after already running 10 miles) and we departed on our 12 miler, before our feed, and final 8.

Off we went.  I guess I still haven't perfected this eating before running because I got some cramps as my body was telling me "what are you doing? I am trying to digest here" but I pushed on because I have to get used to it.  Then I felt drunk.  It was in the eyes.  My head was really light and my vision did not move smoothly. I thought, "wow, I haven't been drunk in a while." Four miles in I made Hubey walk.  I need to walk off this drunkness.  The drunk phase passed and we continued on.  I felt good.  Legs felt good and I wasn't drunk anymore so my vision was solid.  Then bam.  Insides cramped.  Hit me like a car hits a deer frozen in its headlights.  I made Hubey walk for two minutes.  Then we continued on.  As we were running we could hear the train blowing its horn in the distance as we were approaching a railroad crossing about 600yds away.  Hubey looked at me and asked "How's your leg speed?" That's when I put two and two together with sound I was hearing together and the railroad crossing ahead.  I immediately yelled "oh no!" while simultaneously taking off in an almost sprint.  Hubey caught up in a split second and we were in a race against the train.  Staring at the railroad crossing arms, we continued in an almost sprint hoping we'd get there before the train.  Sure enough, we ran faster than the train and easily made it across.

Then the cramps came back.  I was hunched over and made Hubey walk for another couple of minutes before realizing there was a dog park ahead, which was bound to have water we could consume.  We ran to the dog park, where there was a huge white jug of water with a hose at the bottom.  Probably not for human consumption, I tried out the water anyway and deemed it consumable for the state we were in.  Once Hubey saw me consume some he came over for a drink before we continued running into town.  I made it another couple of miles, including up the hill on Broadway.  But, at this point I had hit the next stage in my disastrous run and was now unbelievably high.  I was a bit light headed, the chemicals flowing through my veins were making me shaky and I was living on a different planet.  It probably wasn't really this bad, but at the time it felt this bad.  So I stopped.  I sat down in the shade for a couple minutes.  I told Hubey to finish out the run as we were only a couple miles from home, but obviously he didn't.  After a couple minutes, I got up and ran the rest of the way home.  At the very end I felt nauseous, but that was just as I was coming up on the apartment where I chugged two and half glasses of water in five and a half seconds.

All in all, I didn't go back out for the final eight and deemed this run a failure.  And then more closely looked at the pre-workout mix I had consumed... AC(insert lightning bolt here)G3.  High Voltage Pre-Workout drink mix with Creatine Magna Power and Carnosine Synthesizer.  I looked it up online and this is the description for this product: "Fully loaded with a potent blend of actives, ACG3® Charged+ works harmoniously to provide extreme anabolic results, trigger more explosive muscle pumps, increase muscle volume and strength, and provide the endurance necessary to maximize your workout." With one review stating: "It's got a lot of stims in it, so you'll feel it more. More than anyone should actually need."

AKA - this is for sure a product for meatheads who are looking to max out in the weight room with the quickest shortest bursts of anaerobic exercise.  NOT for endurance running.  I had so much fake "energy" in my veins I went through a drunk phase, to a middle of the night dehydration, ending with the horrible hangover that leaves you with the shakes, unable to get out of bed, moments of nausea, and intense intense thirst.  We named this product the devil.

I guess you live and you learn. I did in fact live and I learned that I will never consume that product again.

Skip the Marathon

Most people train to run a marathon.  They build their base, start increasing their long runs and then when marathon day hits they run the furthest they've run at 26.2 miles.  I skipped that.  My previous long run was 20 miles.  I was supposed to run 21, but had to pull up short (see previous blog post).  Then I was scheduled to run 24 miles, however I was in South Beach for a Bachelorette party, and while I got a 12 miler in, it wasn't even close to 24 miles.  But, training must go on.  So, on Monday, May 12th, 2014, in the light rain, I left the office early and went for a casual 27.2 mile run. Skipped the marathon and just went for a 27 miler.  No big deal, I mean that's pretty normal.

So, I started with my fellow runner KP as we ran two miles from the office to our apartment where we picked up Hubey.  From there we ran back to campus to drop off KP, then continued on to Kasota via bus farm.  We looped around and headed back to campus after 15.2 miles for a feed.  Yes, our first feed mid-run!  We are finally at the point in training where we need to get accustomed to consuming gels, liquid, and bars and then heading back out to run without having time to digest.

After a 20 minute break where we changed clothes, since it had been raining the entire run, we headed back out for another 12.  We planned an out and back towards Ottawa.  A couple miles down the road Hubey felt a bit light headed so we had to stop for a moment.  It was actually quite a sight to see as he was squatting down on the side of the road and I was frantically taking off my clothes because it had stopped raining and thus the long sleeve under my tshirt was completely and utterly unnecessary.  We walked for the next couple of minutes until Hubey felt better then continued on.  This is where things got weird.

Runners are a strange breed.  They are different.  They think up strange and unusual stories, sayings, rituals...whatever you would like to call them in order to keep them entertained during their long runs.  They sing songs.  They talk about penguins.  They spend so much time either by themselves or with each other that they have no other choice.  I had yet to get to that point.  I heard Hubey talk about this "state", he told me stories, talked about songs they sang, yada yada yada but I had never actually gotten to that point...until this run.  When we were six miles out on our final leg of the run, we started singing, at the top of our lungs mind you, "WHOAHHH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE, WHOAHHH LIVING ON A PRAYER, TAKE MY HAND WE WILL MAKE IT I SWEAR, WHOAHHH OH LIVING ON A PRAYER."  We alternated lines. We repeated it multiple times. It was fantastic.

Then, once we turned around and started heading back to campus I realized, and exclaimed out loud over and over and over and over and over... "this is the furthest I've ever run... nope, this is the furthest I've ever run... nope, this is the furthest I've ever run..." This commentary continued for a good couple of minutes.  Then Hubey started to tell me stories and I would chime in a say, "you know what?!?!" He was say, "what?!?!" and I would respond, "this is the furthest I've ever run...this is the furthest I've ever run..." Also at this point, I started to slow down, so in hopes to get me to pick up my pace, Hubey ran a good 15 yards in front of me so a couple miles, still chatting the entire time though.  It worked...slightly.

Once we hit 26.2 miles we high fived.  Boom first ever marathon done.  But we were still a mile away from campus with one large hill in the way.  I will admit, although it hurts my soul, I became a little dog and walked up the large hill before finishing the run with a smile on my face.  There you go, I skipped the marathon and ran 27.2 miles.  On to the next accomplishment.

Reason to Run

My running coach started sending me a "Reason to Run" each day -- one a day for the 100 days before the big race.  This blog post will be an on-going one, so feel free to check back for the updated list.  Most recent will be at the top.

Reason to Run #8 - Run for the road ahead.

Reason to Run #7 - Playing in the Rain: Because the kid inside of you wants to jump in puddles.

Reason to Run #6 - Keep Calm and Run On.

Reason to Run #5 - Boston Strong: "At the end, I just kept thinking, 'Boston Strong. Boston Strong. I was thinking 'Give everything you have. If you get beat, that's it." - Meb Keflezighi after winning the Boston Marathon.

Reason to Run #4 - Count your Blessings: We have a good life and should enjoy it.

Reason to Run #3 -  "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." - Juma Ikangaa (Tanzanian winner of the 1989 New York City Marathon).

Reason to Run #2 - Adventure: Seeing where your legs can take you.

Reason to Run #1 - Run for Yourself. You have to start somewhere, might as well start with yourself.

Just for a Second

Just for a second I thought I might be a real runner.  Then that thought quickly passed.

This has happened to me on several occasions so far in this 100 miler journey.  Let me share some of these "almost" moments with you:

1.  Have you ever notices "real" runners don't listen to music when they run?  Watch a marathon, the top runners don't listen to music.  Well, I ran twelve miles by myself with no music.  For a moment I thought I might be a real runner.  Then I realized I was thinking about listening to music the whole way....

2.  I was leaving work thinking about how I wanted to get some extra mileage in and run for a second time that day.  Then I parked my car in my garage, walked in the door and sat down on the couch with a book instead...

3.  I wore the correct amount of clothing for a run one day -- didn't over dress and sweat profusely, didn't under dress and have to run with my hands in my spandex.  Then the next two runs outside I overdressed...

4.  I looked forward to running 20 miles on Monday.  I thought, "wow, maybe I'm starting to love running." Then I started running and wanted to stop... I realized my running is still fueled by the fact I'm a meathead...

5.  On my day off, it felt weird that I was not running... like there was a void in my life.  But then I realized I liked the void, rather than feeling incomplete...

6.  I am proud of the mileage I put in each week and want to increase the number.  But I'm still much more worried about how quickly I can run for short distances and getting in speed work during the week...

That's all for now, however I'm sure I'll think of a few more points.  Now to end with one reason why I am turning into a "real runner":

1.  When my peers ask me how far I have to run on a certain day, I genuinely respond, "oh, only 13."  I guess you have to be a quarter "real runner" if 13 miles is easy.

Happy 100!

100 days until race day!  Happy 100! 

100 miler packet arrived too.  12 pages of maps for the route.  Time to get serious.  

Where would I be if...

Where would I be if I still lived in warm climate?  Would I be a true runner?  Would I find that "runners high"?  Would I wake up in the morning and want to go for a run?  Would I be looking forward to going for a run in the evening after work?

I was down in South Beach for my wonderful friend Ali Art's Bachelorette weekend and the warm weather was glorious.  First morning there, after a relatively early return to the hotel the night before (3:00am I believe), I got up to go for a run.  It was awesome.  The sun was out.  The boardwalk was relatively clear.  The beach sand was runnable, although still required a level of athleticism I did not have.  I ran along the boardwalk/beach until the end, then cut in to run along the canal.  The buildings, green water, puppies being walked and expensive yachts were all much more entertaining to look at than farm land being prepared for the warmer weather. Before I knew it 11 miles were completed and I would have gone for more, but the nervousness of my face burning held me back... I put it on my shoulders, legs, and neck but not face.  No excuse for that one.  But seriously, in all honestly, how can you not want to run with a view like this:

The weekend is now over, so I am back to the windy windy world of St. Peter, MN.

Because I'm a Meathead: Part 1

As we have already established multiple times in my Be a Big Dog blog, I'm running this 100 miler because I'm a meathead.  It's one thing to say over and over, it's another to prove it to you with past meathead moments.  As my college friends will contest to, I never turned down a dare... we do not need to get into the details of those, just yet at least, since they don't necessarily help paint the best picture of my intelligence.  Despite that, I have decided to start a series called "Because I'm a Meathead" to hopefully build your belief in me that I'm a big enough meathead to succeed at this 100 miler.

When I worked at Gettysburg College my second duty was a strength and conditioning coach, which meant I had the wonderful opportunity of helping put together and run the off-season workout programs with most of the sports programs.  The head strength and conditioning coach, Shaun Weaver, and I would monitor the weight room while athletes would come in to complete their workouts.  The football team was one of them.  And every three weeks we would run the players through a range of tests to mark their progress, or lack their of.  One of the tests we ran was a wall sit with a 45 pound plate weight on their legs.  These "big, tough" football players would come in and barely muster a 3 minute wall sit.  The longest was 6 minutes and change. I kept telling them they weren't trying very hard.  They tried to convince me it was harder than it looked.  I told them to be a big dog.  They said they were.  As you can tell, we went around and around in circles.  Finally, when the second round of testing came, I attempted this wall sit just to show them it wasn't that hard.  First attempt, I made it 7 minutes, purely because I had to prove to them it was all about mental toughness and being a big dog.  Then, my meathead self came out and I told them that in three weeks when they tested again, I would really show them how it was done.

Awesome.  Because that's exactly what I wanted to do in three weeks.  As a 23 year old, I really wanted to be challenging 18 year olds to a wall sit while holding a 45 pound plate weight.  I mean, seriously, who wouldn't be up for that challenge?  I found a new hobby and, man, I was elated.  Thrilled.  Jumping out of my pants excited.

Fast forward three weeks.  It was testing day.  I had done no real training besides my normal lifting routine, but I wasn't worried, it was all mental toughness anyway.  The word had been spread, there were volleyballs girls, football players and couple of my soccer players there to watch.  No point in wasting anytime, so I just jumped right into it.  Sat down agains the wall, placed the 45 pound plate weight on my legs and just let the time tick.  Eight minutes in my calves started to shake.  Still it was all mental toughness.  Ten minutes in all of my legs were shaking and the thought that I could stop and still hold the "record" crossed my mind but the volleyball girls told me to get to 12 minutes.  Insert more mental toughness here.  At 12 minutes, I figured what's the difference between 12 minutes and 13 minutes? Just sixty seconds.  If someone told you you only had 60 seconds to turn on and watch tv, would you even try?  Probably, not.  That's how little time I had to make it through.  At this point a decent number of athletes had come to observe.  13 minutes turned into 14.  One more minute.  I mean 15 minutes sounds so much better than 14 minutes, don't you think?  And just like that 15 minutes hit.  I dumped the weight off my legs, slid my back down the wall into a sitting position.  I. had. crushed. the. football. wall. sit. record.

Proud moment or meathead moment?

Unfortunately, I think it's the latter.