well, anyway,some great OD prep

Came up just a little short on the admittedly pretty lunatic plan to do 2 hrs. Monday through Friday, then Trayfoot with Potts and Sophie.

That's "short," as in I only managed 25 mins. on Friday. Hit the rest of the days as RX'd though. And, when you package that with my having done 2 hrs. on the preceding Fri and Sat, then you get long ones on seven of nine days. 

Trayfoot was, of course, amazing. Sophie and Potts were kind enough to wait for the old, slow guy after they blitzed most of the downhill sections. Potts was shooting video and stills of the morning, which means that some really, really scary stuff may one day appear on YouTube and Flickr. What a fun, fun morning playing in the dirt with two of my faves.

All in all, pretty awesome prep for Old Dominion 100. Woo.

Streak Update: Thursday was Day 450. How cool is THAT?! 

All in good fun :-)

So I'm taking a quick break at work and doing a little surfing when I happen on this ad ...

It's for the Salomon XT Wings Challenge. You make up something stupid, then write back after you do it.

So, what the heck, how could I not bite, right?

What follows is the description i wrote ...

To celebrate my 47th b-day on May 9, I am doing a 2-hr. run/walk each day May 5-9, then a 21-miler on the Treyfoot Trail May 10 with my ultrarunning buddies.

(If I pull this off, what awesome training for OD, plus, who knows, maybe some sweet goodies too!)

Triple Dip, Part 3

Promise Land 50km in a word: AWESOME!

Ate steadily, maintained a gentle-yet-even-and-basically-whenever-I-wanted-to-punch-it strong pace. Had no problems with stomach (yay!) and even managed to be a little stronger still in the final 50 minutes, aka that awful downhill stretch at the end that crushes your quads whether you run 6:40 (three years ago) or 8:02, as I did Saturday.

Nutrition: An ice-cold 20 oz. green tea 30 mins. before the start. On the course, dried fruit, potato chips, a cold slice of pepperoni pizza (!!!), a tiny cup of ice cream (double !!!), maybe 75 ozs. of water and a couple cold cups of CLIP. Oh, two cups of Mountain Dew too. And several banana chunks.

The 8-hour jaunt to cap a 15-hour training week is a huge step in the right direction for OD.

Sure was great to hang with Potts, Dan, John, Neil and crew Friday night. Same goes for running with J.R., Blake and Dorothy, and hanging post-race with the usual suspects, a list that included Sophie, Flame, the Quiveys, Gary Knipling (THANKS FOR THE KNOB CREEK AND PEPSI, dude!!!).

I've done seven of the eight Promise Land runs. Horton knows how to put on a great show. Here's hoping he keeps it going somehow, even with the Promise Land camp being for sale.

Fun weekend. Fun run. Awesome prep for OD.

Triple Dip, Part 2

Part Dos was a little tougher, but just a little.

As predicted, the tough part was waking up. Did a 7 min. run/3 min. walk routine the whole way. Ate a Snickers Chocolate Chip Marathon Bar at halfway. Yum! Drank 16 ozs. from a hand-held bottle. Kept the run pace very gentle. Stayed mostly on flat stuff. 

Hammered two Egg McMuffins after. Brain seems to be working fine (relatively speaking, of course), so that's a great sign that recovery is happening.

Tomorrow should be most interesting. I have done a lot goofier triples than this (see the Great Tour de Skyline run), but not ones with sooooo much climbing on the final day. Talk about terrific training for OD! 

Promise Land is so steep at the start that you really have no choice but to be patient. Part of the built-in blessing. As long as I watch not to pound the downhills, this has all the ingredients for a great start to the OD build-up.

Triple Dip, Part 1

Part 1 comfortably in the bag.

A gentle 2 hours of random iPod run/walks. Most were three songs run, one walk, but a couple went 2/1. Depended on the song. I am sorry, but there are just some Sugarland songs that you cannot walk to.

Wore my Ultimate Direction hydration vest pack thingy. Drank 30 ozs. of water. Rare that I even take fluid on a 2-hour, mostly-in-the-dark run. Decided to change things up a bit to see if it has any positive residual. Well, and a 51F start is a lot warmer than, say, a 6F start, even if I don't sweat much even when it's 78F. 

Run was great. Did some push-ups and pull-ups after. Pounded a Greenberry's Supremo Mocha Mint latte. Ahhhhhhh. Probably enough calories in that to cover me for the run, b-fast and lunch, but scrawny runners need their food, so no thoughts of skipping lunch.

Found on the run: 43 cents (one quarter plus EIGHTEEN pennies) and one huge, live blacksnake. Kept the coins. 

Can anybody say "Triple dip?"

So I'm thinking, if I am "training through" Saturday's sometimes brutal Promise Land 50km with my eye on OD 100, why not go big ... as in sticking with the typical 2 hrs. Thursday a.m., 2 hrs. Friday a.m. routine, then follow it up with 7 to 8 hours at PL?

Would create quite the training effect, esp. with PL being such and up-and-up-and-up-and-down, single-track wonderland.

Can I do it? Or is it just too stupid? Ah, don't ya just love the questions that are just begging for answers. :-)

Wise words

Wow. Just read this column by Kristin Armstrong (one of my favorite writers of the moment) ...

http://tinyurl.com/3vs2dj

I use these feelings all the time in training, the amazing sense of wonder of the next moment, what's around the next turn, some view of a random rooftop that I've run past 50 times but never noticed. Same goes with a particular drum beat or other background sound when sporting the iPod Shuffle.

I left all that at home for this year's Umstead. Wow.

I agree with K. It's really a LOT more about persistence than talent. Especially when you're talking about 100-milers.

You can only do so much with your body. You finish 100s with your mind. A 100 is a test of will. Running helps, but running isn't all of it.

Old Dominion 100 is June 7. Glad I get another shot soon. :)

Wrong kind o' yakkin'

The short version of Umstead 100 2008: Swing and a miss.

My stomach was a complete mess from about 20 miles until I finally called it a day at the end of Lap 5, 62.5 miles in 15 hours and a little. That's my first DNF in a long while. It's still just as humbling as ever, if not moreso.

I've beaten myself up a fair amount trying to come up with some answers for what the heck went wrong. The reality is that I have no clue. I should be comfy in that state, given that it's where I've spent my entire ultra career.

Amazing how I can do a fairly tough 50-miler on cookies and water with energy to spare, then be in peak fitness and running a lot slower at Umstead, yet have some dramatic nausea before the marathon mark. Weird.

When I got home Sunday, it was straight here to the computer and away I went on a literature review of all things drink replacement. Sheer desperation almost led me to order one of them. Then I noticed a torn black notebook on the floor near the computer. An old hand-written running log I kept for years in a three-ring binder. Digging in, I found that magical year in 1998 when during a 10-week span I spanked Umstead in sub-22, then the challenging Bull Run Run 50-miler in 9:50 and my then-nemesis Old Dominion in 22:51. On the back page of the OD entry I wrote: Eight drop bags filled with one vanilla Nutrament, one sandwich baggie of Fritos and took one S Cap every two hours.

Hmmmm ... let's see ... that's a WHOLE lot less than I was trying to push in Saturday. Hmmm ...

Perhaps too much grub and not enough salt has been the problem more often than not since that magical 1998 stretch?

Stay tuned for more. OD 100 turns 30 this year. Seems as good a time as any to get reacquainted.

Umstead 100 Finish No. 9???

I go visit my old friend Umstead 100-Miler this weekend.

Completely and utterly psyched to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, tell a ton of stories, get my brain as far away from work as it can possibly get.

I have broken my cardinal rule and actually tapered with only 20- to 25-min. runs since last Friday. Trying to approach this one as an adult would. I actually have a nutrition plan. And I have committed to taking it VERY easy the first 25 miles. Hoping that combo will make it possible to make it through a whole Umstead without a nap (or a 3-hr. collapse like last year).

I'm really fit. I'm tapered. The weather looks hot and humid (yay!).

Found out just today that my buddy Amy Leigh "Flame" Brown has offered her services as Pacer Extraordinaire for the night shift, so that's added incentive for me to keep myself in one solid piece until darkness strikes. Imagine me and Flame blabbing our way through the North Carolina night together?

This could be one to remember.

Make that TWO dogs with everything ...

(Overheard on this morning's 2-hour run ...)

Little Voice Inside My Head: Dude, the veggie thing ain't cuttin' it.
Me: What?

LV: Your diet thing. It's not working.
Me: What?

LV: For one, you have been passing OUT at like 8:15 p.m. every night.
Me: What?

LV: And then you don't even know anything about nutrition OR take the time to fix the right foods. Then you fill in with total crap like candy bars. So the veggie thing is dumb.
Me: You think so?

LV: Plus, most important of all, how can you get your Little Kid on when you don't eat Jess' chili dogs? Or those steak pitas you like so much?
Me: Hmm. Valid points.

LV: I mean, really, aren't you supposed to saving exertion of will for 100-milers and crawlin' outta the rack at 0400 for weekday runs and stuff? What the hell have you been thinkin'?
Me: Umm. That I would feel better?

LV: Dude, you see that piece in Runner's World that says we are burning 591 calories an hour at our easy-run pace? That's, oh, about 1,200 cals a long run. So you're starting most days of late seriously in the hole.
Me: Crap. Really good argument.

LV: Man, are you a dork. Riddle me this: When was the last time you looked at a menu without indecision?
Me: Umm. Christmas?

LV: Exactly. So it's time to get over yourself ... now, go knock down some chili dogs. And chase 'em with onion rings. And a beer. Or two.
Me: OK, OK. You win. I give in. Just go away, OK?

LV: Not to worry. Gone! But I'm sure you'll give me a chance to be back soon.

Awesome short day

This morning is a pretty typical "short" day for me.

Did 25 mins. of 4/1 (note: i detest 20F), then followed with some Pilates, yoga, extra abs. Pilates was The Hundred, Leg Beaters (20 each side), Hip Beaters (10 each leg), Bicycle Twists (15 each leg), Superman (10 x 4 counts). Yoga was Drunk Flamingo (2 x 30 secs. each leg), modified Sun Salutation and modified Downward Dog (lotsa ahhhhhh from both). Finished with 60-second Plank and 45-Side Plank x 2.

Add to that a quick stop for some 7-Eleven coffee and you have a great, great way to kick-start the day.

Veggie Boy? Yup.

When you say, "I am a vegetarian," what does that mean?

Could mean lots of different things. In my case, what it means is that I am exploring a different way of fueling this engine, a way that hopefully makes me feel as good when I am not running as I do when I am.

It's not nearly as hard to do this as it was back in my post-collegiate days, really the last time I paid any attention at all to what I put in my mouth. Maybe that's because there are, according to a recent Washington Post column, 12 million American vegetarians.

My switch-over has been a gradual move spreading across the past month. This weekend, grocery shopping found us scoring soy burgers, soy milk and a couple cans of veggie chili to go along with the typical pierogies, fresh fruit and pasta that are already staples of the Team Gentry diet.

My goal is to avoid red meat entirely, and try to keep to a minimum anything pig. Fish and chicken stay. So does dairy.

I would have "gone vegetarian" years ago, but wasn't really willing to do the extra food prep and meal planning required to make that happen and still keep Heidi and Ben on their quasi-normal diet. So far, no problem. Given that it's Basketball Referee Season, I basically eat no weekday meals with either of them.

The good news is that I feel much, much better. The running is much better. My concentration is much, much better (maybe due to mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks and an overall increase in food intake).

Should be way interesting to see how this plays out.

Oh yeah, beer remains on the Preferred Foods list. Good runner food, beer. :-)

Great start

Any day that starts with a 2-hour run, then Animal Crackers has to be a good day.

Just another day in paradise, baby!

Did 2 hours run/walk (7 run, 3 walk) with Mike Carpenter and P.J. in and around the 'Burg. Yeah, it was 13F at 0500 when we shoved off. Yeah, I was in shorts. Yeah, they made big fun of me. No, my legs were fine. My hands, on the other hand (arf arf!), were stumps, even in double gloves. Parked at Carp's house, I was so pathetic that i ALMOST had to go get help with turning the key in the ignition. Yep, guess it's time to replace those 7-Eleven Jersey gloves with some real ones. :-)

Strength work before showering: 4 rounds of 15 push-ups, 20 crunches, 5 pull-ups in 4:55. Nice number. I can go faster. The last round everything hurt. Awesome!

Tonight I ref girls' JV hoops at Spotswood High School with Scott Arbogast, a young guy who is top quality. Good supplemental training piece and should be a fun time. Nice change to be home by 8ish, too.

One Six Ohhhhhhhh!

Yep, I managed to click off 160 long runs for 2007.

Pretty cool when you consider that I only got 10 each in March and April primarily because of Umstead 100-Miler and then the 90-mile effort at the Virginia Run for Cancer 24-Hour event. That means a WHOLE bunch of long ones August through December.

So this year, my fifth since I invented this tracking system, finishes with 160 runs and 434.5 points. Previous top total of long runs was 2006's 150. This year's point total is a bit lower than 2005's 452, but still a good bit higher than the yearly average of ... let's see ... 400. Sweet!

What excellent fun.

Repeat after me: "Hammer curls are my friend."

So, wonder what would happen to the ever-so-ordinary ultrarunner if he were to, say, clip off 150 reps each arm of hammer curls with, say, 3 lb. dumbbells every day for, say, a month?

Dunno. More on this about Jan. 25 or so. :-)

Merry, Merry Christmas all!

That new Power Ranger game clearly takes a ton of Christmas-morning concentration, especially when you are at the Green Ranger level.

Serious, serious don't-mess-with-me business here, bucko. Go Rangers!

(Great morning here at 1300 Gum with Aunt Wendi and Allen coming for yummy b-fast and fun gift opening. My crew is resting now, then it's off to Elkton to do much of it again with my side of the fam. Good times.)

Sad Day

I cried myself out today.

Sherman, our 9-year-old lab beagle chow mix, succumbed to the diabetes that had wracked his world and ours for the past three months or so. We knew this was coming. Didn't make it one bit easier.

Heidi and I were up and down with Sherman throughout last night as he drank and panted and asked to go outside and ate grass and threw up and all that. A late-morning seizure sent me to call our Waynesboro vet and ask if they could put him down.

I thought I was all cried out as I loaded him in the truck one final time for the 15-minute drive, but you know how tears are. We've been pretty tight since I dragged him out from under that makeshift Stokesville cabin where he was born. I was his primary trainer during Head Start for Puppies. We slept a lot of nights on the floor together, me in a sleeping bag and him snuggled against my back, when H was pregnant with Benjamin.

Puppa, one of his many nicknames, always had a special yip sound for me when I came home. We always joked about him being my running coach, and how I would totally suck as an ultrarunner if it weren't for his sage advice. We concocted Rock Status, officially bestowed on me when I finished a 100-miler and yakked away when I didn't.

He's always been a scared boy hiding in a mean-sounding dog suit. And he's been one of the main loves of my life for almost a decade now.

As we headed down the road to Waynesboro, me with one hand on my buddy and the other on the steering wheel, I told him that I'd given this past three months my best and apologized for not always hitting the right spot on the twice-daily insulin injections. I told him I was sorry if he hurt much, and that I loved him more than even I imagined possible. I thanked him for being there for me through thick and thin, for always forgiving me, for always accepting my love, for always being willing to hear my dumb stories and come out in the yard and watch me do my pull-ups at the various places we have lived.

Just before noon, just outside the Waynesboro city limits, my Puppa said good-bye to this life. He had his head resting partially on his favorite pillow and partially on my lap. I wouldn't have wished it to be any other way.

When we get his ashes from the vet, I know the perfect spot. There's a doggie cemetery on one of my favorites running roads. Turns out that is at Stokesville, where our handsome boy was born.

Save me a spot, Puppa. When I hear your special Dad yips, I know I'll be home at last.

Love you, my old sweetheart boy.

Your Dad

true definition of "bonk"

This, courtesy of my Wesleyan brother forever Bill Potts, captures the essence of ultrarunning at those times when things go just a bit awry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk8uYmAo8y0

No. 150 already

Today's 2:20 late-morning effort gives me 150 long ones for 2007, and the outside possibility of hitting a hard-to-ever-top total of 160 before the year's out.

Absolutely, totally KEWL! And THEN some!

Streak update: All is well. Next significant date is Dec. 17, Day 300.