Almost an Ultra

 Almost An Ultra 

So, as we pick this back up , we start Saturday Morning. I woke up to it raining. Just NOT what I had wanted. At all. Today was 20 miles. with 16 of those at race pace. So, I loafed. and I loafed. and I finally ate. And I didn't want to do this. I kept looking at the radar which said nothing but rain. I posted in our team page. My coach said Get out there. SIUBC. But I had a sinus infection. Dang. Looked like my fate was sealed. I was sentenced to life on the treadmill. So, I turned on the race, made my bag to set next to my spot, and then geared up and started. The first 8-10 miles were good. Then about mile 14 I started to get winded. By 15, I was battling dizziness and Nauseous. One of my friends said call a spade a spade and stop. I couldn't do that. I wanted this reward so bad. So, I almost puked, i got some more human food (chicken), snarfed that down, and went back to it. Finally, right before the 5 hour mark, it happened. 20.00 miles appeared. I have NEVER been more thrilled. I made it 20 miles on a treadmill. Just a couple months ago, I despised it. Now I had pulled the ultimate mental and endurance test off. 20 on it. Unbelievable. I spent the rest of the day recovering by eating, and sleeping because I knew what layed in wait for me on  Sunday. 

Sunday, 10 miles. I had talked to coach a bit earlier in the morning, and she was like treat this as a z2 recovery run. Nascar had delayed their race till that morning. So the first 25 laps I spent getting ready. Then at the break , I headed out with my headphones on . I was listening to the race and also playing some pokemon go on my phone. The combination of these 2 things made for a glorious run. I was tight going out but about 4 or so miles in , I got loose. Towards the end of 10 my phone had died and I had been wandering around making the last few min up. The local high school right next to my house has a track. I had always said I would never do track work. Until now. I wandered down, found a open spot in the gate, and went in. From there, I ran 1 lap , a quarter mile of track work, then headed out and back up the hill to home. Once I got home, I was done. 10 miles. I was in such good spirits, I even managed a smile at the end of it. 

I had done it. The 2 days that scared me the most had been conquered. But it wasn't over yet. As I was asking coach for my granted EARLY TAPER, she , in her unique way, made me quote some movie lines. It was about the funniest thing ever. I was laughing trying to compose the email. LOL! 

So , all in all , what a weekend. As I sit here on Monday, I can feel it. I am sore . I am tired. But I have never felt more accomplished in my life. I came 1 mile short of a 50K over the weekend. For those outside the running world. Anything beyond 26.2 miles is then referred to as a Ultra run. So, really, I came one mile away from finishing my first ultra this weekend. Pretty bad-ass!

So, this week, I head into taper. Volume comes down slowly to freshen up the legs. But make no bones about it, I am still being pushed , just not as hard now. Its all getting ready for the big races in 2 weeks from Sunday. 20 days as of today. 

So, in the end , it was a chore this weekend, but boy I survived. 

LIMITLESS! 

John 

More High Mileage Week Tales

So , On Tuesday I had yoga. 1 hour of deep stretch. I gotta tell the story. At the start of this cycle, I had an hour of yoga. I fought it tooth and Nail. I hated the thought of an hour. I did it, but I griped , moaned, all of it. I told coach NO never again. So, imagine my surprise when I opened up my schedule last week, and saw the Hour. But I was willing to give it a try. Let me say. That was the BEST EXPERIENCE with yoga in a while. It opened EVERYTHING up because I LET IT! I felt great. Knots were stretched out. Things were opened up. It was just a great experience. This set me up nicely for Wednesday. 

Yesterday, Wednesday, I had a 6 mile run. I came over to the trail where I trained a LOT for MCM back last summer. The direction I had went was one that I had never gone past a certain point. So after about 2 miles, I had no idea where it lead. The beautiful thing was, the run was stunningly awesome. Picture esque weather along the lake. Mid 40's . So, I laid it down. Some seriously Solid awesome miles. I felt great afterwards. 

So, that brings us up to Today, Thursday. I have today and Tomorrow off. Sat starts the test. I have 20 miles , 16 at tempo to beat the required pace. Sunday , I have 10 more miles. So here we are. The pressure is def on . Time to answer the bell again. 

No doubts left. Everything is in order. Nutrition is on point. Gear is on point. I am dead set and ready. 

The next time you hear from me should be after the 20 miler. 

So until then

John 

1- The lonliest but most important #

The Loneliest Number - But the MOST IMPORTANT: 

I know it's been a while since I wrote, but I have been head down , deep into training. But, this week, I finally got some inspiration and decided to resume writing for a while. So, let me explain the title:

1- The Loneliest #, but the most important: 

That's right, so very important. This is the point where it is peak week for me. This week lays out absolutely HUGE for me. It's my biggest week yet, and quite possibly, the biggest I will face. When I initially saw  this weeks schedule, I freaked. I was like , there is NO WAY I will survive this. Thankfully, I have a wonderful team of people around me , and one KICK ASS coach, and she calmly, but FIRMLY told me, look, get out of your stupid head. You can do this. Don't worry about it, don't look at but the day your in. Breathe. You got this. It was like instant relief. 

Don't get me wrong, this week bothers me to no end. It will till I am done and back home from the last mile. But its just one day at a time. Hence why I chose the # 1. 

My intention is this week to do this daily. It will be my outlet to release the day, good , bad , or ugly, and then go on to the next day. So with that , lets start with yesterday. 

Monday: 6 miles (or supposed to be) 

Lets make no bones about it, things have been a bit stressful at work lately. Also, knowing this week and what it holds, I have been trying to rest up. So, here I am , 6 am yesterday , on Monday, and needing to get up, after having been out a good portion of the night Sunday. Yeah, didn't happen. I attributed me sleeping in to a) being lazy and B) stress. So, My gut was , take the redbox, incomplete, the first ever. But then in the car, I was like no , I cant, but when am I going to get it in , since i have 1 hour for lunch at work , and it takes me 10 min to get down and changed. So, I was like, eh. So, I sent coach an email and I had kinda devised a makeshift plan to get me through. But, I wasn't really happy with it. So, I pull into work , and check my email. She had again worked with me and given me a 45 min recovery run to knock out during my lunch. SWEET. 

So lunchtime rolls around, and I go out. I am back over here where I did a WHOLE LOT of running last summer when Training for MCM. These roads hold a sweet spot in my heart. There not so much easier, but its just different. So, I push off, and instantly, i set into a good solid pace. I felt like the energizer bunny. The weather out was about 52 or 53. I was in shorts and T shirt with my belt and my gear. I just felt great. For 45 min  it was me and the roads in front of me. 

At the end , I was able to lay down about 3.5 miles or so in 45 min. Just a beautiful days run out. I felt good. Really good. Granted this is Monday off of a recovery week, but it was still a good day out. I enjoyed it and really needed it. 

So That was Monday for ya. 

I will be back tomorrow with another update. 

Until then

John