Today I officially started my 2009 season training. I signed up for the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 (MMT) lottery. As it stands right now I have a greater than 50% chance of getting into the race and not being placed on the waiting list. Since I have never attempted this race before and never put my name into the lottery there is little chance I would move off the waiting list if I am not picked outright. The backup plan is to go and run Laurel Highlands Ultra again.
If I get into MMT I am going to try and put together a Laurel Highlands relay team and run it that way. Anyone interested?
I will likely run Holiday Lake and Promise Land in preparation for my bigger race. This will give me a benchmark on my condition as I can compare times on these courses.
Tomorrow at 4 PM I will know if I get into MMT. Wish me luck!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thoughts
I realize that it has been a while since I have posted. My training has been average and I need to ramp it up as there are only 2 months left until Mountain Masochist. This weekend I am competing in an adventure race. This is something I have never done and am really looking forward to completing the 4-hour race. I will report back on how it went.
Now for some housekeeping. I have taken down my lame ultra training page. After Masochist I plan on publishing a proper guide that takes into account all my experiences in training. My knowledge about the sport is still in an infant stage, but when I originally posted the page I was a premature baby in the sport. I also plan on reviewing some of the products that I have started to rely on while running distance. The larger undertaking I want to start is a weekly post of how my training has been going. I am not just talking about miles, but how I have been feeling and what I have been thinking while wearing my running shoes.
I am giving up the artificial sweetener aspartame (also called NutraSweet). I am now looking at labels to prevent myself from ingesting it. The hardest part of this is giving up diet soda. I love diet soda and aspartame may be why. I am on day 2 right now and though I have occasionally craved a diet coke, I have felt no ill effects. I am still partaking in saccharine sweeteners for my iced tea. Saccharine has been around for over 100 years and is considered much less harmful than aspartame. I will discuss all this in a future post.
I want to dedicate a large post to the tarsal coalition condition that will serve to help others with this condition gain confidence that they can still compete. My foot has felt well the last couple of months. I have begun Chiropractic care and that seems to really help.
Sorry for the very random post, but I had a bunch of stuff on my mind.
Now for some housekeeping. I have taken down my lame ultra training page. After Masochist I plan on publishing a proper guide that takes into account all my experiences in training. My knowledge about the sport is still in an infant stage, but when I originally posted the page I was a premature baby in the sport. I also plan on reviewing some of the products that I have started to rely on while running distance. The larger undertaking I want to start is a weekly post of how my training has been going. I am not just talking about miles, but how I have been feeling and what I have been thinking while wearing my running shoes.
I am giving up the artificial sweetener aspartame (also called NutraSweet). I am now looking at labels to prevent myself from ingesting it. The hardest part of this is giving up diet soda. I love diet soda and aspartame may be why. I am on day 2 right now and though I have occasionally craved a diet coke, I have felt no ill effects. I am still partaking in saccharine sweeteners for my iced tea. Saccharine has been around for over 100 years and is considered much less harmful than aspartame. I will discuss all this in a future post.
I want to dedicate a large post to the tarsal coalition condition that will serve to help others with this condition gain confidence that they can still compete. My foot has felt well the last couple of months. I have begun Chiropractic care and that seems to really help.
Sorry for the very random post, but I had a bunch of stuff on my mind.
Friday, July 18, 2008
No More Big Toenail
5 weeks almost to the day after the Laurel Highlands Ultra my right big toenail gave up and finally separated from the toe. This morning while putting on my pants I had a funny feeling in my toe. Upon inspection it was very loose, so I clipped it back almost to the cuticle. Recently it had turned to a milky color, so I know it was going to happen soon. Enjoy the pic!
[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Missing Toenail "]
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[caption id="attachment_110" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Missing Toenail "]
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Laurel Highlands Ultra Action Pictures
A fellow Runner, Paul Rudman sent me this link to the pictures he took while running the race. This should give you a real feeling about how bad the terrain is, and how wet it really got that day.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tarsal Coalition and Me
The day after I completed The Laurel Highlands Ultra I could not put weight on my left foot / ankle. This was not uncommon as I have had similar pain to a lesser extent before. After a few days the pain level went down, but not away. I decided to see an Orthopaedic specializing in the foot and ankle. After a lot of X-Rays he determined and diagnosed me with a Tarsal Coalition. The bones in the back of my foot do not work properly and cause pain. Under normal circumstances I do not have any pain. I did not have pain during or after any previous 50k races, but the 70 at Laurel Highlands put it over the top. It is now 5 weeks after the race and I am still in a small amount of pain. The doctor recommended that I stop running on trails and only run on the road. To me this is a bad option. He competes in ironman length triathlons and recommended that I start doing that as well to take stress off the foot. I have no plans to stop running on the trails. Surgery is an option, but it may or may not help. My next race is in 16 weeks. I have not been able to resume training properly yet, but hope to get my mileage up to a higher level soon. I am not sure why I am sharing this, but I am. Please pray for me and my foot.
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