Losing It

I had it. And I lost it.

It is a feeling of invincibility, strength and a zone you can do anything. It was last seen on display signing up for a 31 mile race the morning of and knowing I'm coming out fine. It is just like being in "the zone," but as an endurance sport participant that zone wasn't like basketball where I can't miss a shot, it was like I can do anything with this trained weapon I'm walking in.

I took a week off after my last race, did very little the next week, and I am just now ramping up again. Probably, to the average racer, very normal recovery time. But, for me the time off was rotting my brain, thinking I am becoming less than I am. I am the same person I was just two weeks ago, performing beautifully, but my swagger is gone. I have no physical pain. It is a complete mental feeling I am trying to describe with failing words. The only way I can put it is, it is like being half way through the movie Rocky, the first one.

The good news is, I just pasted this part, that feeling, and the next scene takes place in a cold meat locker.

Weakness

Just now I tried to do some Perfect Pushups. I did one and my left elbow had a shooting pain. Better do one more to make sure something is wrong, I thought. Yeah. Something hurts. I just played golf, but somehow did I get tennis elbow? I also think there is such a thing called golf elbow. Maybe it should just be called Country Club elbow.

I shall continue to monitor the situation.

Janus Charity Challenge

I need a charity. I like running for a cause and this time I get to pick one.

The Janus Charity Challenge is a fundraising program that adds to an athlete's Ironman experience while making a difference in the lives of others. Anyone who is registered for an Ironman has the option to participate.

If you know of a great charity you were looking to donate to or have any suggestions of one, let me know and I will put my miles to the cause.

Something Gone Terribly Right

I don't know how it happened, why it all clicked and how I could run such a sound race. But, somehow everything went terribly right.

I couple things to note:

• The weather was cold, maybe 45 degrees with a 25-30 mph wind.
  
• I ran with a base layer of shorts, a compression long sleeve top, singlet, hat and a light wind breaker.
  
• I had a full bottle of water about every 45 minutes.
• I ate something (bars, gels, road snacks) about every hour.
  
• I tackled the event by an initial 2 hour and 50 minute run. 17 miles down.
  
• Mile 17 I met up with my support team (J-Bear) in a 6 minute and 30 second transition. I ditched the windbreaker and changed shoes. 14 miles to go.
  
• The next part is done all by watch, not by how I feel, 15 minutes walking, 30 minutes running.

I ran the Cowtown Ultra, 31 miles, in an unofficial 5 hours and 42 minutes, by my watch. Normally, you don't feel just great at the finish. I did. I played golf the next day.

I think it is just a statement to what the human body is capable of, amazing things. When you look at the body, all the systems God created and how they all work together and you run a race like this, it is fun to know you are getting the most out of your vessel.

Dust In The Wind...

R.I.P. GB

It would be wrong of me if I didn't mention the departing of a dear close training partner of mine. This weekend in the midst of glory was sadness and loss.

In the early minutes, right before the gun went off to start the race, I was on the other side of what resembled a cattle chute. On a street packed tight with people, I needed to cross the sea of runners to get my bag to bag check before the start. Little did I know, not everything was going to make it across. 

My Gatorade Bottle, my favorite source of hydration that I have used for years, did not make it across the gamut of crazed runners. It was tucked in an outside pocket of my backpack and when I made it through, it did not.

It fueled me for so long and when Nalgene bottles and smaller squirt top water bottles came along, it remained my go to liquid source. I only hope it is in a better place. Or at least with some old friends.

As I continue to get stronger and carry on, I will not forget what you did for me, what you gave me. I will always remember you. R.I.P. Gatorade Bottle.

Cowtown

I was thinking about something I once heard when I was first starting to tackle a marathon, that it is really not recommended by doctors to run more than one marathon a year because of the stress it puts on your body.

Yesterday, I ran an ultra marathon... again. 31 miles and I torched it. I ran the Cowntown Ultra Marathon in under 5 hours and 45 minutes. Not bad compared to the Sunmart Ultra I ran this December, my first race of that distance. I completed it in 6 hours and 18 minutes. Nothing like shaving 30 minutes off a personal record.

I guess the Houston Marathon in January was a good warm up.

Cry For Help

There is a real point I have crossed. I would imagine it is the same point someone would get to when they realize rehab is the only answer, I need help. You can stop and look back and just think, how did I get to this point, how did this snowball so quickly?

I am going to Ft. Worth to run in Saturday's ultra marathon. I didn't register in advance, I am just going to sign up on race day. 6 a.m. buy a bib number, put it on and subject myself to 31 miles... of fun.

Where is the clinic?

Becoming Bunsen Honeydew

I think I like what I am doing, what I am trying to do, but I can really see the line. I don't know what I am searching for in books and articles about becoming better at this sport, simply a story about survival and what limb to cut off first I suppose. It is clear though, you better become a scientist if you want to improve.

I do this because it is fun but getting better at it is a world of complication that requires tests and lab studies using numbers and terms like: aerobic capacity (ability to transport oxygen to working muscles), lactate threshold (level of exertion at which the blood lactate level begins to increase), VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use to fuel exercise), pedal cadence (I had to look up the word 'cadence' in a dictionary) and just trying to make sense out of Lance Armstrong maintaining a steady heart rate—just a hair below his lactate threshold heart rate, which for him is an inhuman 178 to 180 bpm—for a long duration of up to two hours.

It is all very interesting, if you are trying to win an Olympic medal. I think I just want to have done it, first or last place.

Believe In The Run

And some other signs will make you run faster and farther too...

Encouragement

Encouragement can make you do big things.

Sunscreen, Sunscreen, Sunscreen

Two More Miles

It really isn't good to get an email with race updates less than 24 hours before start time:

"In an effort to make sure that we have the safest ride possible, the Katy Police Department asked that we do a minor change to our routes at the beginning of the ride. We have done so but the change added approximately 2 miles to each route. We now are riding 28, 46 and 70 mile routes."

Today I went for a bike ride, 70 miles. For those keeping track at home, 14 miles longer than I have ever gone. Today had about 15-20 mph winds. Luckily, we were only dead into the wind for about miles 50-60. I finished at about 5 hours and 15 minutes. I stopped at all 5 rest stops and had about 4 hours and 30 minutes of actual ride time.

The question you ask yourself after such an event is, could I have gone 42 more miles, completing the 112 mile ride in the IRONMAN. Also, you think about how you feel at the finish of that ride knowing you have a marathon to run after that. Oh, and to start the day you have to swim 2.4 miles.

But that is really a rhetorical question.

Wile E. Coyote

I have been signed up for a little over 6 months, I have another 6 months to go and not until this week have I had this bad feeling.

I feel like the race is an anvil hanging above my head.

Training Wheels

Yesterday I did something I normally only do in a big triathlon, I rode my bike. I did a 46 mile race and the only positive I can take from the day was that I didn't have to walk my bike. About mile 36 my legs said adios, which turned out to be a little early not only because there were 10 miles left but the final 3 miles were basically completely uphill. The road bike is an evil invention. If you want to know uncomfort just sit on a bike seat for an extended amount of time.

I probably should admit myself or rethink the 68 mile ride next Saturday.