Keep Moving Forward

Location:SIU Edwardsville Trail System
Distance: 50k (31 miles)
surface: single track
Elevation gain: 1860 ft
Temp at Start time: 37

Yesterday marked the first ever Tryptophan 50k. The weather was perfect for late November. The temperature topped out at 68 right around the time the final runner crossed the finish line. The trail was in good shape, not too wet to cause muddy shoes, not too dry to be dusty.

The run was supposed to start at 7:30, but apparently the RD did not have the aid station set up. Things finally got moving 7:46. It was cool out, but not cold, so I went with shorts and a long sleeved shirt. Each loop was a little over 5 miles. Since I had only been to the course one other time on a walk with my wife and the dog, I was not sure how the path flowed. It did not really matter that much since I had 31 miles to cover. I ran a few laps before I settled on a loop that would work out so that by the time I hit 31, I would be close to the car and not out in the middle of nowhere.

I felt really good for most of the day. The hills were decent. There were no huge climbs, but plenty of short climbs and descents. I think that the weights and stair climber I have been doing a few times a week over the last few months have really helped. My wife came out with Augie (our dog) to see how I was doing and to go for a walk. I was at mile 18.8 and was still feeling good, but it was nice to talk to someone for a few minutes. It broke up my run a little.

The aid station at mile 18.8 (also my transportation to the run and home)

Leaving the aid station, a little over 12 miles to go.

I was moving along pretty well. I did not have any down times yet and I was over 20 miles. I made sure to keep up on my nutrition. I used this run today as some experimentation for my diet. I used Perpetum, Hammer Gel, pretzel sticks, and bananas all which seemed to work for me without any feelings of nausea. Around mile 23, I started to feel the wall coming on. I had tripped over a root and hit the ground. No major or even minor damage, but it was enough to slow me down and take me out of "the zone." I pushed on for the next few miles until I came around.

26+ into the run (I took this on the move with my camera phone, not bad huh?)

I hit the marathon mark and was in good shape. My feet hurt, but my quads, calves, and knees were still underneath me, so I decided to pick it up a little for the last bit of the run. I hit the 31 mile mark in 6 hours, 6 minutes and 57 seconds. Not too bad. I was at the 1/2 way mark in 3 hours and was able to get close to repeating that time for the second half.

I had originally plannned on running in the "Dude, Where's the Trail?" 50k fun run in Blue Springs, MO tomorrow. My cousin who was going to run it with me had something come up and was unable to go. I decided since he was out that I was going to skip 7 hours of driving and a night in a hotel by myself. However, I will be running my planned mileage tomorrow in the "Tryptophan 50k." I'll be the lone runner in this self created run. It will take place on and around the Cross Country trail at SIUE. Its going to be roughly 5 miles per loops, so I will use my trunk as the aid station.

Results and pictures to be posted after all runners have finished. :)

If you follow this blog at all, I generally focus on the running/triathlon side of things, but occasionally I will focus on a device or technology of some sort that I use during training.

I've had several MP3 players over the years, including hard drive based (think standard Ipod) to flash based (think Ipod shuffle). Both have their strengths and weaknesses which I will outline below.

*for comparison sake, let's assume a 30GB hard drive based player (roughly..7,500 music files, 25,000 pictures, OR 100 hours of video) and a 2GB( roughly 500 songs, video and pictures may or may not be an option) flash based player. There are also a lot of variable when talking battery life and total capacity, so I am using general estimates.

• Hard drive based players hold a lot of stuff ; songs, pictures, even movies. They suffer by being bigger. Since a hard drive has moving parts, potential skipping and more damage could occur if dropped as well as generally shorter battery life, averaging about 12 hours. Once again because of moving parts and the higher power consumption to move those parts.


• Flash based players are basically the opposite. Still hold a lot of content, but you have to be more conservative with what you put in it since storage capacity is much less then hard drive based (for our example 15x less). They have no moving parts which contributes to less (or no) skipping and increased battery life of 24+ hours.
  

I've owned both types and will say that for general running, gym work, cycling, etc. that flash players fit the bill. The biggest issue I have is that I have to juggle content all the time. If my player is close to being full and I get a new CD, I have to remove some music to put on the new music. This issue exists with hard drive players, but far less often and only with users with huge collections. The other side of that is, sometimes I am going along and think "it would be good to listen to..." and I can't because I did not think to load it up before I headed out the door.

Now on to what sparked this post. I bought a Zune. Its a hard drive based player by Microsoft. I'm not looking to compare to Ipod or make arguments that is better/worse.. whatever. I really like this device. Its got a great screen, holds all my music and pictures. I even have a few videos on it. I put my podcasts on there for a change of pace from music, plug it into my car stereo. My favorite feature is the wireless piece. If someone else has a Zune, we can exchange files wirelessly. The Zune store (think Itunes) is great too.You pay a subscription fee and can download as much music as you want and transfer it to your device. If you decide you like a certain album you can opt to purchase it. Seems like you are paying for it twice right... sort of. Look at it this way. I can pay 14.99 a month for a many songs as I want to download. Lets assume I download and listen to 1000 albums but only like one albums and want to keep it forever, then I just buy that album for around 10 bucks. Think of it as an unlimited test drive as long as you pay the monthly fee. This is not mandatory, you can use your existing music that you have, buy CD's to rip to the device and do the standard "pay as you go" type service where you pay .99 a song.

Zune in brown playing my current favorite album

 This is a bit old, but worth a read..... 

Link to ABC News: Research: Humans Are Born to Run

I was out running my long run today, an out and back on a paved bike trail, and was really enjoying the scenery. Trees line a majority of the trail. It's great to see all the colors the leaves are changing and to every now and then have some leaves slowly falling to the ground around me. At the half way point, I opened up my hydo pack and pulled out a HammerGel. While I was stopped, I looked over and there was a huge pumpkin patch. I have never seem so many pumpkins before still on the ground. I got out my camera phone and snapped a shot then headed back.

It was a nice run, cool weather and good things to look at. It's a shame that this won't last long. Before too long, it will be cold and the trees will be bare. Better enjoy it while I can.

This last week of training has been good. My mileage is adding up and I should have one of my top total milage months to date. My base is far better then it was a year ago, which is expected, but looking back at logs from this time last year, I'm at a good spot especially this early in my training.

I found another nice off-road trail off of one of the paved trails I usually run on. Its about 1.5 miles long with some rolling hills and a few climbs. I ran up on a Cyote who had just caught a mole. We were both super suprised to see each other and quickly went our seperate dictions. I also ran across a HUGE groundhog who seemed interested in what I was doing and then 3 deer who ran across the path about 20 feet in front of me. Running places where I can see things like that make me want to get out there more. It's way more exciting then seeing car after car drive by.

Now on to the best part... I had to work on Saturday in Omaha, NE. I was doing a presentation on Windows Vista for a partner company and I had some pictures of me running and some of the blogs I read up on the screen (picture below). Someone asked if I did triathlon and ran. I said yes and a few other questions got asked about it and I moved on. Then yesterday I saw one of the guys from the presentation on Saturday. He came up to me and said that he had not run in years and after talking to me a seeing what I was doing, he decided to go out and get a few miles in. Man was I pumped to hear that!!! It was just a great feeling to know that my "silly little addiction" can make an effect like that. I'm going to be high on that comment for a while.

-Keep Moving Forward

I've completed my first full season as a endurance athlete "type". I've ran a 30 mile trail race, competed in a sprint distance and a international distance triathlon, achieved a 10k goal I set for myself over a year ago and ran a marathon. It may not sound like much, but coming from virtually no aerobic activity 20 months ago to where I am now makes me really happy. Not only does it make me happy, but it makes me think "what will I be able to do this year?" With that question in mind I decided I better get down in writing what the next steps are for me.

Through all of my training, running holds the #1 spot for me. I will be actively perusing the ultra distance events from here on out. Mainly 50 milers, but I’m keeping an eye on the 100's down the road. Most of this reasoning comes from building up my base to be ready for a race of that distance/time...yet. I will be trying for a spot at the WS100 in 2008.

I am going to be spending the next 6 months concentrating on building myself up for the McNaughton Trail 50 mile run I ran the 30 there last year and was undertrained for the hills. I finished pretty well for a newbie but know I can do better this year with some real concentration on hill work and overall increase in endurance.

First up on the schedule is the Dude, Where's the Trail 50K on Nov. 26th. This is a 50k fun run in Blue Springs, MO. My 20 year old cousin is getting into ultra running and we are going to run together, not as a team, just for the support and the fun of it. No real details as I don't know them and won't until I show up for the run, hence the "where's the trail" name!! I do not have any scheduled races after that for 2006, but will continue training hard. I will be joining the SLUGS and hopefully meeting some great people and finding out about some good routes in the St. Louis area. McNaughton 50 miler is April 13th,(it's also got a 150 miler, so anyone out there looking to get some really long distance in, check it out) then my friend Howard wants to run the JFK 50 in mid November for his 50th birthday and has asked me to join him and I gladly accepted.

I guess that sums up what I've got going on the next year. There will of course be additions, but those are the top line items. Thanks for checking in! I'll be updating with my training plans, mileage and pictures along the way. Now go outside and enjoy it!!

-Keep moving forward
Travis

I looked over at the clock Sunday morning and it said 3:50... guess its time to get up and get ready. I heard my father-in-law (Ron) milling around and figured I better go downstairs and start the coffee. We had put our gear together and filled up the water bottles with various sports drinks the night before. We ate some breakfast, drank some coffee and headed out the door at 5.

The drive to the course was about 40 minutes. We parked, hit the restrooms and stretched out. My wife (Micaela) came along with a cooler of snacks and extra sports drinks for the both of us. Since the course was an odd shape, we actually ran past the finish line 3 before we crossed the finish line. Micaela set up camp near the Start/Finish for some pics and to hand out round 2 of the drinks.

It was the start of the Endurance50 and a good crowd was over by the NorthFace tent getting books signed and talking to Dean Karnazes. I decided to wait until the end to do that. We met up with my cousin Jennifer who was running her first 1/2 marathon and headed to the start line My friend Howard, his wife and some of their friends were running the 1/2 also. I had not been able to get a hold of him to meet up and just by chance we lined up about 8 feet from each other. We talked for a bit and decided to run together for a while. He's faster then me in the marathon distance, but he's coming off an injury, so he was easing back in with the half.

The gun sounded at 7:00 and we were off. Howard and I ran together for a while then I separated from his group and ran my own race. The sun was coming out, there were no clouds in the sky and no shade to see for a while. It was heating up fast. My goal was to maintain a 10:00 min/mile pace. I was wearing my Polar 625x so I was able to keep a watch on my pace and my HR.

The course was an odd shape. It was a 12 mile out and back from the Start/Finish then a loop out past the Start/Finish then repeat for the marathon. I knew what I was getting into, it was just funny running by the finish line so many time and not getting to stop. I was charging alongand ran my 1/2 in a little under 2:05 and was feeling good. My ITband was holding well. I spotted Micaela and she helped me swap out water bottles and I was off for round 2. I met up with some runners from the local running club (BiPod) of the town I just moved to. I ran with them for a while and got some great words of encouragement then let then go as they were using the run as training and were only looking to go another 4 miles before they called it a day.
The sun was really beating down and the pounding was getting to me. I kept telling myself, "get to mile 20.." I don?t know why that was what I was after, but that's what was getting me through. I got to 20 and was still going so I pushed on. I first walked at the water stops at mile 21. I had a hard time getting going again, but was able to. I pushed on and walked through the water stops for the next 2 miles.

Then I hit the wall a little after mile marker 24. I was really having a hard time. My legs were killing me. I walked with another gentleman for about .2 of a mile and discussed the event with each other. I told him this was my first marathon and he said "Just finish, that's all this is about" I agreed, but I have a hard time with that. I wanted to average 10 minute miles and it was slipping away, but he was right. I was not there to do anything more than finish. We walked for a little longer, then he took off. I walked a few more steps then picked up the pace too. I was so close, no more walking.

The area I was in was shaded and on a crushed lime stone trail, so it was cool and softer then the road to run in. I knew there was a big hill coming up at the end of mile 24 so I mentally prepared myself and charged up it. This hill was hard, but nothing compared to the ones at McNaughton, so I kept that in my head and went for it. I passed mile marker 25 as the ground started to level out. I was so close. The rest of the race was literally down hill with the exception on one small incline. I got through it an approached the parking lot where the chute started. I was almost done. Def Leopard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me" was blaring out of the speakers as I ran by. I was thinking "pour some water on me would be way better." I crossed in 4:22.15.. 10 minute miles on the nose. *The clock in the picture below is total running time, not chip time.

This was rough. I had trained hard for my international distance triathlon all summer, but it was more concentration on all 3 events as opposed to running exclusively. My body was feeling it, but I was finished. I grabbed some water. Thanked Micaela for her help and then made my way toward the Endurance50 bus. I staggered around for bit then saw Dean come out. I did not have my book or a pen or even a camera, but I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello. Just then my cousin Jennifer came over to talk and snapped a picture of Dean an I.

Now we had to wait for Ron to finish and it was really starting to cloud up. We saw him at the mile 24 marker walking. He said he was going to have to walk because his knees were killing him. I cheered him on and said "give it what you got left" he gave me a nod and kept going. Not long after he rounded the corner, it started pouring!! It was coming down in buckets. How miserable it must have felt to be that tired and sore and getting just drenched, but he continued on. The aid staff recommended that everyone go inside due to the lightning. We did and tried to guess when he would get done. We got in the car and drove as close to the finish line as possible until we saw him down the road. He was running again and on the home stretch. He crossed the finish line in 5:52 on his 55th birthday. Happy Birthday Ron!!

We all talked for a minute and he wanted to get his bib signed by Dean so we headed over to the bus. The whole event had basically shut down after the rain, but he was determined to meet Dean. One of the guys from the bus let him on and when they all heard he had just finished in the downpour, the whole bus started cheering and clapping for him. He got his bib and my book signed and we headed home for some watch some football and relax.

It was a great race. The course route was a little crazy, but the staff was great. It was really awesome to meet Dean. He was a super nice guy and I wish him the best as the Endurance50 continues.

-Keep Moving Forward

50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days has been done by Sam Thompson already, so to think that 2 people would want to do this is crazy (or highly motivated depending on your point of view).  Sam ran for Katrina awareness and Dean Karnazes is running for Karno's Kids, a charity to encourage youth to get outside and be active.  Both are good causes so I'm not going to pit one against the other or anything like that.  I just think its great that people are using fittnes as a way to bring attention to good causes.  I know there is a lot of negativity around Dean out there in the Ultrarunning community(I am a fan though) and Im not writing any of this to convience anyone one way or another.  I'm just glad that ultrarunners are using their skills to get the word out about something positive.  Huge credit goes to Sam and his crew for completing the task and good luck to Dean and his crew as your journey begins!!!! 

Since the Endurance 50 kicks off right down the road from my house, I decided to get in on it.  I am running in the Lewis & Clark marathon.  This will be my first marathon and 2nd longest run next to McNaughton.  I have not really been training out-right for a marathon, but I trained pretty hard all summer for my international distance trialthon and ran a 20 miler as a measuring stick last weekend so I should be good.  My Itband has been a bit of an issue, but I'm not out there to set records, just to finish and use this as a long workout for my ultra training.  It's going to hurt, no doubt, but that's what it's all about!!

My father-in-law is running too.  This is his first marathon and a warm-up for Chicago in October.  I'll get some pictures pre and post race and maybe my wife can snap one of me and my father-in-law during the race.  I won't be moving too fast so she should be able to get it done. :)

-Keep Moving Forward!

This is pretty awesome!! I was on Windows Local and noticed that now you can map out custom routes. This is really great because now you and your friends can share locations of running trails that are not on the map. Check out the link to the School House Trail below. I mapped that one out yesterday.

School House Trail

Here's a collection of pics from the race.

10 minutes before my wave starts

That's me in the pink cap.. had a rough start Im back on track here.

Staying Aero. Averaged close to 21 mph for the bike leg.

averaged 7:32 minutes/mile

Big Finish!! 2:48:04

Post race photo with some friends. From the left Bob, Tim, me, Dan
Bob and Tim did the sprint distance, Dan and I were in the International.

I finally found an off road trail 'close' to my place. There are plenty of paved ones all over the place, but I could not seem to find anything made of dirt.

My cousin and I were out for a 20 miler the other day and saw a trail coming off of the one we were on. I said 'great now I know where to go to get in some trail work.' Problem was this was my first long run in a while and I quickly lost track of where exactly it was and just focused one finishing.

So today I decided to go hit the dirt trail thinking it was not that far to run to. I started on my way at a decent pace thinking I would come up on it sooner or later, well later was the answer. I put in 5 and had just found it and I had dinner plans for my birthday, but the whole reason I came out was to run the trail. I called my wife and she said to hit the trail and she would come pick up at one at one of the parking areas close to the trail (she's the best). Long story short, I got in a longer run then expected and some trail work. Let the ultra training begin!!!

*note: Im not mad in that picture, I took it with my camera phone. I felt kind of goofey smiling for the camera in the middle of the woods by myslef :)

Where to start? Let's begin by saying I learned a lot at this race.

Items to note for my next race:
1. My open water swim needs work, specifically the start in a crowd.
2. Pull the leg of my wetsuit over my chip to keep it from getting pulled off.
3. Make sure my chip is still on before leaving the transition area.
4. In the event of a 'mistake' just remember why I am there and what I put in to get there.

I had an awesome time. It's crazy how big this event is. I had some issues with my timing chip, so I only have a few of my splits available and a total time of 2:48:04.

I'll post my race report and some pics soon.

Time: 6:00 am
Water temp: 72
Weather: mid-70's and light rain

Last year I ran the Chicago Triathlon super sprint because at that time my triathlon 'career' was only a few months along. In all actuality my total time swimming was only a few months. I had never ridden a bike for any reason except to ride it and my running had been on hiatus since 97.

The Super Sprint was on Saturday. My good friend Dan was in the Olympic distance race on Sunday so I stayed to cheer him on. I saw some awesome things that day. People of all ages and abilities giving it all they could and I made a promise that day that I would be there in 06. So here I am, 2 days away from a one year project and ready to go.

Race Day Goals:
-good transitions
-relax on the swim and stay efficient
-average 19 mph on the bike
-give it my all in the run and pace under 9 min/miles
-finish under 3 hours
-take it all in and enjoy every second!

I'll be posting via my mobile device over the next few days.

-Keep Moving Forward-

I shifted my exercising lifestyle a little more then a year ago from power lifting to more cardio based activities. I never imagined I would have run a 30 mile trail race or be 1 week out from a olympic distance tri. When I made this switch I wrote down some goals for shorter distance races with no idea that I was going to enjoy the longer races better. There goals have been hanging out there and I could not just let them go. So I ran a 10k as my last hard workout before I taper.
My goal was 48:00 and since I rarely go out and run fast for 6 miles without having rode my bike first, I was not 100% what I was going to be able to do. Well long story short.... I ran a 44:41! Guess all this training is paying off.

For those out there that have multiple blogs like me (this one and my Windows Live Blog) or want to use somthing to post with other then the web page itself, you should check out the Windows Live Writer.  It works with lost of different blog providers and has some nice tools built in like Spell Check and some good formatting tools for fonts, colors, bullets, etc...  Its free and woth a look.   Happy blogging!

With Chicago Triathlon just right around the corner I figured I needed to get some more open water training in. I also figured that I needed to get some time in my wetsuit just in case water temperatures are low enough. It went really well. Its crazy to me how boyant those things make you.

I swam at the lake at my mother-in-law's house. My wife, nephew and a few of the dogs came down to watch and play in the water.

Once I got used to the feeling of the suit and how it "floats" the lower 1/2 of my body I swam for around an hour non-stop.


There was a group of people docked at the nearby beach who talked to my wife about what I was doing and she explained. Once I finished my workout and was coming out of the water they all cheered and wished me good luck. Now, if I could figure out a way to get people to cheer for me after every workout....

The Chicago Triathlon is less than a month away. July flew by with buying/settling into the new house as well as being sick for about a week, so training was a bust. Even with all of that I think I am ready. The swim is my worst event, but hopefully the water temp is below 78 and I can wear my wetsuit. The cutoff to place in Age Groupers is 78 degrees, but you can wear one up to 84 degrees and the penalty is no prizes or awards. Given that it is highly unlikely that I will be even close to the tops in my age division, I may wear it if it is below 84, but that will be a decision I make in the next few weeks based on how my swim workouts go. I am confident on the bike, not fast, but confident. Under the right conditions I can average 20 mph, which would be my goal for the course. The run is where I am the least worried. After running the 30 mile trail run back in April, I know that I can push through just about anything.

This is my first Olympic distance triathlon (swim - 1500m, bike - 26.2, run - 10k) and the main goal is to run a smart race and do my best. My secondary goal is to finish at the 3 hour mark. If I can hit 40 minutes in the swim, 1:20 on the bike that leaves me an hour to get through my 10K. I have to take the transitions into account, but this is completely possible. Keep your fingers crossed!

-Keep Moving Forward