Training and Listening to Your Body

Not even sure what I am going to title this at this point, but I do know what I am going to talk about, training and listening to the body, actually that might be a good title!

There are times when you go out to train and you are looking at your training schedule and what is up for the day, and you are just like I am way too tired for this, my legs hurt, or it just may be way too hot for this exact workout.  Sometimes, it is just best to deviate from the plan and find something that will work or just take a rest day.

Lets start with too tired, now I am not saying too lazy, these are two completely different things.  When I say tired, I am saying literally have been having problems staying awake for the last few hours.  I do have this issue often as I do most of my training when I get off of work and I work third shift so there is that psychological issue as well.  Falling asleep while running is possible, I have done it, it is no fun waking up 50 yards down the road, a lot of things can happen in that time.  "Sometimes sleep is the best cross training", not sure where I read that line, it was a while back, but it's dead on the money.  Get a nap in, there have been times in the middle of an Ultra and was so bad off I stopped and napped, see if that helps or just go to bed for the day, either way it's one training day in a 3 month, 6 month or year training block.  Better to be able to run tomorrow than get hurt and not be able to train for weeks.

Next subject is pain, sometimes it can just kill any motivation we have to get out the next day, then again some of us thrive on it.  You wake up the next morning after a run and your legs are just killing, you think about running, but then you are like well will I get hurt if I run anymore, the answer could be yes or no.  Most times we are sore is because the day before we may have pushed it just a little harder than what we are used to, either we did speed work, got in some weight lifting, took a different course that may have been just a little hillier than what we are used to, or nutrition and/or sleep has changed up.  Whatever it may be, it may be a sign to take it a little easier today, we hate to back off now because yesterday was awesome, but if we push today the soreness COULD be worse tomorrow.  As for other pains, not muscle soreness or generally pains we get from the amazing fun time of running, you may want to talk to a doctor, especially if it has been around for a while or is getting worse.

Last but not least, especially this year in my area, the heat.  You walk out the nice air conditioned building, to realize you have entered the 7th gate of hell, as you start to run you realize you are literally the only idiot outside in this stuff, as you see random faces staring at you from inside their cozy homes.  In these conditions, I would say maybe we should cut the run short today or slow it down a lot.  When it is abnormally hot in your area, pay special attention to your body, some people take the heat just fine, I know I did when I was younger, I was actually best in high heat.  Now that I have gotten older, high heat shuts me down as it does most people, I know I can't go as or as hard as I would like, it's been a tough lesson, because I still fight with it keep trying to push through it, but the body can only handle so much stress before it starts forcing you to slow down or worse.

All I am saying is just be careful out there, we all want to keep racing, after all that is why we train.

Also, do not forget, I am still doing my shoe giveaway for lucky cross country runner.  Check out my Facebook page for more details.

Training for this week:

Monday - 2 hour run

Tuesday - 1 mile repeats x6

Wednesday - 2 hour run

Thursday - 400 meter intervals x12

Friday - 2 hour run

Saturday - 10 mile run

Sunday - 10 mile run

Christmas in July 24 Hour and Sqwincher Sqweeze

Well this was by far the most challenging thing that I have attempted.  Not everything went according to plan before the race, the race conditions were not exactly friendly, and it was by far the longest race I have ever attempted so here goes a race and product review along with a botched attempt at going farther, well I went the farthest I ever have but not as far as I wanted.

Christmas in July is a really fun event to go to, they have multiple events: a fun run, 5k, 10k, 6 Hour, 12 Hour, 24 Hour and the locals and event organizers really made the 12 hours I ran entertaining, that is for sure.  They had the whole course decorated with lights, inflatables, and other Christmas themed decorations.  The locals literally are there just as long as you are still running never giving way to fatigue to make sure you keep moving, especially this one girl, no idea who she was but she seemed to be there every lap to give every single runner a high five or fist bump. Then there was food, it was great especially the late night pizza and the early morning pancakes and bacon, oooooooh bacon!  Then there is the course, the ultra course is the only one I touched, but it was just under 1 mile.  1 mile does sound intimidating to do for 24 hours but the course is rolling, winding, and easy to get lost in your thoughts in.  With all that said, this is a tough ultra for the simple fact it is on asphalt, so no soft trails for easy running, you will feel every step after a while.

The awards I thought were one of the most appealing things about this race, giant nutcrackers, belt buckles for clearing 100 miles, and very well made finisher medals.

So I guess on to my experience for the event!....!  It started off as any other event except for I got up a little earlier than usual thanks to my 1 year old, well the time was about 6:30 am.  Was all packed up and ready to go by noon, but had to do a little running around to make sure the house would survive while I was gone.  3 pm, I get out the door for my 3.5 hour drive, plus going back across timelines, I figured I was going to get a good nap, man I was wrong!  Nice drive for about the first 1.5 hours, then it all stops, literally.  I heard over the radio that there had been a possible tornado touchdown about 18 miles up the road, and apparently everyone else heard it, because cars were piled under the next underpass and traffic was at a dead halt.  About that time we started getting beat by hail, so I just kept my eyes open, eventually we started moving, but were at a dead crawl for I don't even know how long, all I know is I pulled into the park at 9 pm their time, and the race started at 10pm, when I was planning to be there at 6 pm their time, so no nap for me.

So I start running, get one lap down, and I start into a comfortable running pace, a little slower than my normal easy run pace. After about 5 miles or so, I catch up with the lead girl, who took off at the start, she told me she was last years winner.  We decided to stay together probably for the next 5 or so miles.  She backed off a little bit and I decided to try and hold pace a little longer, thinking to get some good miles in during the cool night, which if I would have known the rain was going to hit I would waited till then to try and hammer miles down since it was currently around 80 degrees.  I felt great honestly until around the 5 mile mark, which I think I may have still been leading, but I got tired and I got tired fast.  Every lap was worse and worse, I was literally waking up while still running.  I really got worried so I stopped and talked to a volunteer and they offered me a place to nap for a little bit and informed me there was no time limit in between laps, so I napped for close to 2 hours.

Just shy of the 7 hour mark, I woke up and I knew I had cleared the 30 mile mark before the nap so I still felt okay about possibly breaking 100 miles.  As I got back to running, I felt great!  I put down 5 or 6 solid miles, then the sun started coming up, so I started getting a little conservative, because I knew it was about to get hot.  I got to the probably 10 hour mark and fatigue from lack of sleep the day before hit me again, so I found a random bench on the course and passed out, many of the participants were worried about me and kept waking me up, I had to inform them that I had been awake for 14+ hours before the race and that I was just resting for a little bit.  After I got up, not sure where I was on time scale or anything.  I ran maybe two more laps, then calmed down and just walked a few laps while talking to some of the others going through the sufferfest with me to conquer a few more miles.  At the 12 hour and 40 minute mark, I was told I could check with the Race Director and find out my lap count, I checked it and I was at 44 laps and 42 miles.  I thought about for a few minutes and decided to pull out at this point.  With state I was in and how hot it was, 110 heat index, there was no way I was going to hit 100 miles.


Sqwincher was really nice and set me up with most of my refueling needs.  Sqwincher Sqweeze Pops which if you know anything about me while I am running, I absolutely love popsicles while I am putting down some serious miles.  They also sent me Sqwincher Single Serve stick packs, which were great, because unlike some stick packs they mix perfectly with 20 oz of water instead or 8 or 12 oz like other similar products.  I used their products for all my hydration needs this race and absolutely loved them.  Way better than gatorade, because they kept my stomach calm and the flavors are so much more intense, they wake you up when you get into that endurance trance.

My training for this week, it is going to be reverse taper so I can get back up to full speed next week:

Monday: 3 mile run
Tuesday: 3 x 1 mile repeats, 2 minute rest
Wednesday: 1 hour run
Thursday: 6 x 400 meter intervals, 1 minute rest
Friday: 1 hour run
Saturday: 14 mile run
Sunday 6 mile run hills

Introduction

Hi, my friends usually call me Tom.  I'm a husband to a loving wife, have 2 sons and daughter, and am currently trying to add to the litter.  I work as a welder for company called Progress Rail, the jest of it is I help manufacture locomotives.  In my free time I like to have a good time, play a little Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm or Mario Kart , have a fire and some craft beer, enjoy a good movie, especially "The Wars", and obviously go out and pound some dirt with others and suffer for miles!  The latter is probably where most of the people who may be reading this know me from, and most of you know of me because I'm a kilt runner.


Why do I run in the kilt or skirt, as some of you like to joke about, but it's not funny!  I'm just kidding, if you really know me I love to laugh.  Hell here is a pic of me carrying on with some of friends on my race team Ragnarok at the New Castle Mini Marathon.

There are a few reasons why I rock the kilt, first one I have for you is that I have a Scottish heritage, easy enough reason.  The second being, I have always been one to draw attention and honestly on't care if I am or not, but I do enjoy a good shocked face from time to time lol.  The next reason, I came across Sport Kilt randomly and said why not, tried it on, and loved it better than the running shorts I have been wearing for the last 20 something years.

Next question!?!?!  Oh the war paint.  Yes, well it is an ancient tradition of the Scotts, as most of you may recall from Braveheart, which I get called quite often, his name is
William Wallace by the way lol.  The simple side of it is, it was a color that was easily made, it was their warrior tradition and I consider every race a battle, no matter how long.  It is not only a battle with the ones you race with, but with yourself. 

Now for the real question why you may be reading this, why did I create this stinking blog, that is most likely clogging up your news feed.  I am often asked what do I do for training, how do I eat, how should I start training myself, what beer do you like lol.  Those questions and more will be answered in due time.  Also, you will be able to comment on my blog, so at anytime you do have a question you would like to ask me go ahead and post, I will check often.  On that note, I do want to state I am no way a trained professional on diets, athletic training, or anything of the sort, but I have been around the block so I can at least share my experiences and may be a few people in the world can learn from mistakes.

So that is the intro, if you would like to know more, just ask and I will see if I can answer.

Now to get into the training program for this week I guess, now I am at a weird spot in training, I have been in a high mileage period, but I am starting to taper towards a 24 hour race in Lisle, IL.  Christmas in July 24 Hour it will be by far my farthest race ever, but I am going to have to hit 100 miles so I can get my first belt buckle!  So next week is my 75% taper week.

Monday - 1.5 hour run
Tuesday - 1.5 hour run
Wednesday - 45 minute fartlek, 5 minute warm up, 5 minutes on, 3 minutes off
Thursday - 1.5 hour run
Friday 1.5 hour run
Saturday 1.5 hour run
Sunday 1.5 hour run

I will say that I don't always stick to my schedule, life is life and sometimes it tells us we can't run.  I am the type to just stick to my schedule, if I miss a workout because my child needs me, then so be it.  Chalk it up as a needed rest day, and don't look back.

Well that is all for this week, follow me on G+, Instagram, Facebook, Runkeeper and Athlinks to keep up if you are interested.  Next week should be a review of race I did a few weeks ago!