Tried out swimming laps for the first time this morning ... it went poorly. Apparently, all the swimming I did from ages 5-12 hasn't carried through the 30 years well. Going to have to do a little research on form and breathing technique, and buy some googles and trunks that aren't 2 sizes too big. Rookie mistakes galore, but looking forward to my next attempt.

10/10-10/16 Training Log

Mon - 8M Tempo
Tue AM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Tue PM - 10M Easy
Wed AM - 12 Laps Swimming & Upper Body Strength Workout
Wed PM - 4M Fartlek w/ Running Group
Thur AM - 10M Easy
Thur PM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Fri - OFF
Sat - 23 miles easy
Sun - 14 Laps Swimming & Upper Body/Core Strength Workout

Last long run before the Marathon, and most excitedly my longest continuous run to date! Both of my previous Marathons I fell apart after mile 20 and had to walk a good chunk.

10/17-10/23 Training Log

Mon - 8M Tempo
Tue AM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Tue PM - 10M Easy
Wed AM - 20 Laps Swimming & Upper Body Strength Workout
Wed PM - 1M jog, hill sprints (approx 3M total), 1M jog - with Running group
Thur AM - 10M Easy
Thur PM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Fri - OFF
Sat - 18 miles Easy
Sun - 20 Laps Swimming & Upper Body/Core Strength Workout

12 days until the Marathon!

10/24-10/30 Training Log

Mon - 8M Tempo
Tue AM - 8M Easy
Tue PM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Wed AM - 30 Laps Swimming & Upper Body Strength Workout
Wed PM - 1M jog, 8x400 springs, 1M jog - with Running group
Thur AM - 8M Easy
Thur PM - Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout
Fri - OFF
Sat - 10 miles Easy
Sun - Upper Body/Legs/Core Strength/Stability workout

5 days until the Marathon!

Tappered down a little bit last week, especially Saturday's run, this week will be limited miles leading up to Saturday. I'm hoping to shave 30+ minutes off my previous marathon time. With my training and the flat course I should be able to hit that goal. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited for race day to get here!

Happy Halloween!

Race Report from the Monumental Marathon in Indy Saturday.

After a kickass training cycle I was much better prepared for my 3rd Full marathon than any race before. Despite that, it wasn't my day. I’m not sure if it was going out a little too fast, something wrong with my taper, fueling, or a million other little things. It certainly wasn’t the course (insanely flat) or weather (perfect for running).

My body was wiped by mile 15 and a little before mile 19 I slowed to a walk. I was in an almost identical spot as Atlanta 3 years ago, where I had to mostly walk the last 6-7 miles, and I was furious at the prospect of not finishing faster. But any time I tried to push to a light jog I just couldn’t do it. After close to 2 miles of anger walking, I decided screw it, if I can’t slow jog, what if I just run my normal pace and ignore my dead legs/body for the last 5 miles. It was the longest 5 miles of my running career, but I stuck with it and was able to push through and finish 19 minutes faster than my previous best.

The day didn’t go anything like I envisioned, but I proved something to myself, and pushing through those last 5 miles might be my proudest physical achievement to date. Instead of sulkeningly walking to the finish line, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and gutted it out. As everyone knows, things rarely go according to plan in life, there’s nothing we can do about that, but we do have complete control over how we react to the curveballs. In the grand scheme of things this long run was small potatoes, but that doesn’t take away from the sense of pride I’m feeling.

After crossing the finish line I was surprised to be completely overwhelmed with emotion. I spent the next 5-10 minutes trying to catch my breath amidst crying spurts. Eventually I got myself together, wandered around the finish line celebration area for a bit, then made my way to a local diner for a massive breakfast. What a day!

Now it's time to jump into a 6 week Trail Marathon training program ... as soon as I can move my legs.

With a quick turnaround for the Trail Marathon on the 50 Miler next year I decided to sign-up with a coach. Feels weird to pay for coaching as a backish of the pack runner, but worth it with my lack of experience trail running and doing super long distances. It's been great so far, he lays out every day's run/workout and we have a weekly video chat. Mostly he's had me slow down a little on long training runs (keep the heart rate under 145ish) and eat a little more (healthy stuff).

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 5 Mile Easy Run & Upper Body Workout
Tue AM - 50 Lengths swim
Tue PM - Speedwork w/ Running Group
Wed AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Thur AM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Fri PM - 5 Mile Easy Run
Sat AM - 16 Mile Trail Run
Sun PM - 1 Mile Swim

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Tue AM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Tue PM - Speedwork w/ Running Group (1 mile jog, 8x400, 2 mile jog w/ Stride every 4 mins, 1 mile jog)
Wed AM - 50 Lengths swim
Thur AM - 8 Mile Easy Rn
Thur PM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Fri PM - 3 Mile Easy Run
Sat AM - 17 Mile Trail Run

Saturday's Trail Run was on the course of the Trail Marathon I'm doing 12/17. I ran with the Race Director, her husband, and one of their friends. It was my favorite run in a long time. The course is awesome, pretty views, some hills (1 big one), but very runnable. And the folks I ran with were a delight. 2 of them were over 60 and could run circles around me. Really enjoyed talking to them and running with a group on trails, I'm going to have to start making that a priority.

I've always been an introvert, but when I quit drinking I really withdrew from social interactions as previously I had sought them out for the sole purpose of drinking. That carried on as I focused my energy on the various addictions/hobbies I got into over the following years, and then when COVID happened I withdrew into myself even more. Over the last few months I've been working on flipping that script (ex. - Tue night speedwork running group), which is tough, but on the occasions where I do force myself to engage it almost always ends up being a very positive experience.

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Tue AM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Tue PM - Speedwork w/ Running Group (1 mile jog, 3x1000, 2 mile jog w/ Stride every 4 mins, 1 mile jog)
Wed AM - 60 Lengths swim
Thur AM - 6 Mile Easy Rn
Thur PM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Fri PM - 60 Lengths swim & 7 Miles Stationary Bike
Sat AM - 11 Mile Easy Run

1st Trail Marathon is Saturday, a little nervous, but really looking forward to it.

My first trail marathon was a success! The conditions were prefect for running, cold, but no precipitation. There looked to be around 100 of us at the starting line, spread across the marathon and two shorter distances. It was a little congested at the beginning, but it thinned out fairly quickly, and I was mostly by myself for the last 2-3 hours. The course was extremely well marked with the only real hurdle being fallen leaves covering everything, leading to frequently tripping over tree roots. I stumbled too many times to count and had 3 complete wipeouts, but managed to come away without only a couple minor scrapes.

My plan was to go out slow, hike the uphills, and run everything else. I shockingly managed to stick to this and it worked out really well as my pace improved over the last 1/3 of the course. After barely finishing a flat road marathon 7 weeks ago, this is a huge victory and gives me a lot of optimism moving forward.

It was a great experience to cap off the year and although attempting to tackle a 52 mile race in 17 weeks is daunting, I'm super excited to dive into the training to kickoff 2023.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Realizing I haven't posted my training notes in awhile. After the Trail Marathon I stuck mostly to swimming and stationary bike, but I've been back to running as usual since Saturday. On New Year's Eve I'm going to do an almost Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 1.5 hour stationary bike, 1/2 marathon run), not a race, just for fun before all the bowl games kickoff.

I've been eating way too much and have really slacked on sticking to whole foods this month, so I shouldn't have been as surprised that I weighed in at 170 this morning (+8 lbs since the 11/5 marathon). I'd be lying if I said it didn't bum me out, but I think I'll be able to get back to healthier eating to start the new year. I just have to hold myself accountable and avoid falling down the overeating processed food hole that comes all too naturally.

On a positive note, I'm getting together with 4 of my closest childhood friends tonight, it's not very often we're all in town together, so I'm really looking forward to it.

My next post will likely be in 2023, Happy New Year!

The New Year's Eve Indoor/Outdoor was a lot of fun, except I ran out of time and only did 30 minutes on the bike, but it was awesome doing my longest swim ever.

I stuck closer to my mostly whole foods eating plan this week, so hopefully I'll start seeing some positive impacts of that. I also quit coffee to start the year, which has been a little rough, but is for the best for me. I've been drinking too much of it and hate being so addicted to a substance.

I only ran a couple times this week, but did some swimming and strength workouts. My Ultra training starts ramping up soon, the goal will be to work up to significant miles split between Saturday and Sunday, but the longest single prep run I'll do will likely be 30 miles. That doesn't sound like nearly enough to me, but I'm trying to be smart and listen to the guy that knows a heck of a lot more than I do. I really enjoy the long mileage weeks so looking forward to getting back to that point.

I almost forgot, Q4-22 Movie Grades:

Titles in red are available on Netflix, green are available on Amazon Prime, brown are available on HBO Max, blue are available on Hulu, and italics are re-watches.

A+
Collateral (Drama/Thriller) - 2004
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Action/Fantasy/Drama) - 2003
It's a Wonderful Life (Drama) - 1946
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Action/Fantasy/Drama) - 2001

A
Knives Out (Drama/Comedy) - 2019

A-
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Action/Fantasy/Drama) - 2002
Barbarian (Horror) - 2022
Glass Onion (Drama/Comedy) - 2022

B+
Thor: Love and Thunder (Action/Comedy/Sci Fi) - 2022
Nope (Horror/Sci Fi) – 2022
Where Dreams go to Die (Documentary) - 2018
Bullet Train (Action/Comedy) - 2022

B
Super Dark Times (Thriller) - 2017
A Christmas Story Christmas (Comedy) - 2022
Bodies Bodies Bodies (Thriller/Comedy) - 2022
Fall (Thriller) - 2022

B-
Ambulance (Action) - 2022
The Immaculate Room (Drama/Thriller) - 2022
Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (Action/Sci Fi) - 2022

C+
V/H/S (Horror) - 2012

C
Poker Face (Drama/Thriller) - 2022

C-
Emily the Criminal (Drama/Thriller) - 2022
The Invitation (Horror) - 2022

D
V/H/S/2 (Horror) - 2013
Jeepers Creepers (Horror) - 2001

F
She Dies Tomorrow (Thriller) - 2020


Bonus Recommendations - Series
We Own This City (Drama/Biopic)
The Patient (Thriller)
Alice in Borderland (Action/Drama)

Bonus Bonus Recommendation - Book
Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 2500 Yard Swim
Tue PM - Speed Work - Hill Repeats
Wed AM - 1500 Yard Swim
Wed PM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Thur AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Fri PM - Off Day
Sat AM - 12 Mile Run
Sun AM - 5 Mile Run

50 Miler training is underway! The weekly focus will be 3 shorter runs during the week with one being speedwork, a long trail run on Saturdays, and a medium distance run on Sundays, plus 2-3 Strength workouts and 1-2 swims. The Saturday-Sunday combo being a means to condition my legs for long miles without putting as much strain by doing all the miles in one day.

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 1500 Yard Swim
Tue AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout
Tue PM - Running Group Speed Work - Hill Repeats
Wed AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Thur AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Thur PM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Fri PM - Off Day
Sat AM - 17 Mile Trail Run - I fall back in love with trails every time I hit one after being away for a little while
Sun AM - 6 Mile Easy Run (Grass Trail) - Really enjoyed this one, will probably become my go-to Sunday spot
Sun AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout

Last week's Training

Mon AM - 2000 Yard Swim
Tue AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout
Tue PM - Running Group Speed Work - Hill Repeats
Wed AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Thur AM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Thur PM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Fri PM - Off Day
Sat AM - 18 Mile Run - mixed it up and ran in the part of town where I grew up, went past my childhood home, Elementary, Middle, and High School, and a couple baseball fields, nice trip down memory lane
Sun - Off Day

This Sunday is the Celebration Marathon, it snowed through my run this morning, so perfect time to get out of here and spend a couple days in Florida.

I had a great trip to Florida for the Celebration Marathon. A good friend of mine lives there so it was awesome to spend a couple days with him. It was sunny and got up to 78 degrees during the race, which was a complete shock to the system after running in mostly dark or cloudy 30ish degrees for the last 2-3 months. I slowed myself down the first half of the race, fueled better, and managed to not crash in the later miles. I actually ended up being able to push hard the last 10K and finish strong. My time came in less than a minute slower than the Monumental Marathon, which feels weird since I felt like I managed this race so much better. I think I held back a little too much the first half, so if I run another road marathon, I believe I can knock off 4-7 minutes with a marginal adjustment.

Unfortunately, the return trip didn't go well. At 42 years old I still manage to have to learn things the hard way. My return flight took off 4 hours after the race, from a busy airport around 30 minutes from my buddy's place, meaning there was not much time to cool off, eat, shower, and get there with enough time to allow for a lengthy Sunday TSA line. After standing in line for 40ish minutes wearing a sweatshirt because I couldn't fit it in my small carry-on backpack, I starting feeling flushed and sweating. The feeling got worse and came with light-headedness as I scanned my boarding pass and showed my ID. Next thing I know I'm on the floor with a random person and a TSA agent in my face asking if I'm ok. It took me several blinking moments to come out of my fog and realize what was going on. They brought my cold water and I slumped against a support beam for a few minutes and told them I'd ran the marathon that morning and hadn't taken enough time to cool off. I was able to convince them I didn't need any ambulance, and after 5ish minutes of care from a wonderfully patient TSA agent, I was able to pass through security and be on my way. No worse for the wear other than a small bump on my forehead and a deep feeling of extreme embarrassment.

I found some expensive snacks and apple juice and felt closer to normal by the time I boarded. Thankfully I made it through the flight without any leg cramps and the hour drive home from the airport went by uneventfully.

In hindsight, booking a flight hours after finishing a marathon in heat and sun that I was not prepared for, was obviously a terrible idea and not worth a cheaper flight and saving a vacation day. I'd like to say "oh well, I made it through mostly unscathed, live and learn", but I'm not able to let myself off that easily, this was easily avoidable and could've gone a lot worse, I have to do better.

Last week's Training

Mon AM - Off - had a Colonoscopy & Endoscopy (woohoo)
Tue AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout
Tue PM - Running Group Speed Work - 2 Mile jog, 8x400's w/ 200 jog between, 3 Mile jog
Wed AM - 6 Mile Easy Run
Thur AM - 1750 yard Swim
Thur PM - Upper Body & Lower Body/Core Workout
Fri PM - Off Day
Sat AM - 8 Mile run
Sun - 16 Mile Trail Run

My left calf locked up on me about 6 miles into my long run Sunday and I could not get it to loosen up for the entire run, so there was more walking then I would've liked, but it felt good to power through and I managed to knock out the full planned distance.

I'm nursing a food hangover today after gorging myself during and after the Super Bowl, I enjoyed it, but definitely regretting it now.

4 Days after my left calf locked up on me it was still super tight and sore, to the point I couldn't jog without an awkward hitch in my stride. I scheduled a PT session with the same PT that helped me 6-7 months ago. She ended up dry-needling my calf, which was an interesting experience. It's similar to acupuncture, except instead of sticking a bunch of needles in and leaving them, she sticks one in repeatedly until it hits the right spot to make the muscle "twitch". It's an odd sensation and feels similar to a quick muscle cramp, which left me trying my best not to kick her during the process. As for why we did the dry-needling, I'm going to butcher the explanation, but from what I remember, your leg muscles compress and expand continuously while running, based on a signal from the brain to the muscle using an enzyme. It's possible for that enzyme to be depleted, in which case the signal stops sending and the muscle ends up stuck in a "compressed" state. Compressed is surely the wrong word, but it made sense as to why it had been locked up on me for almost a week. The dry-needling basically releases that "compression". After she finished my calf, it was just as sore as after my first marathon, but 24 hours later it felt good as new and I was back on the trail Sunday without any pain. I'm blow away at how well it worked and pumped to be back to a normal running schedule this week, especially since I'm less than 3 weeks from my first 50K race.

Had a great training week capped off by a total of 30 trail miles between Saturday and Sunday. I think I'm as ready as I can be for my 1st Ultramarathon, only 12 days left in the countdown, I can't wait to get down to Alabama and get after it!

Unfortunately, the 50M race I had planned on doing in April was cancelled, so I'm figuring out how to proceed. There's a trail race the exact same day only an hour drive from my house that I'm planning to tackle instead, but the 50M option has 8K feet of elevation gain/loss, some very technical stretches, and a 10 mile stretch on hard-packed gravel road that's pretty rough on the body. I'll have to decide if I'm up for that challenge on my first 50 Miler, or if I want to go for the 50K and postpone the 50M attempt. I love the prospect of a tough race, but I had intentionally signed up for an "easier" 50 Miler to get one under my belt, and I don't want to set myself up for failure.

A lot to think through, but I don't have to make a decision until 3/31.

4 days left, already having trouble focusing on work this week, so excited to hit the road Friday and get out on the course Saturday! As of now it's supposed to rain Thursday and Friday, but Saturday is low 43 high 63, which is absolutely perfect for running, so I'm not going to complain too much if it happens to be muddy. Dealing with any and all trail/weather conditions comes with the territory, and this one certainly looks to be on the favorable side.

Dealing with another little niggle, my right achilles was pretty tight with a little pain during my run Saturday. I took Sunday off and just swam yesterday, hoping it feels better during an easy jog tonight. If so, I'll do one more easy jog Thursday morning, if not it'll just be some light walking until the race, fingers crossed!

1st Ultramarathon is in the books! The Lost Falls 50K was an awesome experience and I'm super proud to have completed it.

Saturday was an absolutely perfect day for running. It was 38 degrees at the 8 AM start, but quickly rose to the mid-50's. I spent the majority of the race in shorts and short-sleeves, and could not have asked for better weather. The course was a mix of rocky rooty terrain and some nice runnable sections with solid climbs and descents, but nothing too crazy. I stuck to my trail running strategy of hiking the inclines and jogging the flats and downhills. My niggles were fortunately kept at bay, and each time I felt something starting to cramp up, pickle juice came to the rescue. The aid stations were well stocked with helpful and friendly volunteers.

36 of us started the 50K (they also had 2 shorter distances) and 31 finished with me being # 30 coming in at 7:30, comfortably under the 8:15 cutoff time. As everyone has told me, there were plenty of ups and downs throughout the race, whether it be energy level, muscle fatigue, etc, but I was able to keep the low points from lasting too long. My fueling went as well with me shoving something in my mouth approx. every 45 minutes. Lots of Gu's, a couple Larabars, and a few gummi bears kept me going. My stomach handled it well until the last hour or so when I just felt bloated and didn't want to force anything else down, as all the sugary stuff sloshed around in my stomach amidst the water, gatorade, and pickle juice.

Overall, I'm happy with my performance and I had a fantastic time. As far as takeaways leading into my 50 Mile attempt next month, I'm going to try and do as much solid food as possible early on, then switch to Gu's later when food isn't as appealing. From a training standpoint it'll just be plenty of miles with a heavy emphasis on lower leg stretching and strength. This week has been relatively light and I'm doing an easy 10 miles tomorrow, but I dive back in full-force Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to hitting a section of the 50M course on Apr. 1st.

That is incredible. Congrats.

Thanks! And I'm happy to see someone is actually reading this after I abandoned both the blog and 2+2 for 6 years.

I've been on a reading and listening kick lately, here's a few I've enjoyed so far this year:

Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins - highly recommend the Audiobook version - Goggins is super intense and some of his advice is a little over the top for me, but his ability to push through seemingly insurmountable obstacles and pain is unparalleled, and what he's accomplished is absolutely incredible

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir - best Audiobook narrator I've ever listened to and a really well done Sci Fi story, google tells me the movie version is coming out in 2024

The Lightbringer books 1 and 2 (of 5) - Brent Weeks - entertaining fantasy series, book 1 was decent, but 2 reeled me in all the way

Becoming Forrest - Rob Pope - entertaining recounting of Rob Pope (a Brit) running 15,000 across America recreating the Forrest Gump run

Had a solid week of training and a heavy weekend including 80,000 steps from Sat. morning through Sun. night, stemming from a couple runs plus Sunday was beautiful so we worked on things in the yard and patio all day.

Mon AM - 2000 yard Swim
Tue AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout + Stability Disk
Tue PM - Running Group Speed Work - 3 Mile jog, 3x800's w/ 400 jog between, 4x400's with 400 jog between, 2 Mile jog
Wed AM - 1700 yard Swim
Thur AM - Upper & Lower Body/Core Workout + Stability Disk
Thur PM - Hill Ladder - 3 Mile jog, 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 Min. hill runs w/ 1 Min. jog between each, 3 Mile jog
Fri PM - Off Day
Sat AM - 18 Mile Trail run (super muddy after a lot of rain Friday, but the weather was perfect)
Sun AM - 8 Mile Run