Posts

Hips DON'T lie

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DNS WSER: I wanted to talk about why I ultimately pulled out of WSER this season. The main reason is because my right hip was tight causing my hamstring, sciatic and knee to become inflamed and painful. Despite the strength training I was doing it did not agree with the volume and workouts I was doing to prepare for a 100 mile race. Onset: One day after my last big week before tapering I woke up experiencing knee discomfort similar to knee tendonitis, and my hamstring felt really tight and the tightness would not go away as much as I tried to loosen it. I dropped my volume down to zero for a week. I slept a lot, drank lots of water, removed caffeine and sugar from my diet, ate less processed foods to minimize inflammation and scheduled some dry needling appointments. During those few weeks after the onset of symptoms I  realized that there were a few muscles that were weak in  my hip and some that were then overcompensation for my weakness which then put strain on my hamstri
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Slow Down to Race FAST

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I've been wanting to write about how I've developed my training philosophy of training considerably slower in order to maximize an ultra distance race effort. I have learned that it is best to spend the bulk of my training week, 80% of my weekly volume, running below my heart rate threshold. I am then able to maximize 20% of my specific race workouts for the week. When I considered getting prepared for this 2019 race season I thought of the length of time I'd be spending on  my feet racing. Lake Sonoma was a 7:25ish effort. Since August 2018 I've been training closer to 90% of my volume at a lower heart rate- that's 8 months! I still think I need more base fitness to race my best. So in order to make sure I keep my "storages" full and primed for my next race I need to get back to that base fitness... meaning back to slower base miles. The past few weeks after Lake Sonoma I wanted to take off a couple weeks to let my body repair. But having alrea
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Influenza is NOT your training buddy

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Thought I'd share what I've learned about viruses, specifically the influenza. The lack of information on the Internet was lame, and I couldn't get myself to the library so I found a few articles that helped me understand what was happening to my body during and what to expect in the aftermath. The runner's body is so durable and extremely adaptable, but can I bounce back quick enough after being "laid out" for 7 days  to run an ultra?  I rested a lot, right?  Flu feels like the end of Broken Arrow 50k, and you're suppose to jump up and " ring the bell". Nope. It's Tuesday, the "two week out taper" has commenced. But something feels off on my run today. Heart-rate is higher, and I'm thinking well at least I'm resting this week and the next in prep for FOURmidable 50k. I wake up Wednesday morning to find out work has been called off due to snowstorms impacting road conditions. So I sleep, and I sleep and more o
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To blog or not to blog?

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"Hardergrat"Switzerland 18' To Blog. It's 2019, and I'm now a blogger? I've felt over sometime now that I'd like to share my mountain lifestyle journey with others, but I kept going back to an internal back and forth dialogue with myself where the voice whispering, " no one wants to read what's in your mind, and what you are learning in your simple existence", kept over powering the consistent "do it" voice. So here I am Blogging.  What to expect? I simply want to be honest and open about my experiences living a mountain endurance lifestyle. All the aspects of my life: work, home, spirituality, relationships and friendships support the lifestyle in which I seek to live. Transcending above the status quo; listening to, becoming all that I am and hope to become by moving in the direction towards that simple lifestyle. That lifestyle that moves me and stirs with in me to become my best self each and everyday. I want to sha
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