June 19th, 2006

Getting Ultra: Part 2

Where to begin.

After keeping my weekly miles in the 35 to low 40s range, I ran the Lake Placid Marathon on 6/11/06. What started out to be a comfortable training run became my fastest of 4 marathons - BY 29 MINUTES! (4:03) My pace per mile remained in the 8:25 to 10:02 minute range for most of the race. I figure my frequency of 20+ mile weekend, long runs and the cold/damp weather at the race all contributed to a great finish time

Pace Chart .

At the time of this journal entry, the Wakely Ultra is only 5 weeks away. In my first week post Lake Placid Marathon, I ran 8.6 mi., 8.6 m., and 10 miles. My legs felt tired at the end of each run, but less so as the week continued. With 410 miles on my ASICS Nimbus Gels... I'm in the market for a new pair of shoes to take me through the Reach the Beach Relay in Sept.

July 18th, 2006

Getting Ultra: Part 3

Today is Wednesday. Friday is my 53rd birthday. Saturday is the Damn, Wakely Dam 32.6 mile ultra. I'll be heading up to the finish line to camp after an ice cream birthday lunch on Friday. Wake-up will be Saturday at 3:45 AM; the Wakely bus leaves for an hour long trek to the start line at 4:30 AM. The race begins at 6:00 AM

I'm ready. I'm still psyched after running the Lake Placid Marathon 4 weeks ago in 4:03 - about 30 minutes faster then my PB! I'm sure I'll have a good day running the Wakely. I will finish under 8 hrs., but my goal is 7:30.

My 3 week taper has also served the function of nursing back to health some mild tendinitis in my achilles tendons on both ankles. I've slowed down my pace, run less, and have been taking an anti-inflammatory 3 times a day for the past 2 weeks.

It's been muggy and in the 80-90s; tons of storms. I've been running at night as much as possible, and this seems to have helped. I'm ready to rock!