TheWolf's road to an ultramarathon

[thewolf324]

Here we go another log!

First let me say hey to all those that know who I am (its been a long time since I have been in here and posted), things are good. I fell off the horse but its time to get back up and start riding agian (metaphorically speaking). As the title states I will be back working out but this time not at a gym but on the road and trails. For those who dont know an Ultramarathon is anything past that of a regular marathon (26.2 miles). The one that I am currently registered to run in is in Sept. of this year, giving me plenty of time to train. Its a 50k (31.25 miles), run through mainly trails. Current record is 4:10 (hrs:min) even, I dont want to say I want to beat that record but isnt that the reason to compete, so I will say my goal is to get as close as possible.

Now for training. I orginally planned on taking my time building up a base untill april and then kicking it in high gear, but I changed my mind and plan to go a different route. I will do most of my training building my aerobic capacity since at distances like this you dont use much if any anaerobic energy. To do this I will focus mainly on heart rate training and logging lots and lots of miles as it gets closer. As far as supplements go all your pretty much gonna see me use is Xtend by Scivation and protien. If I see stomach problems arise I will also look into getting some ginger too. I plan to use this to break into Ultra running and run a 100 mile race in 2010. This log is mainly for me to keep track compare where I was at in past months as I get further into training (but words of encouragment always help).

[thewolf324]

Today I did a 9 mile loop through neighboring towns and country area of my house. Temperature was around 8 deg. F (-25 deg. F with windchill). The cold temp caused my jacket to freeze by the time I was done running, but my body temp remained relativly warm.

Heres the stats:

Entire workout (147 bpm):
Duration: 1:51:55
Distance: 8.975 mi
NGP: 12:13 (131.8 m/min)
Calories burned: 1349
Elevation Gain: 1886 ft
Elevation Loss: 1894 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-8 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 114 155 147 bpm
Speed: 5:35 0:00 12:32 min/mi
Altitude: 1021 1196 1109 ft

1 Lap= 1 Mile

lap 1
11:32 at 145bpm avg
lap 2
12:37 at 147bpm avg
lap 3
12:51 at 147bpm avg
lap 4
12:37 at 147bpm avg
lap 5
12:40 at 147bpm avg
lap 6
12:36 at 147bpm avg
lap 7
12:31 at 147bpm avg
lap 8
12:37 at 147bpm avg
lap 9
11:55 at 148bpm avg


My goal is to get my mile times as low as possible with my heart rate at 149bpm, initial goal will be sub 11:00. Although its hard to show a starting base since every freaking track is snow covered currently and I dont have access to an indoor track (tracks are used to show a consistant number since they are flat).

[thewolf324]

Tonights run consisted of me doing a straight shot 7.25 run to my wifes cousins house. Unfortunatly I bumped stop on the watch for about 3/4 of a mile, but all and all things went well. I'm gonna warm up and take tomorrow off, maybe do some light work on the indoor bike just to keep my legs going.

Heres the stats:
Entire workout (147 bpm):
Duration: 1:32:03 (1:33:33)
NGP: 12:12 (132.0 m/min)
Distance: 6.496 mi (plus the .75 not recorded )
Elevation Gain: 1535 ft
Elevation Loss: 1517 ft
Grade: 0.1 % (17 ft)


Min/Max/Avg
Heart Rate:100/161/147 bpm
Speed: 6:48/0:00/12:52 min/mi
Altitude: 1027/1202/1097 ft

Breakdown of laps:
Lap 1: 11:15 at 145 avg bpm
Lap 2: 12:22 at 147 avg bpm
Lap 3: 12:45 at 147 avg bpm
Lap 4: 13:38 at 147 avg bpm
Lap 5: 11:43 at 149 avg bpm (not quite accurate this is where it got shut off)
Lap 6: 13:29 at 147 avg bpm
Lap 7: 6:58 for .512 mile (13:36 avg pace) at 147 avg bpm

[thewolf324]

I found a 40 mile race through the mountains of W. Va I may do in June. Not sure if I'll do that one yet, or continue to hold off and train for the 50K solely

[thewolf324]

Long miles ahead tomorrow! Journey as far as I can in about 2.5-3 hours. Wife works about 20 miles away, tomorrows run will start me heading that direction.

[thewolf324]

So tonights run went pretty solid. It got a little chilly when I would pass between two open fields and get the cross wind, but other then that, training at 145 to 150 bpm is great. The really good thing is it prevents me from getting overly hot or too cold, 2 big risks of hypothermia, and thats not where you want to be 11.5 miles from home. I bought a new l.e.d. "head" light last night so as you can imagine I was itching to use it pretty bad tonight. Let me just say "It is freaking sweet". Having a grip on it prevents it from bouncing and it puts out a hell of a beam so not only can I see but traffic has plenty of time to see me as well. Although I'm looking forward to some trail running when it warms up, the snow and ice on the roads are serving as a good training tool for soft surfaces. I had taken advice I read recently about gaining traction in your shoes by taking and screwing in hex head sheet metal screws into the tread on your trail shoes (although I had heard this before, I had forgotten). What a difference that made in gripping on the ice and tearing through the packed snow to grip into it. All and all it was a enjoyable run.

Heres the stats:

Total distance: 11.5 miles
Total time: 2:31:30
Moving time: 2:29:47
Avg. pace: 13:01 per mile
Avg HR: 146 bpm (78% max)
Calories: 1667
Weather: 19 Deg. Snow and Ice
SEE MORE INCLUDING GOOGLE MAPS, GOOGLE EARTH MAPS, AND OTHER CHARTS:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/e...kValue=7534213

[readyforthepain]

good luck with all your goals best of wishes to you

[thewolf324]

9 mile loop 2/1/09

Wow was today awesome outside. Todays run was rockin, times were down drastically (I'll show the comparison). Aside from the Steelers winning the Super Bowl it was a good day . The only bad thing on the run was pretty much the fact that snow was melted everywhere making it a slush mess. I hit some slush in the first mile that soaked my shoe but remained blister free with wet socks during the run. Oh and another bad thing was the fact that sometime in mile 4 nature started to call, but I was able to tough it out for the remaining 5, but still cut the run 10 minutes short. I worked out how I'll perform my long runs last night, all of which will continue to be run under 150 bpm.

Heres the stats:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/755245

Total time: 1:50
Avg HR: 146 bpm
Calories burned:1403

Comparison to the last Sunday: (first set is from 1/25/09 second is from 2/1/09)

lap 1: 11:32 at 145 bpm avg / 10:58 (first sub 11:00) at 146 bpm avg
lap 2: 12:37 at 147 bpm avg / 12:33 at 147 bpm avg
lap 3: 12:51 at 147 bpm avg / 11:40 at 147 bpm avg
lap 4: 12:37 at 147 bpm avg / 11:46 at 148 bpm avg
lap 5: 12:40 at 147 bpm avg / 11:54 at 149 bpm avg
lap 6: 12:36 at 147 bpm avg / 12:05 at 148 bpm avg
lap 7: 12:31 at 147 bpm avg / 11:45 at 148 bpm avg
lap 8: 12:37 at 147 bpm avg / 12:22 at 148 bpm avg
lap 9: 11:55 at 148 bpm avg / 11:54 at 147 bpm avg
total: 1:51:55 at 147 bpm avg / 1:46:55 at 146 bpm
pace: 12:28 / 11:51

[thewolf324]

Originally Posted by readyforthepain

good luck with all your goals best of wishes to you

thanks man! Welcome to the thread.

[thewolf324]

Oh I also got my Xtend ordered up today, looking forward to using it in some long runs.

[thewolf324]

Today was pretty nice outside again, not as nice as yesterday but still nice. Went out for a 4 mile run after work but really nothing major to note on. Tomorrow is I have a chiropractor appt. and I need to see about getting in for a massage, because I can . Anyhow you will notice from now on that I put a set of numbers in the subject line of my blogs the first will indicate mileage for the week and the second number will be for the year.

Heres the stats:
Distance: 4.0 miles
Time: 45:54
Avg. Pace: 11:27
Avg. HR: 148 bpm
Calories: 668

Heres the link to motionbased for more stats on the run:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7559139

[thewolf324]

So here it is mid week and I only have 13 miles in, thats pathetic. I couldnt motivate myself to get out tonight and run with the cold, knowing that in the next couple days its gonna warm up. Regardless of what I didnt log on my feet, I did log up about 11 miles on the bike indoors burning 526 calories at an average heart rate of 125 bpm (I have a harder time raising my heart rate and sustaining the pace for long on the bike) with a max of 145 bpm. It was still a good workout, in my nice warm house, watching Kill Bill. Check back tomorrow, because I need to get the weekly numbers up, so I'll log another long run.

GOT ORANGE XTEND TODAY.......LONG RUNS BEWARE!

[thewolf324]

So tonight I took off for another run that just continues untill tj gets off work and picks me up wherever I'm at (she is so great). I took a slightly different path tonight that took me down a back road that showed alot less traffic then last week (not that there was much then, but tonight was less). Armed with my headlamp I took off just before dark when I got everything ready. I ran with a hydration pack minus the water bladder tonight so I could carry another coat to put on if things cold off, it actually wasnt as ackward as it would seem. Around mile 8 I experimented with eating while running which didnt go to bad. I had to slow down drastically as I got my honey almond flax seed bar out of my pack, more xtend to drink, and the coat I brought. This will go alot smoother this spring when I dont have to carry a pack for the coat. I didnt quite make it as far as anticipated but I'll take it. I also need to ingest more calories throughout the day, I'm not sure where I'm at but I can pretty much say for certain its not enough.

Heres the Stats:
Total time: 2:21 (hrs/min) with avg pace of 13:35 (this was due to the unloading of the pack)
Moving time: 2:18 with avg pace of 13:18
Distance: 10.42 miles
Avg HR: 147
Calories: 1455 calories

Link to total breakdown of run on motionbased.com
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7573924

[thewolf324]

Went out tonight for a short run to help recover from last nights run. Felt kinda tight starting out and slightly sore. I've gotta watch on some of these longer runs that I'm not landing to hard since that impact can cause some injuries and time off that I dont want to have to deal with or plan around. Tomorrow I'll rest completly with no runs at all, so it looks like I'll end the week at 27.04.
Heres the stats:
Total time: 43:37 at an avg pace of 12:02
Total Distance: 3.62 miles
Avg HR: 145 bpm
Calories: 580

More stats here
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7577035

[thewolf324]

So periodically I will do time trials on a track to test my aerobic system. I will label these runs as so, Time Trial and then whatever number it is. Right now I obviously will only do them when there is no snow on the track at the high school, so tonight was perfect. I warmed up with a .5 mile and cooled down with a .5 mile, running 4 timed miles in between. As usual I run this at under 150 bpm and use the track for its flat constant surface, the goal is to see improved times over this heart rate.
Heres the splits: each lap is 1 mile

Lap 1
time: 10:48
avg hr: 146 bpm

Lap 2
time: 11:18
avg hr: 147 bpm

Lap 3
time: 11:22
avg hr: 148

Lap 4
time: 11:44
avg hr: 148


Total time: 45:13 avg pace of 11:18
Avg HR: 147 bpm
Avg speed: 5.3
Calories: 642+ (not included is the warmup and cooldown)

[thewolf324]

Ok like the subject states this was a **** of a run. I didnt feel like **** but my times are ****. The bad thing is I'm noticing a trend toward injury or stress, so I will ice tonight, run long tomorrow (may not be the best idea but hey thats how it is), then take thursday off and ice like crazy then. Depending on how I'm feeling I may take friday too. I want to look into getting new shoes as well, the ones I have now just arent all that comfortable. I hate buying shoes because its all trial and error. I used to run the hell out of my shoes too and dont want to do that anymore. Other then that, I'm loving the weather and still hoping spring is almost here!



Heres the stats:

Time: 1:13:58
Distance: 6.02 miles

Avg HR: 148bpm

Calories: 918



Mile 1: 11:21 at 145 bpm

Mile 2: 12:05 at 147 bpm

Mile 3: 12:30 at 148 bpm

Mile 4: 12:50 at 149 bpm

Mile 5: 12:22 at 149 bpm

Mile 6: 12:45 at 149 bpm

[thewolf324]

Well I took the last few days off so that I dont have to have any setbacks with injurys. I also took the time then to refigure my diet and caloric needs. Much to my surprise a couple off days in a row must have been what I needed. Seeing my times drop and feeling some slight pain in my arch (plantar fascia). Overtraining I believe is a huge reason for unneeded injuries and not being able to reach your full potential, so at the first signs expect to see me take some time off. I went out this afternoon for a quick 3 mile run, nothing major but just a way to get back in the swing. It went a lot quicker then expected since my comeback times were much quicker. The first mile and a half is usually the same on runs up to 9 miles, so I can gauge this pretty easily. NEW SHOES COME HOPEFULLY TOMORROW! (although I wont get to use them since I'll probably be running around 4-5am and not after work due to a massage appt)

Heres the stats:

Total time: 31:30

Distance: 3 miles

Average HR: 148 bpm

Average pace: 10:29



Lap 1

Time: 9:51

Avg HR: 144



Lap 2

Time: 10:27

Avg HR: 149



Lap 3

Time: 11:11

Avg HR: 149



View stats and charts here:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7641424

[thewolf324]

Nutrient breakdown for today:
440g carb
170g protien
68g fat
approx 85oz of water, need to try and raise this slightly and which is usually fairly easy

Total Calories: 3052 split between 5 meals and post workout (not bad having gone to CiCi's pizza buffet)

[thewolf324]

I dont have much time to post, but heres todays breakdown

Heres the stats:
Total time: 32:13
Distance: 3 miles
Avg HR: 148 bpm
Avg pace: 10:43

View stats and charts here:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/e...kValue=7643678


Ok heres my breakdown from food.
428g carbs
167g protien
61g fat
Total calories 2929
All was good except protien was slightly higher and fat was slightly lower then where I want to be.