3/3/08 - 3/9/08

I guess I can count this week as a taper week since I ran 47 miles (16 less than last week) with only 4 runs and 3 rest days. It sounds like a lot for a week before running over 100 miles but is 5 fewer runs and 1 more rest day that last week. For the few days before the race, I'm planning to run a couple miles Mon, run a good pace Tues, rest on Wed., and run easy Thursday morning 4 - 5 miles. I think I'm tapering enough since I do feel rested even after a very decent pace 22 miles on Saturday and 9 trail miles today.

I'm not feeling sore. I was worried I was getting sick since Thursday my stomach felt queasy, and throat hurt a little. The symptoms never worsened but I didn't feel normal until today so I guess I fought off something.

The latest weather forecast for 3 Days of Syllamo, Mountain View, AR is looking near perfect. A few days ago there was a good chance of rain on Sat., but now the best chance of rain is only on Sun at 20%. Highs will be about 58 F and lows in the upper 30s with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and very little wind. It could rain there on Thursday which could make the trails wet. There's also been a lot of rain there recently so the creeks could be up. I plan to take 3 pairs of trail shoes so should have dry shoes each day.

So far, I'm not stressing too much about this race. Worse case scenario is I would have to end up walking but there seems to be plenty of time to finish - 9 hrs for the 50K, 14 hrs for 50 mi, and 6 hrs for 20K. My plan is to mostly use liquid and gel nutrition. Aid stations will provide Heed - a carbohydrate drink, plus other hot and cold drinks and minimal food. I'm still figuring out what to carry with me, and what to leave at each drop station. The 50K will have a drop at 15 mi. The 50 miles will have drops at 18, 28, and 39 miles.

Once I'm done, Friday and Saturday, I will spend the rest of the day resting, recovering, and eating to prepare for the next day. I have a goal pace in mind and hope to stick with it for the first 2 days. The third day I will use whatever I have left for the 20K. It is really hard to say my pace for sure since I don't know what kind of terrain I am dealing with. I won't commit myself, but my pace will be slower than what I've been training on the trails.

Date: 3/3/2008 7:45 PM
Type: Weight Training
Course: Weights, upper lean #2 (Back/Biceps/Abs), PT, & Wobble
Duration: 37:00
Weight: 152 lb
Misc: Quality: 9/10, Effort: 6/10

Date: 3/4/2008 5:30 AM
Type: Tempo
Course: Jaira's Jaunt - A Route
Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 57:35
Pace: 7:12 / mile
Shoe: Mizuno Wave Alchemy 7 (White/Orange #2)
Weight: 153 lb
Misc: Quality: 9/10, Effort: 8/10
Weather: 21° F, Sunny
Notes: No snow this morning, but too cold. Started out with a slow warm-up and ran most of the way with Dan, Phil, and Tom. James passed us and we found him doing hill repeats with extra weight on his back on the first hill. I felt okay for this run and then started to feel really good after mile 5. Munashe had caught up to us and James was behind me. I sped up and tried to stay with Munashe but couldn't up the hill on Stadium. Tom did catch me up the hill. Phil caught up to me near the end and I felt good so went another mile up the hill on forum and then down. Dan finished another mile on the trail and wasn't far behind. It was nice to feel good at the end of one of these runs especially with the hills and near tempo pace.

M1 - 8:51
M2 - 7:30
M3 - 7:40
M4 - 7:08
M5 - 6:57
M6 - 6:33
M7 - 6:11
M8 - 6:43

Date: 3/6/2008 5:30 AM
Type: Easy
Course: Grant Run
Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:05:35
Pace: 8:12 / mile
Shoe: Mizuno Wave Alchemy 7 (White/Orange #2)
Weight: 153 lb
Misc: Quality: 8/10, Effort: 6/10
Weather: 28° F, Sunny
Notes: We were supposed to run loops around the swamp today and do intervals. I couldn't convince myself to run more than the warm-up loop (we weren't allowed to pass the pacers) so took off and did the Grant Run except took the trail back instead of Forum. I stopped running when I got to 8 miles and walked the rest of the way. Didn't feel good until the last couple miles and could have really used a bathroom for most of the run.

M1 - 9:21
M2 - 8:55
M3 - 7:54
M4 - 8:16
M5 - 8:02
M6 - 8:05
M7 - 7:33
M8 - 7:23

Date: 3/6/2008 7:10 PM
Type: Weight Training
Course: Weights, upper lean #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps), PT, & Wobble
Duration: 41:00
Weight: 153 lb
Misc: Quality: 9/10, Effort: 7/10

Date: 3/8/2008 6:00 AM
Type: Long
Course: Tayside 22
Distance: 22 miles
Duration: 2:53:57
Pace: 7:55 / mile
Shoe: Mizuno Wave Alchemy 7 (White/Orange)
Weight: 153 lb
Misc: Quality: 9/10, Effort: 7/10
Weather: 14° F, Sunny, Windy
Notes: Kept pace with Dan and Destiny for entire run. My GPS battery died at 6 mi and then the clip on GPS broke later so guess I was destined to not run with the GPS. It never felt like we were going too fast so was a good run. I carried water and it froze just a little. Temps warmed up to 23 F during the run.

1) 8:49. . . . . . 9) 8:17 . . . . . 16) 7:44
2) 8:18 . . . . . 10) 7:57 . . . . . 17) 7:47
3) 7:57 . . . . . 11) 7:46 . . . . . 18) 7:49
4) 7:49 . . . . . 12) 8:00 . . . . . 19) 7:40
5) 7:54 . . . . . 13) 7:57 . . . . . 20) 7:43
6) 7:44 . . . . . 14) 8:01 . . . . . 21) 7:26
7) 7:47 . . . . . 15) 7:57 . . . . . 22) 7:41
8) 7:46

Date: 3/9/2008 2:00 PM
Type: Trail
Course: Rock Bridge Miscellaneous
Distance: 9 miles
Duration: 1:24:14
Pace: 9:22 / mile
Shoe: Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 (Red)
Weight: 153 lb
Misc: Quality: 8/10, Effort: 6/10
Weather: 50° F, Sunny
Notes: Ran with Dan, Hugh, and Dan H. on the muddy trails. Less muddy than week, but still very slippery. Legs felt really good after yesterday's 22 miles. Ended up getting a little warm and taking off one of my shirts.

m1....9:17
m2...10:03
m3....9:43
m4....9:10
m5....9:29
m6....9:33
m7....8:57
m8....8:56
m9....9:03

Running: 47 Mi - 6:21:21

Weights: 1 hr 18 min

YTD Running: 559.1

March 14 – 16 -3 Days of Syllamo
March 22- Sedalia Half Marathon
April 12-Jay Dix Challenge to Cure 5K
April 21-Boston Marathon
May 17-Berryman 50 Mile Trail Ultramarathon
September 1-Heart of America Marathon
October 5-Twin Cities Marathon