A picture recap. Del Sol Relay.

That picture I posted of those toes are really gross.  Every time I see it I want to pop all the blisters.  And it makes me a little nauseated.  SO it has forced me to write another post.  

Spending some time at the SL Hangar for work so until we get a fixed wing call I'll do a little rambling.  

LAME PICTURE RECAP

I didn't take very many

Stayed at Heathers house.  It's huge!  I got some serious steps going from my room to the kitchen.  She also has 3 dogs. 

And they are awesome!

The Van/Night before

We removed one seat out of the FishBowl and it was perfect!  

Love these guys!

Showing them how to do a selfie with a nice camera

John and Jeffrey hanging out while John hooks the van up

HOOKED!

TEAM 55

The Young and the Rest of Us

 Race Start

Beautiful morning

Ragnar

Jeffrey may or may not have been in the crapper when the rest of the 7am's left.  Better late then never!!

My arms look cool in this selfie.  I was using my new camera I bought for Bali

Happy to be running!!  teehee

John and I

After sending John off for the last leg.

We are all done!  Well, except for John.

Another selfie.  Just to bug the boys and show off the awesome headband that Heather let me borrow.  It was a lifesaver

Dang it's night.  

Now its day!!  I think this is before Ken's run or after.  I don't know.  I think he's hopped up on the GU.

The Fishtanks

"We are in the white van over here"

Never gets old.

John and I

Waiting for someone

Steps I took that day......BAM

 The MEDAL!!

As soon as we share all our pics I'll post some team pics.  It was a great time and I've already started planning for my marathon.  I have a lot of ideas and plans to increase my miles and speed. (Thanks Heather!)  I think the last two years of stress have really taken a hit on my body.  I'm feeling so much better I think it's time to start fueling my body better and improving my training.  

AKA.....I'm going to do my best!!

Marathon 5/16/2015

Any training help would be most appreciated!!

Blog on.........

Thoughts.

Post Relay day one thoughts.

\

Of course mine was an Ultra Relay...not the relay where you run the 33.3 miles all at once.  I took breaks..in a van...sitting, without sleep  ;)

Did I train?

I seriously got my ass kicked on the last leg.  My legs did not want to go.  I was exhausted.  Not sure how to train for the heat but the hills were killer too.  I needed another month of intense speed and hill training. 

Things I've considered:

Becoming a non-runner

Applying for disability

Checking into an assisted living facility

Laying in bed for a couple of days.


My body rebelled.  

I'm swollen from head to toe.  Uncomfortably so.
Still exhausted.
Headache. 
The last leg was so hot and there was so much walking and uphills that I ended up trashing a couple of toe nails.  BIG blisters.  Reminded me of my feet after Ragnar Napa.  Not as bad but close.  Painful trip home.  My running around shoes were a little tight on my swollen feet.  

NOT MY FEET

But a couple of toes had blisters under the nail.  I made that one mistake where you don't trim your nails for a long time.   Yep.  This picture makes me feel better.  So does a 22 G sterile needle.  

All pretty normal for me after such a stressful run.  I will give my body rest.  

Fat wings.  Those things on your arms.  I had to glide the shit out of them and I still have a rash.  I wore shorts the last leg...yeah...see above.  I used Glide and Ruby's lube so no rash there.  

I felt pretty.

I can't complain.  Jeffrey ran farther and bigger legs then I and he has MS.  He is an animal!

Heather is here helping Jeffrey cool down.  When he stops running he can have seizure like movements.  Scares the shit out of the people around us but someone is always there to catch him and get him cooled down.  

He's amazing

There was nausea, paleness, exhaustion.  My poor team all had some challenges.  We used a lot of Zofran.  Tons of water, ibuprofen and attempted to get in as many good calories as possible.  The exception was Heather.  She is marathon trained and was our beacon of health and badassery.

So I'm not going to stop running (well, maybe for a week) and the things I learned are immense.  We are all pretty sick of Ragnar's and this race was exponentially worse then it was the last time we ran it. (4 bathrooms at the exchanges?)  The saddest thing about that is I can't figure out how to get my favorite people in a van for a couple days and have a blast.  Need to come up with some sort of adventure.  

I didn't take too many pictures with my phone but I'll download the pics I took with my new camera and collect some pics from my friends and do a proper race recap.  

In the meantime I'm watching "My 600 lb life" with a patient that is non compliant and blames everyone else.  In the meantime she lays in bed and bosses everyone around and cries.  I'm not 600 lbs but I'm doing a great impression.  "Daniel, can you buy me ice cream?".  

Gifts are accepted.  

Don't stare at my medal.  

Blog on..................

How to do 3 longs run in one day

Gird your loins..that's for damn sure!

I was just going to link this but it's too awesome!

"Prepare oneself for action"

When I was putting together my training plan for the Del Sol Ultra Relay I planned a day where I run three times.  Not three easy runs but three long runs to get my body ready to run way too many miles in too short of time.  Why does it seem like the planning is easy and before you know it your peak training week is here? 

I've done 2 other weeks of 2 a days so my body wasn't too shocked when I put on my running clothes AGAIN at the end of the day.  Frankly they had gone very well and I surprised how well I felt.  For my 3 in 24 I did some planning.  

First I made sure I had fuel for the runs.  They were at the max 9.4 miles and I don't necessarily fuel much for a run that long, but I could not let my body get behind or I would be miserable and unsuccessful.  

I made my sticky rice lemon ricotta baked rice balls (from the book Portables) and then I made something up to try to make it a little more convenient.  I used the applesauce packets that have a screw top lid and are soft.  

This is the brand I used this time but I use all kinds

I put an applesauce packet with 1/4 cup of ricotta, 2T coconut sugar, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice all together and blended really well.  The kicker......I put it back IN the packet and it slipped easily in my pocket.  I figured out the carbs and figured one would be perfect.  I took a rice ball too and had a bite of it at my pottie stop.  Worked out perfectly.

Here is my usual run from my house.  It includes hills, both up and down, and two gas stations in case I need water or a toilet.  

That hill in red is a killer.  By the time I get to the top I'm at my usual refill/potty stop.  I was surprised I was able to take the hills and stay steady.  

The plan

2 miles less then each of my actually legs.

The REALITY

RUN ONE I left at 8:30.  It was brisk.  Warmed up nicely though.

This hill kills me!  Maybe because it's a couple of miles after my big hill but it feels the steepest.  But it's not.

RUN TWO I left at 5pm.  

I decided I didn't want to do an entire run in the dark.

It was almost 50 degrees when I left but when the sun goes down the temperature plummets.  I forgot a turn and ended up back tracking and THEN walked .70 miles after I hit 9.4 miles.  

RUN THREE I left at 7am.

I'm wearing my transition glasses.  That way I have sunglasses when the sun comes up.  WINNING!

Seriously. I'm such a dork. I'm ALMOST embarrassed by this picture.

See how my water bottles aren't there.  I left like that.

My son was going to work and had to drop them off to me.  SHEESH

I don't wear the knee brace at all but it's not easy keeping track of all my accoutrements. 

I also forgot to make that same turn and had to back track to get the right miles in. Don't follow me anywhere.  I get lost on a run I do ALL the time. 

 As the sun came up at the top of the hill.

I still ran the right distance, just started at times different then planned.

RUN 1  8:31 am 9.3 miles 1:45:00 at 11:18 min/miles
RUN 2  4:59 pm 9.4 miles 1:45:31 at 11:14 min/miles
RUN 3  7:05 am 8.2 miles 1:36:33 at 11:46 min/miles 
Yeah.  I was tired.

I totally hit over 100 miles this month!!

Booyah

In between I tried to eat how I would during the ultra.  I had some almond milk with protein powder.  I ate some delicious egg/crispy rice omelets (also from the book Portables..I also found a link to the recipe).  I had some soup in between the first 2 runs.  Slept pretty good through the night.  

I felt sluggish during the first run, probably because I ate at a family party the night before and ate stuff I don't usually eat and WAY TOO many carbs.  I was bloated and uncomfortable.

NOT.

FACT:  Each gram of carbohydrate holds 2.7 - 4 grams of water.

(depends on the website)

Before each run I had a banana and chocolate hazelnut butter (Justins).

What about the inversion?

Inversion from the U helipad last week.  It was cloudy but you can see it over by  downtown and the lake.

Inversion happens in SLC in the winter.  It's basically pollution stuck in the valley and can build up and be very dangerous for people that have lung issues.

The worst air quality is by nature at the bottom of the valley.  Up by my house (east side...bitches..hehe) it is still pretty clear.  I saw blue skies throughout.  I also have the additional benefit of seeing the inversion from the air.  It starts low and works its way up the bench.  THAT is why I run in the SL valley during inversion days, skipping when it's orange or red.  

I don't have a secret to doing multiple runs a day.  I've done about 13 relays and so my body isn't completely new to it.  Hydration is the most important with some electrolyte replacement.  Eating enough.  Seems like it would be easy but I get a little nauseated occasionally.  I was careful to have bland foods. Potatoes with salt are so delicious during a relay.  In between each run I did rest and ice any hot spots.  

Great news!  My leg feels pretty great.  I'm a little sore today (day after) and I've been stretching but no pain.  I did have a 90 minute massage last night.  That is a must!  

And today....I'm STARVING!  Must Eat all the food!!

Anyone tried running more then once a day?

Blog on........

Long runs and feeling crappy.

This last training plan has been very interesting and I've learned lots of things.   I'm training for an ultra relay in February.  I was never worried that I couldn't do it (although slow) I was worried that I would do it and feel super crappy because I didn't train correctly.  One of the issues I knew I had to address was fueling.  I'm running 32.9 miles in around 30 hours.  11.3, 11.4 and 10.2 miles. It's actually not too bad.  I was really lucky and I'm running with some badass's that let me do a moderately hard set of legs.  

Only because I LOVE Bob's Burgers.

Very important when running so much.  Fuel.  How do you fuel?  I picked the brains of lots of runners.  Some take a GU every 3 miles, some every 45 minutes and some just have a smidgen every 15 minutes.  Most of my running career I have run while subscribing to the Primal lifestyle (no grains, dairy and sugar) and because of that I used minimal amount of the packaged runners fuel.  I ate real food before and after and if my run was really long I would have one GU.  Never really any issues.  

This felt different.  I knew that if I didn't properly fuel on the first run then I would be starting behind in the second run.  SO....I picked up some Honey Stinger GELS.  The first 9-10 mile run I felt OK and fueled about every 35 minutes.  I could feel the energy difference too.  Then something just went wrong.  My body screamed NO MORE. 

After my 15 mile run I felt so crappy.  It was AFTER, but it was still crappy.  I felt nauseated and a bad headache.  It almost felt like a hangover.   I considered everything I ate and took (ibuprofen before run...salt tabs).  I did have 5 gels during the run.  I felt better by morning and just figured maybe I was a little dehydrated, but not sure.  After that I was nauseated after almost any run over 5 or any run I took a gel.  

The last straw was for me last Saturday.  I set out to do 6 miles with 5-30 second strides at the end.   It was cold but I overdressed.  I was hydrated well but I knew I needed some fuel to give the strides my best.  Well I took the gel and a good 8 oz of water.  2 miles later I was SICK.  I felt nauseated and weak and the worst was dizzy, like I was going to pass out.  No bueno. I actually had my son Daniel pick me up.  That has never happened.

  

Of course I googled it.  I've always had sort of an iron stomach when it came to eating and running and this change disturbed me.  The fuel in gels is very concentrated and needs water in order for the body to digest properly.  That is why the packets are always saying take with water.  I always took with water but I think I just stopped tolerating them.  

This story is long.  Sheesh.  

My brother told me about a book, Feed Zone Portables.  He's an ultra runner and long distance biker.  It's about eating real food for energy.  A lot of the recipes use rice, which I know my body tolerates well.  So I made the Lemon Ricotta baked rice balls.  Ingredients include: Calrose sticky rice, lemon, lemon zest, ricotta cheese, egg and sugar (I used coconut sugar).  I made 8 of them out of the recipe and decided to take two.  

That would total:   448 calories and 87 carbs.  A little high on the calories and carbs are adequate.  

SO FAR SUCCESS!!  I ran, felt great and no nausea!!!  

One lesson learned.  I can't eat one very fast.  They are actually about 4 bites each.  Having one bite about every 15 minutes is my plan for tonight.  I am looking at making something a little bit smaller with the same benefits.  I was very careful about drinking water.  I'm a sipper so I ended up drinking about 20 oz's.  They are also a little bulkier then gels but I was able to fit 2 in my belt.  I'm going to have to figure out something when I run longer next week.  

It was actually an amazing run!  Left at 8:30 and it was about 27 degrees.  I just got this shirt from Athleta.  20% off sale.  BAM.    It was awesome!  I did have arm warmers under but they got a little hot when the temp was 36 degrees when I finished.  

Athleta; Running Wild Taped Crew in LONG

On sale 39.99

Now for food and rest and running 8 miles again tonight at 4:30.

Yikes!

Who's done an Ultra Relay?  Any hints?

Your fuel during long runs?

Blog on..............