Since I last wrote, things have been pretty busy. I have been figuring out the logistics for the New Mexico trip, finishing up some applications to schools for next fall, and busting out a "100 Mile Workweek." What this means is basically how it sounds: from Monday to Friday (today), I managed to put in 100 miles of running!
This is only the second time I have put in 100 miles in a week, the last being back in 2008, probably, when Ben Harden and I decided that we needed to throw down 100 miles in a week. I think we took 7 days to complete the 100 miles, and I remember that I was fatigued and had sluggish legs towards the end.
But this time around, I felt great the entire time, even though I smushed the 100 miles into 5 days. Trying to think of why this might be, I don't really know. I put in 69 miles in the New Balance Minimus shoes, so if haters say that minimal shoes don't have enough protection and make your legs tired, they don't have anything to base this on :) 16 miles were in the new Altra Superior shoes (see the last post). I thought that I would love these shoes, but they ended up being a flop. They literally make a flopping sound as I run, something about the structure of the sole, probably. Even when I was on the dirt and gravel, the flopping sound was still there and became annoying. It also made me think that there was something wrong with my running gait, even though there is definitely nothing wrong about it. Another thing about the shoe was that it dug into the Achilles tendon really bad. It's as if they made this shoe for people who have shins that are not perpendicular to the ground, but who lean forward at a 10 degree slant. The place where the back of the heel is supposed to make contact with the shoe is way open, like a half centimeter of space sits between it.
On the other hand, the 15 miles I put in with the Altra Paradigm were pretty good, but sort of weird. It is nice to have all the cushion and what not, but I don't really like how high you are off the ground. Any feel you have for the ground is eliminated; I like to run over rugged ground and feel the difference. I like to feel how gravel feels different from grass, or weeds, or rocks. With the Altra Paradigm, you can't tell any difference between any surface, and I find this to be quite strange. Regardless, the Paradigm will come in handy when I run across New Mexico on those days where I am feeling like a sissy and want to be coddled.
Anyway, here is a breakdown of the miles I put in during the past five-day "workweek:"
Monday: 20 miles in 2:52:20 (8:37 pace)
Tuesday: AM- 10 miles in 1:26:53 (8:41 pace), PM- 6 miles 52:22 (8:44 pace)
Wednesday: AM- 10 miles in 1:28:02 (8:48 pace), PM- 5 miles in 39:09 (7:50 pace), then 5 miles on the treadmill in 45:00 (9:00 pace)
Thursday: AM- 10 miles in 1:25:13 (8:31 pace), PM- 10 miles in 1:23:48 (8:22 pace)
Friday: AM- 15 miles in 2:10:28 (8:42 pace), PM- 9 miles in 1:11:59 (8:00 pace)
According to my Garmin, this 100 miles used up about 11,600 calories...and believe me, I made sure to consume enough food during the day (and a lot of snacks) in order to not be deficient in calories. So, based on the fact that I probably eat 2,000 calories a day x 5 days = 10,000 calories, I got to eat over 20,000 calories this week. That is a lot!
The total time for the 100 miles was 14 hours and 15 minutes (8:33 pace). So, not really too time consuming, if you think about it. It would be an average of 2 hours and 51 minutes a day. Think of all the time people spend watching TV or just jacking around each day. There is no reason that everyone can't get in a simple 30 minutes each day. That would total 3 hours and 30 minutes a week. Come on, let's get everyone motivated to get moving :)
On the other hand, this puts things more into perspective about elite marathoners and ultramarathoners. Those who bust out 100-140 miles a week regularly at a much faster pace are ridiculous! Anton Krupicka used to run around 200 miles a week! I am planning to do another 5-day cycle after a day off, but maintaining 100+ miles a week is hard work!
Another interesting thing to note: 90% of the time I use a 9:1 ration of running to walking. On most runs, even today's run of 9 miles at an average of 8:00, I take a 1-minute walking break every 9 minutes. Especially on long runs, I think this method is great for most people to follow! There is nothing wrong with walking, ever, and those runners who are gung-ho about running the entire time need to chill out. I qualified for the Boston Marathon a couple times even though I threw in some walking breaks in all of these qualifying marathons (in one, I HAD to walk because my legs were cramping up...I still slipped under 3 hours on this one, though, so the walking was more than acceptable). Especially in ultras, people are going to be walking. In the Badwater Marathon, 135 miles across Death Valley and half way up the 14,000 feet of Mt. Whitney, pretty much everyone ENTIRELY walks the last 8 miles (it IS up a mountain, though, after 127 miles of running through the hottest part of the US...so this might be the only way to get up there in the first place).
And, if you were wondering, there have been a couple beers thrown in there. Many studies have shown the positive effects of beer, like one that concluded that having a beer after a run actually opens stuff up in the body to allow for better absorption of the adequate fluid you will drink after drinking the beer! I'll drink to that! HERE is another little snippet of why you should drink beer! Cheers!
Well, that is about all for now...this weekend, look out for a small post about a couple of my favorite snacks: Kind Bars, Clif Bars, PowerBars, Bear Valley Bars, and my recent discovery, Bobo's Oat Bars from Boulder, CO!
