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Elijah Bristow 6/12/24

June 21, 2014 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: high 50s -> 80?

Comments:
Slept IN! Oops! Woke up at like 730 and the race started at nine, like 20 miles out of town! Oops!

Got ready, but was messing with my watch (trying to turn auto-lap off), and didn't get out of EUG 'til 820! Woah. Got there and parked at 8:45!

The idea was to run as many laps as I could in 6 hours. I wasn't sure I was up for it, and I really had no clue what the 1.05-mile loop was like. So, I just went for it, wanting to run an honest effort. I didn't think I would get much out of slogging 8-830 miles: I felt like I needed a quality threshold workout, and whatever happened, I'd take.

There were 30 or so runners, including Alan and Bev Abbs, and Joe P (another older Sunsweet guy, who ran a a big chunk of the Peace Run '12 with Meghan and I).

I got out pretty good, and the HR jacked up a bit, and - of course - I did all I could to keep it in check.

The course was...deceptively tough. It featured a "trail" of HARD, packed gravel that is designed to withstand Oregon winters, but when it's bone-dry, it is ROCK hard. The loop was about 50% of that gravel, then about 25% of a gravel/dirt hybrid, then 25% pavement back to the Start/Finish/AS.

Split my first lap in 7-lows....then kept going!

Early on I just tried to get comfortable, but I never really did. The course had FOUR 90+ degree turns that were SUPER-hard to run fast, in addition to several "lil rollerZ" that were equally challenging. However, the latter were ultimately good: they gave the legs some variety.

I thought it would be a fun idea to try to spice it up by going "hard" every 5 miles or so. So on the 5th mile, I picked it up, over threshold (165-170ish). It felt pretty good, but then it took forever to get the HR back down, so I bagged that idea. And kept running...

I really do like doing loop courses but...even with "only" 30 runners, it was too crowded. I was passing people constantly, which was tedious. The worst were a pair of older guys who were only walking the event, and they walked two abreast on a 4' wide trail. EVERY TIME: "On your left" and the same guy would have a mini-stroke and jump out of the way. Finally, inexplicably, they broke up and were separate.

About ten laps in, I had serious doubts about going six hours. I felt beat up! R anterior hip, some L hamstring... Ankles were OK, but I know they'd be getting worked. I began to debate whether to run a full 50K or just 26 for the "marathon".

Fueling was easy...mostly. I carried no full-time bottles. Instead, I left two "Autumn Leaves bottles" - 2x 10oz disposable water bottles with transparent duct tape for handles - at the AS. Every handful of laps I'd grab one and nurse it for a lap, then give it back to the AS, where they would refill it. About 3x I stopped to pound soda (2x coke, 1x ginger ale), and I had exactly two GU CHAAAAMPS. That was it.

I spent the middle miles (8-15 or so) just trying to relax and get into a groove. BIG FOCUS today:

- Strong elbows ('behind hips")
- lumbar arch (measured by deep belly breathing)
- FLICK & PULL
- forward "hinge"

The first three I did pretty damn good at. The latter? Not so good. I've gotten WAY upright again this spring (after doing SO good last fall). Bev Abbs was a good model for this: she had AWESOME forward engagement. It took me 12 laps to lap her (solid - that means she was only running about :40/lap slower?), and she'd be a good form reminder.

The other form element I wasn't good at was the "trunk asymmetry". I, no doubt, will take this to the grave. I can't fix it...only mitigate. My R anterior hip was getting tight because my pelvis/trunk wasn't "extending back" on the right (and thus, forward on the left). The left leg symptom was hamstring: constantly over-reaching because of that twist. I would periocially refocus on that ("opening the pelvis" w/R extension), especially when I started to continually kick my R calf with my L foot (another symptom).

By 18 or so I KNEW It was only a 26 day, which would get me 27.3 and a technical "ultra finish". So I clicked off laps and, actually got to feeling better. But the HR was ramping: from the effort, and the building heat.

With 3 to go, I decided to go hard, "tempo style". I pushed hard the first two, then really tried to drop the hammer on the last one. Felt GOOD! So that was cool!

Stopped at 26, which disappointed OD and Stephen, but that's OK. I got good work in. I need to be "normal": get fit, be strong, and not beat myself up. And slogging six hours would be the opposite of that.

Finished 27.3 miles in 3:12:48...good for like 7:04 pace, not bad! Believe me, that's a solid run for this course. Big-time strength training!

Hung out for a while, then helped out for a couple hours, then took off.

My Suunto was...weird. As predicted, it under-counted by a lot (25.6). EARLY on it was really bad: counting the 1.05-mile lap as 0.97! It got a little better: getting up to .99-1.00 but consistently short. This makes me feel better, because it means my tempo last week (6-teens) was actually sub-six. Fo sho.

The suunot deets:

http://www.movescount.com/moves/move34308997

The rest of the day? .....