On Sunday, March 17th, St. Patrick's Day I ventured to Tulsa, Oklahoma where I competed in the TATUR (Tulsa Area Trail & Ultra Runners) 3 hour Snake Run that was held at the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area. 3 hours you may ask? Yes, 3 hours. This race was like none I have ever participated in.
Most races I compete in are road races, but this was an off-road, trail run that weaved along the Snake Trail at Turkey Mountain. In most races you are running a specific distance and trying to run it as fast as you can. In the 3 hour and 6 hour Snake Run's you are running as many miles as you can within the specified time frame.
The temperature was hovering around 40 degrees with light mist falling that kept the trails moist. The trails weaved throughout the trails at Turkey Mountain and was a 4.2 loop with aide stations at each end. There was also a 1/2 mile loop to assist runners complete shorter distances towards the end of their time. If a runner were on the course when the 3 hour/6 hour time frame expired that loop and mileage would not count towards their totals thus the reason why they had the 1/2 mile loop to assist those near the 3 hour window complete smaller amounts of mileage without risk of losing out larger amounts of mileage.
168 runners of all ages embarked on this adventure at 9:00 am and weaved through the first half mile or so in single file until the group thinned out. I was quick to get out in front of the main group and avoid the bottleneck. One reason that this was advantageous was the trails were extremely rocky and full of crevices and tree roots and uneven surfaces. It is not easy to run on these type of surfaces when you can't see more than 2 feet in front of you; it really cramps your style.
Over the first hour I felt great and had settled into a nice pace, but over the next two hours my body wore down significantly. I managed to trip over several uneven obstacles due to my legs and mind being exhausted. The last time was within the last mile and I took a nice spill on my knee, but managed to collect myself and finish strong. I was able to complete 4 loops and a half mile loop totaling 17.8 miles. It was my first ever trail run and I finished 6th in my age division, 16th in the men's division and 18th overall. I am very pleased with the end result and overall experience.
It was one of the most memorable running events I have ever been apart of. Running through the trails and wilderness with several others reminded me of the good ole' cross country days of old. It was challenging and yet fun. I will do it again next year and will be much more prepared this time around.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Running Slower and Further
The last 12 days have been a bit of a roller coaster in the running world for me. On Saturday, March 2nd during my 7 mile run the top of my foot began to hurt considerably. I stopped and re-tied my shoes and continued on. I finished with some discomfort, but not as bad as during the run.
Through reading a lot of different running blogs and speaking to several runners it was looking like a stress fracture; a sure sign of over-training. Many long distance runners are affected by these due to the increase in mileage for training. I surely did not want this to be my diagnosis as I have several races that I was wanting to participate in this spring and some of those have already been 'paid' for.
I began to chat with Camille Herron a well known marathoner from Norman, Oklahoma. She provided me some great tips on things I could do to improve my running performance and perhaps help my foot situation. She is not a doctor, but she has had 7 stress fractures and definitely has some common sense and experience with the issue. I decided to cross-train a few days last week and take things easier. I changed the lacing pattern of my laces and used a combination of ice and sports cream to manage the pain I was still experiencing. I also spent several days on the stationary bike at the gym and logged many miles and still maintained some solid cardio work and as my former cross-country coach from Allen County would call it: Active Rest. I made an attempt to jog on the treadmill last Tuesday and made it through 2 miles, but with some discomfort. So I continued the biking and pain management.
On Monday, March 11th, I ventured out with one of our local running organizations and was feeling very good that day. The day before I had spent about an hour in the pool and my foot was feeling the best it had been since hurting it. I switched into a pair of my shoes from last year and took off for a very easy paced 5K. I ran around an 8:45 mile pace and didn't feel any pain. I had been running between 7:50-8:20 minute per mile paces on my runs and from what Camille told me that is too fast for slow training runs. I needed to slow down significantly to allow my body to rest and recover properly. Turns out I have been running around 80% of my race pace for every training run and that was an injury waiting to happen.
On Wednesday morning I got up and went out for a brisk, early morning jog. It was my intent to cover 3.1 miles at a slower pace. Trying to run a 10 minute per mile pace is almost painful when you are used to running close to 8 minute miles. I did settle into a trot and managed to knock out a slower paced run and didn't have any pain. So we will see how the 'Run Slower, Run Further' approach goes that Camille introduced me to. It does make sense and in college we called it LSD (Long Slow Distance). So why not slow down and save my body some pain and discomfort and allow for proper healing and help my overall running season.
Here's to running slower and running further!
Through reading a lot of different running blogs and speaking to several runners it was looking like a stress fracture; a sure sign of over-training. Many long distance runners are affected by these due to the increase in mileage for training. I surely did not want this to be my diagnosis as I have several races that I was wanting to participate in this spring and some of those have already been 'paid' for.
I began to chat with Camille Herron a well known marathoner from Norman, Oklahoma. She provided me some great tips on things I could do to improve my running performance and perhaps help my foot situation. She is not a doctor, but she has had 7 stress fractures and definitely has some common sense and experience with the issue. I decided to cross-train a few days last week and take things easier. I changed the lacing pattern of my laces and used a combination of ice and sports cream to manage the pain I was still experiencing. I also spent several days on the stationary bike at the gym and logged many miles and still maintained some solid cardio work and as my former cross-country coach from Allen County would call it: Active Rest. I made an attempt to jog on the treadmill last Tuesday and made it through 2 miles, but with some discomfort. So I continued the biking and pain management.
On Monday, March 11th, I ventured out with one of our local running organizations and was feeling very good that day. The day before I had spent about an hour in the pool and my foot was feeling the best it had been since hurting it. I switched into a pair of my shoes from last year and took off for a very easy paced 5K. I ran around an 8:45 mile pace and didn't feel any pain. I had been running between 7:50-8:20 minute per mile paces on my runs and from what Camille told me that is too fast for slow training runs. I needed to slow down significantly to allow my body to rest and recover properly. Turns out I have been running around 80% of my race pace for every training run and that was an injury waiting to happen.
On Wednesday morning I got up and went out for a brisk, early morning jog. It was my intent to cover 3.1 miles at a slower pace. Trying to run a 10 minute per mile pace is almost painful when you are used to running close to 8 minute miles. I did settle into a trot and managed to knock out a slower paced run and didn't have any pain. So we will see how the 'Run Slower, Run Further' approach goes that Camille introduced me to. It does make sense and in college we called it LSD (Long Slow Distance). So why not slow down and save my body some pain and discomfort and allow for proper healing and help my overall running season.
Here's to running slower and running further!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Another foot injury, really?
Last week I had some really solid training runs and felt great about where I am at training wise. A 3 mile run in under 24 minutes and another solid 7 mile run in under 1 hour; not to mention most of my paces have been between 8:00 min per mile pace and 8:30 min per mile pace. This is definitely where I want to be at this point in my workouts. After running off-road on Wednesday night in the mud and rocks the top of my foot began to hurt and I figured I had tied my shoes too tight or something.
Thursday's 4 mile workout was not bad at all and there was not really any pain associated with that run, but when I went to go run on Saturday morning it was an entirely different story. At mile 3 of my 7 mile run my foot began to ache and it got severe enough that I just about quit and walked home; however, I continued and finished my run. By the end of the run I was not hurting as bad as I had been, but could feel pain later in the day. So I am not sure exactly what I have done to my foot, but there are possibilities it is a stress fracture, but also bruising of the tendons on the top of my foot as well.
I have decided to ratchet down my running portion this week and see how my foot is doing a week out. I will limit myself to cross training (swimming, biking and weights) and non-contact exercise to see if it begins to feel better. I do not want all of my training to go to waste and be sidelined for the 3rd time in a calendar year with some form of foot/ankle injury. Last December-April it was Plantar Fasciitis. This past November through January it was my severe ankle sprain from a bone-headed home injury and now this....guess I need to pace myself and see what transpires.
I was reading on Camille Herron's web page yesterday and found that she has had 7 different kinds of stress fractures. This woman is a World Record holder in marathon's and is an inspiration to many; including me. She is from Norman, Oklahoma and thus is a local runner and competes in many of the local races. She has even dealt with Plantar Fasciitis and has overcome it just as I did. I changed shoes amongst things and began to train better. I will keep you updated on how my foot does, but I have so much riding on it right now that I cannot afford to be sidelined for several weeks. The Oklahoma City Marathon is less than 2 months away along with a slew of other races I am registered to run in.
Here's to health and wellness!
Zealin' it for life!
Thursday's 4 mile workout was not bad at all and there was not really any pain associated with that run, but when I went to go run on Saturday morning it was an entirely different story. At mile 3 of my 7 mile run my foot began to ache and it got severe enough that I just about quit and walked home; however, I continued and finished my run. By the end of the run I was not hurting as bad as I had been, but could feel pain later in the day. So I am not sure exactly what I have done to my foot, but there are possibilities it is a stress fracture, but also bruising of the tendons on the top of my foot as well.
I have decided to ratchet down my running portion this week and see how my foot is doing a week out. I will limit myself to cross training (swimming, biking and weights) and non-contact exercise to see if it begins to feel better. I do not want all of my training to go to waste and be sidelined for the 3rd time in a calendar year with some form of foot/ankle injury. Last December-April it was Plantar Fasciitis. This past November through January it was my severe ankle sprain from a bone-headed home injury and now this....guess I need to pace myself and see what transpires.
I was reading on Camille Herron's web page yesterday and found that she has had 7 different kinds of stress fractures. This woman is a World Record holder in marathon's and is an inspiration to many; including me. She is from Norman, Oklahoma and thus is a local runner and competes in many of the local races. She has even dealt with Plantar Fasciitis and has overcome it just as I did. I changed shoes amongst things and began to train better. I will keep you updated on how my foot does, but I have so much riding on it right now that I cannot afford to be sidelined for several weeks. The Oklahoma City Marathon is less than 2 months away along with a slew of other races I am registered to run in.
Here's to health and wellness!
Zealin' it for life!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)