Racing Sensations and Stomach Problems

June 23 - June 29 (2008)

Monday, 6/23
am: Run - 1:19
pm: Run - 36:00
Felt average. Nothing to report.

Tuesday, 6/24
am: Run - 12x400 w/ 100m recovery (avg 74.9)
pm: Run - 27:30

75.1 (143), 76.0 (156), 75.2 (161), 76.2 (161)

75.7 (164), 76.0 (164), 75.0 (165), 76.5 (165)

75.1 (167), 74.8 (167), 74.4 (168), 69.1 (169)

I went with the workout in the morning for a couple different reasons. First, it made more sense to do the hard workout prior to spending the day cleaning, lifting and what-not. Second, the temps are always a little better in the a.m. And finally, I figured I might be a little more conservative with pace since I don't usually feel as "springy" in the morning. The workout went about how I expected it to. The pace felt good, not strained. I recovered during between intervals. It was slower than I usually start out with this workout (avg 72-74 typically), but I'm obviously not sharp right now (nor should I be) and this was an a.m. workout when I usually do it in the p.m.

Wednesday, 6/25
am: Run - 2:10:45 (HR Avg 137)
Trying to work the back-to-back days this time around. I really didn't feel too bad today, which is good because the volumed of hard work yesterday was low. I did make the mistake of not bringing a water bottle along, so I suffered a bit the last couple miles. Closed out the run with some 6:00 miles which felt absolutely relaxed from a turnover standpoint. Progress.

Thursday, 6/26
am: Run - 62:08
pm: Run - 34:24
Took it easy today. Nothing much else to say about that. Back to work (actual job) today. Thus ends my tenure as a mover, for now. Good riddance.

Friday, 6/27
am: Run - 61:01
Another easy day. Since we'll be in Eau Claire tomorrow to return Dad's truck I am replacing my scheduled MP workout today with the RCU Charity Classic 10k tomorrow. Time to find out where I'm at. Day 1 of stomach problems. Constant cramping and sharp pains.

Saturday, 6/28
am: Run - RCU Charity Classic 10k (33:26)
Mile 1 - 5:08
Mile 2 - 5:14 (HR Avg for 1&2 172bpm)
Mile 3 - 5:22.1 (172)
Mile 4 - 5:26.2 (170)
Mile 5 - 5:26.2 (170)
Mile 6 - 5:26.6 (171)

Felt good warming up. Not necessarily fast, but no soreness anywhere and my legs had a bit of that springy feeling that is nice to have prior to a race. I didn't know who would show up as far as competition. This race can be won in anywhere from 31:00 to 35:00 depending on the year. Goals for the race where to not go over the edge and hopefully run close t0 33:00. Off the starting line a young buck in a UW Oshkosh jersey shot out along with Rich Maleniak, a former UWEC runner. Vaguely recalling some results from earlier in the year, I guessed Rich was in pretty good shape and would be out front. I tucked in with those two and pulled through the first mile in 5:08. I was surprised to find that pace didn't feel all that bad. Of course mile 1 ends right at the base of the Carson Park hill. I chased Rich up and then watched his heels kick away from me over the top. See you at the finish (31:45). I worked on recovering to an acceptable comfort level over mile #2 and came through the first 5k loop hoping I could avoid letting the pace lag to much on the out and back second 5k. I could hold the pace I was running pretty well, but an attempt to surge was met with heaving breathing and rigging arms. I thought I could make a good run at 33:00 once I hit the turnaround, but it was not to be. I am not able to tap those other gears yet. In a few weeks I hope that will be a different story, but for now I'll have to be content with where I'm at.

Day 2 of stomach problems. Curiously absent during the warm-up and race, but excruciating the rest of the day. In short, and I apologize for the details, I can't go #2. I don't know if that is related to the stomach problems, but the only relief I seem to find is if I lie down on my side. If anyone has any experience with this sort of issue please pass along your wisdom.

Sunday, 6/29
am: Run - 3:23:58, 10XLake Calhoun Loop ~50k (HR Avg 142)
How frustrating. I woke up with two distinct sensations: agonizing pain in my stomach and absolute loosey-goosey, lets-get-out-the-door-and-hammer in my legs. Long-long run on the schedule today and it took me over an hour to decide if starting the run was the right decision. Since I planned on loops at Lake Calhoun again I figured it would be easy enough to pull the plug if things went south during the run.

I started out feeling pretty average. The first couple laps as I warmed up I had those divergent feelings again. My legs felt better and better. My stomach felt worse and worse. Coming through 25k (5 laps) I was suffering, but I decided to give it one more lap. I figured 30k would be 2:00 and I could live with that.

I couldn't tell you when it happened, but sometime during laps 6 or 7 all symptoms disappeared and I ran on feeling great and churning out 6:30-6:40 pace with ease. (note: the pain came back with a vengeance post run and is still bothering me, but maybe getting better. Can't tell yet.)

With the pain gone I focused on running sensible 100k pace for the rest of the run. My plan as I laid out my schedule was to have two long-long runs where I ran the same pace as I would for the first 50k of a 100k race. Nothing faster than 6:40/mile (just under 7 hr 100k pace). Today that fell apart a little bit, but I did manage to keep it somewhat in check and when I did an assessment at the end of the run I think I could have done 1.5-2 more laps at that pace and effort. My goal is to get to 80k with something approaching that pace/feeling. I've got some work to do.

Total miles for the week: 116