Last Ice Age Long Run

Today was my last long run before my first 50K, the Ice Age 50K Trail Run.

It was near perfect weather for a run, overcast, slight rain at the start, and 48 degrees. Finished up my 22 miles at 52 degrees, no rain and a light wind to keep things cool. Here are a few sights and some commentary from today's run.


We live out in the country, I told my wife that I think I might want a goat. She is not real excited about getting a goat. Today I ran through an Amish area and this house had a goat tied up to a tree in the front yard. If I had a goat I would call him "Buddy".

We had a decent rain all morning. I ran mostly on pavement except for miles 6-15. Miles 10-12 were on a road that had recently been graded. It was really soft and muddy, in fact I had to walk a large portion of it.

This is what my shoes looked like after this stretch of the road.

All done, the sign of a good run!

I finished 22.12 miles in 3 hours and 44 minutes and managed to pop out 27 push ups afterwards too. 

My reward for this run was a beer in the shower. 

Have you ever had a beer in the shower after a long hard run? 

Let me tell you, if you have not, you better try it, it is truly the way to recover!

Wife made a home made apple pie today.

The other part of a perfect recovery!

If you want to be an aspiring ultra marathon runner like me you must watch your diet.

Remember...beer, and apple pie are both key food items!

I am participating in a 100 mile ride in August to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Please consider donating to JDRF!

Self Diagnosis

As I stated in previous posts, I have been battling Plantar Fasciitis on my right heel. This was self diagnosed via the internet of course. Who needs a specialist when you can just "Google" your pain?

I have spent the last two months stretching my calves, rolling my foot on a golf ball and a frozen water bottle, wearing a boot type contraption to stretch my calf, and I even took a week off from running on two different occasions.

So the other day I am standing in the kitchen with my sore gimpy heel and I decide that I will massage the spot that hurts. I applied pressure around my heel and discovered that it was just one small spot on the inside/bottom part of me heal that was causing all of this pain. When I put my foot back down I put my weight on the outside of my heel and viola', the pain literally disappeared. I practiced walking around the house putting my weight towards the other side of my heel, and it worked! I tried the same method while running, it was not perfect, but it was definitely better.

In a nutshell, I have learned, as a Google Medical Non-professional, is that I over pronating on that side. WebMD has a great picture and explanation of excessive pronation here. Upon further investigation, something that I had failed to notice previously, according to Foot.com, one cause of plantar fasciitis is "over-pronation (flat feet) which results in the arch collapsing upon weight bearing."

This is a great example of over pronating.
Photo credit: Orthoticshop.com

My advice...

1. Be careful when working on your running form, small adjustments can create problems.
2. It's a good idea to self diagnose yourself on the internet before seeking professional help. It has the potential to save you a lot money, or possibly kill you if your seemingly minor problem is actually something more serious.

• Do you "Google" for answers when you are sick or injured?
• Has it fixed your issue?
• Did it make it worse?
• Did it kill you?

Inner Peace

In this crazy-fast paced multi-tasking world we live in, thank God we have running. Nothing slows the world down and brings such a calm peacefulness to the world like a run.

The Ice Age Trail Race is now less than a month away. I have been battling aches, pains, and this stupid plantar fasciitis all year. I took a good week off again to try and let my foot heal up. It felt better, but still gives me plenty of trouble.

My running goal today was to go 18 miles and not feel completely wiped out when I finished. I ran it easy and walked the hills whenever I felt it necessary and then some. I took a SaltStick Cap before I started and then one every 5 miles. At that time I also put down an Apple-Cinnamon Hammer Gel and carried 40oz of Gatorade in my Camelbak. My planned worked well, I did not worry about pace (for the most part), I concentrated on going easy, feeling good, and enjoying the entire experience.

The verdict?

Success!

Although my foot was bothering me the last few miles, I managed to finish with pretty close to a 10 minute pace and I feel good.

I sincerely hope that your Sunday run was also a great success!

In mid-August I will be cycling 100 miles to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Please consider making a donation to this great charity!

Ride to Cure

I think it is safe to say that we all know someone with diabetes. But what do you know about Juvenile Diabetes? Juvenile diabetes is otherwise known as Type 1 diabetes. Currently there is no cure for this type of diabetes. Juvenile diabetes comes on suddenly and causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications.


Type 1 diabetes must be constantly monitored, there is not a day that goes by that a child with Type 1 diabetes and the parent of the child don't have to deal with it. 


As the leader of the T1D community, JDRF unifies global efforts to cure, treat, and prevent T1D.  In this role, JDRF has funded more than $1.6 billion in diabetes research since its founding in 1970, and has meaningfully advanced the T1D scientific frontier and the management of this disease.


Once again this year, I'll be taking part in JDRF's Ride to Cure Diabetes, along with hundreds of other riders across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising millions of dollars.

Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. Won't you please give to JDRF as generously as possible? Together, we can make the cure a reality!


You can make a quick and easy donation by following this link ---> JDRF


Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Coregasm!?

Back at the end of February I mentioned that I was doing some core strength training with a group of friends and posted what we were doing. The nice thing is that we are still meeting three times a week and getting stronger. I have also been looking at changing things up a bit.

One of our goals is to get better at pushups. Unfortunately none of us has really seen much growth in this area. Last week we changed up the order of our exercised a bit and instead of the second set of push ups being "traditional style", they are "reptile push ups". We also have a lot of planks in our workout, the first video is a variation on a side plank that requires some extra balance.

I will offer a video demonstration below, but before I do, I wanted to give you a little background.

I couple of months ago I stumbled across bodyrock.tv. They have some interesting workout titles, but they are serious about being in shape.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but their videos may leave you speechless.

They do so many different variations on core work that I couldn't find the original "reptile push up", so here is a different video offering you a slightly more subdued idea of what it is.

In all seriousness, if you are looking for some quick, intense workouts, check out bodyrock.tv. These workouts certainly are not for everyone, but maybe it can get you going in the right direction.