Photo courtesy of Andrew King - D4 Productions

Friday, April 2, 2010

9.25 myles - 1.05:49

HR urban trails
40s, windy, some mud
mind/body - good
easy effort

Nice easy pace today - 7:06 avg. I integrated some hills and really pushed up the them but cruised everywhere else. I had thought about doing hill repeats but for the sake of a 'recovery' week, I didn't wanna get too crazy. Tomorrow I'll go down to the CRUD run and get about 20 myles to end week with 55.

Today on the run I reflected back on my 7 years of ultra running. I remember my first race back in June 2004 at the Squaw Peak 50. I had just moved to Colorado from Utah so it was good to get back home. I knew of Karl Meltzer and naively thought his times were soft. When I started that race I expected to win and by mile 26 I was in 4th place and (at least) an hour behind Karl. By the 50K mark the wheels were starting to fall off and I was crying for my mommy. I ended up in 14th place with a time of 9.28 and had never been in so much pain. Rude awakening. Fast forward to last year at Squaw Peak where I actually did win with a time of 8.05. So what changed for me over the years? Let me just say, it's been a long learning curve.

Nutrition and hydration was the first change. Early on I waited too long to take in calories and water and by the time I decided to start my body was shut down and revolving everything. Dizzy spells, slurred speech, inability to hear, nausea, vomiting, you name it and I've been there. I thought I could show up to a race and take that gel every hour and down a bottle of water every hour. It didn't occur to me that I should test these things out in training - duh! At any rate about 3 years ago I was ready to hang em up but just before I did I committed to try this stuff in training on the long runs. That's about the time EFS liquid shot came onto the market. And to be quite honest that was the start of the difference. One 400 calorie flask every two hours was the ticket, downing it with water and electrolytes. The sad truth is that I have a college degree in nutrition and knew exactly what I needed to do all along but just didn't do it until 3 years ago.

The second change I made was hiring a coach. I was getting better at the weekly mileage and long runs but I wanted to know if I should be doing more. I hired Paul Dewitt who gave me a weekly schedule that I could do at my convenience. This is not a shameless plug for Paul either, I paid him just like any other athlete. Why it worked so well with Paul is that I knew he was more about quality and not quantity. I was getting older and I didn't think I could constantly hit those 100 mile weeks. I knew what Paul was gonna throw at me every week; 2 speed workouts and two back to back long runs, one slow and one fast/easy day, hard day. The difference for me is that Paul could almost feel what I needed and gave me just enough to put me at that red line. Call it intuition but it's certainly a sign of a good coach. I not only wanted to hit every workout but I wanted to impress.

So all of a sudden in the last two years, after figuring out nutrition/hydration, then getting a coach for structure I start to hit the times I've always known I was capable of. Now my mentality has changed from just placing in the top 10 to winning these races.

So here's the thing for all you runners who are new to ultra running; you can be fitter than fit and have the mentality to win a race, but if you don't have the right nutrition and hydration plan all that training doesn't account for everything it can. I suffered for 4 years with suboptimal performances, learn from my mistakes and put it all together now.

And last, this is in no way saying I'm now the most talented runner to toe the line, because I'm not. I'm just saying that the times I'm posting now is what I've expected of myself all along. Now I just gotta figure out that hundred mile thingy... oh and staying the course -that's important!

10 comments:

Chris said...

Hey FastED,
Have been silently following your blog for quite a while (2 years now?) and really liked this post. Although I am still deep in the 'suffering with (somewhat) sub-optimal performance phase', it really resonated with me. Your progress has been very cool to see and you have certainly worked hard for it. My goals have less to do with winning and much more to do with what you described as "I'm just saying that the times I'm posting now is what I've expected of myself all along." Thanks for giving some insight and hope to those of us still working towards that. Keep it up!

Chris

Unknown said...

Thanks Chris - I appreciate it. I think we can all attest that our biggest competitor is ourselves. Thanks for reading.

Anonymous said...

Great post Scott! Part of me wishes I could go back 4 or 5 years and redo some things with what we know now, but I guess that is how life is in general. How many of these things about running have we bounced of each other on some of our long runs. Good to see you really put it all together, you have taken it to a whole different level! Congrats!
BFish

Anonymous said...

Great post and I've really enjoyed watching your impressive progress the last two years. You're a great runner, physically and mentally.
Tim

AJW said...

On a serious note, this is a really great post. And, nice to see you move outside the usual "ran 6 miles at 5 min pace and felt good" stuff.

That said, I think I speak for many when I say, I hope you never figure out that 100 mile thingy:)

Unknown said...

Brian - like you said, we have spent many a hours on the trails together hashing over this stuff. I don't think you'd redo it cause you have had some really great races. Kicked my ass many a times! And who's to say more aren't coming.

Tim - I appreciate the kind words. I will never be a Mackey or Tony, I know it and that's OK. Look forward to seeing you in Boulder eh?

AJdub - as you know this is my training log so that's what your gonna get most of the time - 6 miles, 5 minute pace. And you know that's what you wanna see anyways to keep tabs on me, right? This other stuff takes too much thought and hurts my brain.

Anonymous said...

I'm in Boulder now. Running Buffalo Creek in Pine CO with friends tomorrow if interested in a subdued 2.5-3hr run??

Unknown said...

man I would love to run with you guys tomorrow at Buffalo Creek but being Easter I better stay close to home. A couple years ago I ran from Waterton to Wellington lake on Easter and didn't get home till 4 PM - man was I busted!

Thanks for the offer and glad to hear your back home Tim.

Jon Allen said...

Like AJW said- part of me hopes you don't fully figure out the 100 mile thing till after the Bear this year, so you don't completely kick my trash. Although claiming you don't do great at 100's despite multiple top-5 finishes (and 2nd at Hardrock) seems like you're being a bit humble.

Speedgoat Karl said...

I promise I won't make you the favorite at Hardrock this year.:-) It is true, you are as talented as anyone out there, you just have to nail it.

See you at Zane Grey, bring the rock shoes.