Sun long run. Windy and a bit of hail

Strong 13.3 miles. The left shin splint feels much better. No pain through out the entire run :)
As usual i took lake mary road towards the lake.

March report

Micah True a.k.a. Caballo Blanco

I read shocking news this morning. Caballo was found dead on Sat in New Mexico.
The synonym and epiphany of a true ultramarathoner. The free soul of running. A paradox of life, - Living in and feeling safe in Barranca del Cobre, Mexico only to die in New Mexico, US.

Micah may your soul always be free!

22-30

I had a lot of stuff going on plus I didn't feel like writing so i missed out a few days. I did however stick to my running plan.

Sun 25
I ran the Xterra Halfmarathon. The best race I have ever run. Stunning views, amazing ascends and descends, and fun people. I did ok, actually i thought i will do better but the up and downs tore my quads up. I have to admit that training in Flagstaff puts me in a better spot than most other runners. On every prominence bigger or smaller i overtook people, however on the descends i was weak. I don't why. I wasn't pushing especially hard on the ascends. In fact i tried to control my ascends like on training. But on the descends i saw how hard others where pushing so i followed suit. Never in my life was i going down that fast on rocky trails and still i was a mediocre compared to most.

Time 1h57min. 8th in age group and 40th out 230.

I took Mon 26 off and went to Chad, the acupuncturist. This guy works wonder. My shin feels a lot better. and i didn't feel it during the halfmarahon. I did however feel it on Tue.

Tomorrow is Sat 31. Mom, Chuck and I are going kayaking! to the same spot we went lost time. I asked Chuck to show me how to roll a kayak. We'll see what comes out of that ;) fingers crosses people!

charged up

7.85 miles in 1h07min.

finally the snow started melting away, and most of the sidewalks and roads are runnable.
my previous two workouts i did on a treadmill. my long run on sun was cut in half and my yesterday's run was 6.5 miles in 46min. I felt like a wuss today, with just 14 miles in the previous three days behind my belt. All that put behind, -  the weather is excellent, 52oF, sunny as only in Arizona it can be, NO wind and my brooks on my feet. I felt really strong up until my stomach and shin splint said FCK U. Cramps and pain. I told myself grow a pair, your body won't tell you how you going to run. That made me feel better and i finished my workout.
I am already trying to envision the XTERRA half on sun. I'm planning on putting everything i've got into this race.

Acupuncture

As planned I went for my first visit to the Alpine Community Acupuncture and Chiropractic.
Chad Lambert, the acupuncturist, informed me that my pain is caused by an inflammation, a meniscus shin splint. I had one 40 min session today (i had needles even in my ear) and another one scheduled for this Friday. Chad told me to stretch my calves and achilles tendon. Hopefully i will be ready to kick ass on sunday!
If anybody is thinking of visiting an acupuncturist and/or chiropractor i sincerely recommend visiting him or his wife. Chad is a very knowledgeable and healing person :) i all ready feel that all the tension in my tendon is gone. just need to stretch it and give it a rest.

Tue 13 - Sun 18

I spent the entire week in Yuma, AZ. Got a suntan and ran altogether 40 miles in the desert. I also pushed up towards the Chocolate Mountains. Really good workout before the Xterra Half. Totally different running in upper 80's and 300' above the sea level. I really enjoyed it. A break from the norm.

Tue 13

Wed 14

I went with Mom to Los Algodones for lunch to a local joint.
Pics beneath.

 

Fri 16

Back in Flag. Really nice weather, but the forecast was terrible. It started snowing Sat 17 through Sun 18 and Mon 19.

Saturday run, 8.75 miles felt really good. First street run in 6 days. The ankle felt good, still weak and I felt it afterwards.

Sunday i jogged 7.5 miles in the gym, because there was at least 22 inches of fresh snow. Pics below, NAU.

Tomorrrow, i.e. i'm going to see a chiropractor/acupuncture and have some needles pricked in my ankle. Hopefully it will help me before the half on sunday.

Sat 10 - Sun 11

Sat 10
Did 7.5 miles in new pure connect brooks. they're smokin' hot :) and really fast. i enjoyed running up to lowell's observatory and down towards buffalo park. near flag medic center i got stomach cramps (from eating breakfast with normal instead of soya milk).
Later that day we (mom, chuck and i) wen't to sedona for a 10 mile trail bike ride. we took the boynton pass trail. it was nice and warm. pics below are from the trip.

Sun 11

Long run. 15 miles in 2h09min. Two cases: my ankle and new shoes. They were ok for the first 70 min. than trouble started to grow. i don't know what it is but it's not my interior ankle. my inside just stiffens and starts to ache when running. when i stop and start walking everything is fine, and when i start jogging again the pain return after a minute or so. weird. i opted not to ice it, and as of today (Mon. @ 9:25pm) it feels great. we will see what it will look like tomorrow.

That's for me. wish me good luck. interview in phx.
“Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them”- 
John Updike

Arizona Trail

10.6 miles in 1h33min - all trail, Arizona Trail.

It's absolutely beautiful. I promise to myself that next time i will take my camera with me.
The trail leads to Walnut Canyon and on its way passed Fishers Point. The first 4 miles are on a dirt road which transforms into a single trail. I've never seen a proper technical trail in my life but for me it seems like on. Patches of snow and slippery mud, - a lot of fun, because it was a descending slope. On my way back i worked my quads hard. really satisfying. finally i'm getting a proper workout, with my heart rate oscillating between 152-171 bpm.

check out the route and elevation. if anyone is interested i can upload google earth gps file (whatever its called) so you can have a 3d perspective. amazing trail :)

from Sally's blog

a powerful quote by John "Blazeman" Blais
"It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for. It doesn’t interest me how old you are, I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine and still shout at the edges of a lake, river or mountain yes! It doesn’t interest me where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done for someone you love. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and truly like the company you keep in the empty moments in your life. Live more than your neighbors, unleash yourself upon the world and go places. Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal, this is it, your life. Face your fears and live your dreams, take it all in, yes, every chance you get, come close; and yes, by all means what ever you do, get it on film."

getting prepared for XTERRA Half in Black Canyon

8.78 miles in 1h16min. all trail.
gorgeous weather, mild wind, all the way sunny. feeling strong and getting a bit excited before my first race where i'll be well prepared (for my standards).

one year from Sally Meyerhoff's bicycle accident

it might sound cliche, but you never know when your time is up. when still alive you ask, - who decides on when, where and how you die. it feels unfair that such a young, promising, and full of life athlete gets killed by some jerk, jackass in his truck. it makes me mad and want to scream on top of my lungs.

i've never heard of Sally before reading an article on competitor, thus i started reading all the posts on her blog. the first thing that struck me was that the last entry was dated 6 March, two days before the accident. the second thing that caught my immediate attention was this girl was so positive towards life, had so much love and passion towards sport especially running, her family, friends and Arizona.

From her blog, entry dated Saturday, January 15, 2011
24 hours from now I'll be a little under an hour into the PF Changs Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon. My runs the past few days have felt like adrenaline was pumping through my body as if it were race morning; I'm EXCITED!!!...probably more excited for this race than any race I've ever done (except maybe some state championship races in HS).
(...) My family and the people in my life from Arizona have given me so much. My family did so much for me but the biggest thing they did was support me through anything. I made my own decision as a 15 year old to transfer high schools (spurring a huge controversy yet held my head high and everything worked out), worked my butt off taking all honors and AP classes, worked a job and won 9 individual, 1 relay and 3 team state championships while at Mountain Pointe High School. Of course there will always be the "haters", (aka my motivators, hehe;) ) but I love my family, friends and fans so incredibly much!!

i admire people devoted to what they love. never looking back (having their doubts as any human being) and being able to steer their life on the course they have chosen. My next race i.e. Xterra in Black Canyon i will run for Sally and all those that gave/lost their life for what they believed in. Pat Tillman and Sally Meyerhoff R.I.P.

small canyon

8.75miles in 1h11min. i took the canyon trail again, however instead of turning right towards Fisher Point i ran straight. the trail opens up beautifully, there are steep banks on both sides of a very wide glade. the flat trail leads through a pine forest.

 

I tried to locate the trail on the official FUTS map, however it's not there.

I attached the map for future reference.

sunny, warm and @#$% windy

a not all new trail but some modifications compared to the previous runs. i took the FUTS trail along the small canyon that runs under I-40 than I turned right near the water purifying (?) facility and took the Arizona Trail towards Fisher Point. 8.5 miles in 1h13min.

No snow, just patches of mud. It was a satisfying run minus the rough wind.

lake mary road

today i did my long run, - 14.4 mile in 2hours. it was a hideous run. from mile 4 the left ankle was really bothering me. i was thinking of turning around, but i tried to alter my stride and gait to comfort it. it worked for a bit, i ran from my heel rather than from the mid-foot.
i had no pleasure in running, i only did it for the workout and mileage. i'm really happy that tomorrow is a recovery day.
this week i will increase to 58 miles.

tomorrow i'm going to PHX for a job interview. hopefully something will work out.

Sedona St Patrick's Parade

today was an interesting day. i helped out my friend Chuck, professor at NAU (Northern Arizona University), at a parade which he prepares with his Park and Recreation students. he does it each year for the past 14 years.
a lot of stuff going on. A lot of floats, Rangers, Fire Fighters with their fire engines, boy's and girl's scouts, SAR (Search and Rescue), Verde Cavalry, Humane Society, Sudden Link, bag pipe band, Army, etc. I enjoyed it a lot. Plus i got to navigate the traffic :)
unfortunately i have only two pics, because there wasn't any time to take them.

i was right at the end of the parade. Jordan Str.

it was pretty cold in the morning :)

 

 

 

after i got home i went for a 6.5 mile jog (usual route. down south to lake mary road and back). i felt like crap, no energy at all. my knees and ankles were bitching because i was standing for 4 hours in one place (no complaints there ;)
it took me 40 minutes to shake off the rust and than i was cruising. i haven't felt so good in a long time. my legs were in syncs, i felt as if i was flying along the trail. awesome feeling.
i got back and saw that Mom was back from her psychological thing, and there was my package with all the swimming gear. yeaaah! so i changed and we went to the gym and i went to the pool. at first it felt weird swimming for the first time in more than a year, but after half an hour or so i felt better and better. all in all i did 766 yards in 40 minutes. we'll see how it goes from there.

XTERRA Black Canyon 2012

i forgot. i signed up today for a half. the course sounds interesting, it's all trail and the first 9 miles are uphill. the ascent isn't too steep but still an interesting experience.

This is an amazing song. Enjoy

1h treadmill

boring as fuck.
due to strong winds i opted to go to the gym and run there. there is nothing more to say about the matter, besides the fact that i truly admire those who only workout on a treadmill

wiiiindy, cold, sunny and an awesome run

i felt strong today so did my ankle. it felt tight, steady and dependable. i felt it first only after 9 miles when descending san francisco. when i got home i iced it along with my left knee, which i felt for the first time in weeks.
i ran 10.1 miles in 1h28min. decent pace. this is a really interesting route, however i will try to avoid running through downtown, - too many lights which mess up the rhythm and pace.

today's run is sponsored by the Moose

one thing has been on my mind recently and that is my heart rate. either my monitor's battery is dying or i am not pushing myself enough, or my training is paying big time dividends. the case is that on average my heart rate is in the recovery zone (below 150bpm. the average is about 147bpm) on almost every run. i recalculated my zones, my rest heart rate (51bpm) and maximum heart rate (192bpm). everything seems fine. on LT's i push myself very hard to reach 85% and than i run to my mind too fast, - pace about 7:05min/mile. i don't mind running so fast but i know i won't be able to sustain such an exhilarating pace for a long time, for e.g. a marathon.
does anybody have any ideas? or is it normal that after sometime the heart rate drops, and we start running more efficient?

February summary

today was a shorter run 6.9 miles, however on a more flat road. I found out that if you turn in the opposite direction to Lake Mary Upper or Lower there is a flat as a table piece of road. so I unleashed my legs an tried to run the fastest i could but still feeling comfortable. nothing above 152bpm.
my average pace was 8:12min/mile. thats including all the ascents before hitting the flatness of flagstaff ;)
here is the course i ran today. boring as hell, but fast.

today's run is sponsored by the Heart

one interesting thing. i looked at my running summary for Feb. it turned out that i ascended the height of mt everest plus some. i find that pretty amusing, since i am in the middle of J. Krakauer's Into thin Air. Amazing book by the way. It's about the infamous 1996 Mt. Everest ascent.

February summary

anton krupicka

i love the dude's blog. really good music and a lot day to day info on his training.
beneath is a video of Delta Spirit, name of the record is Trashcan. obviously stolen from Anton's blog. thx man!

snowy, windy and beautiful

it snowed the whole night and the entire morning. i guess there is about 12 inches of fresh snow. i was the first person to jog on the snowy FUTS (Flagstaff Urban Trails System) south of NAU campus. it's cold today, about 23oF and windy.

i was curious how my ankle was going to hold up on the rugged, snowy trails. it did ok, however it felt a bit weak (my foot wasn't as stable as the healthy one).

i did 8.5 miles in 1h15min.

swallen interior ankle

during the night  my ankle swell a bit. kept it in ice for most of the day and opted to take a day off from running. instead i went to the gym, to work on my upper body.

http://www.physicaltherapyfirst.com/library_ankle_48

From http://www.physicaltherapyfirst.com

This often occurs in overweight, middle aged women and men as a result of degenerative changes in the tendon. The rupture may be partial or complete with pain below or behind the inside ankle bone (medial malleolus). A flattened arch is common. Anti-inflammatory treatment (physical therapy modalities), orthoses, and surgical debridement are common treatments.

So I run like a middle aged woman :)
also this injury can be incurred by strenuous training, rough terrain and too much running (?).

I will ice it for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I will take it for a spin. 6-7 miles.  

4 days out of 6

a planned 13.8 mile long run. i thought i would feel my back from Saturday's kayaking but it was ok. it was my legs that were aching, especially the inner part of my left ankle.
as usual i started at NAU and headed along s lone tree rd to lake mary rd.
Weather was great, warm, sunny, NO wind.
I thought I'd be more fresh since I ran only 4 days this week. but my legs especially the quads felt tired and lacked the "spring". 

kayaking on verde river

this was a lot of fun. first time in a real kayak. in the beginning (2h out of 3.5h) it felt as if sitting on an ice skate, trying to balance my act. the first few minutes were exciting and the best part was that the water was almost at a standstill. i knew i was going to land in water sooner or later because there were some small "dips" planned down stream as my friend Chuck told me :)

Water nice and calm. Me scared shitless :)

Rapid - upper 2 lower 3 class :) Covered no problem

it took me 7 miles out of 10 to start enjoying myself. but still i was extremely concentrated on minding all the rocks and keeping the kayak afloat ;)
All in all it was one of the most interesting and exciting experiences i had in a long time. can't wait to repeat this!
for the record i did not fall into the water.

Red dots showing where the pics were taken. We paddled along the Verde River. 10 mile ride

Mom and Chuck had a major kayak leakage

strong sun and and chilly wind. it does feel 7000'

distance: 9.1 miles
time: 1h18min
pace: 8:41m/mile

today i felt a lot better and stronger. i can feel fatigue accumulating in my legs. it takes me about 40minutes to get rid off the rust, however as i mentioned before the hills in flagstaff don't allow any slacking. i am really grateful for that :)

check out the map of today's run. remember metric scale.

low energy

in the morning I did 31.4miles (1h55min) on my road bike. I went to Lake Mary and back. on the way back I hit a really hard head wind. after coming home I felt a little tired, but I was still planning on changing shoes and going for a 7 mile jog. I did a mile and turned around, I couldn't manage to climb the hill closest home.
At home I felt my level sugar drop so I ate a few small pieces of salmon with guacamole on the side and more than enough Andes (choc and mint). I gave myself three hours rest and made a second try. After 2 minutes I turned around.
Nothing left in the tank. Tomorrow I'll feel better however I'm looking forward to my long run on Sunday. Hopefully my glycogen level will be restored and legs fresh for a 15.5mile run. The rest of the week I will rack up as many miles as possible trying to recuperate for Sunday.

tempo run

today I had the pleasure to do an LT.
length 7.5 miles
pace: 8:43min/mile
duration: 1h04min

today I managed only 3x4minutes. I tried to keep my heart rate above 80%. These hills in Flag are going killing me :) not one spot of flat land in this town. I try to do at least half of my "spurts" on a flat road, but the closest thing resembling flat is Lake Mary Road. So by the time I get there I've already done 2 4min spurts uphill and 4 miles of semi easy jogging.

For those interested, you can see below the ascent and descent in meters.

bad day what then?

somewhat interesting article about a bad training day. it is inevitable that after a couple of weeks of hard training we stumble upon a day or a successive string of days where we feel like shit, and everything even running pisses us off. it's what we do next and how we handle this situation is really important and critical to our self-esteem and the quality of our remaining training cycle.

feeling strong

After Sunday's long run I was a bit self conscious of my stomach. However it behaved well today. About 15 minutes before the run I had two pinole (prepared by my Mom) instead of a powerbar.
Gorgeous weather today in Flagstaff, no wind, sunny, and really warm for this time of the year, 49oF.

I did 8.6 miles, pace 8:43m/mile. I felt strong and fresh today. Looking forward to this week!

snow, sleet and wind

The plan to go to Sedona was cancelled and postponed to next week.
So instead I went for a run along Lake Mary Road towards Upper Lake Mary. Jogging weather conditions where not the best however I saw one cyclist and a few joggers.

I ran 13.7miles in 2 hours. Nice and easy pace, but after an hour I felt weaker and weaker. I had stomach cramps and my calves hurt. Stomach problems where probably caused by a powerbar I ate and my calves were weakened by a midweek work out (6miles) in my vibrams.

This is the map of my today's workout. A simple but satisfying route.

Tomorrow is Monday, - recovery day.

Who am I and what I want

I was born in Cape Town but when I was twelve my parents moved back to Poland (their fatherland).
At the moment I live in Flagstaff, AZ with my Mom. She is a full time PhD student at NAU.

I've been running for two years, however most of 2011 I spent on recuperating from a knee injury I sustained during the Warsaw Marathon. Before taking part in it I ran one 10k and a few 5k races. I ran no more than 20 mpw. So this is how I blew my joint.

Since September 2011 I have started training again. I started off with 3-4 easy runs per week. Racking up no more than 20 miles. I steadily added miles and quality to my training regimen. What I mean by quality is LT runs (some call it tempo runs) and long runs (16-20 miles at a time) during the weekend. I upload all my runs to Buckeye Outdoors Training Log via Garmin Forerunner 405CX. The log can be reached by following this link.

In the following posts I will share my thoughts on my diet, runs, trails and life in general :)
I am getting prepared for my first 50 mile ultramarathon. I don't know where I'm going to run it yet but it will be sometime at the end of April beginning of May. I'm really psyched about this because I'm not a good runner yet. And it's going to take a whole lot of will power, energy, pain to get to the point where I will be able to run a 50 miler below 10-11h.

This was my today's morning 7.9 mile run. Really easy pace 8.55min/m. I still feel my quads and hamstrings from a workout a few days back.

Getting prepared for tomorrow's run in Sedona. Hopefully I will get there before 11am and I will be able to do at least 14 miles.