Plank Road 40

     OK, get your mind out of the gutter, we didn't hit the brewery for some 40's today.  If you live in or around Charlottesville, VA and you don't know Plank Road, you really should take a drive down there.  M had a 40 mile training ride today, so I decided to join her as today was my cross day.

We unhooked the bikes from the trainer and took to the roads.  It was an outstanding morning minus a bit of wind.  I took M's advice about my blog and made sure to take some pics.

 

Plank Road runs between Rt. 20 and Rt. 250 and is a great bike route.  It is heavily travelled with bikers so the locals have at least seen vehicles of the 2 wheel variety, which helps.  There are also a couple great places to stop along the way if you need to refuel or unload.  There is the Crossroads store where you cross Rt. 29 and then there is the infamous Batesville Store.

The ride went great and we got off the roads with about 3 minutes to spare before the huge downpours began.  I can only hope this ride does not come back to haunt me later this week with the scheduled runs.  I made sure the chocolate milk was flowing when I got back home (my recovery drink of choice).  This is the first time I have been on my bike in about 3 months (except for a few trainer sessions back in December).  I can't wait to be back riding 2-3 times per week after the marathon.

Why is it so hard to photograph yourself?

After a couple days of work at the end of the week, we head off to West Virginia for some family activity.  Will be time to break out the Fairmont 10 miler course x 2  (my hometown) on Friday for the weeks long run.    Its a bitter sweet trip back to WV for me for one reason, the food.  Fairmont does not lend itself to the gluten free lifestyle.  If you have ever been to Muriale's, Colasessano's, or Woody's (I call it the tri fecta) then you know what I mean.  I will bring my own pasta with me this time so I can at least eat Muriale's famous sauce, but Colasessano's pizza and Woody's hot dogs will be off limits for me.  It's the best I can do.

I leave tonight with one question that drives me absolutely crazy:  Why do dogs have so much trouble using the bathroom outside when it rains?   Comment if you have a solution.

End of the Week

     The worst thing about being a hospital pharmacist is having to work weekends.  Being that I work 12 hour shifts, than means that my entire weekend is spent at the hospital except for sleep.  Don’t misunderstand me, I am very thankful to have a job these days, but I do miss seeing some of my kids events and church every 3^rd Sunday.  Today, for instance, B had another swim meet in Lynchburg that I would have loved to go to.  I also missed P’s skating party 3 weeks ago because I had to work.  Life goes on, I guess. Sidenote: (And for all you people in the swim world, this was the Virginia A/BB champs in Lynchburg.  He swam only 2 events to improve his times and won both of them with AA times.  In 2 weeks we have the Virginia Age Group Champs in Christiansburg, then its off to Rock Hill, SC for the season finale and the YMCA regionals.  I am so proud that he and his sister love to swim and it has taught them so much about life in the process.)

     The training continues on.  This past week was a recovery week, so I dropped back to 36 miles for the week with my long run being 13 miles yesterday.  I did the first 9 miles with my wife over to the Monticello Trail, to the top and back down, then back over to our house where I dropped her off and kept on for the final 4.  It was windy to say the least as I am very rarely as worried about being hit by flying debris as I was yesterday.  Will hit the road late tonight when I get home with my headlamp in full force as I finish out the week with a 5 miler.  I did manage to get to the pool once this week for 2000 yds which has been pretty much par for the course the past month or so.  I also spent some time getting my bike tuned back up in hopes that I can get out on the road soon, we shall see.  I am itching to ride.  I have been working on my nutrition on the run a lot lately and am definitely making some headway.  Once you cross over 10 miles (or at least that seems to be my threshold), nutrition begins to play a huge part of how my runs/rides go.  Your body requires water, carbohydrates, and when training/racing longer than about 90 minutes it needs protein.  The trick is to figure out the formula that works for you. Hammer Nutrition does a great job of explaining the science of all this and their products are second to none.  I am partial to them because they sponsor the FCA team we are on, but I have used them since I started this craziness.  Coming from someone who has to be gluten free, Hammer hands down makes the best, most chemical free product out there.  The stories and accounts on their website and in the magazines speak for themselves.  Endurance nutrition products and the act of competing, lend itself to GI issues, but I can honestly say none of the products I have ever used from Hammer have ever given me a problem.  Ok, Ok, enough for the plug.

     Lastly, I was sitting there talking to my wife last night and she ways to me “you need to blog more and try to post more pictures, that is how people stay interested and keep reading it.”  I think to myself, she should probably be blogging and not me.  She understands this whole world of social media and PR way better than I do.  When I stop to think how this relates to me and racing, they go somewhat hand in hand.  Anyone who knows me will tell you the last thing that I would want to do is attract any attention to myself.  I lean towards to introvert world.  I am a member of a group called FCA Endurance where our mantra is “Why do you race?”  Most people would respond and say “I race for my sanity, I race to lose weight, I race to stay in shape, I race to inspire others”.  All very good and valid answers.  I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy running, riding, or swimming each at face value.  I enjoy them all, but I also try to put things in perspective for my life.  If I can spend hours at a time, out on a race course with a shirt on that says something about Christianity and “Competing for Christ” and have just one person read it and decide he/she should look into this Jesus guy, then my work as a Christian is a success.  Planting the seed of faith and offering up the Gospel to people is what we are supposed to do as Christians.  The outcome of these seeds is largely unknown to us, but if you can have a hand in steering one person to an eternal life wouldn’t that all be worth it?  Ultimately, that’s why I race.  The rest is just gravy for me.

     Enough of the heavy stuff.  This week is going to be brutal.  I am back in build mode and this would be one of my peak weeks on the road.  It will not be my longest total, but will be the longest run to date at 20 miles which I will do at the end of the week sometime before I head to WV for the weekend.  In the interest of my wife and my blog I will try to post some more this week and try to get some interesting pics.

    

Day with Kids

     I don't get too many solo days with my kids (without the wife), but today happened to be one of them.  Wife worked night shift and met us at church this morning.  This is very difficult in itself if you have never worked a night shift before.  After that, however, it was game over for her.  I did the unthinkable and set the kids up with a movie (the 1979 hit Herbie Goes Bananas) while I hit the road for my 8 miler.  After that it was off to the Ragged Mountain Reservoir for a hike with the kids and Scooby.  Only one problem.....

check the sign

and the look of despair

We had no idea pets would not be allowed.  Scooby was unhappy to say the least, so we ended up at PVCC in the fields letting him run free.

     This week sets up pretty well training wise except looks like rain tomorrow, so the 5 miler with Scooby in the morning could be fun.  

     Finished up the book I mentioned a couple weeks ago recently, Radical by David Platt.  What an eye opening book and I would recommend it to anyone. 

Over Halfway

     Before I started the marathon training, I would think to myself "man its going to be a hard race" and I have no doubt that it will be, but now that I am over halfway through my training I have come to understand why the race is the fun part.  It is clearly the training that is grueling and hard.  Running day in and day out.  Slogging through the miles one day on top of the other. The race is done after a taper.  There is no taper on my weekly long runs, in fact, we run them after doing a medium tempo run of 8 miles the day before just so our legs are tired and we won't do the long run too fast.  Nothing like rubbing salt in the wound.
     Thursday was my latest long run of what was supposed to be 18 miles, well I miscalculated a bit.  It was a beautiful day.  I wish I would remember to take pics for the blog.  I got around the city and ended up coming back up 5th street when I hit 18 miles a little ways from home.  Most people would say "why would you continue to run when you have already hit 18 miles?"  After 18 miles of running, your mind is not clear, although some would say my mind is not clear to start with.  I kept up much better with nutrition, but you still get irrational and foggy.  I wanted to get home, plain and simple.  I was willing to do the extra 1.2 miles just to get home sooner.  You would have done it too.
     The goal this week is to get to the pool and get on the bike at least once because it is a recovery week running-wise (5/5/5/8/13)..  My sister did the Myrtle Beach Half Mary today and I am sure she did great.  This is her fourth half marathon and I credit her with my entry into the world of endurance sports and all it has given me.  Thanks sis!

End of Week 10 MT

     My biggest event for the week was my little girl turned 8.  She had lots of fun and we were glad to get to spend time together as a family on her birthday.  Spent today mainly running, but got up to a 2 hr delay for school so I was lucky I had an excuse to wait til it warmed up to start my long run for the week.  M got kids off to school and I headed off for 17 miles of running.  Here's the play-by-play

Miles 1-4 - Life as usual.  These are always my hardest miles until we cross the half mary mark.  Why, I don't know, guess I just have to adjust and get into a rhythm.  M says same thing though, so I am not all crazy.

Miles 4-8 - Business as usual.  Felt good and finished off water bottle #1 and half of my multi-fuel Perpetuum bottle (orange-vanilla).

Miles 8-13 - Was fortunate enough to have M meet me on the downtown mall to run these miles.  Felt good even though the hills felt like monsters.  I always enjoy time I can run with M and talk about whatever, it especially helps pass the time.  Around mile 12 I start to enter somewhat of a fog and head back to M's car so she can head home for he bike ride and I can finish up.  Steal some water from her, hit the goo machine and take off for the last 4 miles.

Miles 13-17 - Start off great.  Headed down 5th street towards home I am zooming from the caffeinated goo shot, maybe a little too much because as I hit mile 16 and have to head back up the snow covered trail towards home.  At this point I can tell I went too hard down 5th street and am in a total bonking fog without any more goo.  I manage to make my way back up the trail and meet up with M and Scoob who are waiting for me at front of neighborhood.

Moral of the story, do a better job pacing even when you feel good and take more goo.
M had made several great dishes yesterday while I was at work, so we had a feast then she went to ride and I drifted off into a slumber.

     Scoob is our fantastic dog that we have had for almost 6 months.  Gave him a bath today which requires a before and after to do it justice.

Fluffy and innocent

Rat dog extraordinaire

Will spend tonight and tomorrow in recovery mode then do my last 8 miler for the week before a swim meet for B and P on Sunday.

Miscellaneous Blogging

     Not very often is it that someone whom you know comes to you and says hey you should read this book, I think it has changed my life, but thats exactly what happened to me this week.  He loaned me the book on CD (as I am not an avid reader) and I must say it is very compelling even if I am only 2 discs into the 6 disc book.

     The training continues.  Managed to get in 1500 yds at the pool this morning along with my schedule 8 mile run during B's swim practice tonight.  I'd be lying if I said that the 17 miler scheduled for Thursday doesn't scare me.  I continue to struggle with the selfish nature of this sport.I am very luck to have the most understanding wife in the world.  Fitting 41 miles of running and 36 hours of working into a week is not easy with 2 young kids and she does everything she can to make it happen for me.  I hope I can return the favor some day.

     All is good on the gluten free front.  Some day I will recount my history with my GI issues, endurance sports, and being gluten free, but thats another post when I have more time. 

     Hoping WVU can pull out some magic over Pitt tonight in basketball.  Going to go watch last few minutes. Later.