Ultra notes

Novembers totals:

Swim: 0
Bike: 0
Run: 127.3 miles, 15 runs
Strength training: 6 times
Yoga: 24 sessions

127 miles may I think be a personal record.  It was the last month of ultra training and included my frist 40 mile week and 2 weeks of taper.   I slacked off on the yoga a bit, but I'm still on track to hit my 300 this year.  Overall that was a big month with a lot of fun.  I'll take it.

So far December has 40 running miles.  I have a 5k on Saturday.  I predict by the end of the month I will have accumulated 43.1 miles.

The 5k on Saturday is the Jolly Elf trail run, where I set my current 5k PR in 2011.  I'm not going to speak about 5k pr's right now.  Right now, I'm only talking cupcakes.

I have gained a new appreciation for the grab bars in the handicapped bathrooms at work.

By about 18 miles into the ultra my quads were killing me. The downhills were really putting the burn on.  By mile 25 the downhills hurt just as bad as the uphills.  By mile 35 everything hurt all the time.

I had chafing to deal with.  Thigh, inside upper arm, and nipple.  It kept getting worse.  To note:  Bodyglide only holds up for about 6 hours.  I used liberally before the start.

You know how when you sweat a lot and it dries up you get the salt crystals?  Most of the time it's just on my arms.  This time I was covered.  I had salt crystals in my ears, on my neck, on my legs.  Sometime after mile 30 I was walking up this steep hill when I just couldn't go anymore, so I stopped and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath for a bit.  There was WHITE sweat dripping down my arm. The single bead of sweat had picked up enough dried salt to give it color.  I've sweat a lot over the last several years, but I've never seen that before.

I pulled the Garmin data and extrapolated for the missing mileage.  Turns out there was over 12,800 feet of climbing and 10,000 feet of descents.  That certainly explains why my quads were misbehaving.  My max speed was only 8.1 mph.  Remember this was more hiking and controlled falling that actual walking, and I've certainly fallen faster than that before.  Intense! 

The out and back part of the course had about 5000 feet of climbing each way, and the lollipop loop at the top had 2800 feet by itself!  I still can't believe I didn't fall into the creek out there.  Or over some waterfall. 

The healing is coming along.  Today (thursday) my abs, chest, arms, and neck have stopped hurting.  Most of that cleared up yesterday.  I can also stand up most of the time without groaning.  I did get on the yoga mat for a good session this morning after skimping for a few days.  It feels good to feel better, for sure.  Hopefully by saturday I'll actually be able to run that 5k.

I shaved the beard after getting back to Raleigh on Monday.  It's really a decent look for me, and fit the environment of the trail ultra crowd.  But it was a pain to maintain, kind of drove me crazy at work, and since we have some executives in town this week I needed to look my best.