Day 3 (3 hours 49 minutes)

I woke up at 2 am with leg cramps, drew a cold bath, soaked for 20 minutes and went back to sleep. When I woke up again at 6:00, I sat in the tub for another 15 minutes and took a couple Advil. I didn't have much of anything to say to Leticia and she didn't say anything to me either. It was a glum morning scene. Getting into the rental car was a struggle. We drove to the Horizon casino where buses would take both me and Leticia (who bought a spectator's bus ticket) to the start about 39 miles away. I talked a bit with some of the other triple runners who were standing in the bus line. For the most part, they all seemed to be in better spirits than me. I'd worn the white singlet with "Tahoe Triple" printed on it that came in our race bag. If I was going to shuffle along, I wanted the reason clearly printed on my chest. I ate another bag of lemon Powergel disks and drank some Powerade. In retrospect, I should have drank much more water.

The buses dropped us off in Tahoe City, at nearly the same spot we'd finished on Saturday. The spectator's buses took off about 15 minutes later. We runners walked down to a small park right on the water where a starting line banner hung over an expanse of unusually green grass. I noticed that several of the other triple runners had really great royal blue and gold sleeveless Tahoe Triple shirts on. My white one was crap, but there were a stack of nice blue ones on a picnic table that we were supposed to run in on day 3, so I quickly swapped out and felt pretty energized. No gloves were necessary on this day. It was sunny and probably about 55 or 60 degrees.

With the little start banner and the green grass and the picnic tables, the marathon had a fun-run feel to it. There were few really serious runners, but not too many casual runners either. I have no idea how the race started, maybe an airhorn. I'd worked up some adrenaline with the new shirt and felt pretty good. The first several miles were fairly flat, shaded, and although the roads were not closed, there were police around warning drivers to drive slow and watch out for runners. I settled into a rhythm for the first time in 3 days. There were aid stations every two miles and volunteers were great.

I trotted up behind a group of guys and just hung out for a while listening to them talk. Eventually, I started chatting with a guy named Matt from Reno. Within a few miles, we were talking about politics. Matt was quite a bit more conservative than me, so we started to get a little annoyed at each other. The pace picked up so that I had to let him go on ahead. By about the 10-mile point, my right nipple felt like it might be on the verge of bleeding, so I took off my shirt and immediately felt tired.

At about the 15-mile mark, there was a giant hill ahead and a sign pounded into the ground that said something like... "you're entering hell - 6,400 feet". As we ran up that hill, there were more and more signs... "entering purgatory - 6,600 feet", ...something about heaven - 7,000 feet, blah, blah, blah. I was walking before I left hell. I walked through purgatory. I walked before I got to heaven. I jockied back and forth with a long-haired, bearded guy who was either mumbling to himself or talking to me. He reminded me of Jesus. I ate a mocha latte gel and two electrolyte tablets. And then Leticia appeared from out of nowhere and handed me another three electrolytes which I mindlessly gulped down with a Powerade.

At mile 20, there was another terrible hill to climb. No dumb signs this time. The view of the lake was spectacular, but I really didn't care. At the end of the climb, the course suddenly became familiar. We were at the start of day 1 again, which meant that there would be some nasty downhills for a few miles, but this time, the runners around me were too tired to speed up. At one point, I had to walk the downhill as my knees got wobbly. At about mile 23, we moved over onto a bike trail that paralleled the road. Although we shared the trail with walking families and baby strollers and vacationing bike riders, it was a nice change from the roads. For the first time, I let myself think about the total miles run so far (75) and with less than three miles to go, finally got a second wind and surprisingly started to pass a whole bunch of people including the Jesus guy. Somewhere along the line, it occurred to me that I might be able to squeeze in as a top-25 male finisher and get a special windshirt.

The last two miles were surprisingly enjoyable; probably because I knew for sure that I'd finish this damn thing. As I turned the final corner and saw the finish line and the cheering crowd, I also spotted my conservative friend Matt ahead and decided to catch him. When I crossed the line, I felt nothing. Nothing. Someone handed me a finisher's metal and a claim sheet for the last of the top-25 finisher's shirts. About 5 minutes later, I felt an overwhelming rush of emotion and all of a sudden tears were streaming down my face. I wasn't particularly happy or sad, but something was going on here, so I hid behind a truck until things settled down. Afterwards, I stood in the cold lake for 30 minutes and looked at my feet. That did the trick.

I'm so glad this is over. I've finished races before and walked on air for days afterwards. This isn't one of those times. Wish it was. This experience tells me that I'm not an ultra-runner at all. I don't have to wonder anymore. To seal the deal, I threw up repeated throughout the day. Based on what was in my stomach, I stopped absorbing about about mile 10 - should have drank water - too much sugar. Too much.

It's over.

Day 2 (3 hours 45 minutes)

Flash! They have ski resorts around here! It's hilly. And, the running vocabulary is different - for instance - "flat" is the equivalent to, say ...Exposition Blvd, and "gently rolling hills" is like Scenic Dr. Maybe the guys who were yelling at me yesterday were right - I'm an idiot. But I'm also a humble idiot. The race makes you humble.

Anyway, I can't seem to sleep very well at altitude. But I'm not tired at all. Five hours sleep both nights and no need for a nap. Weird.

I woke up this morning and rolled out of bed and ...ooouch! Super sore! Not my calves ...but man-oh-man, my quads were totally wrecked. The upside to this was that nothing else hurt a bit, not my knees, ankles, nothing.

At 6:45, we drove about 13 miles in the other direction (to where day 1 had ended). On the way over, I ate a whole bag of Lemon Powergel Gel Blasts for breakfast. Very tasty. The temperature was warmer. Good when standing around, but not so good a few miles into the race. Most runners looked at least a little bit hobbled. No shotgun blast this time. At 7:45, I think someone just said GO! The first several miles were downhill. In no time, I had a dozen people in front of me. I got the terrible feeling that I'd shot my wad on the first day and everybody else knew better. But when things leveled off, I caught five or six ...but then we went down another steep hill and they all caught me again. So it was back and forth for six miles.

I was running much slower, but there were hardly another big trucks and fewer cars and it was incredibly beautiful. Incredible! But super sunny! I shed my gloves, my Decker top-shirt and eventually took off my gold and navy Gazelle singlet and gave it to Leticia ...who was a great crew.

At the halfway point, some guy hollered "way to save it for tomorrow!" (Huh?) I wasn't saving anything. I was going slow because I was slow. I felt heavy at mile 16 or so, but fairly strong. Sore, but strong. Leticia brought out a whole bag of Gels and Carbo-beans and gum and I probably wasted a full minute trying to decide what sounded good. Hmmm...

At mile 22, the "fairly challenging hill" that the race folks told us about turned out to be Mt Bonnell. I walked about half of it, but actually caught a guy who was slumped over trying to get his breath. After the 23 mile mark, I started to feel a second wind coming on. It was downhill again, but I was so tired of uphills, that it felt fine just to take little steps and let the momentum do the work. I caught several more runners who were walking or shuffling. I think the 70 degree temps favored the Texan. The last three miles took me about 25 minutes. It felt much faster. I was really pleased with the 3:45. I think I was fifth overall, but I don't really know because we dashed right down to the beach so I could soak. The water was colder than yesterday for some reason. I sat down up to my belly and every time a boat made waves that splashed up on my chest, I whimpered.

Tomorrow is the regular Tahoe marathon. I think this will make a huge difference. We drove the course on the way back from the end of the day 2 race. It doesn't really get any easier, but it's almost over. I'm hoping that I'm tired enough to sleep tonight.

Day 1 (3 hours 34 minutes)

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. Texas time and had trouble getting back to sleep. A packed runner bus took off from the Horizon casino at 6:15. Leticia and I, along with a caravan of other vehicles followed the bus to the staring line 13 miles away. It was dark, but not dark enough that I couldn't see how hilly the course was. I hadn't counted on it being quite this challenging. I took Meredith's advice and ate a pack of carbo beans and drank a carbohydrate drink on the drive up. The weather was cool (44 degrees) and sunny but there was no wind.

I was surprised at how tough all the other runners looked. It was a far cry from the typical marathon bunch. A shotgun blast got the race started and we all dashed down a hill that was much too steep for my tastes. As a result, runners were passing me left and right. I remembered that I'd said I'd walk down steep hills, but since we were only two minutes into the race, I decided to shuffle instead. After a mile or so, I settled in with two Mormon college guys from BYU. Adam and Daniel were running their first marathon which absolutely shocked me until I found out that they were only running one, not all three races. They were extremely polite and oddly enough, were tossing out hip-hop lyrics regularly as we ran along. I'd lose them briefly when I'd spot Leticia and then catch up and then lose them again when I walked up the steeper hills. They drank little and ate nothing. I, on the other hand, got a series of hand-offs from Leticia, and managed to take in plenty of carbs and electrolytes. We counted three support tables offering cups of water. That's it.

After coming off the mountain, we were in the midst of the South Tahoe business district. The course was not coned off and we had to stop at red lights. We ran through parking lots, dodged dog walkers and jumped curbs. At the halfway point, our time was roughly 1:39:30. Too fast. We'd already caught a handful of other runners. I kept waiting for the serious runners to pass us, but not a one did.

After we left the business district, the roads got scary. We were on a narrow highway, with car and 18-wheelers flying by at 70 miles an hour. We ran into traffic, and there was lots of it. A massive road rally in Reno added thousands of motorcycles to the mix. At times, there was no more than 12 inches of road to run on.

Adam and I lost Daniel at about 18 miles. I lost Adam at 23. The last three miles were almost entirely uphill. At one point, a boat on a trailer swung wide across the white line. Four times, I had to stop and press myself sideways against the highway guard rail as large trucks flew by. Amazing. There were no spectators expect for the support crews, but I had a dozen people scream at me from the highway called me a "fucking idiot", a "fucking dumb ass" and a "dumb fuck". Nice. More than one diver told me to "get the fuck off the road". It was clearly not apparent that there was a race going on. I just looked like a complete idiot running on a busy highway.

The temp had climbed to 70 degrees, but I was too focused on the cars and trucks to notice. I tried to look into every eye to make sure they saw me. The altitude made my legs feel very heavy. The Garmin finally said 25 miles (the course was not marked). I overran the turn-off by about 100 yards. I was already pissed. This didn't help. I finished, had my time recorded and we drove back without eating or drinking; just left. The last three miles took me 32 minutes. Adam was about 20 minutes behind. He must have walked in after we split up.

As we were driving back into South Tahoe, Leticia spotted a young guy who looked like he was about to fall over. It was Daniel. We turned around and offered him some Powerade. Although he'd turned it down several times along the way, he drank all we had left, turned and gravely trudged up the hill.

Despite a crappy time, I finished Day one in fourth place. There was a super-fast guy who showed up specifically to set the three-day record. He was shooting for 2:45, but walked up the hill and finished in around 3:00. Supposedly, he doesn't expect to run tomorrow. One other guy who finished ahead of me hurt his heel. After soaking twice in the 55 degree lake, I feel okay. Not good, but okay.

Tomorrow, the route is supposed to be much safer and much easier (although their idea of easy may differ from my idea of easy). I won't run this thing again, and wouldn't recommend it, but I'm looking forward to getting day two behind me.

Week 19 (27.8) - 5 days to ...gulp!

The collapsing financial markets have turned my world upside-down. I'll spare the ugly details. But, I was hugely surprised at how the stress manifested itself in a whole series of aches and pains - neck, back, knees, ankles...

So, after the Lehman and Merrill news (and a harrowing driving lesson with Amanda in which she got the brake and gas mixed up while backing out of the driveway) I hobbled through 5.2 miles on Monday in a woeful 45 minutes (don't bother with the math, it's slow) and with AIG about to crash and the Reserve Fund "breaking the buck", I jogged the same route in just over 42 minutes the next day. On Wednesday, I quit after 3.8 agonizing miles in the neighborhood and walked slowly back to the house. Thursday, Floyd Watson and I had a long talk about the markets and life and by Friday (thanks in part to Paulson and Bernanke's proposed bailout - don't blame these two guys, they just put out the fire) I was feeling loose enough to do 5.2 in 38:35 (felt much faster than this). I've been guessing on the actual mileage ever since my Garmin crapped out two months ago, but just bought a new 301 for $115 on E-bay.

Saturday, I did 8.4, running part of the way with Peter Gallimore and the Black Shorts . That night, Greg Thomas hosted a little Salmon grill "good luck Tahoe" get-together. Mike and Roger gave me a survival gift pack that included Red Bull, Twinkies, a first-aid kit, a gel toe protector, NBA head and wrist bands, Advil, an LCD cap light, a Ben Gay patch, Cottenelle fresh wipes and sanitary toilet seat covers. Thanks again guys. Although the Twinkies have a 40-year shelf life, I enjoyed them with a glass of cold milk while watching the Cardinal/Redskin game. It had been at least 30 years since I last ate this particular golden snack cake with cream filling.

I started a list of things to bring. So far, I have -

1) Sunglasses
2) Electrolytes
3) Band aids
4) My new water bottle (I've never ran with one of these things)
5) Camera
6) Funnel
7) Nail clippers
8) Body-glide
9) NBA wrist and head-bands
10) Advil
11) Laptop
12) "the Stick"
13) Water shoes
14) Sunscreen
15) Carbo-Pro powder
16) Chargers for cell and blackberry
17) Gloves
18) Ear muffs
19) Bathing suit
20) Ben Gay heat patch
21) Gel toe protector
22) Cottonelle wipes

Leticia and I doubled-checked hotel (3-Peaks $79 per night), rental car (Advantage $32 per day for a Malibu or similar) and air (Southwest into Reno - repaid rewards). I still need to cancel the Statesman, find someone to look in on Jack the cat and get a replacement for my Friday meals route. We won't get into Nevada until Thursday night - probably not the greatest idea in the world, but time is tight. A bonus is that the new seasons of "Grey's Anatomy" and "the Office" start Thursday and "the Amazing Race" starts on Sunday night. Although Leticia plans to try the mountain zip-line, I'm thinking TV might have extra appeal this weekend.

I may jog around the block later tonight to work off the Twinkies, but another week of low miles was okay with me. All-in-all, I'm feeling much better than when the week started. I plan on running something up-tempo on Monday (maybe a few 800's) and then five or six miles on Tuesday and a few more on Thursday morning before we fly west.

The first race starts Friday at 7:15 Pacific time. The weather at the start is expected to be near freezing, but sunny and dry. The highlight of the first day is an 800-foot climb in the last four miles. Crap.

Week 18 (30.6) - Holding On

Only 30 miles this week. And 4 days off. I'm not too happy. This wasn't in the plan, but I've decided that a light week this close to the Triple is probably more positive than negative. I need to get to the starting line injury-free. My tooth is fine after a trip to the Endodontist, but I've been feeling a little "twinge" behind my left knee and the ankle pain is back. Nothing major. Just reason for caution.

On a positive note, on the three days that I did lace-up my shoes, I ate sports beans or a gel before the run and did just fine. On Saturday, I doubled the amount of carbs and felt a noticable boost. We ran for two hours and seven minutes at roughly a 7:45 pace. The muscles felt fine, but my joints felt banged up. For whatever reason, I've abandoned ice baths and am paying for it. Tahoe's 55 degree water temps should remedy this. I expect to spend lots of time standing in the cold water.

Russ Secker, who ran across France a couple of summers ago and will be doing his "Triple" as a single 78.6 mile run, met with the few brave Tahoe souls Saturday at Progress Coffee and gave us a detailed description of the courses. The thing that struck me was how hilly it's supposed to be around the lake. Russ figured that walking up the bigger hills would save the legs. The problem with this idea is that I'd already planned to walk down the big hills. (Sounds like I could be doing quite a bit of walking.)

Russ figured that the altitude, which has always been at the back of my mind, is only a problem when running up hills (...and I also assume when running too fast). Mad dog wrote that you can't simulate altitude, but I don't think this is true. I think that anytime you're running hard enough that you're in oxygen debt, you're by proxy training for altitude. And all the heat of the 2008 summer has put my heart through the paces.

The first race is now 12 days away. I'm trying to decide whether to buy a new pair of shoes. I have one pair of Mizuno Wave Runners with about 50 miles on them, but no other shoe with less than 300. I've been thinking about buying a Nike+ shoe and a Sport Band. Since my Garmin 301 crapped out, I have to guess on mileage. Since miles aren't marked on the first two Tahoe courses, I'd have to run by feel alone. I'd rather have some idea about how many miles are ahead of me. There's a 14-day weather forecast online and if it holds out, we can expect 37 degrees at the start. Last year, there was ice on the road during the Sunday race. It's a fine line - 37 is good / ice is bad, but either beats the heat of the past Texas summer.

Week 17 (61.3) - Running on Empty

I skipped Monday, felt terrible, and decided I could use a day off. My tooth was killing me. I’d been gobbling Advil, but was still waking up in pain several times a night. Tuesday morning, I drug myself out the door and when I got to Barton, Roger was already there with a plan to do 1200s. Since I had no plan of my own, I agreed, mentally unprepared. I still managed 4x1200 in 4:27, 4:22, 4:22 and 4:22 ...but it wasn’t easy. I had to push all the way. That afternoon, I saw my Dentist, who took x-rays, wrote a prescription for Amoxicillin and Vicodin and referred me to a specialist. Apparently, I had an infection in a tooth that I’d already had a root canal in.

Wednesday, I was in Phoenix all day and then had our fantasy football draft that night. The "Phonies" drafted third and took Westbrook in the first round, but there was no time for a run. Thursday, it was a surprising 72 degrees, so Roger and I ran a brisk tempo. I probably averaged somewhere under 6:30, although he pretty much crushed me. By Thursday, I’d either caught a full-fledged summer cold or the high mold count got my nose running non-stop and now I had a headache to match my throbbing tooth. Friday morning, I pushed myself around the lake at a pedestrian pace. It was discouraging and a little unnerving since the first race was now 21 days out. Right then, I decided that I’d better schedule an appointment with Meredith Terranova to map out a fueling plan for the Triple and hopefully figure out what I’m doing wrong in my training.

I was dreading Saturday’s long run. Somehow, I’d gotten in the habit of running at least two hours and forty minutes and intended log that amount at least one more time, but since I’d taken a sinus pill and was still on a steady dose of Advil, I felt worn out before we left the parking lot. To make things worse, Patrick Hall and Greg Thomas both showed up along with Roger, Mike and Peter. The cool weather gave everybody a boost, so we were soon flying with me huffing and puffing and bring up the rear. About an hour and forty-five minutes into the run, I was hopelessly behind the pack but was actually grateful to suffer solo. I did several loops around the park to bring the tally to 2:40:05, paid my $3 late fee to soak 15 minutes in Barton, choked down an Endurox R4, took a 30 minute nap at Leticia’s, and did non-stop errands until it was time to see Meredith. At 2:00, I ate my first meal, a McDonald’s grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo.

Meredith asked me what I typical eat before a training run (nothing). She asked whether I take electrolyte tablets (no, but sometimes I intend to) and what I eat and drink during my training runs (nothing during runs under 10 miles, but one or two gels and 12 ounces of a carbohydrate(16g)/protein(6g)mix on long runs). She also asked what I eat after long runs and when (it isn’t unusual to wait until noon before having a first bite). Apparently, on my “two-forty” runs, I should be taking in 120 grams of carbohydrates, but on a good day I probably get half that. Anyway, this all worked well for me when I did 40 mile weeks, but it all falls apart at 70+, so here’s my new plan so I don’t totally run myself into the ground –

Eat something before every run – Jelly beans in the car on the way to the workout or a gel with water. Meredith let me try some Carbo-Pro (a tasteless high (38g) carbohydrate powder), Ultragen (a 60g/20g carb/protein recovery powder that Paul swears by), four Thermolytes and a small Mountain Dew (for quick energy jumpstart). So, I plan on having a carbo drink on every single run, taking a Thermolyte (or the Hammer e-tabs that I have, but never remember to take) several times on my long runs and drinking an Ultragen immediately after any run over …90 minutes. Plus, I need to eat and eat, so Leticia and I bought cracked wheat bread, almond butter, bananas and honey at Central Market.

On Sunday, I woke up to the alarm at 6:00 but felt congested and achy, so I took two Advil and went back to sleep for another hour, got up and drank some coffee, and eventually felt like I could run at least 5 in the neighborhood. Since I told Meredith that I’d test out our new plan, I ate a small pack of Mountain Berry jelly beans, took a Thermolyte tablet, gulped a couple swigs of Mountain Dew and mixed up the Carbo-Pro with a bit of my regular grape powder. After running a hilly 5.3 mile neighborhood loop in 41:22 (my PR on this course is 32:15), I swooped into the garage and drank a third of the grape mixture, ran another 1.5 miles, back into the garage for another sip, another 1.5 miles, back to finish off the fuel and another 1.5, plus a quick half mile because I was felling much better. The Ultragen (punch flavor) was quite tasty and made me feel good …maybe because I ate and drank everything I’d intended. That night, after eating pasta and wheat bread and bananas and bagel chips and almonds and almond butter and a plum, I ran the 5.3 loop again in 38:02. This felt great, although my muscles were screaming the last couple of miles.

So, I’m less than three weeks out. Yikes. My last long run will be Saturday. I have a heavy travel week, but with luck, my tooth will be fixed on Monday. I’m not worried about light mileage from here out. Besides the Saturday long run, I plan on peppering in some intervals. I can use the confidence.

But the Phonies are in excellent shape, beating the "Security Geeks" 101 to 56 in week 1.

Week 16 (68.6) - 25 days to go

It's funny how quickly the running mind set changes. I averaged more than 73 miles per week in August, finished with 327 total and felt disappointed; disappointed because I felt sluggish and bored on Sunday. Before I started training for Tahoe, I'd have called anyone crazy who did 300 in the August heat. Especially me. I hate long runs.

So, with less than four weeks to go, I just need to hold on. I wrote some Ultra Marathon expert named "Mad Dog Mike" for advice. He wrote back, but since he didn't confirm what I think I know, I'm not putting much stock in his words. Here's the transcript (Mad Mike is in Parenthesis) -

(Dear Scott: Thanks for writing. How did you hear about The Mad Dog? Did you read my recent article in "Marathon and Beyond" magazine?)

Me: I've had a hard time finding forum threads on running the Triple, (No loss: message boards are generally fonts of misinformation), so I've been training without a net for the September races. (Ha, ha! That shows you are brave...important for being an ultra-runner. It is also important to be a little crazy.)

I'm not sure that I have a specific question so much as looking for advice. (Oh-que-doke.)

I'm a 46-year old, 2:50 - 2:55 marathoner. (Nice and fast. Congratulations. Have you done some 2:50 marathons recently?)

I've worked my way up from 120 mile months in the spring to 250, 270 and 325 the past three. (That's pretty high mileage in my opinion.)

No pain at all. (That's a relief!!!!)''

Actually feeling strong. (Very important. Now the trick is to not leave it all on the training trail, and still feel strong and pain-free at the start of the race.)

I haven't run at altitude, (Only running at altitude will prepare you for running at altitude. There are no tricks, other than using an altitude simulator, that will help prepare you), but I've been training in heat and 95% humidity. (That's nice, providing you plan to race under those sorts of conditions. However, if you believe training in heat and humidity will help, then continue to do so...the mind can be magical.)

I'd thought I run the day 1 marathon around 3:25, (Yes, you must run the first day very easy.)soak in the lake for half an hour (Immediately following the race, get in the COLD lake with a two litre bottle of full-sugar coke and food. Stay in the water until you have finished the coke and the food and or your legs have turned blue. Take at least one more soak later in the day. Do the same after days two and three as well.) and try to get enough carbs down (Other than your carb intake immediately following the run, your meals should be high in protein and reasonably high in fat. Do not take in excessive amounts of carbohydrates.) so that I don't hit the wall at the halfway point. (Hitting the wall is the result of poor pacing.If you pace correctly, you will have plenty of stored glycogen to burn intramuscular fat: and intramuscular fat is what will power your muscles.From now until a couple of days before the race, do all your runs before eating, and eat nothing during the runs. Nothing! You may sip a diluted sports drink, but that's it! This will help training your body to quickly switch to fat metabolism. Stay completely away from concentrated carbs, like gooz and jells. Eat and drink immediately following your workouts...no delay.)

My best guess is that I should be able to ratchet down several minutes each successive day. (Play it as you go along, and save your major effort for the final 13.1 miles on day three.)

I don't take food well on the day of the race, but have no problem with sports drinks (Take a diluted sports drink.Several members of The Mad Dog Training Team have had good luck with the drinks "Accelerade" and "Succeed, which each contain a little protein.) and gels. (Stay completely away from concentrated carbs like gooz, jells and candy bars.They can cause GI upsets, nausea, diarrhea, cramps and sometimes vomiting. They prevent or delay the switch to fat metabolism, impede the body's ability to absorb water, and provide no benefits.Any thoughts? (The Mad Dog always has something to say.)

I know this is vague, (No, your questions were good, and went right to the essentials. I am sending you, as attachments, some back issues of the run-newsletter that I hope you enjoy and find useful. After you read them, please write me again.Dr. (Mad Dog Mike) Schreiber, Online Marathon/Ultra/Trail Coach and Fitness Guru http://us.mc317.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=training2run@yahoo.com

Kind regards,
Scott McIntyre

I plan on running one more set of back-to-back long runs Saturday (Sept 6) and Sunday and then do one more 18 to 21 miler on Sept 13. Unlike training for a normal marathon, I plan on doing a big taper, maybe 50, 35 and 10 (short week) the last three weeks. That means that the upcoming week is the last serious one. Yahoo!!

Week 15 (77.2) - Stronger

I'm not sure that it was a breakthrough per se, but it was a really good week. After running long last Sat and Sun, I ran 14 on Monday, and actually ended the run early because I had to get into the office. I drove to Houston that afternoon and was surprised that after nearly six hours in the car, I wasn't twisting and shifting trying to find a pain free position. It's funny how all this extra pounding has had the opposite effect - I don't wake up sore much at all, and shaking off the morning cobwebs seems to get easier and easier.

I desperately needed to sleep late on Tuesday, and had planned to run the neighborhood that afternoon, but it turned out to be a five-step turnaround. (My first day-off in nearly two weeks.) Wednesday morning midway through the 7-mile LBL loop, I felt like I was running way too slow and took a detour to the Austin High track where I ran 3x800's in 2:55, 2:52 and 2:49. It didn't feel particularly smooth, but it was nice to open up. I met Roger for speedwork on Thursday, but his hamstring was tight, so I ran solo on the track - 4x800 in 2:50, 2:49, 2:45 and 2:46 and 4x400 averaging 79 seconds. I'd always heard that big slow miles sap speed, but I'm not too far off normal. Friday was a recovery day - 8 miles at 64 minutes.

Saturday, Peter and his wife ran with us from Barton. I listened to Allison talk about how she really didn't have the time to devote to running right now since she just accepted a teaching job at UT, but we ran at a 7:30 pace up Scenic and Mt Bonnell and she and Peter kept going and going. I suggested that they run back to Lake Austin Blvd via Exposition, but neither was interested in cutting the route short so we ran UT and Congress and never slowed. I offered gels all around, but discovered that my zipper was down and the gels had fallen out. Peter and Allison did 16 miles and made it look easy. Mike and I added another 5 for 21 total. Great day. No ice bath. Long nap.

On Sunday, I ran to the Rock and then then did the 10 mile LBL loop in 72 minutes. Didn't intend to run that fast, but felt smooth and I found myself picking up the pace from mile marker to mile marker. Hard to believe that I'd just run 21 on Saturday. I got back to Barton with 15 miles under my belt, but jumped in with Ken Fries for one last mile, which put me over 77 for the week. 15 minutes left for a free soak. All good.

Just 31 days to go before Day 1; three weeks of serious training left. Home stretch. Next Sat, Sun & Mon (Labor Day) I'm hoping to run a total of 52.4 miles (2/3rds of the Triple).

Week 14 (76.6) - All that ends well...

The week started out as a head-scratcher. Early on, everything I put in my stomach either hurt or made me nauseous. Strangely enough, all I had to do to feel better was not eat or drink. But of course, this makes distance training especially tough. Still, I ran an easy 11 on Monday morning, then slept in on Tuesday which forced a 7 miler on Tuesday night in 102 degree heat. Wednesday morning, it all caught up with me and about five miles into my run I had to stop. So, I cut the morning run short and scheduled a doctor's appointment. It turns out that I had an inflammation of the stomach lining or Gastritis caused by handfuls of aspirin (the only thing I could find) that I'd taken for a toothache last week and "body stress". The doctor gave me some acid reducers and by Thursday, I was feeling much better. As much as anything else, it was good to know it wasn't anything serious. Thursday afternoon, I ran a quick and mighty hot 10.

That night I ordered a big pizza and did some research on the Tahoe races; specifically, the top 10 runners from the past couple of years. The guy who finished second last year, "Charles Hofacker", had run 3:27, 3:21 and 3:20, which doesn't sound that impressive. I looked his non-Tahoe times up on "Athlinks" and decided he and I were roughly compatible ...although he's a bit younger and faster and probably has a better hair line. Most of the other runners had impressive non-Tahoe times, but got slowed badly by the Triple. I also read a few descriptions of the actual Tahoe marathon and am starting to believe that the course is far from friendly. It's not really discouraging, so much as a relief. Suddenly, a Triple in the 3:30 range sounds reasonable and acceptable.

Saturday, it was a bit cooler out. Mike, Roger and I had a loose plan which including swooping by the Mopac footbridge to pick up Peter, turning east on the trail to rendezvous with Floyd Watson who was running from his new place around Far West. Surprisingly, we found both Peter and Floyd in the dark and headed toward Scenic. The pace picked up to what felt like the low 7's for a while, which was probably a result of cool weather and new guys in the running mix. We eventually lost Floyd at the cleaners and Peter back at the Rock. The other guys were done at Barton, but I added another 5 for a total of 21.

Sunday, it was even cooler and I got in 15. If I wasn't so hungry, I would have done more ...so it was an encouraging run. Tomorrow, I'll shoot for another 12 to 14 in the morning, then take a nap before driving to Houston for a school board meeting Monday night.

Nothing hurts. The foot/ankle issues I had when I started training a couple months back seem to be gone. My knees are holding up well. My achilles tendons, which are always sore, feel better than they have in ages. My mileage this week is a new high. I'm on track for 300 to 320 miles in August. I'm still nervous and don't expect to be as prepared as I would have liked, but with a little over a month left, I know I'll be okay.

Week 13 (68) - Really tired and ...zzzzz

I can't seem to string together three, or even two really good long runs, so I'm wondering yet again whether I bit off more than I can chew. The good thing is that there's only six weeks to go ...but the bad thing is I only have six more weeks to train. I looked at pictures from last year's marathon, and there was snow on the ground. Sounds good.

At the moment, I'm trying to decide what's wrong with me. I feel queasy, but not the kind of queasy where you feel like you have to hurl. Food just doesn't taste good. I'm thinking that I'm out of balance. Dehydration would be too simple, although my urine was bright orange this morning, so maybe that's part of it. I lost six pounds on Saturday's run and was afraid to weigh myself on Sunday. I'm too porous. I'm totally drained. Sleep would definitely help. It's been a while since I got even six solid hours. I've jettisoned vitamins and need to start up again.

Anyway, I got in 68 miles this past week and have run 16 out of the last 17 days, which sounds like a terrible idea now that I see it in writing. The Saturday long run was fairly easy. Mike, Roger and I ran 20 at a pace pretty close to 7:30. Sunday, I had no plan, but ran around the trail and doubled back and added miles here and there, and ended up with almost 16. (I think) I really need a new Garmin. Wasn't hungry all day. Thought I drank quite a bit, but maybe not. Late that night, I drank a couple beers with Sam, my neighbor, a bored ex-Air force guy in a wheelchair who just moved here and needs a friend. Stayed up too late because he wanted me to see "Generation Kill" on HBO. It was a good show, but it wasn't over until after midnight. I was too tired to sleep well.

Today (Monday/technically a new week), I ran an uncomfortable and slow 11 miles. Thought about taking the morning off and taking a nap, but needed to make headway on some back-burner projects.

I'd really like to log 300 miles this month - that just sounds like a lot ...to me anyway. Especially, since a more typical summer month would be less than half that.

Week 12 (73.8) - Signs of life

I don't usually run seven days a week, especially in late July, but it's been nearly impossible to log the kind of miles I need for this damn Triple, so I made an exception. The result was record mileage both for a single month (267 in July) and for the week. Hopefully, I can top out at 80 or so sometime this month. I don't think my body can handle much more than that. I'm still having big trouble with the heat, but am doing better with the fueling part - I bought a box of Cliff bars, am still eating oatmeal with blueberries and started snacking on whole grain cereal at night. Plus, I'm drinking gallons of orange juice, blue Powerade and orange Endourox ...when I remember I have it.

Monday, I took a vacation day from work (this really helped boost the mileage) and had planned on doing at least 15. But it was 82 degrees at 6:15, so I did 12.6, soaked in Barton for 20 minutes then went home and slept for several hours. On Tuesday, I tried to do some intervals at Austin High with Roger, but wasn't really inspired enough. I did manage 2x800 in 3:00 and 2:59, felt hugely sluggish and called it quits. On the trail, I ran past a guy running with his wife. He picked up the pace and hung with me for a mile or so. He told me that he had just moved to Austin, started training for the San Antonio half and wants to do a 1:16:00. He also said that he'd just run his first marathon last year and qualified for Boston with a near 3-hour qualifying time, but his strength was the shorter distances. His name is Peter Gallimore. He's a 40-year old masters runner from Boston. My guess is that we'll all be chasing him this season.

On Thursday, I pysched myself up to run tempo. About midway through the 7 mile loop, Roger waved me ahead and I finshed just under 47 minutes. Although I've run this loop 4 or 5 minutes faster in cooler days, the 47 felt fast and made me happy. On Friday, I was sore and stiff and thought about sleeping in, but hated to start August off with a big fat zero in the mileage column, so I jogged an easy 5 miles. This turned out to be a good idea, because Saturday I was loose and felt much better. I ran with a bunch of Gazelles that I didn't really know, along with Roger and Peter Gallimore. Peter wanted to do 12 and I was hoping for 20. The pace was a bit fast. I think we were showing off. Peter was hardly breathing. I did log 20, probably at a pace just south of 7:30. Afterwards, I took a three-bag ice bath. I'd read in Runner's World that some really good runner (can't remember who) dumped the ice in first, sat gingerly down and then filled the tub with water. I tried this. It was pure torture. Not recommended.

Sunday, I'd planned on doing 15, but took way too long to drag my tired bones up and out the door. By the time I started running at 6:45, the car thermometer read a sizzling 83 degrees. So, 11 miles was all I could muster. Even that was in question for much of the way. I did run into old pal Rob Mroski on the trail. He and I trained together seven or eight years ago. I've always felt that Rob pushed me in the days when I really needed a push.

Next week, I'm hoping to top 70 again, but am starting to get concerned about my inability to actually follow through with the planned workouts. August is really important ...especially in stringing together long runs. Maybe 20/20 next weekend?

Congratulations to Black Shorts member Greg Thomas - 18th out of 6,700 in the San Francisco Half today.

Week 11 (56.7) - Time to hunker down

I'm not real happy with the month of July, and I can't blame it on travels or work. Not really. Monday night when we got back to Austin, I threw on my Nike Skylons for a neighborhood 5-miler, but only made it 5 steps. The San Francisco hills had hammered my quads bad, so I turned around and walked back up the driveway. Tuesday, I figured on running an easy 8, but Roger caught me early on the trail and we ended up doing 9.5 miles with 6.7 of the miles at a brisk 6:37 pace. Big positive surprise. It was good to open up a bit since most of what I've been doing during this Tahoe training has been around 7:30 to 7:45. Wednesday, I woke up in downtown Los Angeles. I usually don't run on business trips. Too complicated. I'd rather watch TV and order room service. But I got up early and went off to explore. This is another city that's not particularly runner-friendly. I ran down the sidewalks on Alameda Blvd, caught every red-light, and eventually found a small, dusty park with a one-mile run/walk loop that at least got me out of traffic. I ran for 50 minutes; not sure about the miles. Maybe 6 or 7.

Thursday was an honest 9.2 miles from Zilker. Friday, Leticia and I had planned on going to a film festival in Woods Hole MA, but as I was driving over to pick her up at 5:15 a.m., I realized that I was sick of flying, and after some brief discussion on the way to the airport, we decided to pull the plug and stay in Austin. So, I had a full day to run, but didn't.

Saturday was hot and humid and horrible, and I realized again that I hate training during the summer, that I'm a fall runner, and wondered what in the hell I was thinking when I signed up for the triple; I'll never be ready ...and this isn't fun. Enough whining. Mike's injured, but Roger and I run seven or so and then meet Greg at "the Rock" for another 11.5. I tried out a new workout drink that I found at RunTex. Can't remember the name. The grape flavor tasted good, but didn't give me a noticeable boost. Still, I count this as a successful fueling exercise since it absorbed quickly. The run itself felt so slow that I only took credit for 18. My heart was beating too fast. Afterwards, I felt light-headed and wobbly. I probably didn't eat enough carbs on Friday.

Sunday, I'd hoped to run 18 again, but stopped at 14. Could have gone further, but my dang heart was beating too quick again. Or at least, it felt that way. ...So, I ended up just short of 57 miles for the week. I know this isn't enough, although July's total miles will be a high for me. The plan for next week is to top 70 and get some confidence back. I don't expect this to be a problem if I can get seven runs in. I've bought three pairs of shoes in the past three weeks, so I'm well stocked for the Journey.

Week 10 (44.6) - San Fran Hills

It wasn't a great week for running ...and this probably won't be much of a post. I overslept on Thursday and stood up Roger on a planned tempo. It's been insanely busy at work, but Leticia and I had planned to take the girls on vacation for a while and finally managed to get our act together enough to book a trip. There really wasn't any chance of running on Friday as we woke in Oakland after a late night of traveling and had to catch a taxi to San Francisco ...college visits and a full day, which turned out to be too full for two 15-year olds who got tired of non-stop walking. On Saturday, I woke up sore from a sleeper sofa with a thin matress and an iron bar in the middle, put on my new $41 Wave Runner 10's that I found online and headed up California Street toward Golden Gate Park. For anyone who hasn't been to San Francisco, it's extremely hilly ...although you can avoid some of them if you know the right streets to take ...which I didn't. I didn't have water or gel, so I managed 35 minutes out and 33 back and never made it to the park. Since I didn't have a Garmin, the best I could do was guess on mileage and since the hills were severely steep, I guessed the overall pace at just under 9:00, so maybe 7.5 miles total. I only saw two other runners. Obviously, none of the locals run California Street.

Sunday, I got up at 5:45 and was running by 6:00. No coffee. No sports page. It was foggy and the city was pretty much asleep. I had a 20 oz 7-11 brand lake-green Gatorade in my hand and the temps were in the low 50's. Slight coffee headache. I'd taken a better look at the map the night before and got to the edge of the park in just over 30 minutes. The International AIDS walk was starting at 8:00 and the park was packed. I ran around every spot that looked interesting and eventually got confused about where I was in the park, but caught a break and popped out without actually having to admit to myself I'd been lost at all. By the time I got back to the hotel, I was 45 seconds short of two hours ...so I ran around the block once. I guessed this run to be a tad faster than Saturday, but not much. Maybe an 8:45 pace and 13.5 miles. I'm trying to decide if I should credit myself with more miles since it was hill work. At any rate, I finished the week with only 44+ miles, which kinda sucks because when I tried to run Monday night, I was too sore and had to turn around after about 5 steps.

Hopefully, I'll get a decent run in Tuesday morning because I'll be in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, and I'm not sure about the neighborhood. The new week will be a light one as well. I'm sure it's fine and maybe even a good thing from a recovery standpoint to have a couple of low mile weeks ...but it won't help my confidence one bit. I don't like business travel. It's a pain, but I do get to catch up on my reading. At the moment, I'm in the middle of "The Long Emergency" and it's scaring me to death.

Week 9 (65) - Distractions a plenty

Anyone who's been following the financial markets this past week knows that the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac news has been a huge distraction to all of us portfolio managers trying ramp up their marathon training miles. I'd figured that this week was as good a time as any to experiment a bit with 2-a-days, but didn't actually leave work most days until well after 6, which may sound plenty early, but I get in to work at about 7:30 or 8:00, and have to travel a fair amount ...and I was bushed. Plus, the market was painful - we were all grappling with the notion of complete financial system meltdown and clients were hugely worried. I'm not. I did make it to the gym twice during the early part of the week, which was total bonus. Tuesday's are American History Movie night, where Amanda and Leticia's daughter Sydney eat American food and rent movies that have something to do with American history. Tuesday's feature was "the Great Escape". It gave me a spark of adrenaline.


If you haven't already seen this video, watch it. I know I sent it out to a bunch of people already. And no doubt, it's been making the rounds, but man-oh-man, it's so life-affirming. To me, it says - everything is going to be okay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY It reminds me of those Chex Mix commercials, where everybody's dancing because Chex Mix has 60% less fat and tastes really good - Chex would make me dance too. Tonight, when I do my Sunday night HEB run, I'm buying some.


Running - I was up too late on Tuesday night to run on Wednesday morning. I tried to get up, but hit the snooze button about 10 times. I toyed around with doing some intervals on Thursday, but Roger suggested a LBL loop ...and that was good enough for me. I'm curious as to whether all my speed is gone. It's been months (Chuy's 5k) since I did anything uptempo. Maybe next week, I'll do some 800's. If anything up to this point, it's been a consistent run plan, all slow. Despite Wednesday's snooze, I did get in four respectable days during the week, with a fairly brisk 9 on Friday.


Saturday, I ran with the "Black Shorts Running Club" and yet again, Roger's plan put us right smack in the middle of both the Gazelles and the Rogues. We were all heading for Mt Bonnell. For a change, I was well stocked with fuel - 2 gels and a Gatorade bottle filled with Endurox. The morning weather started out terrible, but a cool breeze started somewhere along the way. I was surprised to have not worked up the usual massive sweat. In fact, it was so unusual, that it worried me a bit. I was having trouble keeping up with the Black Shorts. By the time I passed Seton on 35th, I'd pretty much lost Greg, Roger and Mike, who are running great these days. To save face, I cut down Guadalupe and weaved my way through campus. While they were in Jester drinking, I stealthfully dashed ahead and then took a left on 17th, but McNeal caught me on San Jac and herded me back. For the last three miles, I was lucky enough to run with Bruce Coleman and Larry Bright, two Performance Project guys. This gave me a little spark at the end. Since my Garmin is broken, I could only guess on the mileage - 2:20:34 - maybe ...17.6 or so. Probably more, but I hate to cheat. Not bad in either case.


Sunday, I got up about six times and finally made it to Barton at 7:30. There wasn't a soul around, which was fortunate since I felt like crap. I brought along some gel and a small grape Gatorade ...and $3 since I wasn't about to finish in time for a free soak. It took a while to get going. Lots of aches. I had my MP3 to keep me company, but am getting tired of the same 18 songs. Mental note - load some different tunes. The pace was a bit quicker than Saturday. I did the 10.1 mile Longhorn loop, added the 2.9 mile mini loop and a few loops around Zilker for good measure. In my mind, I ran Tahoe. I've run it dozens of times already. In my mind, I never make pacing mistakes. I always finish strong. This morning, I won.

I have 10 weeks to go. The rest of July will be a challenge. Lots of traveling. I'm not very good at running on the road, but hopefully, I'll be able to get my act together for once.

Happy Birthday to Mike McNeal, who keeps getting faster and faster every year.

Week 8 (62.6) - The first mini trip

I dug up some old mileage logs to get some perspective on my training - during the serious training years, from 2000 to 2005, I logged a total of 8 months above 200 miles ...with a high of 228. I only counted three long runs of 20 miles or more in 2003 when I ran a marathon PR. The quality workouts were very fast, but not long. I got pushed continually by Floyd Watson and Mike Woo and I chased Richard Mendez on race day. Most summers, I ran less than 100 miles per month. So, it's all uncharted waters here. I'm really intrigued by the massive miles that the Rogue Performance Project is doing, but am not sure it'd work for me. Still, I'm watching the experiment closely. Good luck Geezer, Bruce, Mike and Ken.

I took Monday and Tuesday off again, although Tuesday's break was unintentional as I had an early flight to Dallas and a late night. On Wednesday, I noticed a weird pattern emerging - I felt really crummy after the two-day rest, and struggled through the familiar Town Lake seven mile loop. No more two day rests if I can help it. Thursday's 7.8 mile run is identical to Wednesday's except that I feel less stiff and less sore. ...hmmm. But both days are filler since this week is all about the "mini-triple".

Thursday after work, I went to Kneads for a massage from Rachel, who's excellent by the way. On Friday, I ate a Tangerine gel for breakfast and brought two with me. The weather was cool despite the fact that I overslept and didn't get to Barton until almost 7:00. I really didn't have much of a plan except to run at least 13. I did 14. ...total struggle. I'm bored and know that I've got two more long runs to go this weekend. So my knees hurt. But my ankles seem to be getting better. After a rare paid dip in the springs, I picked up a couple bags of ice for a chilly bath, drank two slim-fasts, ate some Bear Naked grains and a powerbar. I feel like I'm doing a bit better with my eating. Not great. Long nap.

Saturday, Roger had a 18-mile route in mind for Mike, Greg and the Black Shorts Running Club. David Weaver joined us for the first six miles and pushed the pace to what felt like 7:15. As much as I love running with David, I was glad to slow down when he headed back to the Rock. We ended up doing 19 at a 7:30'ish pace. It wasn't easy. Roger saved me at the cleaners by sharing his last Gu, which was plain, a flavor that I'd always imagined tasted like Vaseline, but it was really more like marshmallow. I finished well behind Mike and Greg, but it was very encouraging. After a soak in Barton, a three-bag ice bath, consuming a variety of food and beverages and downing a couple of Advil, I took a two hour nap.

Sunday I didn't know what to expect from my body, but oddly enough, I wasn't sore at all. I'd planned on putting on headphones and doing the 10-mile loop plus four, but ran into Paul and Cindy Salazar, James Allen, Jennifer Stewart, Danny Spoonts and a few other familiar faces and ended up running my 14 with them for a three-day total of 47. During the run, Paul told me that he'd run a trans-Rocky ultra last summer and that although he was really stiff and sore at the start of his day two, he was able to run through it. I love hearing this kind of talk. But honestly, I'm not worried about not being able to run the entire distance unless I screw up and run way too fast on day one ...which could definitely happen.

Week 7 (63.7) - No shoes in Barton!

I took Monday morning off and tried to sleep in, but it didn't work. My internal alarm clock went off at 5:15 anyway. I did make it to the gym that night, and did some leg work. On Tuesday, after running 9+ miles, I eased into Barton to soak for 10 minutes and some guy with a big belly and a tiny speedo hollered "Oh my God!! You didn't just get into the water with your socks on!" While I was defending myself, an older, gray-haired Asian woman swam over and said "I wish you runners would shower before you got in the water. It's disgusting!" Rogues Bruce and Larry were standing around, so I was hoping that the shower comment was aimed at all of us and not just me.

Here's my thoughts on sweat in Barton - it's 99% water with trace amounts of electrolytes, mostly sodium. On the other hand, sometimes high levels of fecal coliform force the pool to close. Thankfully, both the e-coli and trace electrolytes are whisked away as up to 31 million gallons flow through the springs everyday. As I was getting out to shower and get dressed for work, the lady (who obviously had excellent eyesight) hollered from 50 feet away - "Oh no!!! Tell me you didn't just wear your shoes in the pool!!!" She attracted quite a bit of attention with this one, so I ducked my head and crept out, past speedo man and other people that I'm too embarrassed to look in the eye.

That afternoon I sent an e-mail to the Barton Springs Aquatics, who said that shoes were permitted, just not on the diving board. No comment on sweat. I did make the decision to shower before I get into the pool and to take off my shoes. But my wish list for other morning swimmers is for the speedo guy to cover himself up, and the lady to wear a swim cap. On Wednesday, I ran 8, showered and walked down to the pool in my flip-flops. The speedo guy had won. And he was there, so I gave him a really dirty look, but then I got to thinking that maybe his job sucked, or he had a kid who was having problems in school or he had a sick parent or something, so I let him off the hook.

On Thursday, I ran 8+ with Roger. Speedo guy and crazy lady were both there, and crazy lady looked mad again, so we jumped in (without shoes) then quickly jumped out and left. On Friday, crazy lady was having the disgusting shoes conversation with another poor guy, telling him that she's contacted the City Council, and he looks totally mortified, so I jump into the conversation and tell her about what Aquatics had said earlier, and that sweat is 99% water and that I think she should put her hair in a swim cap. She looks at me like I'm insane.

Saturday, Roger, Mike and I run 20+. It's hot and I'm very sore - ankles and knees mostly. I finish a couple minutes back of them. I think my body knows it has to run on Sunday, so it's saving some energy. I thought I'd be ready this time. I had pizza for lunch, ate oatmeal at midnight and had a gel in the morning. After an ice bath, I felt back to normal. On Sunday, Leticia rode with me. Her bike was all tuned up ...and had a set of new tires. But at the seven mile point, the whole gear assembly fell off. I ran ahead, retreived her car and drove back to the 7-11 on Riverside to pick her up. So, instead of running 15, I ended up with 10 or so, but that's probably fine since I'm hoping to run 13+ miles each day Friday through Sunday next week.

I've got 249.3 miles for the month. I'll have to do at least a mile tomorrow.

Week 6 (60.5) - Running on empty

It was a weird week. I flew into Ft Lauderdale for a conference Sunday night. Although I spend lots of time in Miami, I didn't think I'd been to Lauderdale. I'd brought running gear, and planned on getting in some beach miles either Monday or Tuesday (2? 10? 20?), but when the taxi got close to the Hotel, I realized that I'd been to this exact spot in January, and the beach sand is way too thick to run in. So that sucked. But it didn't matter Sunday night because I had to dash off to dinner at a fancy place called "the Capitol Grill". The problem with client dinners is that everyone seems to get offended when you order fish and salad ...and get really twisted up when you don't eat dessert. I usually hear about how thin I am and that I shouldn't have to worry. So, when the waiter brought out a huge dessert assortment, and everybody gave me the eye, I took one for the team and had palmagranite cheese cake, flourless dark chocolate cake and some Italian cream cake. And felt miserable. It got worse from here. My stomach must have gotten stretched out, so I ate too much at the breakfast buffet and dinner was another big event with appetizers and drinks and steak and huge deserts. And then my company hosted a breakfast with lots of Applewood bacon, which I hear is pretty healthy as far as bacon is concerned.

I didn't have time to run on Monday, which was okay since I'm a big rest advocate, but on the other hand, there wouldn't be any time to run on Tuesday. I got home late and slept late, and work was a bitch and I was completely swamped and my back started to hurt from the stress. I ran 7 on Wednesday afternoon in 100+ temps and everything kinda hurt, which doesn't seem quite fair since I hadn't run since Sunday. Thursday morning, I was super-tired but made it to Zilker at 6:15, and ran too fast, mainly because when I got to the trail, four runners flew across the footbridge which caused me to reverse direction and chase them down. Very stupid. But that's that happens when the mood strikes. No sense in fighting it. So it was 8 miles with a shot of much needed adrenaline. Friday I did 9, but was really stiff and felt the hard miles from the day before.

On Saturday, I decided to run with whoever was around at 5:30 at Rogue EQ. It turned out to be Geezer Colins, Mike Wilen and Ken Fries. We ran 4 on the trail and joined a bigger group, which included Bruce Coleman and Larry Bright for another 16.5? 17? I forgot to bring gu or gel and since I don't eat breakfast before runs, I was pretty much shot by mile 20. The appeal to the Rogue morning, besides seeing old friends and having a supported run, was that a sports nutritionist spoke afterwards. I know I don't eat well, but need to be reminded every once in a while. The most important thing I took away was that I've got to find a way to better fuel during the longer runs. I also need to eat more complex carbs/less hamburgers and buy some Endurox R4 for post runs.

After a record 4-bag ice bath and a long nap, I found orange-flavored Endurox at GNC, a dozen tangerine gels at HEB and a bunch of whole wheat noodles, which I plan on making into a big pasta salad to snack on next week. I had no plan for Sunday, hit snooze again and again until it was 7:00 a.m., drank some coffee, grabbed three gels, drove to Zilker, ran 7 miles, ate a gel (with lots of water) and ran another couple of miles before having another gel ...and then ran 7 more for 16+ total and 60+ for the week. Very encouraging - 7:25 pace. After reading Wilen and Geezer's blogs, I realized I'm on the low end of the mileage scale, but the miles I am doing are huge for me. I'll probably end up with something like 250 for June. That'll be a record month. And I feel really good. In fact, I'm thinking about running 5 tonight ...just to see if I can.

Week 5 (61.8) - This one hurt

My mind has taken leave this week. On Tuesday morning, I forgot to bring work clothes with me to change into after the Barton dip. I have a ton on unused vacation time, so coming in to the office at 9:30 isn't a big deal, except that I hired a new guy this week, and I hate to set a bad example. On Wednesday, I brought two different dress shoes. This isn't quite as stupid as it sounds as they are both standard black business man shoes. You'd have to look close to see a difference. On Friday, I realized that I'd run out of towels and had to dry off with a couple of t-shirts. I'm usually pretty good at getting ready the night before. Not this week. Other than the preparation issues, I had no problem getting up and out four of five weekdays.

Saturday, Mike, Roger and I ran a terribly tough 17.5 Scenic/Hancock/Campus loop. It really hurt me. In retrospect, the salad I had on Friday night was my downfall. I just ran out of fuel. I don't ever eat breakfast and had just one Gel. Since I'd planned on doing two long runs over the weekend, the recovery day was critical. The first step was a ice bath -30 pounds of ice - my teeth were chattering. Then, a two-hour nap. I usually sleep about six hours a night, which doesn't seem to be nearly enough when training big. And lots of food. Leticia and I ate pizza Saturday night. Then on Sunday, she volunteered to ride along with me as I tried to do 14. Her chain kept slipping off as we rode up and down Rollingwood Hills. I made it 11.5 miles before stopping, then finished the last stretch at a crawl. Still, almost 62 miles for the week and back-to-back long runs totally 31.5. Another ice bath on Sunday and another long nap before flying to Fort Lauderdale for a conference. I don't intend to run, but packed shoes and shorts anyway.

Week 4 (58.5) - Hot miles and purple hair

Amanda's hair is now purple, but it's not a particularly shocking color. In fact, it's starting to look fairly natural to me. I'm pretty much forgetting about it ...until we run into someone who hasn't seen it yet and they stumble and fumble for something to say, while I try and decide for the thousandth time if I'm a good parent. I meant to take a picture so I could post it. Maybe next time.

I've gone to the gym three times now and have picked out half a dozen leg-oriented machines to use. I'm probably lifting more than I should just so I don't seem too wimpy, but I'm at least making it a point to stay consistent with the amount that I hoist ...which really isn't much.

I'm way ahead of the run schedule ...and should know better than to add miles this quickly, especially with the nagging ankle thing still bothering me. But, I'm already having doubts as to whether four months is enough time build the kind of base I need. I took Monday off, but still managed to total nearly 58 miles. And as I sit here on the couch, I'm trying to decide if it would do me more good than harm to run another five tonight. Then, maybe I could sleep in tomorrow morning.

The heat and humidity is incredible. All of my runs now start at Barton and end at the Springs. Tuesday through Friday were all variations of the 7 mile trail loop at something approaching a 7:15 to 7:30 pace. On Saturday, we got started at 6:15. I suggested that we run the Campus/Mt Bonn loop in reverse which allowed Mike, Greg and Roger to blame me for every hill we came across. I thought the change was good and will probably do it again as one of my second long runs on Sunday. I felt sluggish for most of the run, but took a tangerine GU at the 10 mile mark and perked up enough to race Mike the last two miles at a silly 6:20 pace.

Amanda has been sleeping until noon, giving me time to nap on Saturdays. On the weekday's that I have her, she gets up at 5:30 a.m. It's sounds cruel, but she springs right up and gets in the car. I'm not sure if I could train with any consistency if she wasn't so willing to do this.

Sunday was another test. After 15+ on Saturday, I took a three ice bag bath which pretty much did away with muscle and joint pain entirely by Sunday. I was happy that my iPod worked, but it was drained with 40 minutes of running around the neighborhood. Still, I got in 10.6 miles and felt like if it wasn't 85 degrees by 10:00, I could have tacked on another 3 or so. I quickly drank two 20 oz gatorades and soaked in a tub of cool water for 15 minutes and feel good, albeit completely drained now.

I plan on running eight tomorrow. That'll be 66 in 7 days. Too much for my body, but good for confidence. Next weekend, I need to try and get in 30 in consecutive days. A+ work for me in the Vitamin and Glucosmine consumption dept.

Week 3 - Gaining momentum

I'm thinking that I must be a once-a-week poster, which probably isn't a bad thing since I have tons of other things I should be doing. So, for the week, I covered 51 miles; no intervals, no tempo, just miles. In a sense, it's like taking a break; moving my feet forward; building a base; might not do any intervals in June at all. Depends.

On Tuesday at HEB, my 16-year old daughter Amanda told me that her mother didn't like the new hair color she'd picked out. When I asked her what color it was, she pulled a purple shampoo bottle off the shelf. It still took me a minute or so to comprehend that purple was the color of choice for the summer. We talked about how her mother was probably concerned about how other people would judge Amanda, who countered by saying that she thought her mother was more concerned about how people would judge her. Although this was a good point, I was also wondering how I'd be judged. Would I be a better parent to say no? And what would happen if I did?

I planned on taking Wednesday morning off, but changed my mind. I needed a run.

Every run during the week started at the Barton parking lot and ended in the springs with a soak. My ankle(s) still hurt but not as much. I still can't figure this out. On Thursday, I used all the ice in the freezer for an ankle bath.

On Saturday, Roger, Greg, Mike and I decided to start at 6:45 instead of 7:00. This'll work its way back to 6:00 in no time. The plan was for 14 up toward Mt Bonnell, and although we weren't sure what turn to make from mile to mile, my Garmin read 14.1 when we ended at Barton. Afterwards, I went to Fit Sports(?), Fit City(?) for the ARC meeting where their plan was to announce the Sprint Series winners. I won the Master's division, edged out always-strong Scott Birk, but not too many of us guys actually ran the series, so I felt like an imposter. Plus, Mike Budde was the overall winner and he's 41, so I didn't really win Master's anyway. Plus, super-Master Keith Dowland was there eating tacos, as if to say I could have kicked everyone's ass if I wanted to. I've never gone to the Distance Challange year end wrap up and seldom stay for post race awards, but figured it was convenient and there was free food, but it took a long time to get started and I had a lawn to mow, so I was really anxious by the time they finally announced the winners and didn't get home until after 11:00. No time for my post long run nap. I hate it when this happens.

On track. Very motivated. I've already abandoned the schedule; not a schedule person at all, but fully expect to end June with 60+ mile weeks. And that would be about double a normal June for me.

Week one in the can

Last Sunday, I met my bud David Weaver at the Rock for a 9.5 run to Mt Bonnell. Weaver used to run for the Univ of Kansas 20+ years ago and seems to be in great shape always, regardless of whether he's actually training. Apparently, it takes me exactly 7 days to get out of shape, because this run hurt. Afterwards, I stopped at the Shell station for a 20 lb bag of ice; no doubt the first bag of many this summer.

Monday morning, I got to Barton at 7:00 thinking that I'd miss the Firecracker bunch - I was oddly sore from Sunday, especially in my ankles, and didn't really want company. As it turned out, Fletcher was a late starter as well, so he and I ran 7.5 fairly easy and taked about how old we are.

On Wednesday, Greg Thomas conned me into doing the Sunstroke 5k on the Townlake trail. It started at 7:00 that night; very warm but not too humid. Lots of familiar faces - Leslie, Nancy Dasso, Kirsten. I told Greg I'd pace him at around 19:30, but he flew past me and finished in 18:59. My 19:18 nearly killed me. On Thursday, I braved the 99 degree heat in the afternoon and limped around the trail to rack up another 7.4 miles before dashing home to soak my ankle in ice. In the bathroom cabinet I found a big box of vitamin packets and decided that I need to add take vitamins to the list of Tahoe preparations. I grabbed a can of soup for lunch the next day and found two more big boxes of vitamins in the kitchen. When I got to work on Friday, I tossed the soup can in my desk drawer right beside two more boxes of vitamins. The auto-ship with Purity Products was clearly a bad idea, but I'm determined to work my way through the pile.

On Saturday morning, I ran with Greg. Mike McNeil and Roger Isern. They've planned 14 and I'm thinking bad idea, but it turns out okay. Slow but okay. Afterwards, I drank a chocolate Slimfast and took a 20 minute ice bath ...and then a long nap. The vibrating cell phone woke me up. I made the dual mistake of leaving the cold water in the tub and the phone beside the tub, so the phone vibrated its way into the tub and sat at the bottom while I figured out whether I'd get a big shock if I reached down to get it.

Sunday, I pumped up the tires on my 20-year old Rock-hopper mountain bike, planning to ride up and down a big hill in my neighborhood listening to my MP3 player, but got curious about how my body felt after the 14.6 miles the day before ...and the next thing I knew I was running down Southwest Parkway adding another 5.3 to the weekly total and figuring that I'd take Monday off.

But Monday, I met Mike and Roger at Zilker for another 11. Probably another bad idea, but after a soak in Barton, I felt better than I'd felt in ages. In fact, I joined 24-hour fitness that night (free one-year membership) and lifted some leg weights, even though I have no idea what I'm doing.

Good start.

The Plan

I've been running competitively since August 1997. By competitively, I mean caring about my race time, buying shoes designed for running and actually training for a race instead of huffing and puffing my way through the Cap10 once a year. The hardest part about running competitively for so long is staying motivated. So, this year's plan is to run the "Tahoe Triple" in September. The appeal for me here is that ...I'm not really sure I can do it. I hate long runs, hate training in the heat and have been swearing off marathons for years. So, it makes perfect sense to run three marathons in three days at 6,700 feet elevation. And since I'd never be satisfied with just finishing, my goal is to average 3:30 ...no, 3 hours and 25 minutes per 26.2 mile stretch and finish in the top 10.

I haven't run more than 120 miles in any month since January and I took 7 days off after Chuys. My highest mileage week ever was 70 miles. I've had no more than a dozen above 60. The latest nagging injury is ...both ankles. Not sure what's up; they just feel pounded.

I printed out four months worth of Outlook calender pages at lunch last week, and tried to write down a schedule that I could roughly stick to. This is what I came up with -

Every other week is a heavy mileage week. The meat of the plan is three consecutive days of long runs (Sat/Sun/Mon), starting with 30 this weekend and working up to 60 by early Sept. The remainder of the "hard weeks" will consist of two or three days of 7 or 8 mile lake loops. I might substitute intervals on Wednesday's ...for no reason other than I like intervals. The "easy weeks" will include one long run of no more than 14 miles and another four or five days of lake loops and Wednesday intervals. The flexible plan will look something like this -

Week 1 - 42 miles
Week 2 - 36 miles
Week 3 - 48 miles
Week 4 - 38 miles
Week 5 - 56 miles
Week 6 - 40 miles
Week 7 - 64 miles
Week 8 - 40 miles
Week 9 - 70 miles
Week 10 - 40 miles
Week 11 - 74 miles
Week 12 - 40 miles
Week 13 - 78 miles
Week 14 - 40 miles
Week 15 - 80 miles
Week 16 - 40 miles
Week 17 - 82 miles
Week 18 - 40 miles
Week 19 - 84 miles
Week 20 - 40 miles
Week 21 - 14 miles