Solid month, an issue and comments!

The month of April is nearing its end. I saw a few 30-mile weeks, and it looks like I will have over 115 miles and a few nicer longer runs. I also biked over 130 miles. I still enjoyed the runs and am focused on Grandma's 2009 success. That is all I am thinking about… I do not need a freak thing to take my goal away after 24 years of hard work.

Last week, I had an incident. I was on a couch, legs up and relaxing, when a large dog jumped up, and the person sitting beside me pushed the dog away. The heel of her hand pushed my kneecap hard and fast. If my kneecap was a hockey puck, the force would have taken it and stuck it into the sheetrock wall. It hurt bad! Even that night, I never said much to anyone, but now I am concerned. I had it looked at, and I was directed to rest, and if it hurt after two weeks, we would go for the MRI. I am nursing it along. I did make a painless 5 K Tuesday, and today, I just lifted weights. Could it be a little issue? I have a 10-mile trip in Rochester on Saturday, and I hope to do that and that whatever happens is healed. Until then, I will just take it easy for the rest of the week and pray. I just need to be careful not to jeopardize Grandma's. I also feel a slight inflammation in the left Plantar Fascia. I have been taking precautionary action by sleeping in my boot to ensure it does not get worse.

Either way, I had a great month of April. I went to help out at the Zumbro 100 mile and Chippewa 50K. This was fun. It was great to be there for Kel's first ultra finish. Steve Q had his third consecutive Ultra weekend in a row. Now he gets a week off and then a 50-mile. Mike W. was unhappy with his time, but he did it nonetheless… More than I can say for 99 percent of America. Wayne continued his streak of PRs, COOL! I car-pooled with Karen G. (who looked GREAT) and Jimmy, who finished well despite major surgery earlier in the year. I had not seen Karen since Superior. I met many others the past few weekends and had a blast.

Last night's Biggest Loser was a surprise. I had another activity, so I recorded it and watched it tonight. I was thrilled to see my hero (Tara) once again win the challenge. I wish I had her drive. A contestant inspired me for the first time since I started watching the show. Now that lying, cheating, and a poor excuse for a man, Ron, does rain on my parade, it's just a shame—a real lousy shame…

I read that they will do a marathon next week. I also read that Dane lied about finishing a marathon, as stated on the show. Earlier, he had supposedly run a 3:53 marathon, but he did not. He recently vindicated the lie with a 5:47 marathon. That sounds more like it for a guy his size and shape.

Either way, I will keep plugging along, getting ready for Grandma's (51 days away), and when that is done, I will relax… Until then, carry on.

What a differance a day (or 2) makes

My last post was about my elevated heart rate. Well, I decided to take Saturday off and just did a little 25-minute, real-easy run Sunday (so I only had a 23.2-mile week but did bike 44.6 miles). This is down after two weeks of 30-plus-mile weeks.

Today, I woke with a resting heart rate down 16 beats (78 to 62) from Friday, and I ran. I ran in the rain (I loved it) and ran 20 seconds a mile faster than the week before on the same course, with an average heart rate of 132. I really enjoy the runs more often than not. That is a nice feeling after not wanting to run again last October. A little rest is all it takes. I love monitoring my heart rate!

I saw many who did a great job at Trail Mix. Steve Quick may be my Idol. He looked like hell and pulled off his first 100 a week before, and some pictures make him look like he was suffering at Trail Mix, yet he runs a time I can only dream of running. Karen Gall should get a Kudos. She has a challenging year and still finishes race after race. Wayne tended to improve his race times until this one, but this course was not the same as last year, and he ran faster than in 2007, so I argue the streak live!!!

I'm getting ready to volunteer this Saturday at Chippewa. The weather is iffy, but it will be a whole lot better than last year! I'll see many of you there, and I wish you well.

Carry on...

I am heading

Repeated post? Tara is my new Hero...

I have placed this same thought in the past on several occasions. Heart rate... I went 20 miles with Steve Q. and stayed up for 28 hours, slept for 15 minutes, and then stayed up another 7 hours Saturday. Sunday, I went for a 10-mile bike ride and rested. On Monday, rode my bike to work and home, ran at lunch, and lifted weights. On Tuesday, I rode to and from work and ran another 40 minutes at lunch, plus minor weights.  Today I rode bike to and from work and ran 4.1 miles at lunch. Each activity has a higher than normal (for me) heart rate. On today's run, I ran 20 seconds a mile slower than the exact run last week with an average heart rate of 158 compared to 134? My resting rate in the morning has not been lower than 72 all week when I had been in the high 50s 2 weeks ago.

My stress is increased a little, and I have not slept well since the Zumbro all-night activity. I am just dumbfounded. For the first time since I started regular workouts (about 8 weeks), the run was not as enjoyable as it had been in the past weeks. It seemed a little burdensome and a chore today. I was shooting for 30 miles this week but I may settle for 20 and close to 40 miles on the bike as i may just take tomorrow off? I will decide that based on the resting heart rate.

As I preached before, I feel good, but my heart rate is up. I just find my heart rate a great indicator of stress on the body and when I need to take a rest... and get a good night's sleep! I will get in early tonight and try hard to get a good 8 hours of sleep, but I will not cross my fingers.

Hope all are repairing well from Zumbo. I know it chewed those who experienced it up and spit them out, but we all lived!

I watched Biggest Loser again last night. Tara is such an animal. When she started, she was about 290 and had lost 112 pounds. I would not bet against her in a 100-mile in a few more weeks... She has the tenacity of the likes I have never seen... She is an inspiration for me on how not to quit. Will she ever tire is all I think.  Week after week, she just keeps going. Ever ready, bunny, for sure!  She has won 10 of 15 challengers, and in one, she had to pull a car with extra weight and beat the big Strong men...

Then, her friend Laura had a stress fracture in her hip. Wow, is she lucky they caught that when they did? Many criticize the show, but I find it interesting the variety of people on it. Now, only if Ron leaves will I enjoy it more. Until then, I need to rest and get my heart rate under control.

Carry on...

Zombro 100 and more

I never had a volunteer experience where I would stay with the race for over 24 hours of enjoyment. Friday, I took a vacation day to help out (and maybe pace someone) at the Zumbro 100. I left at 5 AM and picked up Zac Pierce on the way. We arrived at about 7:15 and prepared for the day. Larry, his family, and friends had the fire going as it was pretty cold.

We all prepared for the race; soon, 17 runners were off and running. It was early in the race, and after the first 5 miles, they all looked great. Then, they took off for a 14.3-mile look to the east. Many looked different after that stretch. I thought it was just that they went 20 miles. So the day wore on, and I took pictures and helped until just before midnight. I had the chance to pace Steve Quick for miles 60-80.

As I ran the course, I discovered why some looked tired after the second loop. This is a course like no other I could imagine. It had some tremendous flat areas to run, some minor hills, some major hills (I thought there was one that was harder and steeper than anything on the ST 100 trail), stream crossing, places with excellent footing, places with no footing, plenty of rocks that moved under your feet without notice, "U" shaped horse trails that had a 3-inch flat bottom before the curved upward (you had to run one foot right in front of the other) and areas where 3-4 inches of leaves covered roots and rocks. I managed to get through the loop with Steve, trying to look strong, but I was killed on this 20-mile stretch.

I stayed at the finish until half the finishers were in, and then I left. It was a hard drive home. Shelley brought me dinner, and I ate. I do not recall when I went to sleep. It was 8 AM when I woke...

I took over 200 pictures of the race. If you like challenges, put this on your calendar next year!

Of course, it's not like I have been training hard. I did have a 32.9-mile week. I feel sore from my 20 miles yesterday, but I should be fine. Next week, I plan to hit 35 miles. Just inching forward a little at a time.  Although, I have a tennis event all weekend next week, which may mean a 25-mile week would be a success. Either way, I do not hate the runs. They are enjoyable... Maybe not all the time, but afterward, they all are... Including 20 miles at Zumbro, I used many curse words as I did those 20 miles.

Carry on.

30.8!

Well, I had an enjoyable 30.8-mile running week last week. That is an 18 percent increase in miles over the past week, which concerns me a little, as I was hoping to keep my weekly increases in the 5-10 percent range. I ran Monday through Saturday and took Sunday off. My pace was a little slower than weeks before, but this was the first week and all outdoors. The hamster wheel is much faster.

Looking forward to going to Zumbro early Friday to spend a great deal of time helping out. I am more excited about testing my newly acquired digital SLR and taking hundreds of pictures for people to download later. (LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/runallday/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCPfMwOfztY_P8QE#) It will be a fun way to grasp the camera options. I also plan on pacing Steve (if he is slowed down by then) in the late hours of Friday or early hours of Saturday AM. Depends on how he is doing and where there is a need. It is funny that this turtle can pace the rabbit... But in the dark, we should be fine.

I hope all is well. As an addendum to my Vitamin D post last week, I was informed that intense exercise can also contribute to Vitamin D depletion. Training for a 100-mile run will fit the definition of intense, right?

Vitamin D

A fellow runner, Adam, asked me to send him my Vitamin D experience. He wanted to get the word out since it significantly impacted me. I sent this to him and decided to post it here as well.

In the fall of 2007, I extended my endurance longer than I had imagined. I attempted the Superior Trail 100-mile race and quit at 77 miles. From that point on, I never recovered. I took some time off, ate well, and thought I was doing everything right. I continued to train but felt fatigued. My bones hurt often. I had so much trouble sleeping.

I tried numerous things, including changing my training from running less to biking and walking more. I also tried massages and purchased a computer program to monitor my diet. Everything seemed like it should be fine, but it did not feel right.

In February 2008, I went to Kansas City to run the Psycho Wyco 50K. My chest was tight, and I had a cold the week before the race. I went anyway and quit at 20 miles. Now, besides aches and pains, an inability to sleep, and overall fatigue, I had a chest issue I just could not shake.

I continued to try to run through it, and in March, I fell and hurt my knee, and my lungs were so stressed when I ran. To make a long story short, I had steroid injections in the knee and a steroid inhaler for the lungs. (Later, I discovered that steroids are a major reason for lack of Vitamin D absorption.)

When Summer came, I started to feel better and was hopeful I could attempt the Superior 100 again. I had finished Grandma’s (over an hour slower than in 2007) and finished Afton at about the same time. So, I thought I could make the attempt. Although my weight had climbed 40 pounds as I just felt so fatigued for over a year, food was my choice to make it better. My second attempt at Superior resulted in fatigue and pains in the bones by 30 miles, so I quit.

I quit having the desire to run, bike, and walk. Depression had now set in. I just lost any enjoyment in so many things. It had been over a year, and things were not better. I decided to totally quit working out. I just needed to repair the mind, body, and soul. So, for 6 weeks, I did nothing but work and relax. I entered everything into my diet software and checked the nutritional balances, and I did not feel any different. I did lose 2 pounds, but I still felt sore, could not sleep, and was totally worn.

So, being a man who had to be at the end of the rope before seeking help, I finally called the Doctor and made an appointment in November. He did a blood test. He said everything was normal except my glucose was 104 and my Vitamin D was 11 ng/ml. The recommended Vitamin D level is 30 ng/ml to 50 ng/ml. So he put me on Vitamin D therapy, which meant I was to take 50,000 units once per week for 12 weeks. If you are doing what I did, then 50,000 units is correct.

I did not notice much difference for the first few weeks. I continued to take the calcium pills I always take with Vitamin D. After four weeks, I started feeling better. I woke feeling 60 years old, as opposed to 100… (I am 47) I began to work out. Then, in the second week of December, I felt a sharp pain in the abdomen/groin area that radiated through to the back. I went to the physician, who thought it may be a sports hernia. I was bummed as, for the first time in over a year, working out did not make me feel worse. But I thought, how can it be a sports hernia when it is the entire mid-section and the pain moved. So I took more time off.

I researched the web and found that high doses of Vitamin D and calcium result in Kidney Stones in some cases. So, I stopped taking calcium. Then, in January, I started working out. I went for a few runs and lifted some weights. What I noticed most in January (after 8 weeks of taking 50,000 Units of Vitamin D) was that I was able to sleep. I could not recall the last time I was able to sleep for a total of 5 to 6 hours without drugs.

Since I was planning a trip to Germany to visit my son, I decided to spend time doing light workouts, something structured, once I returned. So, on February 20, when I returned from Germany, I returned to the Doctor to have my blood tested. I was 43 ng/ml for the vitamin D count.

I felt better than I had in a long time. No bones hurt, I was now sleeping 6-8 hours and waking without pains, I started to run again. After a long time off and a net gain of 45 pounds since the summer of 2007, I decided to take it slow. I would do 15 miles the first week with 2-4 miles running and increase about 5-10% a week.

Since February 20, 2009, I have run 14.4 miles, 20.2 miles, 21.3 miles, 22.2 miles, and 26.1 miles in weeks. I have also biked and walked many miles and am not fatigued. I am breathing just fine and enjoying runs and many other things.

Now, I am not saying Vitamin D is the only reason… well, yes, I am. I did everything I could to resolve the issues on my own. My diet looked fine on the computer, but the computer did not know I started with a pathetically low Vitamin D count.

So now I am feeling better and running again. I have no thoughts of running the Superior 100 or any other races at this time. I am just getting outside, enjoying the runs, and whatever I decide as I go will be what I do. Of course, I do have to finish Grandma’s… it would be my 25th consecutive year!

Carry on…