Fall Ultra Season is fast approaching

I haven't posted in a while, or gone to TNT. Been busy at work and my training hasn't fit in with speedwork on Tuesdays. But I'm bummed that I missed 16x400 on Tuesday! Well, at least not the first 12. That was my favorite workout in the day....

I realized Fall Ultra season is fast approaching, so I have been focusing on ramping up my distance. 3 weeks ago, my buddy E and I ran 9 miles on NCR at 8:42 per mile. Then 2 weeks ago, we did 13 at 8:40 per mile. Last week, we didn't run together. He did 17 at 8:40, and I did 12 at 8:40. I didn't feel comfortable increasing 4 miles every week, plus it was getting extremely dark, my hammies were acting up, and it was murderously hot and humid. Shortly after I got in the car, it started raining and thundering fiercely.

Running in the dark in a full on gusty drenching thunderstorm would not have been fun.

I think only doing 12 this week was a wise choice for me. Next week, I'll do 17. I think I'll be ready to run the BRRC Gunpowder 50K on September 19th. My goal is to break 5 hours. As long as it isn't any more technical than the HAT Run, this goal is doable. There is no page for this year's race, but here is the info sheet from a couple years ago. Last year's results are here.

I could always do the Big Schloss 50K, which is Sept 26. This is a lot of fun, and has a party at the end. It is crazy-technical, like the Bel Monte, probably because both of them are in the George Washington National Forest. You can forget about goal times for this one.

And I didn't make it into the JFK 50 miler. I am going to do the Stone Cat 50 miler in Ipswich Mass instead. They say it ends at a brewery. If there is no party at the end, I am going to be sorely disappointed. I have no idea if I can keep the 9:00 mile going for 50. So my goal is to average between 9 and 10 min per mile. I think that may be reasonable. I don't recall any mountains being in Mass.

On the nutrition front, a Powerbar Long Lasting Energy Bar before running prevents me whining about not feeling swell during the runs. Today, I discovered that Kung Po Chicken with white rice consumed 5-6 hours before running has a similar benefit.

On the shoutout front, I think I saw Ryan and Barf shout out "Steve-O!" while I was running through Inner Harbor East tonight. And then I think I almost trampled Melissa after crossing the street.

And on the Shoe front, I saw a podiatrist. He told me to get Brooks Dyad shoes, since he said I have flat feet and am not a big pronator. In fact, he looked dubiously at the custom orthotics I showed him, and said that they could have seriously hurt me if I kept using them. They didn't push my feet down enough in the mold. $450 wasted.

The shoes have really helped me, my ankles feel pretty good.

Edit: I just read the post below this one, and I realized I said pretty much the same thing two weeks in a row! I gotta stop making posts after I get a couple beers in me. I forget what I wrote...