Thursday, May 28, 2009

Of Devil Dogs, San Diego 100 and things that go Boom

I love dogs however there are two in this building that need to be taken out. Perhaps shipped to a country side somewhere where they can bark all they want and bother no one. These devil dogs are two small white poodles who live on my floor and every night around this time they go for a walk. These dogs go off on people, barking like crazy and stretching their leashes. I put the blame squarely on the owners, no discipline whatsoever. I can hear them right now and they are half a block away.

Anyway I felt like I just went through a long race. Work has been erratic lately because of the economy but a couple of projects came in. One of them got me working 50 hours through the Memorial day weekend. From Friday to Monday and most of it at "race pace". By Monday morning I felt the exhaustion I usually feel at mile 80 of a 100-miler. It was the mental aspect of the job I think, all that creative thinking under stress. Haha it was good mental training for San Diego, what I kept telling myself anyway. I did get my taper workouts in though, thank God I'm on taper. Our track coach, Coach Dorette, caught up to me Saturday morning 9 miles into an 18-miler. She's like "nice pace" and I told her "It's cause I have a conference call at 11am and I'm 10 minutes behind schedule". I made it, I negative split that baby. After that was done another project came in. Smaller, not as intense but the deadline is a.s.a.p. How it goes sometimes and I'm not complaining one bit.

With only a little over a week to go I am now starting to get excited for San Diego. The RD's just emailed us final directions this week. I've been reading up on the details of the race and will start reading race reports this weekend. I've also been talking with some of my fellow entrants; Ted Nunes, Suzanna Bon, Ben Gaetos and Andy Kumeda. Andy has been a big help, he has done this race a number of times and has answered my questions about the course. Thanks Andy.

The taper is going well. I'm worried that I started it too early but I was pretty beat after Miwok. The following weekend after that race I went out for my last long run and it took me over 5 hours to cover 18-20 miles. Took a lot of mental power to keep moving on that one. I was fine again the next day but I had no distance in me. I've been tapering since that weekend. Short workouts, keeping the intensity up when I could. I don't know about other runners but when I enter the taper my body becomes sluggish, slow and the food cravings go up. I was taught it's a normal part of the process and having done it many times I'm used to it now. Eventually my body "pops back up" and I think it did that yesterday at track practice. We were off-site, at a beach, running on the sand and doing repeats on a steep hill made of sand and small logs for steps. We call it the "Sandladder" and it's pretty tough. Steep and long enough to make your quads and glutes burn. I was slow and sluggish on the beach run. I got passed by most of the group but when we hit those Sandladder repeats the legs went BOOM. They started turning over at a higher rate and loosened up considerably. Today I went for a 6-mile run after work and I came in at a time I haven't seen in a couple weeks. I wasn't working too hard in fact I had to keep reminding myself to pull back a bit on the run. Well I'm a week early but then I started the taper early too. Feels good though, now just to maintain till next Saturday. A few short but high intensity runs should do it.

Hope you all have another great weekend.

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Coach Dorette and Tracey at the start of our Baker Beach / Sandladder workout.

19 comments:

  1. tip? think lots of monosodium glutamate (MSG) =)

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  2. Andy is a great guy. I like him a lot.

    Sounds like those little dogs are giving you grief. The owners need to get them into some discipline training. Especially living in SF. Irresponsible dog owners - Hate 'em!!!

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  3. 5 weeks after Miwok 100 and then SD 100? that's great! good luck and more power!

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  4. And you never called me with questions??? Dude I owned this course! Slacker! If you flew me out there, I would have cracked my whip, but now I'll be cracking it at Howie at WS (after yelling at Dave James through his race with Bobby). It's gonna be fun!
    As for dogs - go bang on their door AFTER the owners came back and retired to sleep. Just for fun.

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  5. Rick,
    You are doing EXACTLY the right thing regarding taper timing and the "few short high intensity runs" this week. With your schedule so far, you need the extra time for your body to be in full gear for the 100. You will do great!! And don't forget to have fun....Ann S.
    PS--it was nice to meet and chat with you at the PCTR Redwood Park event...and, even though you said you don't want "thanks" for volunteering, I am going to say THANKS anyway :).

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  6. Rick, best wishes to you during your taper, and good luck to you as you prepare for San Diego next week!

    There is a lady in my building who has a pair of Chihuahuas that behave similarly to the poodles in yours. Thankfully, I don't live near her, but they always bark wildly at me when I meet them in the hallway, which seems to be frequently! Ugh...

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  7. Rod: I looked it up, had no idea msg can do that.

    Jo-Lynster: Yeah Andy is a good dude. He just sent me a message offering me the use of coolers and other items that is hard to transport by plane. How about your Boomer come over and have "a little talk" with these trouble makers.

    BR: The race before that, Mt. Diablo 50-miler, was the one that really put the hurt on me and put me on an early taper after Miwok. Thanks, should be a good day.

    Olga: I totally forgot you ran the race. Totally forgot. You know I would have called you otherwise. How about coming up with a pace chart for me. I'm actually kind of glad you won't be there to crack the whip! I've seen you crack that whip.

    Ann: Good to know, to have the plan verified by another runner. Thanks, lots of fun in these event. Shaping up to be another trail party.

    Jean: Thanks man. You know my pain, small, mean dogs.

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  8. Hey I can a post on your blog again! (I think the computer upgrade did the trick.) Sounds like you'll be ready to roll at SD!

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  9. Goal? I suggest 21.

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  10. Sarah: Awesome! I've missed you on the blog.

    Olga: You think so huh, 21 really? Seems awfully fast.

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  11. Good luck for the SD 100 :)

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  12. Gingerbreadman: Salamat. I enjoyed your blog. Great pictures of the group runs.

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  13. Lots of comments here, Rick! I say watch the movie Interview with the Vampire and watch what Louis did to the white poodles! Then you'll feel better! ha Best of luck at SD! I know you'll rock it out! I'll be running Hell's Hills so I'll be out there with ya in spirit! Peace!
    Mark

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  14. Hey Rick - Bob Gentile mentioned that I should get in touch with you. I will also be at SD 100 and wondered if you had any tips/advice to offer especially after talking with Andy?

    Thanks

    Brian Krogmann

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  15. Mark: Thanks man. Hey good luck at Hell's Hills. The completion of your 50-mile journeys is finally at hand. Then you can really rest! You still thinking about Javelina?

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  16. Brian: Yeah Bob came back from the Keys with a weekend full of stories. He had a great time crewing for you and left me specific instructions to seek you out at SD and make your acquaintance. Send me an email and I'll forward you all the info that I got from Andy: onebrownsheep@gmail.com

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  17. Hi,

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    Check this out:

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  18. It wouldn't be a Rick post without some pics of ladies at the end ;-)

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  19. I am jealous about SD. I hope you have a great race and cant wait to hear about it.

    Also just shoot the dogs. =)

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