dumb – an amazing run

OUCH! My Running Serious Injury List

I was wrapping up Week 17 of my training for the 2022 Tunnel Hill 100 and was feeling pretty good until Saturday when things took an unexpected turn. In the midst of running my Saturday 18-mile long run, it came to an abrupt halt at a little after mile five. I was in need of a bathroom break and I knew that there would be a port-o-potty at the next street crossing, just up the road to the left. I slowed to a walk and was looking for it but it wasn’t there. Was I just missing it? Did they move it? Then BAM! I walked straight into one of those metal posts in the middle of the trail that are there to keep cars from driving down the trail. All at once, I was dealing with a low blow and the feeling of falling down without having any clue what the heck was going on! I quickly put my palm down on the trail to keep myself from falling, but I was still stunned as to what was happening. Then it hit me – after many years of successfully avoiding those dumb posts on the trail, I finally collided with one.

For the record, this isn’t me, but it’s exactly what happened.

As I dealt with the pain of walking into the dumb thing, I was no longer really worried about the bathroom break. Obviously, my next reaction to this dumb move was to look around and see if anyone saw me because embarrassment would definitely make it much worse. The trail had been pretty busy and I had been running with other runners, walkers, and cyclists, but fortunately, I was pretty much by myself. There were a couple dog walkers coming but I’m not sure they saw me. Regardless, I decided to keep moving. What did all of my baseball coaches say when I was a kid? Rub some dirt on it and walk it off. I always thought that was dumb advice, but walking it off is what I chose to do. I wasn’t about to rub dirt on my now bruised groin.

As I trudged onward, next came the expletives, as that always seemed to be my response to dumb acts, and after a few minutes of that, I started to feel a little better. Not smarter, just a little less in pain. I guess the pain wouldn’t make me quit the run, and I continued on for the rest of the run.

Upon getting home I was able to see how messed up I had made myself. Pulling up my shorts revealed a huge bump on my inner left thigh. It was definitely sore and I marveled that I was actually able to keep running with that bump the rest of the way. I also had a bump and a cut on my lower left shin. I inspected my running shoe and I could see rust and paint transfer on it from striking the painted post. That had to be a serious collision to do that!

I’ll spare you a photo of the bump on my groin.

In the movie Rainman Charlie Babbit pulls Ray’s neck and Ray responds by whipping out his “serious injury list.”

Charlie:
What are you writing?… What the f*** is this? “Serious Injury List”? *Serious* injury list? Are you f***ing kidding me?

Raymond:
Number eighteen in 1988, Charlie Babbitt squeezed and pulled and hurt my neck in 1988.

Charlie:
Squeezed and pulled and hurt your neck in 1988?

I’m thinking of starting my own serious injury list. I have three entries already this year!

WausaUltra Backyard Ultra – fell on loop 5, skinned up my arm, leg and knee, causing me to quit the race
Hickory Creek Preserve/LaPorte Road Access – went off the beaten path and tripped on a tree root, scrapped up my arm and knee
Old Plank Trail – walked into a stupid post, causing bumps and scrapes to my groin.

I chose to skip the 1.5-hour run that the plan called for on Sunday and opted to do a hike with Kari instead. I’m happy to report there were no injuries on the hike. But I’m sure that I will be adding to the list sooner or later.

Kari made sure that I wouldn’t injure myself.

Continue reading “OUCH! My Running Serious Injury List”

Big Hill Bonk Race Update

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My first attempt at doing an ultramarathon distance running event will have to wait, as the race director has informed us that the officials in the town and county in which our event is being held have told him that he cannot have the event at this time. In a world that has been overrun by a virus that no one really knows enough about, caution must be exercised to avoid a fate worse than the pandemic that has already been declared.

The race director has given us a ray of hope, however, by informing us that the race isn’t canceled but rather postponed until late October. That made me feel a lot better about this dumb running event because I wasn’t really prepared for it as I would have liked. After overdoing it in the fall with an Ironman, a marathon, and a couple of local road races in a span of a month and a half, I needed to give my 56-year-old legs a break rather than continue to beat them up. I had created an ultra training plan and then kept editing it down in mileage after my persistent leg injury just wouldn’t heal. I finally got it down to what was similar to a marathon training plan, but I was still cutting runs short and running slower to make sure that I could at least get to the starting line of this dumb idea. After going up to Beloit and running three loops of the course I felt pretty good about having a good chance of at least reaching my goal of getting over 50K.

So maybe I might be better off running the race in the fall and take advantage of a full summer of training. But then I checked the calendar and see that the new race date falls on October 23, 2020, twelve days after Ironman Louisville. At first, I thought that the new race date might be too close to the Ironman for me to have enough time to recover, but I think I might be alright. My current plan is to now train for the Ironman for the next 30 weeks since I have made it my “A” race, and then take the days leading up to the ultramarathon event very easy or off and show up being adequately prepared. One thing I have learned about Ironman training is that it will get me ready for anything.

See you in October for the Big Hill Bonk – Last Runner Standing!

Big Hill Bonk Course Preview Run

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BIG HILL BONK – LAST RUNNER STANDING TRAINING REPORT UPDATE

In 2013 I learned the value of knowing what I was getting into when it comes to a race that I had signed up for. I had joined my lifelong buddies Dave and John in signing up for Ironman Wisconsin in 2013 and we were definitely newbies to the sport. We basically chose Madison for our first Ironman because it was the closest to us. But we also had heard that the bike course was one of the toughest on the Ironman circuit. So we went up to Madison to ride the course and see what it was about. What it was about for me was a demoralizing, soul-crushing experience. I had the pleasure of getting three flat tires and a broken spoke and the humiliation of watching Dave and John ride the course easily while I struggled. It almost broke me. I really thought that I might not be able to get through the ride come race day. But fortunately, it was early in the training and as I got fitter and became a better rider the course didn’t seem so tough when I rode it again in practice a month or so later. On race day, I knew the course well. I rode it confidently and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

When the opportunity for an informal course preview for the Big Hill Bonk Last Runner Standing came up, I clicked on the “GOING” button and made plans to go see what it was about. I had looked at the race location on Google Maps many times. I had looked at the photos that had been posted there as well as the photos that are on the Ultra Signup page for the event, but I got the feeling that they weren’t telling the whole story of this course. So my local running friend Jodi, who is also doing this dumb running event, and I jumped in my car and headed to Beloit, Wisconsin to run about four loops of the course.

When we arrived we were pleased to see that others had also decided to check out the course and we were greeted by the race director Tyler, who greeted me by saying had read my previous blog (My First Ultramarathon?) and loved it. Tyler answered our questions and then led us for our first loop and look at the course.

o1CRXGFYRHOAKpLOfizZQw — Can’t miss this sign, nor the apropos name of the park.

The run start and finish are located at the Welty Environmental Center. The group of about 18 runners took time for a quick photo and then we were off.

Tyler led us down the road a little bit until we came to a small opening in the fence line. This led to a little grassy path that was about 0.5 miles in length and wasn’t all that remarkable.

TbAw5Qu4RDSGm86HtY4biQ — Leaving the road and heading onto the grass.

EL%tLvqQSVaMxbtYdanJ2w — The grassy path led to a paved bike route that we weren’t on for too long. We were encountering some slick snowy and icy spots and were glad to have worn trail shoes. Hopefully, the snow will be gone on race day.

hGQlAEFyTZGGyCJl9zIu5A — The paved bike path ended quickly and we were led to a trail that quickly became steep and tough to run up due to the icy conditions. Those with more experience than what I have walked this hill and I followed suit.

itvONBg7QyifKt0lfoCkpg — The hill eventually leveled off and led to an opening in the woods where there is a nearby toilet about 1.5 miles from the start. We get to run on paved roads again until we hop onto a trail that will take us quite a bit down in elevation. Jodi seemed to be enjoying this run a little too much.

UjurrHBpTmGvlo4OB7d2Yw — This picture and the others I took of the hill do not do it justice. It was a pretty steep grade at points, and icy too. We tried to stay far right because we were afraid of slipping and getting thrown down the hill. I’m guessing this is the hill in the name Big Hill Park.

Image 3-8-20 at 5.09 PM.JPG — The layout of the course, including a few missed turns and a detour to use the toilet. Lots of slow mile splits thanks to walking the icy hills and slowing for the snowy and muddy parts.

The rest of the route included more paved, grassy and muddy trails that were mostly flat and not as challenging as the giant hill we had just walked up. We finished the first loop in about 48 minutes, which is was much slower than what I was anticipating. We did two more loops for practice and by then we had learned enough to be satisfied that we were familiar enough with the course and what we were going to be facing.

So what were the main lessons learned? Here are the key points for me:

The hills will need to be respected and I will definitely power walk up them. No sense in burning energy that I can save for later and walking will be much less taxing on my quads. There’s about 350 feet of elevation gain per loop. That will take a toll after a while.
Our time per loop of about 50 minutes or so was influenced by the icy conditions on a lot of the trail. I would guess an ice-free course will take me about 5 minutes less per loop.
The distance from the runner rest area to the start/finish is not far enough to worry about it. If the weather is bad though, I was planning to stay in my car in between loops, which is a little farther away. I’ll have to make a game-day decision on where to relax between loops if it is really bad out.
TRAIL SHOES ARE A MUST! I have been breaking in a new pair of Hoka One One Challenger ATR’s trail shoes to use if I needed them and this preview proved that I will definitely need them. One thing I learned about the shoes though was that even though they were fairly new and just broken in, they kind of felt worn out by the time I finished the third loop. My foot seemed to move around more in them as I navigated the terrain. I may have to tighten the shoestrings a little and hope that I don’t get ten blackened toenails by the end of my tour of this dumb running event.
Although there were some logs to jump over and some gnarly tree roots and other loose impediments to concern myself with, they weren’t overly technical. However, running over these things in the dark maybe be quite the challenge. I will definitely be relying on my headlamps and I may even carry a small flashlight to use on the steep downhills.
I will need to bring extra running gear. We started the day with a very chilly temperature of about 25 degrees or so and I was sweating pretty good. We did notice that when we were in the woods it felt warmer than the open areas.
I felt pretty good after each of the three loops I ran. They weren’t overly taxing on my legs, and I think I will easily manage 5 to 8 loops. After that, I have no idea. I will be very proud of whatever distance I can accomplish for this course. It was much tougher than the flat paved trail that I normally run.

So there you have it, I got a run in on a course that I knew nothing about, got a few questions answered by the awesome race director Tyler, and learned enough about the course to be pretty confident come race day. Looks like this dumb running event might turn out to be pretty fun.

The Dumb Running Event – Training Update

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BIG HILL BONK – LAST RUNNER STANDING TRAINING REPORT

I’ve been pretty quiet about my training for this dumb running event so I thought I would write a quick update on how everything is going.

To recap, the dumb running event I signed up for is called “The Big Hill Bonk – Last Runner Standing” and consists of 100 runners lining up at 5:30 pm on a Friday night in early April in Beloit, Wisconsin to run 4.16-mile loops, one hour at a time until everyone quits except one last runner. That runner will be required to run one more 4.16-mile loop and will then be declared the “winner” of this dumb running event. As a reminder, I will not be that runner. Based on the results of other Last Runner Standing format races, I’m guessing the winner will more than likely last between 150 and 200 miles. I will most certainly “bonk” way before the last runner does. So the whole challenge for me to run this dumb running event is to see if I can get to a distance that qualifies as an “ultramarathon” distance, typically 50K (about 31 miles) and run farther than I ever have run before.

When I signed up for this dumb running event in May 2019, I was training for my fourth Ironman and feeling pretty good. Then I did the Ironman, followed it up with a marathon a couple weeks later, raced an 8-mile race pretty hard and finished in the top 10, and then ran a turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day. Suddenly, after two months of pushing myself, I wasn’t feeling so good anymore. My muscles ached, my flexibility was gone, and in general, I was in need of some serious recovery time. Then the back of my leg behind the knee area started to hurt, especially after running, so I self-diagnosed myself with the worst possible running injury and decided to cool it for a while. I took some time off and worked on making my leg feel better.

I had gifted my son a muscle massage gun for Christmas and he and his running partner/girlfriend raved about it, so I thought it might help me as well. Then I remembered how much those suckers cost and wondered if there was a cheaper option. I saw a post online about someone saying they had built their own version of a massage gun out of a jigsaw and a lacrosse ball with an adapter. After looking at a few do-it-yourself videos, I figured I had nothing to lose. After finding the jigsaw on Amazon, I discovered some smarter than me entrepreneurs had already come up with a set of four massage end pieces and a couple of adapters that you could buy and not have to build your own. So for a little more than $100, I had myself a cheap, albeit LOUD, muscle massager.

Massaging away the soreness after a long run.

I had to re-edit my training plan a few times to give me some extra rest to recover from the sore leg issues, so some of the high mileage weeks that I had originally planned for were removed. The plan now more resembles a typical marathon training plan and will have to do.

Slowing down my running tempo and massaging and stretching really helped my leg feel better, so I think I will be prepared enough to at least make a good attempt at reaching my goal for this dumb running event. I’ve got about 5 weeks left to train and hopefully will see some good running weather soon. I hate running in the cold and on the treadmill.

A couple of things I have learned so far:

Although I have been feeling pretty good while running, I had been finishing the last mile or two of my long runs feeling pretty wiped out. I realized that I hadn’t been taking any nutrition with me for runs bordering 1.5 to 2 hours in length. No wonder I was feeling so wiped out at the end. I haven’t been bringing hydration with me either. Time to correct those mistakes.
My midweek training run this week called for a 10 to 12-mile run. It was cold outside and I was dreading that as well as having to run inside. But then I thought “Why not do a practice run-through of the dumb running event format on the treadmill instead of a straight 10-miler?” So that’s what I did. I ran 4.16 miles at 9:22 min/mile and finished in 39 minutes. Then I sat around on a bench with sweat dripping off of me for twenty minutes. My plan for the dumb running event was to run about this pace and give myself some rest and recovery time, but now I’m not so sure that’s a great idea. As that twenty minutes of rest ended, I hopped back on the treadmill and held the same pace again for another 4.16 miles. I quickly realized that I now smell pretty bad. I’m not sure I want to run with myself smelling like B.O. for another 4.16 miles, but I pressed on. At the end of that loop, I took a bathroom break and then changed into a clean and dry shirt and visor. I also put some deodorant on and felt much better about myself. I did one more 4.16-mile loop and added just a little extra to finish with a total of 12.5 miles. I really felt dehydrated after that workout and spent the rest of the afternoon being thirsty and trying to drink more fluids. It was a worthwhile workout, though. I learned that I will stink after one loop and that I better drink more.
I saw a post on the Facebook page for this dumb running event that mentioned a group run to get a preview of the course that we will be running on. I clicked that I would attend and look forward to getting in some practice running on that particular trail. My plan calls for a 16-mile run that day, so four loops of the course would be the plan. I’ll see what my friend Jodi has planned for that day and play it by ear. We may carpool up there. I wonder how she will feel about smelling my sweaty self in a car for a couple hours driving back home.
Ironman Louisville training is supposed to start in the second week of March, but I think that I will just let the first few weeks slide, finish my dumb running event, give myself some time to recover and then jump into the plan on whatever training week of the 30-weeks I’m supposed to be on.

So there you have it. If I find something interesting to post in the upcoming weeks I will certainly do so. Lastly, there are less than ten spots left in this dumb running event. Why not join me and sign up? It’ll be fun!