My biggest unknown going into FANS is nutrition. I have been using Succeed drinks for a while but have found I prefer the flavor of Hammer Gel products. Heed’s citrus flavor in fact tastes like an orange creamsicle…quite good and refreshing without any weird aftertastes. I emailed a fellow NTTR club member about his suggested uses and he recommended not mixing Succeed and Hammer Gel but picking one and going with it. I’ll probably need to pickup some Perpetuem for such a long race, though.

My distance goal is 50 miles. It seems really easy given 24 hours but I’ve never gone farther than 50K. I’m hoping to knock out 50 miles here, then another couple 50s (Lean Horse, Rocky Raccoon?) before attempting a 100 (Umstead?). High hopes!

The morning was really foggy and chilly and though I didn’t plan to run with my fleece top, I kept it on. I am glad I did because I never got too hot. However, it was causing quite a bit of excess sweating which resulted in some chafing to my back from the waist band of my Race Ready shorts. Since it was still dark, I had my Tikka Plus headlamp on to provide some additional light. We probably didn’t need it but it did alert runners coming towards us to our presence.

The first loop went by pretty smoothly. Even on the hilly section at the northeast corner, we kept rolling. We estimated a pace of between 10:40-11:00/m. All three of us were wearing some sort of distance and timing device: Goutham had the GPS on his phone, Matt had his Garmin Forerunner, and I had my Silva Tech4O watch. Goutham and Matt were getting similar results while my watch was not calibrated correctly. I had previously set my running stride on a very smooth flat quarter-mile and my stride was obviously very different (and shorter) today. So I cut the stride length down for the second loop and had pretty good results (about .2 to .3 miles off over the 9.5 mile distance). This is within the tolerance. While not exact, it could be helpful on trail runs where I have no idea how far I’ve gone.

So we took out on our second loop and I was noticeably tight. My legs were aching as were my shoulders. I had a suspicion that a third loop would not be happening today even though the sun was finally out and the skies were blue for the first time in over a week. In fact, we were getting hot with all the layers we had on. This led to more sweating and more fluid intake than I estimated so I topped off my bottle with about 1.5 miles to go.

By this point, we were taking small walking breaks to keep our heart rate and breathing in check. On the long steady uphills, I could tell my effort was labored and my whole body was aching. I was ready to be done. I kept pushing to the end of the loop rather than dragging it on in a death march, and I am glad I did. However, this was a disappointing run so close to my next event. I was left wondering how in the heck I will manage to crank out 50 miles in less than two weeks time. Having missed Bandera and low on mileage for the past week, it will definitely be a rough ride.

I have a few questions at this point for how much I was hurting.

• Was it the asphalt? I don’t seem to hurt this much on trails. If asphalt really does this to me, I had better fasten my selt belt at FANS!
• Are my shoes wearing out? I am approaching 300 miles on my Montrail Hardrocks. I suspect they have many (100+) miles left in them, but low cushioning could explain things.
• Just not trained? I haven’t been putting in the miles lately, and I might just be paying for it.

By the 4.5 mile point, my shoulders were getting tired and that was really the only thing that bothered me throughout the run. The soreness on the top of my right foot wasn’t really noticeable and neither was the stubbed big left toe. Though once I got home, I was feeling a small twitch under my right foot in the instep. It felt like a small piece of grass was caught in my sock. I can feel it when I walk barefoot but it seems to go away when wearing shoes. Hopefully that doesn’t get any worse because I have no idea what it is.

We ended up putting in 9.2 miles at a 10:36/m pace. I’ve thought of heading out tomorrow morning for some more mileage but don’t want to press my luck. I will probably just stay in.

Truth is, I haven’t trained for distance on concrete in quite a while. I’ve had an occasional 8-mile training run, but that’s been the longest. Even at only 8 miles, my knees and muscles have been quite sore the day after the run. I should have kept that in mind.

Shortly after starting at Valley View Ln just off Hillcrest, the trail crosses under Central Expressway. This was our first taste of a lot more mud to come. Mud actually is putting it lightly. In spots, it was all out boggy and with a wrong step, the suction could take a shoe off. We were conservative because all three of us have the Bandera 50K coming up in only two weeks and did not want to fall or risk injury.

A few miles into the run, we hadn’t really seen many people. Finally we came upon a runner heading north and she told us the mud would get much worse. Worse? We thought it was already pretty nasty. No, worse. Much. She couldn’t have been more right. Some sections of the trail were completely covered over by mud, 3 or 4 inches deep in some spots. The worst areas were where the path was muddy and the sides in the grass were also wet and soft. I opted to tread lightly over the concrete path, paying close attention to the depth of the mud while the other two were smarter and took a detour way around the bad areas. Just before we hit the 7-mile marker and connected onto the White Rock Lake path, we hit the most awakening obstacle: ankle-deep water over the path. It was in an area that is sometimes a creek so there was no way around it. On we went and out we came with sopping wet socks and shoes full of ice-cold water. Not exactly as freezing cold as a mountain stream, but cold enough to open our eyes and inspire a few “ooohs”.

We connected onto the White Rock Lake path and I was still feeling pretty good. I had mostly held my ~ 11:30/m pace until this point and we kept at it. I was looking forward to a pit stop at the gas station on Garland Rd. Chocolate soy milk was on my mind. After working our way steadily south with minimal walking breaks, we reached the gas station. Soy milk was not to be found, so I opted for a bottle of Oak Farms and a square of dark chocolate. Mmm. It was good then, but weighed heavy in my stomach for a few miles since I chugged all the milk within 5 minutes. Probably not the best idea.

After walking the big hill bordering Garland Rd, we began our trip back to the north. We worked our way over to the cove on the east side and stopped for a short restroom break. My legs were yelling and my calves were tight. I left the stop in a slow walk. This was the turning point of today’s run for me. The others asked if I was OK and I suggested they go on ahead and I would catch up. They took off at first, but were too kind and started walking to allow me to catch up. From here on, I would be slowing us down with my dragging pace. Deborah suggested that we had to run all the downhills, which made sense. We would go for a good while, but my knees were encouraging me to slow the jog to a walk. My calves felt much less strained at the slower pace, too. By the time we got to the bridge to lead us across the water towards the dog park, I decided to call for a ride and cut my planned 23-mile training run to only 16 miles.

It would be 2.5 more miles before my ride answered the phone. I was in bad shape and didn’t want to continue. The others were too patient and kind and allowed me to use their phones numerous times in an attempt to find a ride. When I stopped, I’d logged 18.5 miles.

I’ve had bad training runs in the past but have usually cut them off much sooner. This time I wanted to keep going because I had good company and wanted to get the miles in before the upcoming 50K. With little to no training on hard surface, I should have been more conservative, particularly since I had an idea that my body doesn’t hold up well on concrete.

After a hot bath to clean off all the mud, I felt a lot better, but my legs are much tighter and my knees are more sore than after the Palo Duro 50K. In a way, I think I made a good choice to stop and not risk an overuse injury. But I sure wish I could have finished with them and hope that days like these go away for a while.

I can’t believe how hot is still is in October. I figured heading out earlire in the morning would be enough to escape the 90-degree temperatures. While it was only in the 80s, I was still burning up.

What struck me as so strange is how I was feeling around mile 3. I had taken 2 e-caps anticipating the hot weather and was feeling great. I was feeling better than I have on a run in a long time. My breathing was easy, my legs didn’t feel tired, and my feet were not hurting. I figured this run would be cake all the way back to the north end of the lake. Gee, how things change. By mile 5, all I was looking forward to was the cool spray stations and the drinking fountains. I also have waves of nausea coming on. In less than two miles, I went from feeling great to wishing the run was long over.

I kept pushing to the end with a few short walks, mainly on the uphill sections and where I felt really overheated. I felt I was keeping a decent pace overall and when I got back to the truck, realized I ran within seconds of my time last week. I did, however, stick to the path on the south end of the lake which added just a bit of distance but nothing major.

Even though some things went wrong, the hot spots on my feet did not seem near as bad as they have been recently. However, my new shorts did cause some irritation on my lower back where the tag is located. I had removed it just prior to the run because it chafed my skin slightly last time out and it was only aggravated this time around.

At the end of the run, all I could think about is how long the 31 miles at Palo Duro will seem.

I had time in my schedule to go for an early afternoon run so I figured I would head back to White Rock Lake to see what the activity was like during the week. As expected, there was a huge difference. I also noticed relatively more runners compared to bikers including several waves of high school running teams who conveniently liked to spread out 4 across the trail 2-3 deep. I bet the bikers behind them love that!

Endurance wise I felt ok on the run and my breathing was pretty good. My legs and feet need more training than my lungs at this point. I did pack some e-caps for this afternoon due to the heat. I took one each at roughly mile 3, mile 5 and mile 7. I am not sure if they helped or not because by the end of the run, my left hamstring was threatening to cramp up.

The hot spots I have been having on my feet are still there in a big way. With the stops at the water fountain and regular wiggling of my toes while running, the discomfort is lessened a bit, but I can tell it would bug me during a longer run. I also think I felt my little toe rubbing against my sock which could bring about blister problems during a race. I’ve got to keep paying attention to this and work out a solution.

I did notice today that I am not actually following the designated path on the south end. Heading east, there is a sign after Winfrey Point that tells bikers and pedestrians to keep right. I had been following the road for cars and will have to pick up the trail next time I am out there. I don’t think it is cutting much distance off and the overall loop is over 9 miles from what I have read.

Given the heat, I was happy with the run today. Over half way through, I was considering how I’d normally be huffing and puffing and wanting to just walk the rest of the way in. When I felt tired, I just pulled my pace back a bit and kept pushing. I also mixed in some very short walks, mainly on uphill portions of the trail, and that seemed to keep my energy at a decent level. I finished feeling like I could probably do another 9 mile loop if I had the patience and time!

It is just a guess as to when I started, but based on when I finished, I figure I ran about an hour and 35 minutes. This is slightly faster than last time but it was much hotter today.

Today was the first time I had actually run around the trail at White Rock Lake. I decided to head that way after considering other Dallas area trails from NTTR’s website. It was a very nice run and the weather was great.

I started at the dog park on the north side of the lake. While this was easy to get to from Mockingbird, people were fighting for parking spots. I made a note to myself to go a bit further east next time and avoid the crowds. There seems to be plenty of parking to had in other places.

My main impression of the trail was the number of bikers out enjoying a Sunday ride. I suppose with an asphalt trail, this was to be expected, but there were some seriously hardcore racers out there. It would be nice if some of the fastest ones would take notice that there are walkers and families with strollers that need to be yielded to, particularly on the blind corners clearly marked with “SLOW” signs!

Other than the crazy bikers, this is definitely a course I will return to. I love that there are water fountains spread out around the entire course and the path is easy to follow. Though most of the trail is flat, there are a few climbs at the far south end parallel to Garland Road and near the northeast corner of White Rock Lake Park. On the east side of the lake, there is actually a constant hill; it’s called the wind. The west side did not have near as much today but at times on the east side, it was strong enough to blow sand at my legs and leave a light sting :-) It is good to train against the wind because it stinks mentally and physically to encounter it during a race.

My body held up rather well considering this is the longest run I’ve done since The Grasslands in March. I was testing out my new Men’s LD Fitness Shorts that came in the mail on Friday. I was also experimenting with Bag Balm instead of the usual Vaseline. Both get a big thumbs up. The shorts are not restrictive and the material seems to keep the legs cool. I love the back pockets and interior key pocket. Bag Balm certainly did the trick as well and was much less icky than Vaseline. Though it does have a bit of a menthol scent, it’s something I can deal with. It seems to have left considerably left residue on the inside of the shorts compared to what Vaseline normally does.

Since work has started, I probably will have to strongly rely on my weekend runs to get my long distance in. I suppose that it should encourage me to really focus on going for a good run when I have the time.