Surf the Murph recap

Yesterday I ran the 25k at Surf the Murph and had a blast on an absolutely beautiful fall day.

I got there early in order to see Wayne and Rick off on their 50 mile journey. It was a crisp 28 degrees but nary a cloud in the sky and the stars were out in force. I was a little jealous I couldn't join them but knew the 25k was the most I should and probably could do. I ran into Lisa at the start and we talked for a while and watched them take off. Rick with his finish at Surf the Murph would accomplish his goal of 1000 race miles for the year. An amazing amount of race miles. I then went to my car to relax (and get warm) since I still had 2 hours until my race.

After a half or so I went looking for some folks I thought were running the 50k. I found Lisa and talked with her a bit more and talked with Steve and Elly, they were running in their VFF's. If only I had gotten my mileage up I might have joined them in my VFF's. It was funny as the 50k got close to starting I decided to go pick up my packet. I gave them my name and said 25k, they didn't find me but then found me with the 50k group (I had registered for the 50k but when I hurt my heel I emailed requesting to drop down to the 25k). I had a brief thought that I should go grab my stuff and go for it, that it was fate but quickly decided that would be really stupid.

Soon enough I was getting ready for my race, I had like 4 pairs of shoes with me and was trying to decide which ones would cause the least pain. I ended up choosing my Montrail RockRidges as they seem to fit my feet although I was a little concerned with their stiffness as I had placed inserts in them to stiffen them up when I bought them. I debated taking them out but they had caused the least pain of my shoes so I figured I should stick with them. Then we were off, it felt great to finally be in a race again. I went out probably a bit too fast but it felt so good to be running again that I just couldn't help myself and I kept thinking I am only doing a 25k, granted a long 25k, as the loop was just short of 17 miles. The course at Murph has us running in the hilly northern section first, then we loop to the flat southern section and finish in the northern section. What the northern section has are hills, steep but not long hills, just a lot of them. As the miles unfolded I tried various ways of running down them to minimize heel pain but I never really found a good way to go down.

As we left the northern section, I was feeling good and went to the aid station to say hello to Londell and the other volunteers. I had chosen to carry my Nathan so I knew I could skip most of the aid stations. Not sure why other than I am used to wearing it and I figured it would save some time as I did hope to beat last years time. I figured I was hurt worse last year and even had hope going into the race that my heel wouldn't slow me down. I continued to run well through the next aid station which was around 8.5 miles. I again skipped the aid station and continued on my way. It was about at this point in the race that my heel pain was getting stronger. I had felt pain on every step from the start but it had started as more of an ache but had gotten a little more intense as the run had gone on. Then I tried to run the section along the road where they had mowed down high grass. It was very uneven and after a few too many sharp pains I had to walk. It was now very clear that my heel did not like uneven surfaces or downhills. After I got through that section I tried to resume running but I had lost it, my thinking looking back was that it was a combo of going out too fast, the increased pain taking it's toll over time and in insufficient training coming into the race. From this point on I just ran when I could and walked when I had hills or uneven surface. It was such a beautiful day that I just kind of soaked it in but I was ready to be done after about 10 miles.

I have to mention the smurf village, it was new part of the course that they added, it goes through one of my favorite short single track sections of the park. I had always wanted them to add that section to this race so I was glad to see that they did even though the entry and exit points were different. I kept making forward progress and finally finished, I ended up finishing about 15 minutes ahead of last year so I made my goal of beating last years time.

After the race I took off to watch my brother-in-laws soccer team play. If they won they would win their conference. Turns out they lost but the second place team tied so they ended up in a tie with the team they lost to and are co-champions. Congrats to him, it is I think his fourth conference championship in the last five years. I then returned to the race to help out. I basically just talked with other runners. I talked a lot to Bill P. and John T. I was basically asking John a lot of questions about 100 mile races. Lisa made it back and we waited for Rick and Wayne to finish. They made it around 8:00 PM, Rick had done it and completed his goal. Congrats to him. It was fun to watch the 50 miler finish, I do hope to return to that distance next year.

My thanks to Les, Cindy, Molly and all of the other volunteers for again putting on a first class race. Can't wait until next year.

Today, I went for a recovery run in Lebanon Hills. I ran my 3 mile out and back section from Jensen lake. I chose to run in my VFF's and I really felt good. It was my farthest run to date in them. I kept the pace easy, no garmin, no watch, no hurry. I was real glad I made it out. I told my wife afterward that I figure it counts as cross training. She didn't agree but I still think it qualifies :-).

Surf the Murph Forecast

Better late than never, here is the forecast for tomorrow's Surf the Murph. One thing is for sure, it looks like another great day for runners. What a fabulous way to finish out the year. Thanks, Les, Cindy and Molly and all of the rest of the volunteers for putting on a great end of season event.

Last year, I ran Murph injured, I thought that I had made the wise choice to drop down to the 25k, turns out the wise might have been a DNS as it took another 3 months to get over the injuries and then another 4 months after I re-injured myself. So for me the goal is simple, don't get injured and enjoy myself.

50M Start

6 am

30°F
Clear

26°F

0%

78%

From W
4 mph

50k Start

7 am

30°F
Clear

26°F

0%

82%

From WSW
4 mph

25k Start

8 am

32°F
Sunny

29°F

0%

78%

From SW
3 mph

9 am

35°F
Sunny

33°F

0%

73%

From SSW
3 mph

10 am

39°F
Sunny

39°F

0%

65%

From S
2 mph

11 am

43°F
Sunny

42°F

0%

55%

From S
3 mph

12 pm

47°F
Sunny

45°F

0%

48%

From S
4 mph

1 pm

50°F
Sunny

48°F

0%

41%

From S
5 mph

2 pm

52°F
Sunny

50°F

0%

36%

From S
6 mph

3 pm

53°F
Partly Cloudy

51°F

0%

34%

From S
7 mph

4 pm

52°F
Partly Cloudy

50°F

0%

34%

From SSE
7 mph

5 pm

50°F
Partly Cloudy

47°F

0%

36%

From SSE
7 mph

6 pm

48°F
Mostly Cloudy

45°F

0%

41%

From SE
7 mph

 Sunset 6:07 pm

7 pm

46°F
Mostly Cloudy

42°F

10%

46%

From SE
7 mph

8 pm

45°F
Mostly Cloudy

41°F

10%

49%

From SE
8 mph

9 pm

44°F
Cloudy

39°F

10%

53%

From SE
8 mph

Running again

I ran Sunday and again today, only 3 miles each time but it felt good to get back out there. I am not pain free but I think I could tolerate it for awhile. I will find out on Saturday what awhile is but I am not expecting to have major pain.

The one thing that I am happy with is that I have had no additional pain after my runs so I think it is safe to run, at least within reason. I need to watch my downhill running as that causes the most pain as it's harder to land without hitting the heel. Yes, I could just put the head down and fly down the hills but I am not there mentally, at least I wasn't there this morning in the dark.

I did have a nice pre-work run today and I did something that I probably don't do often enough which was run entirely by feel. I had my Garmin but chose to not look at it. After a couple of miles of running neither hard nor easy, I thought to myself "what do you think the time will be?". I predicted my time in my head and at the end of the run, I looked and I was a minute off. That was disappointing, I thought I had it nailed. I then looked at mile pace and saw the first mile was slow by 30 seconds, that made sense I was adjusting to the darkness even though I had my headlamp but it took a few minutes to feel like I had hit the pace I wanted. I then noticed that an additional 30 seconds was after I completed the 3 miles. So upon further reflection, I was only 30 seconds off and it all came in the first mile. That is cool, nice to have a feel for your pace.

I plan to run tomorrow with Wayne at Terrace Oaks and then run the long 25k at Surf the Murph, my plans for Murph are to run easy and enjoy the day. Oh and beat last years time ;-).

Surf the Murph - 1 week out

Some good news, I am almost able to walk with shoes without pain. I am hoping to run tomorrow and see how it feels. I almost went today but when I was starting to get ready to go, I felt pain and told myself to wait one more day.

On Thursday, I did get in a run around Jensen Lake with Wayne but I was wearing my VFF's. It was my longest ever run in my VFF's, probably about 2.2 miles versus a mile but I needed to run and to just run a mile didn't seem like it would be worth it. If I had a few more miles in them I would probably wear them for Surf the Murph but I am pretty sure that might lead to a few other issues. Nice thing is that they put absolutely no pressure on the heel. Wayne and I talked about the heel drop in shoes and it occurred to me that the shoes causing me the most pain have the greatest differential from back to front. It was a duh moment and really allows one to see how much our shoes do promote heel striking. I think tomorrow I will run either in my Saucony Peregrines (Stack Height: Heel (24mm), Forefoot (20mm)) or my Montrail Mountain Masochists (Stack Height: Heel (28mm), Forefoot (18mm)), if my theory is right I will like the Peregrines the best.

I think I have done a decent time this time taking care of the heel, regular icing, no running and I tried to minimize my walking at least with shoes. I was tempted to cutout the inside of one of my shoes to see if that would relieve the pressure from the shoe but thought better of it.

Another nice thing at least as of today, the weather for Surf the Murph is looking great, no rain or snow and temps from the mid 30's to mid 50's. For October 29th in Minnesota I sure will take it.

Hard to believe we are heading towards winter already, summer and fall seem to always fly by and spring takes forever to get here. Oh well, just one of the realities of living in Minnesota.

Change of plans for Surf the Murph

Yesterday I faced reality and emailed Les, Cindy and Molly and asked if they could move me to the 25k. I really wanted to do the 50k this year and I thought was working my way back until last week. I can't remember what I posted about it but I tripped and have bruised my heel. Sensitive to touch but the bigger problem is I can't walk without a pain and putting on a shoe adds pain as the cushioning is too hard.

So the thought of running almost 34 miles in less than two weeks on rocks and down steep hills seemed like a recipe for disaster. Today a 5k would be a problem. So can I do a 25k, yes, well maybe, it may be a hike versus a run and it may take 5+ hours but I will get through it. The real issue may come next week if I am not able to be back running by then but I have a week to heal and now only need to worry about a 25k, granted a long 25k but still probably doable.

So I am not happy but my reality is what is and I need to try and get back to running pain free as soon as I can. If I didn't learn anything this year it should be running in pain does not help you get healthy. Instead deal with it, get healthy and reset your plans as there will be another race. The way I am looking it at is if I can get to the 25k pain free then I will be ahead of last year and if I can't, well so be it.

Making Lemonade

Well today I had planned on running for 20+ miles to get in my last long run before Surf the Murph 50k but that didn't happen. My foot/heel is still too sore. I am walking on it again but have issues with putting the heel to the ground so running long seemed like a bad idea.

Instead I took out my VFF's and ran a mile in them. I knew I could run with my vibrams without putting the heel down too hard and I was right. Too bad I am not up to 20 miles in them, I was really tempted to go 2 or 3 miles today but having done all of 2 runs in vibrams, I let my rational mind win out.

So what to do for Surf the Murph, who knows but at least I can do something over the next few days as I take it one mile at a time and day by day.

2011 woes continue....

This week I got in 3 consecutive morning runs all in Hyland and all the same course. I kind of like the course it's only 3 miles but it's perfect for a quick run before work. You start at the parking lot by the ski jump, cut through the woods, across the dock, out to bush lake road, loop back. I added the course to the Southern Minnesota trail club website, here is that info:

My first run was on Tuesday and it was slow by design. I didn't want to push it after the long run/hike on Sunday. I started in the dark so I used my headlamp for the first half of the run, except when I was under the trees the moon was so bright I could see without the light. It felt good to run before work. On Wednesday I repeated the loop I kept it slow again but worked on my form. I was 45 seconds faster which was good to see even though I lost some time to some coughing attacks. On Thursday, I decided to push it and continued to work on form. I ended up 3 1/2 minutes faster than Wednesday. I was pleased with the improvement. Still too slow but a nice improvement. The nice thing is that for the last few weeks I am really starting to make progress again. It is so nice to be running pain free.

From that point on my day took a slight twist. I had taken a 1/2 day off from work so we could head out of town to visit a college with my youngest daughter. Before we left I was doing some clean-up when I caught my foot on something that sent me flying, I caught myself but landed hard on my right foot on the concrete, specifically my heel. I was barefoot and it felt like I did some damage but I figured it was just bruised or at least I hoped it was. I chose to ignore the pain and just tried to walk it off as we had to get going. Yes, it may have been denial as I just couldn't be hurt from something like this.

We left shortly after that and as we drove along the foot pretty much throbbed, after we dropped our daughter off for her overnight visit, my wife and I did some shopping. I couldn't walk without pain and she noticed me limping and walking slowly so I told her what I had done. I had the least amount of pain by staying on my toes and I was happy to have a cart to lean on but struggled even with it. I was never so happy to ice it after we got to the hotel. Today it was a little bit better, I can push on it but do get pain to right at the base of the heel or when  I squeeze the side of my foot by the heel. At least I am able to walk with less pain. I am hoping to see more improvement tomorrow and then get in my final long run on Sunday. Yes, I know that it is probably not going to happen but it still might, you gotta have hope.

The question that will be interesting is if I can't get in the final run and see good improvement next week do I still try to run the Surf the Murph 50k or do I drop down to the 25k or do I volunteer?

VFF run #2

After my long run yesterday I decided to get in a short run tonight. It was run #2 in my Vibram Five Fingers Treksports and it went just fine, actually better than fine.

My initial run in my VFF's was over 10 days ago and for that run, I went 1 mile and thought I might have gone a little far but I got away with it as I had no ramifications afterward. For tonight, I again just went a mile but I felt like I should have kept going. I felt really good considering everything which led me to wonder, can running in my VFF's be considered cross training?

Normally as I ramp up my mileage the day after a long run I have soreness especially if I try to run through it. So I decided to run in my VFF's and see how they felt, the answer was no soreness after the first steps, no strains, granted it was just 12 minutes of running but I like the early signs. I have read a bit about transitioning to barefoot running and I am still reading about it so I am not really too sure how I should use them or how fast I should add mileage. My plans are to use my VFF to help strengthen my feet and ankles and build slowly up (over then next few months) to 3 mile runs but even then the majority of my runs I plan on wearing trail shoes. I do hope to transition to lighter weight versions with the lower heel drops but I like the protection they offer. I may build up strength and confidence over time but for now I am taking it slow. I have my 50k in 4 weeks and need to ramp the mileage up for that, after that my plan is to use them more often during the fall, winter and into next year.

Here is a youtube video on the Treksports (except mine are black).

6 week training program to Surf The Murph 50k

Since I have been struggling with a few injuries for about a year, I decided it was time to get back into the ultra scene as my legs are healthy and I feel like I just need to do it. So on September 23rd I signed up for Surf the Murph 50k. Last year I did the 25k and it was a struggle with the injuries but I took my time and enjoyed being out there. For this year, I wanted to do more but plan to use the same strategy, just enjoy being out there, run when I can, walk when I need to. Even with that in mind, I still had to use a slightly more aggressive training program than I would have preferred as I only had 6 weeks to the race, yup, your basic 6 weeks to a 50k training program. Now I did have a little base going into it (ok, make that very little) but the expectations are set correctly.

To give you an idea and to record for my reflection this winter (in case things don't work out as planned), here are my previous 6 weeks training.

Week	Mileage Total	Long Run/Hike
08/14/11	14	6
08/21/11	16	8
08/28/11	16	6
09/04/11	19	6
09/11/11	12	6
09/18/11	19	11*

* - actually a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and yes it's included in my weekly mileage

My 6 week training plan to get me to the starting line and hopefully through the day.

Week	Mileage Total	Long Run/Hike
09/25/11	27	15
10/02/11	28	19
10/09/11	36	22
10/16/11	39	25
10/23/11	26	9
10/29/11	44	33

So although it is a bit of a ramp, I am getting in the distance and time on my feet that I think I need even though there will be as much walking as running.

Part of my thinking to do the 50k was based on the fact that I have run a marathon or beyond every year since 1993 with the exception of 2005 when I dropped out of Twin Cities at mile 22. I still have a few regrets about that one and I wanted to keep my pseudo streak to only the one exception.

My other reasons are I did the 25k last year, the 50 miler the year before, the 50k before that so by doing the 50k again I am keeping my streak at Murphy going with the twist that I never do the same distance two years in a row. Yeah, that might be a stretch but I like it.