Glorious Return to SD

Well this week started off a bit slow secondary to the lingering of my upper respiratory infection.  Monday morning came with bouts of coughing spells, inability to breath out of my nose and overall just feeling really week.  This had be about the worst I had felt since the onset of my cold.  After debating with myself for about 20 minutes as to if I should attempt to do punish myself at pool PT or go to sick call, I decided it probably best to head to sick call and avoid pneumonia or injury.  The doc at sick call reiterated what I already expected (viral URI), but reassured me that is wasn't in my lungs (kiss of death for any physical activity/diving for weeks).  I was happy with these encouraging words and even more excited with 24 hours SIQ (sick in quarters - rest time).  Monday with uneventful with lots of rest and no running. 

Tuesday I felt much better then the previous day and was hopeful that I was over the hump of this cold.  I attended the gym PT session with hopes it would be low key.  I was informed on its onset that it would be a relatively easy session.  Shortly after starting, I realized that was not being very honest with me as we started with 103 four counts of are favorites exercises (push ups, flutter kicks, rockstar jumps, etc).  It was definitely more then my body wanted as I was experience moments of lightheadness and near fainting.  I survived without injury and decided it probably best that I take another day off from running.

As with the previous day I woke up feeling better then the last.  It was a pool day and I survived with minimal discomfort.  That night I decided I would head to the gym and give running a chance.  Unlike previous gym running sessions, I decided to run on the treadmill instead of the track because my IT Bands were over the endless, Nascar like, almost continuous left turn after left turn.  To my surprise, I had a great run.  I was able to run 5 miles in 41 minutes with minimal difficulty.  The cardio and body felt like I hadn't even had a cold. 

Thursday, I had a 3 mile group run with the rest of my UMOC class.  The run was frequently interrupted with calisthenics but overall a nice run and my first run outside in 1.5 months as the temps/conditions in CT were finally getting tolerable.  It was also an exciting day because I knew I was finally traveling back to San Diego tomorrow to see my lovely wife as well as a weekend full of other fun endeavors like PCT run and Minute to Win It party. 

Friday was an off day as I had a busy day with training and then a long day of flying back to SD.  I did however get a descent 2 hour pool PT session in full of a 1000m bayfin, pool hits, treading water with 20lb weights and then underwater football.

Saturday I had arranged a run out in East County San Diego with a group of friends.  Originally, I had planned to do a 16 mile run at Upper Sweetwater River however, with the current rain storms in San Diego I decided that it would likely be fairly flooded and I was already sick of swimming from my training in Groton.  It is amazing to me that after suffering freezing temps and snow for the last 6 weeks that I would be coming back to rain storms and cool temps in San Diego.  Especially after San Diego had recently had such beautiful temps.  I can't catch a break sometimes.  Anyways, so my buddy Toby and I analyzed the situation and decided to change the run to the PCT from Boulder Oaks going south to  Lake Morena.  The run is a 12 mile out and back with the option of tacking on more miles by heading north on the PCT.  We had also been wanting to run this section since last summer and was one of the few sections of the PCT I had yet run in So Cal. 

That morning I woke up to a nice surprise.  The rain had stopped and the temps were in the mid 50s setting up a promosing morning for a run.  That was soon crushed as we were heading to SDRI to carpool to Boulder Oaks with several other runners.  Kath Baker called to suggest switching the run yet again, recommending a more local trailas she sit in her car outside of Boulder Oaks Campground as the rain poured down and temps were only in the high 30s.  Kath had planned to get out there earlier and run from Cibbets Flat south on the PCT to Boulder Oaks where she would meet us and run to Lake Morena and back.  After she called I hemmed and hawed about the situation for awhile, spoke with Andrea and Toby and decided people were already headed out there lets just give it a shot.  Plus, we are rough and tough ultrarunners who live for the challenging stuff (at least that what we were going to tell ourselves :)). 

I am so glad that we decided to keep with the original plans.  It was dark, raining hard and the temp on the car's thermometer keep falling until in hovered to just over 40s as we made our way east.  When we finally arrived to Boulder Oaks, to our surprise, it was quite "beautiful" out.  The rain had slowed in the nick of time and the temps really didn't feel that bad as I was use to the much colder temps in Groton.

There were 13 of us in total. 

Once everyone was bundled and said there hellos, we headed off south on the PCT.  This was soon interrupted by a large river which was over waist deep (it wasn't me who tested it out) that had randomly appeared.

We took several minutes to look for a place to cross without avail.  We decided that we would likely have more success heading north on the PCT towards Cibbets Flat as it is up hill with less places for water or a river to accumulate.  The problem with this is it is up hill pretty much the whole first half of the run.  We charged on.  After a brief time on the trail it was bringing back fond memories of the PCT 50 mile run last year as this is also the first section of that race.  It also reminded me of how hard the first part of this run is and how I ended up having to DNF after suffering significant dehydration.  As we continued to gain altitude an amazing thing happened.  It began to snow.  This was the first time I had experienced this in all my running out in East County.  It looked like a winter wonderland with large, puff snow flakes.  I wasn't even bothered by the continued falling temps because it was such an amazing site. 

Once we reached the turn around point the temps had fallen quite a bit and we were all pretty cold.  We decided to only stop briefly.  Enough time to grab some nutrition and take a leak.  As we descended the trail back down to Boulder Oaks the winter wonderland turn into the not so lovely wintery mix.  At this point, we put on the burners and made good time the rest of the way down to the cars as the rain was getting heavier.  PHEW!  Back in the cars dry, warm and uninjured.  Overall, what had originally hyped as a not so great run turned out to be one of the most unique runs I have had out in East County.  Ran 11 miles in just over 2 hours with 1500+ feet of climb. 

Sunday I took a well deserved break and spent my last day in SD with Andrea.

Weekly Mileage: 20 mi

Big Trouble in Little Goton

This week has been a difficult week for my training as I was only able to put in 11 miles on top of my normal 8 hours of pool/gym PT.  The reason for such low miles is multifactorial with several minor bumps/bruises and a viral upper respiratory track infection.  However, the good thing is I have managed to stay injury free despite my current training evolution trying its best to break my body.

I started off the week with left hip flexor tightness.  Who knew that finning on your back in full gear for a 1000 meters, treading water in full gear with 15 pounds and doing a million flutter kicks would make your hip flexors so sore.  I'm telling you it DOES!  Therefore, I decided to skip my Monday run in an effort to focus on stretching out my sore hip flexors.  This reminded me that I really should stretch more.

I woke up on Tuesday and my hip flexor felt a bit better.  Knowing it was a gym PT day I was that much more excited about the high probability of being able to run.  I made it about a mile before I decided that it was still to early to run and I wasn't quite ready to injure myself.  I will save that for a more appropriate time :)  It was also nice that the power went out in the gym right before I started running, requiring them to close the gym 15 minutes after I started running, and forcing me to cut my run short.  Someone is looking out for me.

The difficult thing I'm confronted with on M, W and F is dread pool PT which equals finning, treading water and flutter kicks, and I can't just say, "Hey chief, I can't do these exercises because I need to run."  That would equal me getting extra torture and heaven forbid I get more pool punishment.  My hip flexor tightness took a step back after Wednesdays pool session but it wasn't as sore as it was on Monday.  At this point, I was so on edge from not really running Su, M or Tu I decided to give it a shot.  It was a pretty slow 5 mile run but there was minimal discomfort which made me happy. 

Thursday, my left hip flexor was almost 100 percent and I was able to put a nice 5 mile run in 37+ minutes.  I had to know this was to good to be true.  That night I tossed and turned all night as I choked on my own secretions.  Yes, it was true.  I had finally been attacked by the dread URI.  A number of my fellow UMOCs had been lucky enough to have it a few weeks prior and now it was my turn.  Then on Friday morning after the PT session I noticed that my right great toe was sore.  That night when I got back to my room I noticed it was bruised and swollen.  Can I not catch a break.  I decided that it was just the best to take it easy this week so I laid low F, Sa and Su.  I am feeling better and ready for another week so will have to see how Monday goes.

Get Dirty!

WELCOME!

I have finally caved in and created a blog to document my training, races and other adventures.  This will be my first installment, so sit back and enjoy. 

Currently, my training is tailored to running the 2011 Western States Endurance Run with a goal of running the race under 24 hours and earning the coveted "silver buckle."  Right now, I am stationed at Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT as an Undersea Medical Officer Candidate (UMOC).  Eventually, I'll be the doctor for Navy divers, Naval special warfare, EOD, Marine recon and submarines.  Previously, I was stationed at Naval Medical Center San Diego for a year and a half.  During that time I adated to the San Diego lifestyle/weather and have become quite the wuss when it comes to snow and cold temps.  Therefore, most of my training is currently being conducted indoors around a track or on a treadmill.  I am not sure I have decided which is worse, running repetitively around an indoor track like a caged hamster or freezing my tush off outside and risk slipping on the ice.  However, I have managed to run approximately 30 miles/week over the past month. 

The challenge I have recently encountered is managing my runs around all the other demanding physical training (PT) I have going on in order to prepare me for dive school.  Myself and the other UMOCs PT 5 days a week, M-F.  We PT in the pool on M,W, and F, and in the gym (grinder) on T and Th.  Pool workouts are approximately 2 hours and grinder workouts are approximately 1 hour.  Therefore, I am putting in at a mininum of 8 hours/week of PT (the instructors like to keep us there as long as they can).  These workouts are no joke either.  They are high intensity workouts which generally leave me significantly tired and sore afterwards.  All workouts are in the morning 0500 or 0600.  This forces my runs to happen in the evening which I a currently running 5-6 days/week.  As you can see, I am doing two-a-day workouts M-F.  My long runs happen on Saturday and I take Sunday off.

Yesterday, I was able to put in a 14 mile training run.  11 of the miles were around the track (7.75 loops/mile) and 3 miles on the treadmill.  It has been a long time since I have run a 14 mile training run indoors.  This reminded me how much I dislike running long distances indoors.  My spirits were up for the first 6-7 miles as I had a group of soon to be Marine recruits to chase around the track.  However, after they left, my little aches and pains from the week started popping up and I was really struggling to get the remanding 7 miles.  Who would have thought that weighted lunges would make the glutes so sore?  I just keep thinking of my friends back in San Diego running in the mountains and various other amazing locations, and alas I was able to get all 14 miles in in just over 2 hours.  Well, it is Sunday and another week is about to began, sigh.  I wish you all a successful week.