3/22 Through 3/28 Week Fourteen

Day 92 - Monday - Day off!!! I'm still buzzing from the past weekend. I can't believe I made it through the entire weekend. 9 hours of running! Feeling good looking forward to this week.

Day 93 - 5am - Track workout. Today I'm looking to get at least 6 miles but gunning for 9. I get to the track ahead of Dennis and get in a half mile before he shows up. We spend some of the time talking about race day startegy and what it's like to run for 9 hours. There are some variables to work out for the race but we are pretty sure sure Dennis will run up to 20 miles and Amy will finish up the rest. As for the workout today my legs feel alright. Not great but not sore just fatigued. We finish with 6 miles.

Day 94 - Wednesday- another day off. I'm just trying to get ready for race day in 2 and half weeks.

Day 95 - 5am - Track workout! Legs feel good going into the run. Dennis and I are going in circles, really slow circles and Dennis is not really a fan of running slow but he doesn't say a word. He is letting me run my training program and just being a great friend and training partner. We have been running 11 minute miles up to this point. I say to Dennis "let's run the next mile at a 10 minute pace and see how I feel". The next mile goes very smooth and easy. Then we pick up the pace and run a couple of 9 minute miles. My I.T. Band feels better, in fact my leg feels completely normal. I couldn't believe it. I thought this might be a bad decision to pick up the pace but it actually felt better going fast. I am excited about the two workouts so far this week. I finished today's workout with another mile and a half at a fast pace to close out a 9 mile run.

Day 96 - Friday - Day off! Nothing today!

Day 97 - 8am - A 2 hour run. I'm planning on running 12.50 miles. Dennis and I head out over the hill. The run is very similar to our usual 13 mile run except we will cut off a little by changing the end of the run. Also we will run this in reverse. The uphill portion is longer and more gradual. The downhill is actually to steep to take advantage and pick up speed. No cows on the road. Not one damn cow!!!!! I'm pissed! I almost brought a camera to show people how big they really are. We finish this run at a good pace. This was a very smooth and easy run.

Day 98 - 9am - I take off on the same course as yesterday. I have my ipod on and will take on the big bad dairy cows by myself. Remember, don't look them in the eye and keep moving. I come up on the cows and most of them are in the fields grazing. God love'em, but of course I come on a line of young ones. They are the ones who don't understand that I'm just running by and not there to cause any problems. This doesn't stop them from chasing after me. I take the right side of the road and they just stand there and look at me. I yell at one, if you give me any shit I'll spray paint you brown and call the butcher. I didn't know cows could laugh. The run in general goes great and I have no pain to deal with. This is my last long run leading up to the race. I'm feeling very good about finishing the race.

Week Fourteen Totals - 40 miles!! I like this as I have been able to get through the I.T. band issue. I'm going into the second to last week prior to the race and my legs feel pretty good. Will I finish in 11 hours or less? I feel like I have a good chance to do this. ONLY 2 WEEKS UNTIL RACE DAY!!!!!

3/15 Through 3/21 Week Thirteen

Day 85 - Monday!! Day off! Trying to recover from this weekend. I am not sure what the problem is with my knee. I'm not liking the uncertainty at all.

Day 86 - 5am - Track workout! I'm going to go slow.....yeah sure, I say that every time I run and some how I screw it up. I get there ahead of Dennis and put in 2 miles before he gets there. I'm running about a 10:30 pace checking my knee as I go. There is no pain at this point. Dennis shows up and I tell him about my knee and where it hurts. He immediately says, "oh it's your I.T. Band". Really? That's all it is? I tell him more about the pain and how it is on and off. He says, "yeah it's your I.T. Band". I call Holly Wick, co-owner of Athletic Soles in Petaluma. She says, "yes, it's your I.T."., "I want you to use the roller and roll on it twice a day until it makes you cry". Then she says, "there is a friend of mine here who just completed an ultra and is a nurse. Let me ask her about this". " Yep, just use the roller and don't over due it on your runs". Then Holly let's me talk to Jenny, the nurse/first time ultra finisher. In 5 minutes I had so much information about the process and strategy of running an ultra that I started feeling better about this week and the next three weeks leading up to the race. What started out as an unsettled week has started to turn. I'm not out of the woods yet but it looks a lot better.

Day 87 - Wednesday - P90X day. Just upper body work. Push ups, pull ups and ab ripper. Oh no it's St Paddy's day! Change the workout to corn beef and cabbage.

Day 88 - 5am -Track time! I put in 9 miles on Tuesday and felt good afterwards. So I think I'll put in 9 today. The run goes just as planned. No pain in the knee. I run a slow pace. Dennis and I get caught up in some good conversation that last for the three miles we are together. People asks, "what do you guys talk about?" I tell them you have to come out and run if you want to find out. So far no takers. This is probably a good thing as some of the topics are a little dicey.

Day 89 - Friday - Day off heading into the last long weekend. This weekend is a scheduled 4 hour run on Saturday and a 5 hour run on Sunday. Last weekend I had the same schedule. I changed the 4 hour run on Saturday to a 5 hour run. On Sunday I couldn't even run for 5 minutes. So not sure what to expect for this weekend. I have been rolling my I.T. Band hoping that will correct what's wrong. My goals for this weekend are 4 hour run on Saturday and I hope to be able to run at least 2 hours on Sunday. I will run 5 miles per hour and see how that goes. 5 miles per hour will be my target for race day.

Day 90 - 7am - Dennis and I take off for a 15 mile loop that will take us over "the hill" twice and then back home. I will run another 5 miles after that to complete my 4 hour run. The run starts good and we make it up and over the hill and start back up again. We are keeping a slow steady pace running a 11:30 per mile pace. We do a little walking up the hill on the second round. We make it up over the hill and head for home. My knee still feels alright. No pain! We actually are way ahead of schedule and I put in a 5 minute walk. It's odd to walk this long. I've never done it before and it takes getting used to. It felt good, muscles start to relax and loosen up. I finish the 15 miles 2 hours and 50 minutes. I get some food and something to drink and head out for another 5 miles. I run walk the entire way to help keep me under control and not get out control by going to fast. The good news no knee pain! I could feel something a little different in my right knee that isn't in my left knee but it wasn't pain. Today was a very successful run.

Day 91 - 9am - I head out to the town of Olema to run trails. I figure if I can run, this is a beautiful place to run and it will be all dirt. If I can't run I will hike for the 5 hours. There is this one particular trail that starts at the visitors center and heads out to Arch Rock. This is a rock that sits a 100 feet above the ocean that has outstanding views and wildlife. Out and back from the parking lot is a 9 mile run. It's up hill halfway out and then a nice easy downhill to the rock. The run starts out good, no problems and I actually feel loose and ready to run. I make it out to the rock and stop to take in the scenery. It's beautiful and the temperature is mild to warm. I start back and make the first of three trips out and back. I'm running on schedule and I stop at my car to get food and water. A short break and then back out for another trip. My knee feels good as I head out. I am actually very happy that I've made it this far considering last week I couldn't run around my car. The second trip goes just as good as the first. I have passed some people 4 times now and they have this funny look on their faces as I keep going by. I finish the second trip and feel good. My knee acts up a little but in some cases it goes away on its own and others I have to stop and walk. My motto for the second trip and the rest of the run was "run when I could walk when I have to". I need to run another hour and twenty minutes to complete the 5 hour run. I have run 18 miles so far and really want to make it to 25 miles for the day. I head out for another trip towards the rock but I will turn around just a little short of the rock and head back. I can't believe I've been able to run this far and for this long and I don't feel beat up. The soft trail I'm sure had something to do with it. I complete the 5 hour run. 25 miles in 5 hours after running 20 miles the day before and I can still walk. As I was walking back to my car afterwards these two ladies who had been out walking the same trail and had spent some time out at Arch Rock were getting ready to leave stopped the car to ask me "how many times did you go out there?" I told them and the one lady says, "damn".

Week Thirteen Totals - 63 miles!!!!! I can't be happier about this week. I really didn't expect to get anywhere near this mileage after the previous week and still working through an injury. I now start three weeks of tapering. I'll run approximately 38 to 40 miles this upcoming week and even less the week after. I can't believe it is just three weeks away from race day.

3/8 Through 3/14 The Twelve Week

Day 78 - Monday - Day off? I'm going to do a P90X workout. All upper body, no legs. Last week Elece looked at my toe and said, "I think you have an infected cuticle". I said but it's not sore on the cuticle, it's sore on the side of the toe by the knuckle. She said, ' I really think it is". So today Elece said call the advice nurse and see if they can help or maybe get you in earlier than this Friday. Sure enough they have an opening right at the time I was calling. So I go to the doctor and tell him about my toe and how there is not one particular event that leads me to why it is swollen. The Doctor looks at it and I said, "my girlfriend says it's an infected cuticle". The Doctor says, "your girlfriend's right". I said, "I'm not telling her". God just tell me to take a pill for a couple of days and everything will be fine. I'm not really a med guy. I don't even use Ibuprofen but right now I'll take a pill. So antibiotics here we come!

Day 79 - 5am - Track workout. Going to go slow! The antibiotics are already working. The swelling has gone down a little and my toe doesn't hurt as much. My knee feels alright and I keep a slow pace for the entire run. I run 11 miles. I'm happy that there wasn't anything that made me nervous or hurt. During the run Dennis and I start talking about "zen" and quantum physics. Actually Dennis does all the talking, I can't even spell quantum physics without using spell check let alone know what it means. There is something about these conversations that really get my mind off of running. My legs just seem to keep moving without any interference from my brain. It's when we are talking about quantum physics, zen and Buddhism that we really get out of our heads. Here is a sample, Buddha to a man, what are you looking for?" Man, "my keys", Buddha, "where did you lose them?" Man, "over there." Buddha, "then why are you looking here?" Man, "because there's more light." And the hits keep coming!

Day 80 - Wednesday - P90X workout. Actually an abbreviated version. Weights and machines.

Day 81- 5am - Track time! My knee feels good. I only run 5 miles on the track. I decide to run the other 6 in Sausalito. I can run from my office up to the Golden Gate Bridge and back. Not a bad place to run and there are hills both ways. It's actually a pretty steep hill going to the bridge. That should be a good test for my knee. If I feel any pain I'll stop and walk. The run goes great! No pain and I climbed the hill quite easily. No more pain in the toe. I'm feeling pretty good about my knee. 11.25 miles for the day, that's a good thing!

Day 82 -Friday - Physical today. We go over the blood work, EKG and the usual fun and games that take place during a physical. Everything is good. I have a 5 hour run scheduled for Saturday followed by a friends 50th surprise birthday party. Oh boy!

Day 83 -6am - Dennis and I take off for a 13 mile run. We are going to go up and over "cow hill". I'll run this twice if everything goes well which means I will run a bleepin marathon for a training run. Not sure how this will go but I feel better about my knee going into this run. The first 13 miles goes by pretty good. No problems with the cows. My knee felt fine for just about all of the run but at the end of the 13 it started to get goofy. I stopped at my house to get my fuel belt and meet up with Elece. She is going to ride her bike as I run. We run the route in reverse. I'm taking the second 13 miles slow. My knee doesn't feel bad and it really is just a long ass run. Once we get to the hills I have to walk some of the inclines and some of the declines. Elece is keeping the cows away from me. We get through the hills and it is literally downhill to my house. I'm tired, my legs don't hurt but I can feel the onset of cramps. 5 hours after starting I complete 25.5 miles. That's a long training run. Tomorrow I'm scheduled for a 4 hour run after I spend the evening in Sacramento celebrating my friends 50th birthday.

Day 84 - 7am - Sacramento! My daughter Amy, her mother and her friend Brianne are going to run a half marathon. I'm going to run for about an hour before the race begins and then jump in the race with them. I'm thinking they'll run somewhere between a 2:40 - 3:00 hour time. That will give me my 4 hours. There pace will be just what I'm looking for after the long run yesterday. I get to the race and meet up with them. I start to do my pre race run and I don't make it a half mile. My knee is having no part of this. I try to walk for awhile and then run really slow but my knee is not going to come out and play today. I end up not running at all and being a spectator/supporter for them. That was more fun than I thought it was going to be. I'd never done that before. Not really sure what to think about my knee. I'm happy I made the 5 hour run on Saturday and maybe if I take it slower for the rest of the training I can nurse the knee back by the time the 50 miler starts.

Week Twelve Totals - 47.75 miles! This is a far cry from the 70 I was hoping to get. Clearly I had unrealistic goals for the week with the toe and the knee not wanting to participate. I have one more week of heavy running and then two weeks to taper. This up coming week I'll take what I can get and go from there. The positive, I ran for 5 hours as a training run. I've never done that before. I still ran 47.75 miles for the week. That's not exactly a light week of running. So it's not all bad just not what I wanted. Week thirteen coming up!

3/1 Through 3/7 The Eleventh Week

Day 71 - Monday, day off. Just wondering how my knee is going to respond. I'm also starting to have a problem with one of my toes. The second one on my right foot. Go figure, first my lower back that I didn't even know was out of whack to my knee and now my damn toe. It's sore and a little swollen. I have no idea how or when but it hurts.

Day 72 - 5am - Track workout. I should do 11.5 miles but I'll see how I feel. Dennis is there and we take off. Due to the rain we run at Petaluma High School on their all weather track. I only go four miles and call it a day. No pain other than my toe but that didn't really bother me. I just felt like stopping at four miles. Knee felt good why push it.

Day 73 - 6am - A little P90X workout. Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and a little Ab Ripper. I do a modified workout that feels good. You can't really modify Ab Ripper. You just have to dig in and give it all you've got. My toe has really started to swell up. I have no idea what's wrong. I have a doctors appointment on the 12th but that's a week and a half off.

Day 74 - 5am - Track workout. Dennis and I go again to Petaluma High School. This time I run nine miles. I feel alright. At the end I feel a little something in my knee but not something that really worries me. My toe felt fine. I soaked it the day before and the pain had gone away. Maybe I'm turning the corner and my leg is going to return to normal.

Day 75 - 6am - Ab Ripper! My toe has become swollen again and it hurts like hell. I need a Nascar pit stop. Pull in, get a new right leg and get back out there.

Day 76 - 7am - Here we go! The real test for my leg will be today. I'm suppose to run for two and a half hours. Under normal circumstances that would be about 15 miles but today I'll be happy with thirteen. Still I have a fourteen mile course laid out. Dennis and I start out and head up to my favorite hill. Cows are everywhere, even the Angus or non dairy cows are in the road. Dennis says, "just don't look at them". No problem but I notice the pace picking up or maybe that was just me. I ask Dennis what kind of cows are those? He said he wasn't sure. He said he needed to ask his daughter Emme, she's the one who's the cow whisperer. I told Dennis maybe I need to have Emme on these runs. On this run there is a point where we could cut the run short by a couple of miles. Dennis takes off and I continue on the schedule course. My knee feels alright and my toe although swollen not really causing any problems. As I get to mile twelve I start to feel a little something in my knee. It's not pain but it's something that I don't normally have. Since it's not a real pain I think maybe it will go away and I continue on. I finish the run, 13.5 miles. That thing with the knee didn't go away. Not a good sign and the run was more work than normal. Thirteen mile runs had become fairly easy for me. This wasn't easy nor did it make me think my knee problem had gone away. Dennis said something to me on this run that at the time I didn't realize how spot on he was. He said, "give your body a chance to heal". Everybody knows that but I hadn't been running that way. I was pushing a little bit on most of the runs. Maybe that was coming back to haunt me. Tomorrow I'm schedule to run for three hours!

Day 77 - 7am - Today will be very interesting. I take off slowly letting my body settle in. I'm a little tight but that's not uncommon for my Sunday runs. I usually settle in around the half mile mark and the rest of the run goes pretty smooth. I head up a set of hills that I'm surprised that I don't feel the need to walk a little. On the second hill is a steep downhill my knee starts to act up and I start walking. Maybe it's just the downhill that's causing the problem. I get to the flat ground and start running again. Oh shit! It's not feeling any better. I continue on for another half a mile and then decide it isn't worth it. I'll do more damage if I continue. I ran only two and a half miles and now I get to walk back home. This is not a good sign. Although this is my down week this is not how I wanted to finish up. I had already cut back the mileage far more than I was scheduled and now I'm not going to finish this run, not even get close.

Week Eleven Totals - Not a good week! 31 ugly miles! I'm suppose to ramp up to a 70 mile week next week. I don't think so. It's funny, the workout program said the biggest problem during the training is getting the runner to the starting line healthy. Add to that Dennis' comment about giving my body a chance to heal. I was up until last week saying if I haven't started breaking down by now I'm not going to. I need to get this fixed. If it means going slow for another two weeks so be it but I need to get right. The training program said for the long runs, "don't focus on the miles, focus on the time". I was trying to do both. I need a new light bulb because the one I'm using is not so bright. I really believe this will be a short lived set back but I clearly need to make some adjustments in my approach both mentally and physically. I've got to get to that damn starting line.