50k Training Progress

I don't know if this news has reached other parts of the country. It seems Micah True, the runner known as Caballo Blanco in "Born to Run" has been missing since not returning from a planned 12 mile run this past Tuesday in Gila, New Mexico. Let's hope for the best.

Having the week off for spring break has allowed me to run a bit more than I might have if I had been working, but there are only so many hours that one should train at a given point. Late yesterday afternoon I ran the hills on the open space nearby for about an hour and a half.

On Tuesday I ran about 3 hours and 25 minutes. I started at Chautauqua Park, ran south along the Mesa Trail to Bear Canyon, and then north up around the back side of Green Mountain to its summit for a net elevation gain of about 2400 feet. The descent took about 25 minutes less than the run up. I wanted to put about five hours together between two days, so the following day I ran for an hour and a half choosing a route similar to the one mentioned in the previous paragraph.

On the previous Saturday I ran trails in Eldorado Springs including Rattlesnake Gulch to the railroad tunnel. On a couple of runs recently I have experience an irregular heartbeat. I can't say that it has been atrial fibrillation each time or not, (something I have had diagnosed in the past). My impression of a-fib is that the rate goes to a flutter, which has occurred, but on this run it seemed that it was not so fluttery, but definitely not steady. I had to hike a couple of times on some of the 15% grade. At some point on the descent the beat returned to normal. It's strange, I can start a run with the beat irregular and at some point it converts to normal and now recently I have had it go irregular on a run which started out with a normal heartbeat. I have cut back on the caffeine although I typically drink half-caf anyway. This morning I'm at 1/3 caf and have done just 1/4 on some days. It may be best just to wean myself from it completely.

Muscle-wise things feel good; I never get sore, but I can feel some subtle tendon issues in the heel and plantar area in the left foot and some sensitivity where I've had stress fractures in the right foot. I think it will all hold up ok if I maintain a regimen of some rest days and stretch a bit during non-running times. My weight had gone up in February; I was caught off guard to find myself at 185 when I had been 178 at the new year. I'm back to 182. It seems to make sense to have as little extra as possible so that I'm not carrying that weight for 31 miles, but it may not hurt to have a little to draw from for fuel.

A nice surprise is that my running-resistant son Alex expressed an interest in doing the 50k. Actually, he expressed an interest in the 12 mile version of the same Dirty Thirty event but it is already full. He ran cross country in high school, does parkour, runs intermittently, and has 9 miles in the bank for training. He's 21 though and figures he can catch up quickly. My concern is that he has running-induced asthma which seems brought on by cold temperatures or altitude; this race takes place between 7900' and 9400'. We live at 5200' but some added acclimation may be in order.