The IV method

All summer I felt like I was venturing out on these epic trail runs almost every week.  It seemed easy to rack up the miles while exploring in the mountains.  But now I'm running more than I ever have, and I haven't once left the immediate vicinity around my house.  Long runs, short runs, fast & easy runs...everything has been from my doorstep.  I'm not complaining, there's just nothing remarkable to write about these runs.  So here's a bunch of random stuff from the last few weeks:

• Last Saturday, I put in a 40 miler on the HR trails in order to test my fuel plan for Bandera.  I call my plan the IV method because I'm shooting for a steady drip of calories instead of the quick shot my stomach doesn't care for when I pound a gel.  On this run, I poured one bottle of EFS liquid shot in my 22 oz. handheld filled with water and drank it over 1.5 hours.  I also ate a gel at the 1.5 hour mark.  I carried in my pack a second bottle and polished off both on my first 20 mile loop.  I followed the same plan on my second loop, but this time the 1.5 hour gel caused my stomach to tighten and cramp, so I think I'm going to go with a bottle of EFS every 1-1.25 hours and skip the gels.  If you haven't tried EFS diluted in water, you're missing out on a nice treat.  The stuff is mellow and smooth going down.  400 calories per flask.

• I was pleased to pass through the troublesome miles (28-36) with no issues at all.  By mile 35-37, I was feeling really good, but I could tell my stomach was empty.  I had this hollow feeling.  Not a bad feeling, more like something was supposed to be in there.  I wasn't hungry, but was left wondering if that would need to be addressed at some point beyond 40?

• At mile 13 on Saturday, I kicked a root and after several windmills with my arms, I hit the trail arms & chest first.  Thankfully I had layers on, so I didn't cut anything up.  I did create a minor dust storm that filled my mouth and eyes with dirt.  Later that night I was still picking mini pebbles out of the corner of my eyes!

• Sadly, this was my second fall in a week.  The prior weekend I hit the dirt at mile 1.7 into a 20 miler and wasn't so lucky in the cuts and scrapes department.  I still managed to get in 15 miles despite the run never clicking for me. 

• My other goal for Saturday was to run a consistent pace for both loops.  My first loop was .2 miles longer than the second, but I came in at 3:06:xx for both loops.  Felt pretty good about that.

• I'm coming up on 1100 miles in my old Asic Gel Trabuco's, who still look fantastic in their old age.  They were my first trails shoes bought in early 2009.  I never spoke highly of them because there's no toe protection when I would kick rocks.  Now they're more comfortable to me than slippers.  I'm going to continue to wear them for shorter training runs until they bust apart.  Maybe 2000 miles??

• I'm coming off my biggest month of mileage (Nov) with 307 miles.  Last week was my biggest week ever at 87.

• I signed up for Collegiate Peaks 50.  That will be prep for San Juan Solstice...which will be prep for Leadville.  I'm not planning any other races next spring/summer.  I would like to try and run the Buchanan-Pawnee Loop, the Four Passes Loop, and the Presidential Traverse as training runs.

• I just booked a cabin for the LT100 weekend in August.  Thanks to Leila D. for the tip about looking in Twin Lakes.

Lastly, a huge congrats to Patrick for absolutely rockin' the Hellgate 100K on Saturday.  He finished in 3rd place overall.  Unreal!