First off today, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave me great advice for trail running on my last post. I will take it all into consideration, and hopefully it will make me a better trail runner.
I'm A Sell-Out
Um ... this is kinda embarrassing to admit, but I'm gonna have to eat a little crow. I proudly proclaimed a few weeks ago that I never accepted products from manufacturers to review because I didn't want to feel obligated to write something nice about their stuff. And while it's true that I usually don't ... I'm gonna do a couple in the near future. So feel free to throw eggs at me or call me a hypocrite ... you're right. I just got a pair of shoes from Asics that I'll be reviewing, and I think I'm getting a pair of Altra trail shoes too. I will most likely be giving the Asics away to family, friends, or charity ... but if I like the Atras I might weasel out and keep them. I will, however, absolutely give them an honest review - good, bad, or indifferent.
A Good 45 Miles This Weekend
This weekend I ran my second largest two day total ever - 45 miles, topped only by my back-to-back marathons in 2011. I ran 21 road miles on Saturday, and got a good 24.5 trail miles in on Sunday. I'm pretty exhausted as I write this, but overall it was a good weekend of training.
As many of you know, one of the main components to ultra training is keeping the speed at a minimum, which bores me to death, but it's not like you can go out there an kill it every workout. And when I don't push the pace, I really seem to be relatively pain free afterwards. Yesterday's 21 was only about 8:30'ish, and today's 24.5 on trails was a much slower 9:55 overall including food breaks, etc. I think I was around 9:29 of actual moving time.
One thing I've been really trying to get my arms around is the fueling involved with an ultra. You obviously have to eat while you run all those mile, and finding what works the best me is the hard part. So far I've had the best luck with bananas, gels, and potato chips. Cookies, and PB&J seem to be too much sugar on my stomach at once. I seem to belch, fart, and have some discomfort for about a half hour after eating those.
Anyway, it was a pretty good weekend of running and I think when January ends this week I'll probably end up with my 3rd or 4th highest monthly mileage total ever. So, cool ... I guess. Hope your weekend went well too - have a great week!
... be great today!
I'm A Sell-Out
Um ... this is kinda embarrassing to admit, but I'm gonna have to eat a little crow. I proudly proclaimed a few weeks ago that I never accepted products from manufacturers to review because I didn't want to feel obligated to write something nice about their stuff. And while it's true that I usually don't ... I'm gonna do a couple in the near future. So feel free to throw eggs at me or call me a hypocrite ... you're right. I just got a pair of shoes from Asics that I'll be reviewing, and I think I'm getting a pair of Altra trail shoes too. I will most likely be giving the Asics away to family, friends, or charity ... but if I like the Atras I might weasel out and keep them. I will, however, absolutely give them an honest review - good, bad, or indifferent.
A Good 45 Miles This Weekend
This weekend I ran my second largest two day total ever - 45 miles, topped only by my back-to-back marathons in 2011. I ran 21 road miles on Saturday, and got a good 24.5 trail miles in on Sunday. I'm pretty exhausted as I write this, but overall it was a good weekend of training.
As many of you know, one of the main components to ultra training is keeping the speed at a minimum, which bores me to death, but it's not like you can go out there an kill it every workout. And when I don't push the pace, I really seem to be relatively pain free afterwards. Yesterday's 21 was only about 8:30'ish, and today's 24.5 on trails was a much slower 9:55 overall including food breaks, etc. I think I was around 9:29 of actual moving time.
One thing I've been really trying to get my arms around is the fueling involved with an ultra. You obviously have to eat while you run all those mile, and finding what works the best me is the hard part. So far I've had the best luck with bananas, gels, and potato chips. Cookies, and PB&J seem to be too much sugar on my stomach at once. I seem to belch, fart, and have some discomfort for about a half hour after eating those.
Anyway, it was a pretty good weekend of running and I think when January ends this week I'll probably end up with my 3rd or 4th highest monthly mileage total ever. So, cool ... I guess. Hope your weekend went well too - have a great week!
... be great today!
I was thinking of throwing a couple of rotten tomatoes at you but I don't have that great an arm and also I would probably do the same.
ReplyDeleteNo! Don't sell out! How will I ever trust you again!
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested in what you think of the Altras--I'm thinking of getting some--want to go to more of a real minimalist shoe but don't want to sacrifice cushioning and I hear Altras might fit the bill.
ReplyDeleteI thought you comment on the yoga instructor's very distracting name rather than the surrounding scenery ("Fiji McAlpine" and I am not joking).
ReplyDeleteAnd I guess I will grudgingly read your reviews. But if I see you in an Adidas singlet next race I'll feel duped.
Sounds like things are going well for you. I don't care if you do reviews. Go for it.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you give an honest opinion on products, I wouldn't call it a sell out. Looking forward to reading them!
ReplyDeleteDude, that's a lot of miles for a weekend. Awesome job!!
Great back to back runs Jim! Free shoes? You would be crazy to turn down the chance to take them for a test drive.
ReplyDeleteI tried some Honey Stinger energy chews this weekend, the pomegranate was ok, surprisingly the Lime-Ade with caffeine was really tasty. I like Hammer Gels, but the chews are nice because they are much cleaner.
Good luck with the training, looking strong!
Free stuff that you needed to buy anyway - not a sell out, just a wise decision :-)
ReplyDeleteNice mileage!
That's a monster weekend. Nice work sir. Only a sell-out if your opinion isn't genuine. Doesn't seem like that will be a problem for you.
ReplyDeleteFor ultra training, the things the worked the best for me seemed to be Sport Beans (which I hadn't used in years), and peanut butter & honey sandwiches. PB & J didn't sit well, but switching to honey seemed to make my stomach smile. Definitely need to get in the habit of eating something with the ultra duration.
I used to review stuff all the time when I was really trying to promote my blog, but then it came to a point where I just didn't feel like it was worth it when I didn't LOVE the product. Now I only review stuff I wholly support/believe in and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Besides, FREE SHOES! :)
ReplyDeleteRemind me to never run behind you again. Lets I lose my eyebrows to the PB & J kickback. If you happen to review a pancake flipper, can I have it?
ReplyDeleteAwesome mileage Jim! You are rocking this ultra scene.
ReplyDelete