JFK - The 5yr Plan

“Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”  ~Mary Oliver 

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~Unknown

Since this is a journal of my running life, most of you don’t know that I’m a huge JFK buff. My office wall is covered in JFK memorabilia. I was a teen when all of the JFK conspiracy stuff began. And it just so happened that my mom had a commemorative plate of John & Jackie hanging on our wall. We would watch the conspiracy investigations trying to decipher the mystery. FYI: The government did it. 

Now you're asking, what does this have to do with running?  We’ll, there’s apparently a race in Maryland in honor/memory of JFK. How did I not know? How can I not run it?!? 

I’ve been looking into it & this is the loose, abbreviated version of the story…

Apparently in 1963 John F Kennedy said that our military men should be able to hike 50 miles (taken from an old Teddy Roosevelt quote). The news media covered an event where handpicked military officers attempted to traverse 50 miles.  In turn, it spurred a fury of 50 miles hikes by the general public that year across the country. Then JFK got assassinated. Only one race kept going.  A group of high school runners had asked to continue it in his honor. They are now coined as being America’s oldest ultramarathon. 

I’m sure at this point you’re putting 2&2 together. I'm going to do it before I turn 50. I mean I have to... I have 4 years to train. I’ve laid out what I think is a solid plan. I ran the Pikes Peak Ascent last year so I added it on the front & we have the 5yr plan. 

2021: Pikes Peak Ascent

2022: Dallas Marathon

2023: 50k race tbd

2024: Pikes Peak Marathon

2025: JFK 50-Miler

Could I train & do it next year? Probably.  

So why the 5yr plan?

1. I’m already in Wk4 of Dallas Marathon training.

2. I had already planned to target a 50k next year.

3. The Pikes Peak marathon has been on my mind. 

4. Sept 2026 I’ll be 50 & the race is in Nov. 

That’s some runner logic right there. I’ll see you in Dallas & log a few more updates along the way.

If you’re not growing, you’re dying; & I plan to live forever. ~Me

Pikes Peak Ascent - race report

I've been talking about Pikes Peak for about 6 months now.  The week finally came!

For reference, here's the course.

My friends have ran this race; both the Ascent & the Marathon.  I am now convinced that I never actually understood just how hard it was.  Don't get me wrong.  I knew it would be tough, but not on this level.  Judging by this race, I'm not sure that I ever really challenged myself before.  This was by far the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life!  

One of the things that makes it tough, besides the fact that you're going up a mountain, is the cut-offs.  There were multiple checkpoints that you had to make or else you were turned back.

No Name (4.3 mi, 8,800') 1:40:00

Barr Camp (7.6 mi, 10,200') 3:10:00

A-Frame (10.2 mi, 12,000') 4:30:00

Summit (13.3 mi, 14,115') 6:30:00

Think about this... you get to A-Frame at 4:31:00.  You missed the cut-off.  You have to go 10.2 miles back down.  That's 20.4 miles in a 13.3 mile race.

I've been training & I thought I’d be faster, but the mountain has a way of checking your ego in the first mile. 

I felt that I was doing fairly well until after Barr Camp, mile 7.6 at 10,200ft elevation. Not long after I made the checkpoint (1hr ahead of cutoff) I really started feeling it. I made it to A-frame, mile 10.2 at 12,000ft elevation, a mere 20mins before the cutoff. I lost 40mins in that section.  From there it was an all out battle of the mind & body. 

With about 2 miles to go I decided that I wasn’t going to make the finish before the cutoff. My miles were slowing & I had all but lost the battle of the mind. 

But I kept pushing. Pushing is an exaggeration. It was more like slinking... Just plain surviving. With just a couple of turns left I heard the announcer say, “we have 10mins left in the race!”  I couldn’t believe it!  I was going to make it! I pushed myself hard. (I think this actually qualified as pushing) 

I crossed the line at 14,115ft with just 4 minutes to spare!  (after recalibration of the race clock I only had 1m 49s left to cross!)  I was so tired that I could barely walk to the aid station for an orange & banana. 

I have never really been emotional running races, but today, at that moment, as I walked toward that table alone, the emotion of me thinking I wasn’t going to make it & then barely making it, I started crying. 

I literally left everything that I had on that damn mountain. After all was said & done 13.32 miles & 7,815ft of vertical gain!

Dare to see what you’re capable of.  You just might surprise yourself!

A Year Long Streak & a New FRC Season!

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” – Margaret J. Wheatley 

“We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” – John Dewey

Reflection time.  Finishing up June will be my 12th month in a row in with 100 or more miles.  Prior to this streak I had only ran 100 miles in a month twice my entire running career.  I may not be running a 7 min mile, but I'm out here crushing it!  Here's a recap. (more for me than you)

2020 was a terrible year, but it was my best year of running!  Of the previous 7 years my highest mileage year was 2017 with 585.9.  I ended 2020 with 912.8!  After my 5 miles tomorrow (to hit 100 for June) I'll be just over 663 miles!  Already about 2/3 of the way to my 2020 mileage.

Using the first 6 months to calculate an average, I am on pace to hit 1,326 miles this year!  That right there is why we reflect!  Why am I getting faster?  I'm running more.  My highest mileage years were the years that I was the fastest (2014, 2017, 2020).  It makes sense now that I'm looking at it. I PR'd my half marathon time in January after logging the most yearly miles ever.

Now here I sit in the midst of my most epic year of running yet!  I did half marathons on back to back days.  Capping a 3 in 9 days adventure.  I am signed up to run up Pikes Peak in 8 short weeks.  I am signed up for my first full marathon in December.  Bringing my 2021 totals to 8 halfs & 1 full for 2021!

So I'll end this little parade with...  Consistency is key!  

Now we're in a brand new season of the FRC training plan & I'm a pacer this year.  We'll have workout as a group each week.  Tuesday Track, Wednesday Social, Thursday XT, & Saturday Long Run.  Depending on what mileage you're targeting there are multiple plans to follow. The weekly mileages are 25, 35, 40, or 50.  Super excited to see what the plan does for me & through me this year!

Until next time...  Here are some shots from the last few weeks!

Shoes from Atreyu in Austin, TX.

Had some fun with a T-Rex costume at Track Tuesday!

It was was also pouring down rain the whole time...

1,500+ ft of AR gravel elevation at Love Hollow.

A small cave at Waterloo Park in Denison, TX.

Conquered Salado Mtn twice in AR.

Train Hard, Have Fun

“Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.” – Richard Carlson

I am trying to refocus myself with more training.  I know it seems like I'm always saying something like that.  I just haven't really found a sustainable routine.  I need to step outside of just running & work on building some strength.  At the same time, I need to make sure that I stick to my 100 miles per month commitment.  Pikes Peak is only 3 months away!  Eek!

I attempted the treadmill incline routine.  I kept wanting to grab the side rails & I did when I got tired.  I decided that I needed more real world practice to keep me honest.  So I threw on the 20lb vest and ran a half marathon.  I use the term "run" loosely.  It was more of a jog/hike.  I was on the Squircle.  So, I jogged the flats & downhills & hiked the uphills.

For the most part I felt pretty good.  Initially, I planned to just do a couple of loops; about 10 miles. But as I settled into a rhythm I thought, "What the hell? Let's do a half."  About mile 10 I passed by my car to refill my water & I was getting hot & tired.  Those last 3 miles I was thinking, "What the hell!?!", in a whole different attitude...  But I lugged on & stuck to my goal. I finished in just under 3hrs.

I recently got the opportunity to work with a health & wellness coach.  It's basically a free 3 month program.  One of our coaches, Bo, is getting certified & part of her final testing requires her to have programmed for clients. Check her out if you get a chance.  Infinite Fitness Frisco 

So right now we are working on my eating habits & my training regimen.  I have added more vegetables to my diet as well as not going back for seconds.  I have got into a bad habit of eating until I'm just miserable.  My training week will look like this while remaining flexible & allowing my body to rest when needed.

Monday - Strength training

Tuesday - Track / Speedwork

Wednesday - Medium distance easy run

Thursday - Strength training

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - Long run

Sunday - Trail run

The strength days will be varied depending on the week.  I may be using the vest, hill repeats, cycling, XT, weight room.  Keeping it variable will keep me from getting bored.

Since I felt like such a stud after the vest run, I decided to use it during the XT day too.  Talk about taking it up a  notch.  Wow.  I was destroyed after that workout.

All the hard training will wear you down.  So you have to throw in some fun easy runs too!  Those are my favorite!  I setup a group run with the club & we had a blast.  We also setup a Ninja Turtle run since we haven't been able to get together recently.  I even let Leo take the picture.  We also celebrated Sarah's 500th day of her run streak with a 5 mile run & bloody mary's!

That's enough for this month!  Train hard & most importantly don't forget to have fun!

Pikes Peak, marathon pacing, & back to back half marathons!

 "Your work is your own private megaphone to tell others what you believe." - Simon Sinek

So I took a little break from blogging.  Sometimes it get daunting to keep up with a journal, but it's a rewarding thing to look back and see how I've progressed.

I'm going to try & keep at this thing.  Maybe not weekly.  Perhaps monthly, but periodically to maintain some sense of history.

What did I miss...  Well, March 1st meant that opening of general registration for the Pikes Peak Marathon & Ascent.  As I mentioned before, Brian asked if I wanted to go with them this year to run it.  Being a glutton for punishment I said yes.  I actually got registered even though both races sold out within an hour. No turning back now!  

Now comes the attempt to hill train in the flatlands of Texas.  I started out on a incline treadmill plan, but I didn't feel like it really helped a great deal.  The treadmill gave me the temptation/option to hold onto the side rails or lean forward and hang on.  Which is why I ordered this puppy.  They say that it helps simulate hill climbing.  We'll see... I decided to start out easy until I build some strength.  I did a 2 mile walk followed by a 1 mile run.  The run portion felt similar to the end of a half marathon.  Everything just felt heavy. As it should carry 20 extra pounds.

What else happened?  My Texas buddy, Leo from the Turtles, decided to run his first full marathon.  I volunteered to work the course so that I could be around to cheer him on. I was posted at a turnaround section.  Once all of the runners were through that portion they would go into, if I remember correctly, 2.3 mile loops.  As I finished my post & walked back to the start/finish area, Leo came along.  I ran with him for a minute or two and then stayed at the finish area cheering runners on.  After a little time passed I see Mark come by.  I decide that the next time he comes by I'll run a loop with him.  I'm not really dressed to run, but I thought it would be encouraging for him.  I'm wearing sweat pants, a t-shirt, & an old pair of shoes that I retired months ago.  

A few minutes later he comes by & I join in.  He has just under 9 miles to go.  After a couple of loops I decided that he needed me to keep running with him.  So I start telling him every part of my life story that I can think of.  Anything to keep myself talking & try to distract him from the pain he was in.  We kept on going & he finished his first marathon. 26.2 miles!

Another exciting bit of news in the last month or so.  The city of McKinney accidentally double booked 2 half marathons on the same weekend.  I've always wanted to attempt two halfs back to back.  This seemed to be my chance!  I put a text to the Turtles to see if anyone wanted to double up... No takers.  I asked Brian (the guy who invited me to Pikes Peak).  He's equally as crazy as me.  So he said yes.  He was signed up for another race the weekend before.  A trail race in Arkansas.  I figured it was the least that I could do to run with him since he was running with me.  If you do the math that's 3 half marathons in 9 days.  So we signed up.

Race #1 like I mentioned was a trail race in Arkansas.  It was gravel backroads with about 900ft of elevation gain.  I needed the hill training anyway.  It was hard.  I had also made the mistake of taking some multiple gels during the race that had a shot of caffeine.  I was thinking that it would help push me onward.  Unbeknownst to me, what it actually did was push my heart rate to the limit.  I was completely trashed about mile 9 and beyond.  Afterward I looked at my hear rate data & it had peaked at 211! Lesson learned.

The following weekend Brian came to town to prepare for our back to back races.  I forgot to mention that the sponsoring race companies joined together to create a challenge.  They were hoping that it would help with attendance.  In our case I guess it worked.  The races were on the same course.  They were slightly different.  One starting at one end of the trail & the other starting at the opposite end.  Nonetheless there was a lot of repeated scenery.  That definitely keyed up a mental game on day 2.  We were up to the challenge & earned that hardware!  My second race time was only 8 minutes slower than the first.  I'd say that was a win for my first double.

That double also qualified me to join Half Fanatics!  I've been thinking about it for sometime, but never have pulled the trigger.  This weekend also wrapped up my 20th half marathon.  I'd say I'm classified as a fanatic.

Lastly, here’s a shot of my new Half Fanatic racing singlet! The boys from Stud Nation & I decided we would use them as our team shirts.  

God bless America!

Sometimes you have to change it up

If we don't change, we don't grow.  If we don't grow, we aren't really living. - Gail Sheehy

A very thought provoking quote.  Living things grow that's what they do.  If something is not growing most often it's dead or at least unproductive.

As you know, I have been back & forth about where to go next with my training.  Sometimes options open up that help with your decision.  It did for me.

Some friends of mine invited me to go with them to run Pike's Peak.  Being the psychopath that I am, I said yes.  There are several of us planning to go, rent a house, stay the week and run the 14,115ft mountain race.  Being my first trip, I'll just do the Ascent.  That's a half marathon to the top.  Some of the others are doing the full marathon which includes the Decent back to the bottom.  Registration opens on March 1st.  I just have to hope that I can get a spot.

Now I need to start looking for some hills & trails.  And trails with hills.  It has been suggested that I run with a weighted vest.  Let's make sure that I get in first.

MONDAY means it’s a new week!  I took a nice little out and back. I didn’t intend to run negative splits, but I’ll take it. 9:16, 9:09, 8:49. 

It seems like a lot of my Monday runs end up being negative splits. 

THURSDAY and it's XT day again.  I've taken a few extra days off this week.  I've been having some pain in the arch of my right foot.  I've been rolling it with the touchpoint ball & hitting it with the impact massager.  This morning it feels better.  So, I guess I have no excuse not to do the workout this week.  I mean I did win another prize last week.  I could recuse myself to let someone else have a chance.  That wouldn't be any fun.  Besides its just a little 3 mile run. Oh and 20 burpees every half mile!  I'm going to feel real empowered after this one.

I put on my USA ASICS.  They’re a little more stiff in the arch. No issues during the workout. Maybe these shoes aren’t so bad after all. 

The workout was tough, but I felt stronger than I thought I would. I’m sure the people passing by though that I was insane. I did manage to keep all of the running sections under 10min/mile. I can remember last year not being able to do 5 burpees without being completely out of breath. If it’s hard just keep doing what you can & eventually you’ll get better & stronger. 

SATURDAY it's time for something a little different. Trail running.  I wanted to spend some time on the Squircle this year. That begins today.  What's a Squircle?  It's a squared loop. Not a square & not a circle.  A Squircle.

So I arrive at Erwin Park & there are tons of mountain bikers everywhere.  I quickly find a parking spot & head out toward the park entrance to begin the Squircle.  It's about a half mile to the gate.  Going left out of the park, it's a short run to the first turn onto gravel.  After another mile starts a pretty decent uphill.  Honestly, I can't remember a whole lot about the course except that there were several rolling hills.  I was trying to make sure I didn't miss a turn.  It was my first time & I was alone.  One section had some new homes & land being developed.  The rest was just like being out on Miller Creek Road in Arkansas.  It felt almost like being back home, passing farms & livestock..  The last thing I remember is the gradual uphill back to the park entrance.  I make the final left turn & finish the half mile back to the car.  There was definitely an added degree of difficulty.  The Nike Pegasus Trail 2 made for a nice run as well.  Ended up with just over 5 miles on my first trip around the Squircle.

It's SUNDAY and I'm back at Erwin Park for more.  I haven't ran a long run this week.  So I decide on a double Squircle.  One loop to the left like yesterday & one loop in the opposite direction.  I won't bore you with too much repeating the course report from yesterday, but I'll tell you this.  The Right Squircle is definitely tougher than the Left Squircle.  About 2 miles after starting the Right Squircle there is a massive hill.  In the opposite direction obviously it's a nice downhill. So I didn't notice it.  Yesterday I saw once person.  Today there were probably 8-10 other people on on the Squircle.  Looking at my final pace, I could tell that it was tougher today.  Nonetheless, I got it done.  Final tally was 9.5 miles.

Eight Days a Week w/ race recap

My week usually starts on Monday. Last week I posted my blog on Saturday not realizing that we had a social run planned for Sunday. Which would work out good since my clearance rack shoes came in late on Saturday. They need a test run. 

ASICS GT-1000 USA edition 🇺🇸

SUNDAY 

The run was tied to the $50 challenge that I talked about last week. The idea was that anyone who showed up would run on the trail & inevitability get a picture on the bench. That would enter them into the drawing. Luckily for my shoes the rain from the night before closed the trail. Street run it is!

MONDAY

Hope for the Holiday is this weekend. So today is a REST DAY!  Plus I took vacation all week!

Here’s a quick tip for keeping your feet loose. After every long run I use the Trigger Point massage ball to roll my feet. Starting in the middle, moving back & forth. Roll all areas on the bottom of the foot; heel, toes, instep, etc. Pay special attention to the sore areas. Try to loosen the muscles up. I usually spend about 5 mins per foot. 

TUESDAY

Mostly short easy miles this week, but it’s Track Tuesday. The plan called for a progressive ladder.  As the distance shortened the speed increased. 

It starts out with a 400m warmup.  That’s one lap on the track or a quarter mile. Then the ladder begins. 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m. My plan was to start at 10mins/mile & increase 30s/mile each phase. 

I know all of that sounds great, but I over slept & none of it happened. I was supposed to get up at 4:15a. I woke up at 6:20a. The rest of the guys still put in work without me. 

Even though I missed out this morning I got in the progressive workout on the street. As usual I started out a little fast, but laid down some solid splits. The last quarter I was definitely sucking wind. There was plenty of it too with an 18mph breeze. 

On a related note, I sure hope the ASICS break in. I’m not digging them yet. My feet were, what I call,  clopping the entire run. I couldn’t get in the groove. I felt very awkward running.  I may use them for easy runs until I get some miles on them. 

That is one thing about the Nikes they just glide. They wear out too fast, but they run so good! I need to find a middle ground shoe. I was hoping the ASICS were the ones. We’ll see...

WEDNESDAY

Another 4:15a alarm for some hump day miles. I met Raphael for an easy 3. Work schedules had other plans for Leonardo & Donatello. 

We did a quick out & back on the pi route (3.14). I didn’t go to .14 because Garmin & Strava never match on mileage. I couldn’t name it Pi if they both weren’t 3.14.  I know I’m a weirdo. Any way... chilly run with a slight headwind coming back. After looping back to the store with me Raphael went back out for 3 or 4 more. I went home, showered, & took a nap. Ahhh, glorious vacation...

THURSDAY

One more easy pace run before Hope for the Holiday on Saturday. Everything started out pretty well normal, floating around a 9:45 pace. About a mile in my right shin started flaring up. I haven’t had any shin issues in over 6 months. 

For several years I have had what I call shin flare ups off & on. My soleus muscle will start to swell. It’s like getting a muscle pump when lifting weights. The problem is that it would continue to swell until it was painful to flex my foot at all. Eventually if I didn’t stop my feet would go to sleep. I never have really figured out what causes it. I had decided that it had something to do with my extra weight. Typically when my weight comes back down it would quit. 

So now I’m perplexed again. Since I’m sitting at 180lbs & have been doing XT. (another theory was weak lower leg muscles)

Yet another theory was muscle adhesion. Which was why I bought the Roll Recovery R8. To pull the muscle fascia away from the bone. That’s very painful by the way. I still use the R8 everyday. So yeah... perplexed. 

Anyway back to today. I downed about half my bottle of water during my second mile. That’s one of my crutches. When I’m struggling during a run I drink water. Not sure why. Nonetheless, with about a mile to go my shin relaxed & I went on cruise control. That last mile was so effortless. It felt awesome! So maybe it’s the water. Who knows... 

FRIDAY

Drive to Batesville, AR from Dallas, TX for the 4th annual Hope for the Holiday half marathon & 5k in memory of Garrett Yeager. 

SATURDAY

RACE DAY!  My last race I went out too fast.  So this time I decided to take it easy out of the gate. The first five miles of this course is several rolling hills. If you’re not careful you’ll destroy your race going out too fast. I made sure to slow down on the uphills & speed up on the downhills. It was a good plan for me. 

You got the technical trail section at about 5.5 miles. It was downhill, but required a slower pace. Once through the trail it was a few miles on a nice, peaceful gravel road. I was feeling good after the trail, so I resumed my target pace. The turn back onto the street had a slight uphill followed by a generous down. The course was flat for a bit after that which was nice.  Mile 10 started another uphill climb & then a glorious downhill through 11. 

Seeing the Mile 12 sign only meant one thing... The punishing last mile back up to the top of Eagle Mountain. The first half mile is a gradual climb. The last half mile is virtually straight up. It’s a punishing finish. I made it part of the way up & realized that at this point I could actually walk faster. Once I made the last turn & could see the finish I started some semblance of running again. It’s a tough course, but man it feels awesome to finish it. My official finish time was 2:10:38. Nearly 14 minutes faster than last year. 

Now its time to rest for a few days!

Check out the elevation map at the bottom!