Red Dirt Harriers

I'm spreading the gospel in a few other forums. Firstly, I'm going to be remarking to the appeal of Okie fitness advocates, hopefully including crossfitters, at okathletes.com . Additionally, I'm keeping a training log at Fast Running Blog , where there are a few other Oklahomans, namely Jason Butler and Jake Buhler along with some other salty characters. I needed somewhere to tally the training miles so right now it will be this place, although I'm well aware there are probably better online training logs. I'm back to logging some miles, feeling fitter and having good company from Asher, I think his secret is recovering well, utilizing the most comfortable places to sleep and plenty of strides chasing squirrels.

I ran the Little Rock Marathon last weekend, finishing in 2:28:30ish. The race director took good care of all the elite runners, giving both the 1/2 and fullers the option of staying in the race hotel 2 nights prior to the race. I will note that their standards seem fairly relaxed and yet they gave us some nice little perks, with staging areas before and after and dinner before and whatnot. I again have to tip my hat because this is clearly not the norm in today's race circuit and if it is offered, there is often a very limited number of allowed elite spots. I had contacted the Woodlands marathon for instance and was not going to be offered any more than a comped entry, even though the marathon field was very limited. I have a number of issues surrounding this phenomenon but will just make note of the races that make an effort to help someone like myself. The course at Little Rock is quite winding and undulating for about 18 miles but then smoothes out and allows for a steady fin...

The week's flying by and I'm eager to be doing a long run on the Big River, come Saturday. I'm making an appearance at the Mississippi River Marathon and hope to be able to get a little bit of a tour around the delta on foot. Upon research, I understand I will be running over the world's largest oxbow, via a nifty bridge, and hopefully enjoying some southern delicacies upon finishing. I have put in my highest mileage ever in the last month and will hope to make use of it over the coming weeks and months, I will say the wheels are only starting to get rolling but I'm having fun and planning some nice travel kicked off by this weekend. Abiding by the rules I elected to set forth for this blog, I'll supply the details of a recent workout of the week. I opted for this one over a nice full stomach, Sunday evening long run where right at dusk a great horned owl flew across the road right in front of me, the thing was huge and I think it was considering sniping a ...

Another big week in the books. It's been pretty random Oklahoma winter weather which is nothing if not normal but today did mark the return of some humidity and windy weather, the kind of stuff that makes me do lots of self medicating with coffee in the morning and beer in the evening, otherwise I get all sorts of pressure headaches and loopy sensations. I had the pleasure last weekend of hanging in Dallas and doing some consumption of fine things. That means meat and bloody marys, maybe the odd mid grocery store pint. Anyone who has taken on a churascurria knows that as soon as you set foot in the door and make eye contact with one of those gauchos, its as if a challenge has been uttered and you must eat what for me is like a six months alotment of red meat. I made good on my promise and out ate everyone in the restaurant, with only minor issues the rest of the night. The next morning, Jenny and I dispatched of some fine Texas vodka and a chicken fry and migas. All in a days work,...

On returning form blogging hiatus, I came up with a few new spins for my posts. I'm going to try to do a weekly "best of training week" shout out and maybe provide a garmin recount. Next, I'll do more photos to convey just what I'm dealing with on foot. Honestly, I probably won't be running with a camera much but maybe every so often I'll lug the phone out into the red dirt Highlands of Oklahoma, where dogs run free as the wind and things haven't caught up to the modern era with paved roads and such, so I see fewer cyclists but just as many huge pickups to kick up clouds of dirt in my face. here goes: The one time last week I really wished I had a camera took place out in the boonies on a solo run, I saw two different owls. These things are pretty badass looking and it was a little surreal to see multiple birds on different parts of the run. Imagine seeing this guy at mile 11 of your run staring you down:

My next race on the horizon is going to be Tulsa Run. Unfortunately my race last weekend at the Prairie Fire 1/2 didnt pan out, but the bright side is that I ran a couple nice workouts prior to it and reminded myself of the importance of rest. I also had a fun time at the event, in addition to sleeping in my car, as there were some other buddies running the event and I randomly bumped into some family as the finish line and am hoping to reconnect with them. I also am going to go ahead and mention that I'm set to run the Santa Barbara International Marathon on November 10th. In selecting the event, I was after one that would be a race scenario, rather than a time trial and since I don't know the area very well, it will serve as a nice little exploratory visit. I felt like it is time to get back on the marathon horse but I haven't necessarily slated my training how I might have in previous leadups and so I hope to bring a different perspective to the table and also allow mys...

Summer's here, we've got nice, hot weather, lots of daylight and the only thing that sounds appealing sometimes is sitting on the couch in your underwear with your beverage of choice. There's alot of talk floating around of The Summer of Malmo, but I felt obliged to remind everybody about the origins of this proclamation: I think we all know who that was, more importantly we should consider the points laid out in his exclamation. Three months of floating, reading a book or two, tasting the fruits of the season: all these things can be well integrated into a great summer and successful rebuild to new heights in the fall. I too have always been a fan of The Summer of Malmo ideals. In fact, I pretty much use these methods when training for anything other than a marathon.

So I had this really eloquent, pithy write up of the week surrounding the OKC marathon. It was Norman Music Fest, Jenny's birthday, and then I was going to recap training and all. Well somehow I lost it as I hate typing these posts from iPad. Suffice it to say that I had a lot of fun that week, ran 2:37 in a very controlled effort in conditions which I hate. I recovered fine after an awesome backyard crab boil, but then travelled to the Green Bay marathon only to be have my effort stymied by the weather. I actually finished but the assholes decided to only indicate the finishers in the top 5 of each gender. I thought I was running conservatively enough going through 1/2 in 75' but everybody slowed and the nature of the course almost ensured that. I ceded 5th place around mile 23 when I stopped to stand in a sprinkler hoping I could regroup and make up the gap, but that didn't happen. I'm most frustrated by again getting two separate races where weather just killed my po...

I'm sitting here waiting for the Oklahoma summer heat to abate. I've elected to hang out in Stillwater for the summer which is pretty low-key and relaxing. I have some great training venues, with the cross country course literally feet away, the track less than a 1/4 mile away and dirt roads less than a mile. It's allowing me some time to rest physically and mentally from the last six months. There were alot of miles run and some frustrations in different respects and so I opted to change my surroundings. The summer around here really tests you're resolve and I have yet to really get anything going in training. Last week, I was in southern California with friends and managing to effectively stay up way to late, drink way to much beer and waste alot of time in traffic. It was a good time and made it apparent how tough a stimulus consistent 100+ degree heat is. I could spend all day there outside and have little lingering fatigue, whereas here its an hour here or there....

So far as I can tell, there's sort of two deliniations of runner. Those who enjoy going faster and those who like going longer. I can obviously be lobbed in to one of those deviations. I enjoy the discovery of new venues and mostly figure my motives are related to exploration, rather than an enjoyment of ripping off quarters. Much of this has to do with the fact that I'm not that fast and I probably tend to find more success at longer races. Plus I like to eat and the only way I can figure to work up a really good appetite is to work out for a while, as opposed to a short while, and then expecting to see huge gains and sustain motivation when you've throttled your body to an extreme and possibly even injured yourself. I'm not knocking anyone, Im just explaining my motives, persuasions, and tastes based on some empirical evidence of my own and even some common sensical notions. That being said, I ran my first 50k race last Saturday. It went fine, I was kind of able to ea...

So the last week spent in glorious Stillwater, looked something like this: M: 16 miles, dirt roads/XC course, few strides T: 16 miles, hilly dirt roads, really windy and hot W: 15 miles w/ 11x 90 on/off, 3 miles Asher run Th: 12 miles F: 15 miles, 5 shakeout, strides felt really tight S: 12 miles, stayed out late and had to entertain parentals all day so run was late and I ended up getting really dehydrated Su: 9 miles, 92 degrees stiff breeze and feeling it from week, opted to not run again because of my issues yesterday, i wanted to ensure recovery and with the heat this week i needed to be a little careful and get ready for next week; drove back to Norman and invested in some ice cream. I watched some decent films (The Big Year being the highlight) and some bad ones, cooked some tasty snacks and hurdled 3 snakes on the dirt roads without getting bitten. Im not loving the weather, it's never an easy time of the year around here, you either get allergies or gale force winds, heat,...

An update for those interested: I have been rolling out the miles, hoping to get ready for some spring races. I've been running more singles in an effort to consolidate the training stimulus, explore to the farthest reaches, and wash fewer running garments. The longer races are presumably what I will be better catered to my preparation and I will naturally hope that training through a warm Oklahoma spring gives me an edge if it comes to it. I am struggling a bit already to get the long pace runs in as it's pretty hot and fluid consumption is already a must. So a trail 50k may be the next start line I toe. In fact April is looking to be a race heavy month. Ill get some pics up of the training grounds in and around Stillwater, as I think they warrant some attention. Endless dirt roads and trails await, although I think I already know more about some of these venues than some of the locals. I'm spending a week up in these digs mainly to await Jenny's parents arrival with, ...

The latest news in SBevvy land was an adventure down to ft worth, TX for the Cowtown Marathon. A number of OKRunners were going to participate and who am I to shy away from some pacing duties and free and bottomless post race beer? Conner Wann was set to leg out his first 1/2 thon along with Josh Heimbach, Patti Rogers, Kels Hargens, and assorted other friends and patrons. As a sidenote, Ive had a tumultuous last week and a bit initiated by a massive hangover incurred a week previous, which led to a rough Saturday at the shop, which led to a trying weekend with the lady friend, which resulted in a number of sleepless and stressful days and nights. I also had managed to somehow strain an ankle tendon by a combination of running 12 miles on sand with a backpack on and doing hill repeats promptly afterward, but more likely just from lacing my damn shoe too tight. In any case my ankle looked like a bloated and decaying lamb shank and stayed that way as I worked at the shop on my feet throu...

So as the new year has been ushered in, I've struggled with training a bit. Mileage is always there but the weekly quality efforts were somewhat variable as I've already dealt with two respiratory/sinus flairups coutesy of the warmest winter in a long time around here. We haven't seen any snow down here and apparently things are blooming in January. I had a couple running resolutions which amounted to getting on trails and hills once a week. Sometimes this effort has been fused into a single run but overall, I've really enjoyed getting on the single-track at least once a week. Unfortunately my typical trail companion, Asher aka "meathead, shithead, knuckleahead, jackass, etc." has had a few run-ins with sharp objects in his haste and the most recent resulted in a gnarly gash from his shoulder across his bicep and all the way down to his elbow. Needless to say several stitches (and a satellite dish collar) were necessary and we'll just say that now he and M...

Coming to you from balmy northern Wisconsin, I'll recap the scene thus far. I cut free from the shop on Friday afternoon and streaked to Stillwater to collect Jenny and pets to get rolling on the northbound. It's been pretty hectic for all parties the last few weeks so I for one was really looking forward to a relaxed holiday. I am enjoying the relatively warm and snow-free conditions and have been on the snowmobile and XC ski trails almost every day now. I actually hadn't realized how many trail options there were within 30 miles of Lena, WI but it turns out this could be a pretty amazing training ground if you wanted to drive to some runs most days as they're just outside of running distance and hurdle a few deer carcasses along the trails. I took Asher on a 15 miler on some hilly reforestation trails a couple days ago and following the extenisve Asher:human matrix, we come to the conclusion that he ran upwards of 20 miles, accordingly he exemplified the "tired ...

After my 2:25 effort at C-bus, I'm going to try to bounce back to catch some of the more enticing local races. I'm thinking Tulsa Run, Pub Run(obviously), and Route 66 1/2 marathon. There's some different ideas running around my head about what to really gear up for but I know I should be able to get some pr's going. As far as last week's marathon effort, I was not ecstatic with the result. I felt very fluid running through halfway in 71 minutes but there were some issues at the start of the race that resulted in me needing a few miles to get loosened up, then possibly pushing a bit too hard to make up time and consequently faltering a bit at the end. I still felt affected by some exercise induced asthma late which is not uncommon and by the finish, I was again super sore and constricted through my ribs and intercostal muscles. It was a good race though on reflection and to be honest I think I needed it just to get back to racing a marathon and recalling how that fe...

In but a few days, Jenny and i will be departing for the left coast by car for what should be an excellent and relaxing vacation. Of course prior to that time, the annual OKRunner summer sale must be dealt with. We have a few plans on the itinerary but should find plenty of time to unwind. A few highlights will be a boat trip the the Channel Islands, some trail running at Point Mugu and Laguna and hopefully some Jenny eating some raw seafood. We will be overnighting in Albuquerque and Flagstaff for some nice respite from what tends to be otherwise a somewhat hot and arduous drive. If you ever have the chance to go to Needles, California in the summer, I suggest you pass.

I just returned from New Mexico last night and am recounting a highly enjoyable trip. I spent most of the week in Santa Fe, arriving last Monday to hit up an easy run with Mr. Jerry Faulkner. Jerry was nearing the terminus of his stay, which would total a month, and was a little cooked for much of the week. I experienced little issue with the altitude, the main difficulty being the constant undulation and technical nature of the terrain. We trained with some very good guys and enjoyed a relaxed environment with good food and plenty of tea. I enjoyed the fact that these guys train very much the way I do with nice progressive runs and steady pace, whereas Jerry was constantly pushing to get the first mile in at a certain pace. I also made sure to follow the locals schedule, so we were running at 6am, while somehow Jerry had run every day of his prior stay without doing so, running solo for much of it. All this is to say Jerry was thoroughly cooked upon leaving, whereas I feel only like...

The heat is here in full for the summer but I am optimistic that I can get what I need to done for a few races here and then an October marathon. I may try to get out of town in August or September for a marathon prep but I think the majority of my summer training will be conducted from Oklahoma. As for marathons, I'm thinking Chicago or Columbus with another race potentially at the end of the year. We've had some nice additions to the local training group with Conor Holt returning to the fray, and hopefully the first generation of guys finished with eligibility from Martin's group also joining for some runs. I've been training consistently for a solid 14 months, something I'm happy about. I've also been able to manage some quality volume for most of that time so I guess my biggest concern going into the fall will be whether or not I can integrate some marathon sessions here and there through the summer. I am interested in utilizing the Devon Boathouse, with it...

OKC marathon weekend has come and gone and I have a few things to conclude: never presume a marathon is out of reach especially in shitty conditions and given that OKC is a horribly run and fairly rugged, never seed 6+ minutes at the 1/2 marathon mark to a person who came to a race to try to set the stroller marathon world record, and finally always have a beer waiting for you after a long race no matter how rapidly hypothermia may be setting in. I'll follow up this post later but I'm getting ready for a refreshing weekend in New Mexico. Suffice it to say I'm pleased to have participated in the race and it was a much more exciting finish than I might have imagined. I didn't set out to give myself much of a chance at any kind of time but I did turn a 4 minute deficit at 20 miles into a staggered 800 meter race to the finish. OKC officials obviously had no idea at the drama that was playing out as they never have in the at least 4 recent occasions where the race has been ...