Black Toe Run

The worst part about the End of Days run were the frozen fingers...  I spilled water on my gloves at the mile 1.5 aid station, which promptly froze--both the glove and my hand.  Not good.  The course was downhill on the way out, and entirely uphill on the way back.  I started off slow, and was never able to mentally pick-it-up.  My heart-rate stayed in the 155-158 range.  Neither my knees or hips gave me any problems (my shins haven't troubled me in a long time--ever since I worked on my stride-rate) but my toes... that's a different story.

By mile 7 or 8 the toes in my right foot began to give my problems--a slight discomfort, perhaps.  My left foot felt fine (the one with the sexy black toe). But my attention was focused on my hands--by mile 10, I was actually glad they still hurt--if they didn't that might have meant frost-bite for sure, and I still had almost thirty minutes of 'racing' left.

When the race was over, all I could think about was getting my hands warm--the digits on my left hand were starting to swell...

At home, I took my socks off to discover my left black toe had a black and purple bruise a the tip.  Very nice!  And, I had a pair of blisters on the tips of two of my toes on the right foot.  Ugh.

I don't like looking at it either

Confided with some running colleagues of mine and they felt that it was the conditions--soft snow--that led to the problems, and not my favorite running shoes.

[EDIT]  Finally received the official results: 11th place 2:01:19 (PR)

End of Days Half Marathon

30 Degrees and 13.1 miles of soft snow...

Ann and Ethan ran the 5k (Ethan won the men's race, Ann won the women's); Simon and I ran the half.  Simon suffered some GI issues at the 5 mile mark and wasn't able to have the result he wanted.  I probably started a bit too slow and wasn't able to negative split--the course went downhill out and uphill back.  Finished in 11th place overall and 9th for the men in 2:01:19 for a PR.  My toes didn't like the snow...

Ice Prep

To prepare for the End of Days half-marathon, I decided to "stud" my shoes to better deal with the potential for ice on the trail--turns out it wasn't completely necessary, but that is for another post.




Here's what I did:

First (and only) stop, Lowes for some metal screws. I used the smallest, shortest I could find with a hex-head.  I ended up with 6x1/2.

Luckily my shoes had smalls holes in the design of the tread that I used to locate the studs

With an electric drill and the appropriate bit-driver, I inserted the studs--being careful not to over-torque.

This photo shows metal and neoprene washers that I originally used as spacers.  I was afraid that the screw length would poke through the sole... I studded one shoe with, and the other without the washers.  I then took a jog around the block to see if I noticed any difference.  The "washered" shoe was noticeable, the other, not.  I figured if I was able to notice ANYTHING on a short jog, it would be unbearably bothersome on the half.

The finished product (almost).  I ended up moving the studs on the red portion of the sole to the outer edge--I was worried about them being exactly beneath the ball of my foot.

Decision Time

The AE Club at UAA is sponsoring the "End of Days" running series, (click here) with the first race on Sat. Dec 17th.  They are offering both 5k and 1/2 marathon distances.  We've decided as a family to participate--now its time to decide on a distance.  Simon's mind is made up--its the half or nothing for him!  Ann and Ethan are excited about improving their times for the 5k.  I, on the other hand, can't decide.  I want more of a challenge then the 5k will provide, but I'm nervous about completing the half on the snow with questionable aid stations.


Last nights intervals went well.  I did 5x400m @ 6:40, with 400m recovery @9:30-10:20

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11

Best shoe ever. I purchased my first pair back in March, 2011--that combined with an improved (increased) cadence have not had a single issue with my shins or knees.  Okay--I've had trouble with my knees, but that is only because I don't know how to unload MX bikes from my trailer...

I'm on my second pair now and alternate between the two.  I'm intrigued by the "natural/barefoot" trend, but honestly can't imagine training/road-racing in anything except these kicks.

I purchased mine at Skinny Raven

Click here for more information

Snow Day

Got to the gym MUCH later then I would have liked/planned and this definitely impacted my workout.  Trying to lose weight and train is a difficult balance of reducing caloric intake and at the same time eating enough to fuel your body for performance.  I didn't get that balance right today.

I ate my usual pre-run breakfast of Costco waffles with peanut-butter and Nutella at 10AM thinking I'd be at the gym by 12PM.  At noon I drank a protein shake thinking I'd be at the gym by 1PM.  I got to the gym at 3:30.

Physically, I felt fine--energized even, but soon after I started running, my energy waned.  I still ran for an hour, but sweated off three (3) pounds (this while drinking over 20oz of water and eating a small energy bar) and covered 6.3 miles.



Ann continued to run (a total of 8.5 miles in 90 minutes--a new record for her) and I went to the pool to swim laps.  I covered maybe 750 yards and felt good.  What didn't feel good was looking at myself in the mirror back in the locker room.  I wish effort/output would equal visual self-perception.

Kaladi Brothers Coffee

My favorite "pit-stop" in Anchorage on this fine Saturday morning--Everyone has the same good taste in laptops...

"16oz Quad-Americano Mr Lynn?"

Yes Please!

Paradigm Shift

Part way into my "Big Loop" route, I realized I wasn't working.  Not to say I wasn't moving, but the effort was minimal at best and this was new.  Granted, I was going slow--10:30 - 11:30 miles, but the roads were covered in ice and traction was sketchy at best.

This route, my first time around, was a HUGE achievement--I bragged about it for weeks and although I knew I could run it, I avoided it because of the investment of effort needed.  But today was different.  Better.  Easier.  I even removed a glove and made phone calls while jogging down an ice-covered sidewalk at 6mph.  I'm not sure it was obvious to the people on the other end of the line to know what I was doing during the conversation...

The run was cut shorter then I would have liked--one of the phone calls was from Simon who needed to be picked up from DDF practice.  I ran home, jumped into the truck, picked up Simon, took him home, got a drink of water then went right back out for another 2.5 miles.  I felt like I could have done ten.  That is until I ran out of fuel.  2 miles in, I could tell I needed nutrition and was glad I didn't head out on the five mile loop like I had planned.

I "borrowed" the chest strap from Annie's Garmin 210 for this run.  I wanted to see if it would read more accurately then mine.  It did.  No weird spikes early in the run, everything looked good.  Time to see about replacing mine.

Breakup in December

We had unusually warm weather this past weekend; temps in the 40's with winds and rain.  Consequently all (most) of the lovely snow has gone away, and has been replaced with ice...  This week is turning out to be a busy one with Ann and I both busy finishing out the semester and shuttling the kids around town to various functions.

Yesterday we missed our run, and the day before (Monday) we planned to be at the Alaska Club for our intervals but had to cancel--just not enough time.  I know the solution, but I don't like it. I'm not a morning person and I already wake at 5:45AM to leave by 6:30.  To get a morning run in, I would need to get up by 4:15.  Hmmm.  How much is my training worth to me?

I almost wrote that it involves waking before dawn, but heck--dawn didn't arrive until 9:58AM today, and it isn't even the solstice...

Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis

A last minute addition to our training schedule...  Due to crazy weather (rain and ice) the school activities were cancelled--most notably for us, the cross country ski meet at Service.  This meant we could participate in this 5k as a family.  The race began at the Snow Goose restaurant near downtown and followed the coastal trail to Westchester Lagoon and back. We each had our goals: Simon wanted to win, Ethan wanted to finish, Annie wanted to maintain a 10:00min/mile pace, I wanted to finish with better the 8:00min/mile pace.

Simon didn't win but finished in the top ten.  My pace was 7:55 for the race--my fastest ever!  Ethan struggled but was able to finish ahead of Ann who met her goal!  Ann may have broke her toe the morning of the race, or just bruised it badly--whatever, it doesn't look good but she said it didn't give her any problems during the race.  I will link to the results as soon as the come up.

[EDIT]

Official results:

John Lynn            24.14     16^{th (PR)}

Simon Lynn         22.29     9th

Ethan Lynn          28.0        32^nd

Ann Lynn             31.34     60^th (m/f combined)