Camp Week 8

Dear mom & dad

Wow what a week a camp. Coach had the Anchor man run me hard on Monday. Set a new PR of 51:44 on the CDRs. He was gunning from the start, hill after hill. First time I actually felt like my leg muscles were exhausted! Then the next day I hit some trail running on the hills in the arboretum. Knowing I was being sent to pace a new camper named Orlando i want to get my hard runs done early and rest up for the race.  Better to be over prepared than not be ready when he needed me in the race. He did good and I think he will be asleep in the cabin for the next 30 hours. A few of the other campers were there too. Anchor man and Green Hornet paced Kai-borg and Javier. The President and Majic had off days and stopped early in the race. The Doc went the strongest in 20 hours and some change.

This week looks like a normal week of a few group runs coach has us doing. Please send more cytomax i am going through it so quickky with these high humid days. Just a few weeks left here at camp and then i will be home soon.

Weekly mile recap:
Mon rest
Tues 7.2 dirt roads
Wed 3.0 trail run
Thur rt
Fri rest
Sat/Sun 47.3 miles pacing Orlando at the Burning River 100 mile

Total 57.5 miles

Ps Thanks for the care package!

A name like no other

For the longest time I have been searching for the right fitting trail running name. After many thoughts I landed on one that seem to best suited for me. I then ran it by my running friends and it was well-approved. The name has many synonynms: rabble-rouser, rogue, mischief-maker, rascal and several others.

A friend of mine aka tumbleweed google searched it and found out there is an X-Men named Hellion (see attached picture).  Also check out the bio on him it is really incredible.  How cool is that i could known as a mutant rogue trail runner?

Well whatever my running name is I am enjoying every trail run like a kid at recess.

Signed
The Hellion

Camp Week 7

Dear mom and dad,

Well another week down here at camp. Coach gave us two big tasks to complete is week for some upcoming bigger tasks to close out the came season. First was an overnight group run. We all were roused from our cabins to meet on the trailhead at midnight for a four hour run. The president, gremlin, birdman, kaiborg, and a few others made the run. It was a lot of fun on the 7 mile loop course. We stopped by a lake and everyone turned off their headlamps to check out the full sky of stars. The stars were amazing!!

After the run i got back to my cabin for a quick two hour nap coach had me do some tasks around the campgrounds. At the last minute i was instructed to join an impromptu 8K (4.97 mile) race. It was a gathering of a lot of other campers. At the start line the singlets showed several different camps being represented. An elite camper named Newton came too. I lined up with Majic and in the first mile it was a mad dash!! In the end i finished 13th overall out of several hundred campers. I love trail races at camp so much.

Well the week wasnt too big, but it was tougher:

Mon 7.2 miles on the CDT canton dirt road
Tues Rest
Wed 5 Miles on the Arboretum Hill repeats
Thur Rest
Fri 18 miles trail late night group run
Sat  8K Maybury Classic Race
Sun Rest

Total 35.2 miles

This week coach is sending us to Ohio to help pace some campers in the Burning River 100 Mile. I am so excited!

PS the other campers gave me a nickname this year "the hellion"

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A handful for 2011

Saturday afternoon i headed Maybury State Park for the 8k classic. The race is 50% trail and the other 50% is the walking paved path.Knowing that 2.5 miles was going to be on the hilly trail section i was excited to give it a go. Plus this was my first 8k (4.97 mile) run.

I ran into a friend of mine Mark who was running it too. I asked if i could pace off him for the first mile so i could get a feel for what pace we were running. The plan was no faster than 6:40 on that mile. Once i get a pace i can hold it really close to even. Well Mark hit the first mile for us at 5:58 so much for a nice slower pace. At that point i just thought hold in it is a short race.

Coming into the trail section aka 2nd half i made my move on the other runners picking off six in the next section. Having run that area tons of time i knew where the three big climbs would be and could manuever them.

Overall i had a blast sprinting through the woods. Not sure how well each split was marked but watch showed my last split at 5:42. Being in the woods is my plan for the rest of all my running and with my overall time of 32:19 (6:30 per mile) it feels right to me to be on the trails instead of roads.

In the end i was exactly 5 minutes behind the overall winner taking 2nd in my age group and 13 overall.

For 2011 I now have "a handful" of PRs: 1 mile, 5k, 8k, 13.1m & 50k. It is turning out to be a faster year on lower mileage.

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No More Faking It...

Heading up to Hope Pass from Winfield 2010

Over the past several runs I have come to terms with my running. Ever since I set foot on the road I have never enjoyed the run, unless pacing in a marathon. Each time I set foot in the woods on a trail I get filled with excitement about what lies ahead. Even during the day leading up to the run I am anxiously looking forward to the run. Even last night doing my hill repeats at the arboretum in temps over 100F I was enjoying the moment charging up the hill through the forest dripping sweat. Once the repeats were complete I headed along the path for a nice 1.5 mile tempo run to close it out. Looking back at my time I closed out the last mile in just under a seven minute pace.

All of my favorite races have been on dirt surfaces. Rocky Raccoon, Virgil Crest, American River, Hallucination, Umstead, Flirt with Dirt and many more. Those races provide me with an enjoyment I have yet to find in any road race.

Going forward I dedicating 90% of my running to dirt roads & trails. I still enjoy the challenge of track workouts so I left a few miles each week to an occasional non-earth surface. So that means any races going forward will be spent on the trails too. There are enough races on trail surfaces to keep me busy for many years, thank you to all the race directors out there for creating so many options!!

I have four weeks left until the Leadville 100 which I am very much looking forward too. Not just the challenge of the course, but all the views that will be taken in during the run.

To those of you that enjoy the road it is all yours and if you are looking for me head to woods. Best wishes on your running endeavors!

Camp Week 6

Dear mom & dad,

Wow what a week!! Coach had me all over the western hemisphere doing workouts. Monday I woke up and was rushed on to a flight to Negril, Jamaica. The running there was all about high "rain forest" humidity training. Every run I pushed the pass and returned to the camp soaked through my shorts. The camp there was absolutely beautiful. I did some XT sea-kayaking, yoga, swimming & spent time in the dry sauna; in between the daily runs. The meal program there was so much better than camp at home. Lots of fresh fruit, incredible soups and desserts to die for.



Thursday was a travel day back to Dallas for my final segment of dry heat training. Then Friday after my morning session I was back on a plane to a camp in northern Michigan for some backwoods running.

Saturday morning we had to do chores before coach gave us the day off and head to the amusement park and ride some sweet roller-coasters!! I had to hand-pump about 180 gallons of water and help with the chickens. Then Sunday she was all about closing out the week with a final double. The first was a road run with the assistant coach then the later run was in the woods running single track. The second run really was a good close to the week. The only down-side was the family of six raccoons that did not look so friendly and were not so keen on my passing them on the trail.

Me and some of the campers riding the fierce roller coaster!

 

Well now I am back at my cabin for the final five weeks of camp before we close out the season with the BIG race in Leadville, CO. I am so excited to be heading there to test my fitness. There are a lot of campers going too! I was able to spend some time this week and put together a general plan on completing the race there. Having a good plan the coach said will help me mentally in executing the race.



Recap of the week:
Monday: 1.5 miles road run Negril, Jamaica
Tuesday: 8 miles road run am, 4 miles road run pm, dry sauna
Wednesday: yoga am, 8 miles road run am, sea-kayaking 6 miles on the Caribbean sea
Thursday: Travel
Friday: 6 miles road run Colleyville, TX
Saturday: Rest Day "Amusement Park"
Sunday: 4.75 miles road run am, 5.5 miles trail running pm

Total running miles 38

PS: send some candy, coach is being tough on sweets :-(

Camp Week 5

Dear mom & dad,

Coach pushed up the intensity this week on my training. With some harder trail workouts and faster road runs I felt strong throughout the week. On the 4th of July all the cabins got together for a day off and there was some celebrating. Some of kids got sent home for celebrating a little too much, oops.

Tumbleweed and the kids who got kicked out of camp.

This week we also had to write some poems to express our thoughts on running.
Here is my poem:
       I run through the hood
       it doesn't make me feel good
       so i then head to the trail
       along the path I sail

I also spent some training time with assistant coach working on my stride. We did a long run the other day and I picked up some tips. Then for the remaining part of the week they shipped me to Texas to heat train again. I got run with a group of kids here at the Texas Camp. Some of them have been doing some serious training. I represented our camp well and was the only camper to complete both of the loops. After this weekend they have me going to Jamaica for some new type of training.

Me with the Texas camp kids

Here is my weekly recap:
Monday- Holiday
Tuesday- 11.2 miles dirt roads (am) 4.5 miles paved road (pm)
Wednesday- Horse Hill 10 Hill repeats (2.50 miles) over 500' climb
Thursday- 10 Miles paved roads
Friday- Arts & Crafts Day
Saturday- 6 Miles paved road
Sunday- 21.3 Miles Trails of North Shore Texas

Horse Hill repeats

Northshore Trails, Grapevine, TX

PS can you send some sunscreen, being down south there is a lot more sun :-)

PSS Here is a copy of the video taken by the assistant coach.

camp week 4

Dear mom & dad,
Well the week went by a lot smoother and i am ready to build my mileage the coach says. I have been around 50 mpw for awhile. The training runs this week felt better and faster. That brightens me up a lot. The long run of week felt the best as each mile passed i felt stronger. Hills were not as tough and flat sections flowed nicely. Also hydration had improved by adding carrying more bottles on the run.

Here is the week:
Mon rest
Tues xt bike 10 miles am
Tues 5.25 miles running with coach pm
Wed 3 miles of track w/ bleachers
Thurs 7 miles road running
Fri 7 miles running with tumbleweed
Sat rest
Sun 18 miles trail running with anchor man, green hornet, tumbleweed

Total 50.25 miles

I attached a picture of coach pacing me from the run.

Ps send more cytomax

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