The sole mission of
our society is to organize, sponsor, staff and support ultrarunning
events/competition in Kansas and the surrounding region. Our vision is to
create an atmosphere that fosters not only the enlightenment of the novice
ultrarunner, but nurtures the needs of the veteran ultrarunner as well.
Volume 1, Issue 4 October
2000
In This
Issue
Briefing from the Crew
By
Stacy Sheridan Page
1
Protein for the Long Run
By
Scott Demaree Page
1
A Short Report from a Tall
Mountain
By
Marc Friesen Page
4
Heartland 100 Update
By
Randy Albrecht Page
4
My Most Forgettable Ultramarathon and What I Learned From
It (Before I Repressed the Memory)
By
Dann Fisher Page
5
Flat Rock Report
By
Wes Seitz Page
6
KUS-cipes Page
8
And much, much more..............
Briefing from the Crew
Greetings to all,
Since
I've started doing this newsletter, one of my most faithful contributors has
been Scott Demaree, in fact, so faithful that when I last emailed him that I
would be starting on this newsletter, even though he was leaving for Kansas and
Flat Rock the next day, he still sent me an article. Scott volunteered to write
a column for me at the 24/48 races last spring and needless to say I jumped at
the offer. He has vast knowledge of exercise science and I think we are very
fortunate he has volunteered to share it with us. Scott's column is on the
front page this issue; if you have any feedback I'm sure Scott would appreciate
hearing from the membership. Please let him know how much you appreciate his
efforts the next time you see or talk to him!
I talked with many of the members at Flat Rock and have a great RFP update. I always look forward to working KUS events, as they are like family reunions. I was thrilled that this was the year of the Ladies of the Rock! Congratulations to Gwen, Mindy, and Theresa, all had great races, and showed what great athletes they are.
I have included some quotes I came across, most pulled from the bios on the ultra list. If any of you have any favorite quotes please send them along, I would love to include them in the newsletter. Thanks to everyone who has sent me articles, if I don't have the club news the newsletter won't exist. Please send any race reviews, reports, favorite stories, or recipes along.
We recently received the URL of a new website have through the web page and I'm passing the address along, it may be of interest to some of you.
Winningstats.com currently allows members to track various information, including locations or courses used, run date, the type of run, distance covered, actual time, desired time, shoe worn, running heart rate and resting heart rate as well as other notes about the run or race. In addition to keeping track of all this information, the site also presents it in tables, charts and graphs that help users see a statistical analysis, from how many runs have been completed to date to more complicated information such as the run distance per time period. The URL is: www.winningstats.com
As always, In Your Service,
Stacy
Protein for the Long Run
Most of the time when we talk about energy sources to be used for exercise, carbohydrates and fats are the main players. It is known that we burn proteins for energy as well, but under most conditions its contribution is small enough to be ignored. Another reason it is discounted is that it is simply very difficult to measure protein oxidation in the laboratory. Therefore, it is easier to ignore protein or estimate it at a very low level. Yet some very careful (and difficult) experiments have indicated that protein may supply 10% of the energy used in exercise, and may go up from there in prolonged exercise (our favorite kind).
At the risk of getting too elementary, I’ll give you some background information. Proteins are composed of building blocks called amino acids. There are 20 naturally occurring amino acids, of which the human body can make 11 from other materials. The remaining 9 amino acids must come from our food, hence they are called essential. There are truly astronomical numbers of ways that varying numbers of 20 unique amino acids can be put together to form different proteins. Two proteins that have only one different amino acid, or the same amino acids in a different order, may have a very different shape and therefore may act very differently.
The
accepted standard for protein intake in adults is 0.36 grams of protein for
each pound of body weight. This figure has a safety margin built in, and probably
works well for sedentary people. However, weight lifters have ignored this
advice for decades in their quest for greater muscle size and strength. There
are data to support this view showing that these kinds of muscular changes
require up to 0.91 grams protein per pound. Although endurance sports do not
cause a great deal of muscle enlargement, these athletes use vast amounts of
energy in training and racing, and this causes much higher protein losses.
Studies show that endurance athletes also have higher protein needs, from 0.68
– 0.91 grams per pound.
Since there are so many proteins possible, it might not surprise you to find out there is a big difference in quality. By quality I mean completeness in content of the essential amino acids. Plant proteins with a few exceptions tend to lack one or more of these amino acids, whereas animal sources are more complete. The safety margins for the recommended intakes mentioned above includes an allowance for plant and animal differences assuming an average mixed diet. Thus endurance athletes who are strict vegetarians must either eat more than 0.68 – 0.91 grams per pound of body weight, or alternatively they must be careful to plan their meals to include complementary sources of protein. Combining grains and legumes in a meal allows the amino acid strengths in the plant groups to offset the shortages in each other.
All the proteins in the body “turn over”, that is they get built up (synthesized) then torn down (degraded). The time for this turnover cycle varies from cell to cell and protein to protein, but tends to accelerate when you exercise regularly. The degradation process requires that there be special handling for the nitrogen contained in all amino acids. Under normal conditions the nitrogen runs through the urea cycle, and gets excreted in the urine and sweat. However, in extreme exercise situations when more protein is broken down, the excess nitrogen may form ammonia, which can not only damage tissue but also inhibit energy production.
As important as proteins are for your life processes, and considering all the difficulties caused by breaking them down, do you really want to be using them as fuel? That is just what happens in prolonged exercise, as the body “burns the furniture” to preserve brain function. You see, the brain must have glucose for fuel (or ketone bodies in emergency situations). Unfortunately, fats can’t be converted into glucose, and glucose availability drops off as exercise continues. The release of the stress hormone cortisol insures that enough protein is degraded to allow for certain amino acids to be converted to glucose for the brain’s use. The degraded protein can come from any part of the body, including the working muscles themselves. Only the branched chain amino acids (BCAA) leucine, isoleucine, and valine can be converted to glucose or ketone bodies, and leucine in particular gets burned in active muscle for energy.
Glutamine is another amino acid affected by exercise. Long-duration exercise in particular causes glutamine to decrease in the blood, although the cause is unknown. Because immune cells require glutamine for energy, the immune system suffers during long events, and this can lead to greater risk of infection (particularly the upper respiratory tract variety) following these races. Thirty days of BCAA supplementation has been shown to prevent these declines in immune function, possibly by being available for energy production in muscles instead of glutamine. Even though protein probably never supplies more than 15% of your energy during an ultramarathon (the studies have not yet been done), a steady intake of a protein rich in BCAA before and during the race should be a part of every endurance athlete’s nutritional strategy. Glutamine itself could be taken for an added health benefit.
I’ll finish this article on a cautionary note. Excess protein consumption can cause some problems. Too much consumption has been shown to cause calcium loss. Non-fat dairy products are a good source of both protein and calcium. In particular, whey protein has a good BCAA content. People with reduced kidney function should be careful with high protein intake, as the extra nitrogen processing is stressful for these organs. By simply limiting protein intake to the recommended 0.68 – 0.91 grams per pound of body weight, and improving our BCAA intake, we can reap the benefits of this important energy source. p
RELENTLESS FORWARD PROGRESS
WHERE KUS MEMBERS PLAN
TO RUN AND RACE
Jim & Nancy Davis
Volunteer
at The Heartland 100, Cassoday, KS
10/22/00
Wichita Marathon, Wichita, KS
11/11/00
Quivering Quads 50 Mile, Troy MO
12/10/00
Dallas Whiterock Marathon, Dallas TX
OR
12/02/00 Kentucky 50 Mile, Louisville KY
1/1/01
Fat Ass 50K, Cameron MO
Scott Demaree
10/14/00
Heartland 100, Cassoday, KS
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
2/3/01
Rocky Raccoon, Huntsville, TX
Eric Steele
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
Phil Sheridan
10/14/00
Heartland 100 Spirit of the Prairie, Cassoday KS
11/11/00
Quivering Quads 50 Mile, Troy MO*
Dave Noltensmeyer
10/7/00
Tour de Bump, Duathalon, Garnett, KS
11/5/00
New York City Marathon, New York, NY
11/11/00
Quivering Quads ½ Marathon, Troy, MO
9/29/01
Flat Rock, Independence, KS
Bill Smith
10/14/00
The Heartland 100 Mile, Cassoday KS (my first)
11/10/00
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim double, fun run
Duane Frichtl
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
12/30/00
Huntington Ultra Frigid Fifty 50K, Huntington, IN
3/01 Kentucky Ultra Trail Sojourn
Marc Friesen
10/22/00
Wichita Marathon, Wichita, KS
11/5/00
Blue Springs 50 Mile, Blue Springs, MO
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
Don Mrozek
August,
September, & October, Nepal
Wes Monteith
10/22/00
Niagara Falls Marathon
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
2/3/01
Rocky Raccoon, Huntsville, TX
Leo Rutten
Grand
Canyon Rim-to-Rim double
Earl
Blewett
11/11/00
Rock Ledge Rumble, Irving TX
Randy
Albrecht
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
Tom
Lasater
10/22/00
Wichita Marathon, Wichita, KS
4/7/01
Rockin K Marathon, Kanopolis State Park, KS
John
Hargrove
10/7/00
Arkansas Traveller, Perryville AR
11/11/00
Rock Ledge Rumble, Irving TX
12/3/00
Tucson Marathon, Tucson AZ
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
12/10/00
Dallas Whiterock Marathon, Dallas TX
Warren
Bushey
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
David
Dinkel
11/11/00
Quivering Quads 50 Mile, Troy MO
11/5/00
Blue Springs 50 Mile, Blue Springs, MO
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
3/11/01
Brew to Brew, Kansas City, KS
4/21/01
KUS 24/48 hour, Wichita, KS
6/2/01
Kettle Moraine, Eagle WI
Marilyn
Lamm
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
Chuck
Zeugner
10/21/00
Rocky Racoon 50K, Huntsville, TX
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
Chris
Chandler
10/21/00
Rocky Racoon 50K, Huntsville, TX
11/24/00
Ultracentric 48 Hour, Dallas TX *
11/00
Inks Lake
12/9/00
Sunmart 50 Mile. Huntsville, TX
Dann
Fisher
11/ 5/00 Blue Springs 50K, Blue Springs, MO
11/24 & 25/00 Ultracentric 48 hour, Dallas, TX
12/ 9/00 Sunmart Texas Trails Endurance Runs 50K,
Huntsville, TX
Rich Golden "Big Bird"
10/14/00 Bohemian Alps 40 miler, Brainard, NE
12/10/00 Dallas White Rock Marathon
4/7/01 Rockin K Trail Run, Kanopolis State Park,
KS
4/29/01 KUS 48 Hour run, Wichita, KS
John "Mad Dog" Lowrey
10/21/00 Presque Isle Personal Endurance Classic,
12 Hour, Erie PA
*
Tentative plans
A Short Report from a Tall
Mountain
Randy Albrecht and I entered the “Pikes Peak Marathon” in late winter thinking that this would be a good training run for The Wasatch Front 100 (Randy) and one more chance to break that elusive five hour barrier (myself). Little did we know that none of this would come to pass. Randy was not accepted and also dealt with a severe case of Morton’s Neuroma for the most of the summer. I had dealt with a case I.T. Band Syndrome and Bursitis. We were coming into this race battered and beaten, but very well rested. We didn’t stress ourselves doing long runs or hill workouts. We instead concentrated our efforts on the two-month taper.
We left the starting line on Sunday, August 20, in downtown Manitou Springs, Colorado, elevation 6,295 feet. The weather was nice for the 7:00 am start, considering what we had come from in Kansas. We eased into the race running together for the first ½ mile. I decided that I wanted to push the pace a little harder, so I took off. I pushed up the steep switchbacks of Mt. Manitou. My goal was to climb 2,500 vertical per hour, then run the decent as hard as possible. My lower back had other ideas, and Randy soon caught and passed me within the first two miles of the climb. After summiting Mt. Manitou, my back began to ease up, as I was running more relaxed. After slowly going through “French Creek” and “Barr Camp” aid stations, I made it to the “A-Frame” aid station. This is one of my favorite points of the course. It is at timberline, so this is the first time that you can see clearly to the summit. From this point you have 3 miles and 3,000 vertical feet to the summit and the turnaround. How would my lack of training standup in this rarified air? I am not known for running well in altitude. I have a long history of dropping blood pressure and passing out. Normally at Pike’s Peak I get fuzzyheaded and tingling hands and arms. None of this happened. For the first time I was actually feeling quite good, through 12, 13, and finally 14,110 feet. I treated the “Cirque” as an interval workout. I would run for as long as I could, then walk until I felt that I could run once again. It was during this that I passed Randy. I had caught him in my sight just as I left A-Frame. I thought that there was no way I could catch the “Kansas Mountain Goat”. I reached the summit in 3:15, time to head back. Randy reached the summit in a scant 3:18. As the saying goes, “It is down hill from there”.
Coming back down the Cirque unscathed is a trick. I was able to accomplish this, unlike other years. Randy was not so lucky. When faced with an uphill runner who didn’t yield the right-of-way, he was forced to take evasive maneuvers, and prove the statement, “white men can’t jump”. He left a fair amount of thigh and ankle skin on the mountain, possibly to pick it up next year.
We both ran similar races down the mountain. We both lost places in the top half of the mountain, but picked up more than what we had lost in the last 6 miles, passing runners whose quads where more shot than our own. I finished in 5:09:53, a new PP Marathon PR for myself, and Randy crossed the tape in 5:17:05 36th and 45th overall placing, respectively. p
HEARTLAND 100 UPDATE
The Heartland 100, on October 14, 2000, will be the Kansas Ultrarunners’ Societies (KUS) largest undertaking to date, and WE NEED YOUR HELP. Our plans are to have eight manned and two manned aid stations on the 50-mile out and back course. Several of these aid stations will be operational for over 18 hours and should be staffed by a minimum of two people, with three being ideal. In the past we have been able to provide top quality events with the help of a few, very faithful volunteers. For this event we are asking for your help.
If you are not planning on running the Heartland 100 we would love to have you help us in putting on the first 100-mile race in Kansas. If you are running the race, why not have your crew help us at an aid station. Of all of the 100-mile races I have run, the Heartland course would be the easiest to run without a crew, and after all you would have your KUS family at each aid station to help you and cheer you on. What better place to have a weekend party with your friends than in the middle of the Flint Hills of Kansas. If you have never worked at an ultra event, you are missing out on a rewarding and motivational experience. Helping someone through a bad patch, and then seeing them achieve their goal is very satisfying.
To date we have received entries from nine different states and inquiries from Canada and Germany. Please spread the word about the race, and if you are not running, help us keep up the KUS tradition of excellence by working at an aid station. Eric Steele has volunteered to be in charge of coordinating the aid stations, so please contact him at (316) 689-6829 as soon as possible. p
My Most Forgettable
Ultramarathon and What I Learned From It (Before I Repressed the Memory)
In mid-July, Shannon and I traveled to Woodstock, Vermont so that I could compete in the Vermont 100-miler. This was my second attempt at the distance, having failed in Arkansas last fall. Vermont is called one of the “easier” 100-milers. Although it has many tough “hills”, it is devoid of altitude issues and truly rugged trails. As such it is recommended for first-timers and those needing a course that will bring success.
Unfortunately for me, success was not in the cards on this day. The race started at 4:00 am in a downpour making the early trail a challenge in the dark. I had felt very tired in the couple of days leading up to the race. My hips and low back were tight and sore, which I attributed to the long flight. By race morning I realized these feelings were the early warning signs of a flare-up of Interstitial Cystitis (IC).
IC is a chronic inflammation of the bladder that results in painful, frequent urination. IC pain is similar to the pain associated with a bladder infection. In my case, the radiating pain results in low back stiffness, and groin and hip pain. I first experienced the condition in 1995 and was finally diagnosed with the disease in 1996. Many people with this disease have so much pain and such increased frequency of urination that they are forced into disability. I feel fortunate that, in most instances, I am able to control, or at least tolerate, the condition. The warm, damp July morning was unfortunately not one of those instances.
The pain and stiffness made finding a running rhythm difficult, a process that certainly was not aided by frequent trips into the bushes to relieve myself. By the time I reached the aid station at 18 miles, I was shot. Only 82 miles to go! The rain had stopped and the temperature was pleasant aided by the overcast skies, but I was too preoccupied to enjoy the conditions much. Shannon immediately recognized my fatigue as I stumbled into the aid station and tried to console and encourage me while I took on nourishment. I informed her that I was not having a good day, but that my pace was decent so I would just continue on for as long as I could, hoping that the flare-up might pass.
Not long after leaving the crew point, I began to notice pain on my right anklebone, the result of my trail shoe banging against it as I ran over hill and dale on uneven surfaces. I had not experienced this in training so it came as yet another unpleasant surprise. A very steep climb and descent before the 30-mile aid station left me longing for a shoe change. I met Shannon at the aid station and plunked down in a chair while she searched my gear for fresh socks and replacement shoes. Physically, I had felt better over the last few miles, but as I sat in the chair, I just couldn’t shake the overwhelming fatigue I was feeling. The frequent nature visits were making it difficult to stay hydrated.
The next 10 miles became an ever-increasing struggle. I focused on making it to each aid station, hoping that eventually a second wind would arrive. It never did. By mile 42, I was death marching. Soon after, the skies opened up and rain poured out. I cursed the moisture as I sloshed along toward the 44-mile aid station.
Upon reaching the aid station, I weighed in to find that I had lost 3 pounds (about 2%), well within limits. Shannon was waiting for me inside the truck, so I climbed in to take a break from the weather. I decided that I would try to slug on to the next crew point, when Shannon revealed to me that it was 10.7 miles away. Ugh! The thought of death marching for 2 or 3 hours was more than I could stand. So at 9:12 into the race, I accepted defeat.
An
ultramarathon has been described as a journey of discovery. This is what I discovered from the Vermont
100:
1. Pay attention to your body’s signals during training. Shannon and I began remodeling our house shortly after I had run the KUS 24-hour and the Lincoln Marathon on successive weekends. The long hours I spent working on the house was contributing to inconsistent training and feelings of burnout. I cut short runs on several occasions. My body was telling me it wasn’t ready for a 100-mile ultra but I was too stubborn to listen.
2. Recovery in a bottle must eventually give way to rest. In the 43 months prior to Vermont, I had run 28 marathons, finishing most of them between 3:10 and 3:25, and 14 ultramarathons. Added to this were 49 training runs of 26 miles or longer. Although run at a slower pace, the distance still can take a toll over time. Moreover, I had run in 82 races in the 3-and-a-half years leading up to Vermont. I believe that dietary supplements work and played a major role in my streak, but eventually a break from both the physical and mental aspects of training and racing are needed.
3. Do not mix an ultramarathon with unordinary life stress. Remodeling was causing physical and mental fatigue for which I was not accustomed. Hours of working on flooring resulted in a constant dull ache in my knees. Lack of sleep left my training flat. Going without a working kitchen for the eight weeks leading up to the race resulted in a poor diet and significant weight gain. I would have been better served by waiting for this unusual time in my life to pass before I made another attempt at 100 miles.
4. Do not punish yourself when events outside your control seem to ruin performance. I take pride in overcoming my IC. I have shrugged off IC to run several quality marathons and shorter ultras. But the impact it can have on my back and leg muscles and my ability to stay hydrated can be too much to overcome in such a long event. It is hard for me to accept that I can’t always control my fate.
5. Do not rush into another race in an attempt to make amends. After failure, I get anxious to get to the next test so that I can make my damaged ego feel better. This time, I put my shoes aside for five days and gave myself time to pout and reflect on what had taken place. As a result, I was able to reestablish my goals and create a new strategy for achieving them. It gave me the space to see that I was in need of rest before I would be able to achieve the new goals.
6. Be grateful for the opportunity to “fail”. I started running ultras because marathons had become routine for me. Ultrarunning causes me to step beyond my comfort zone and risk failure, but those experiences allow me to grow. Eventually I will reach my goal of finishing 100-miles because I will continue to learn from my failures and continue to stay focused on my goals. More importantly, ultrarunning gives me the opportunities to travel with Shannon, to see interesting places I would not see otherwise, and to meet many fascinating people.
7. Be grateful for a running club that helps to pick me up when I am down and to motivate me to succeed. A number of you pointed out that running 44 miles should be considered an accomplishment and that I was on 20-hour pace at that point I dropped out. I appreciate you being part of my experiences and I am grateful that you allow me to share in yours.
My next attempt at the elusive 100-mile barrier comes Thanksgiving weekend in the Ultracentric 48-hour run in Dallas, Texas. p
"It is not the
critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or
where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose
face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs,
and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and
shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great
enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at
the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the
worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place
shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor
defeat."
"Shame on the
man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into a fastidiousness
that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves
there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life
who shrink from contact with their fellows.
Still less room is there for those who deride or slight what is done by
those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who
always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of
life were not what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same
sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be cynic, or fop, or
voluptuary. There is little use for the
being whose tepid soul knows nothing of the great and generous emotion, of the
high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the
storm and ride the thunder. Well for
these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given
only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and
strength. It is war-worn Hotspur, spent
with hard fighting, he of the many errors and the valiant end, over whose
memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who "but
for the vile guns would have been a soldier."
Theodore Roosevelt April 23, 1910 from the speech "Citizenship in
a Republic."
Flat Rock Report
This may be more than you want to know about the Flat Rock 50K Ultra!
If so ignore.
We arrived Friday evening and picked up our stuff, enjoyed a home-cooked spaghetti dinner, and walked the first half-mile or so of the course. The guy who got me into this, Jeff Skibbie assured me that this was the hardest part of the course. (I'll never believe him again!) Got a good nights sleep and headed out for the 7:30 start. 41 folks started the race - about 50 yards of road, a couple hundred of grass and then the trail. The single most important fact of life on the trail is the rocks. They are large (the size of a house to run over, around and under), small (I noticed one place where there was a nice gravel surface to run on), and every size in between. They are loose, stuck in the ground, loose and wobbly, hidden in the grass, hidden under the leaves, in the dry streambeds, rolling down the upgrades and downgrades. All in all the worst footing of any trail I ever been on - bar none. There was lots of hills and gullies to climb, but these are fairly short and not a big deal.
I've been told that in most Ultras one needs to plan when to walk - in this case I ran every time I had a chance. The longest was perhaps a quarter mile -- that is unless I count the half-mile "detour" I took when I missed a turn.
I had a pretty good first half. Felt good. A few ankle rolls and a fall where I bruised one hand and scraped the other. The weather was great. The support folks were super. The "vitamin I" was doing a good job of keeping the pain buddies at bay.
Got to the turnaround. Changed socks (they were full of burrs and grit) and shirt (just felt like a change). A couple of miles out - about 12 to go I stubbed a couple of toes on one of the ____ hidden rocks and went down again. Had a couple more "vitamin I" and after a few minutes I decided that they weren't broke and on I went. (One black toe nail as I write this.) However it was a lot easier to walk than run - but on those rare occasions when the course was sort of reasonable, it did a decent imitation of running. It was with about 10 mile to go that I was in a nice grassy area and actually starting to move reasonably well when I twisted an ankle and bit the dust again. I thought I was done for the day and wondered how far I'd have to limp or maybe crawl to the next water stop. But after a limping along the pain started to subside - should have bought stock in "vitamin I". Found that I couldn't really run, but that I could walk fast and so did the rest of the course at a fast-paced fast walk. Felt surprisingly well from the ankles up - didn't have the total exhaustion I feel the last few miles of a marathon.
Oh, at each aid station I had a salt tablet, a few nuts, a handful of pretzels, and a bunch of hard candy to carry -- I found that it was a great source of sugar. I also drank water and sport drink and had my water bottle filled. Even taking in all this liquid, in the afternoon when the temp got near 80 degrees, it was interesting that I was dry due to the low humidity and a breeze evaporated everything.
So, bottom line, I came in at 7 hrs. 42 min., which put me at about 30th out of 40. (They haven't posted the final results yet). Duane came in under 6 hours and was second male and first master. The race was won by a 33-year-old woman - great runner. Jeff stayed with Sue Canar and came in a few minutes after me, followed by Sue a few minutes later. So we all finished - and that's the objective in this race.
All in all a tough but rewarding day. By the way, the award for finishing is - you guessed it - is a flat rock. And it was the only FLAT rock I saw all day! p
Mexico City, 1968 - Out of
the cold darkness he came. John Stephen
Akhwari, of Tanzania, entered at the far end of the stadium, pain hobbling his
every step, his leg bloody and bandaged.
The winner of the Olympic marathon had been declared over an hour
earlier. Only a few spectators
remained. But the lone runner pressed
on. As he crossed the finish line, the
small crowd roared out its appreciation.
Afterward, a reporter asked the runner why he had not retired from the
race, since he had no chance of winning.
He seemed confused by the question.
Finally, he answered: "My country did not send me to Mexico City to
start the race. They sent me to
finish."
This month's recipe comes from
our own "Purple Flirp", Warren Bushey, he tells me it's yummy! Thanks Warren!
Lamb Stew
1-½ pounds Boneless Lamb cut in 1-inch cubes
1 Clove Garlic, minced
4 Medium Carrots, cut in 2 inch lengths
6 Tiny Onions
3 Small Potatoes, pared and cubed
½ teaspoon Dried Basil, crushed
1-10 ounce package frozen Peas
2 tablespoons snipped Parsley
2 teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoon Pepper
Coat meat with flour and brown in hot shortening. Add 3
cups water, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until meat is
tender. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, and basil; cook uncovered 20 minutes.
Add peas and parsley; cook 5 minutes, season to taste.
Serves 6.