Picking my first ultramarathon

Tuesday 9 Mar 2010
Filed under: the long run Tags: , ,

To be honest, I’m not basing my decision about which ultramarathon to make my first on many criteria. The most important thing is proximity. We need to be able to drive there. I’m already making an exception by flying to Boston (whoa, I better book a flight soon!) but that’s a special case.

So I’ve settled on the Kettle Moraine 100 in Wisconsin. Within driving distance, family lives in Wisconsin, etc, etc. I almost ran–well, almost registered to run–the North Face Endurance Challenge in Madison last year, and from the sound of it they use the same trails. Of course, the North Face Endurance Challenge would have been 50 miles, whereas for Kettle Moraine I’m looking at doing the full 100.

I’m conflicted about the distance. On the one hand, doing 50 seems like a waste of an opportunity. I’ve run 50 miles by myself. I run 50K all the time. I should push myself. But on the other hand, 100 miles is intimidating. 24+ hours is intimidating. The whole thing is intimidating.

12,000 feet of climbing is a scary thought. It’s not the 18,000 feet of the Western States 100, but it’s significantly more than, say the Lean Horse 100.

There are other considerations, too. No buckle for finishers (you get a kettle instead.) But it works schedule-wise, and travel-wise, etc. And it might provide an opportunity to meet up with Rob again. So there are lots of reasons to do it.

And so I will, barring any unforeseen circumstances. But not without trepidation.

Feature requests

Thursday 4 Mar 2010
Filed under: the long run Tags: ,

I love dailymile. And that’s why I want to see it keep getting better. With all the talk recently about support for Garmin GPS devices, I was reminded of some of the ideas I’ve had for features I’d like to see implemented at some point.

  1. More privacy options.
    This is something my wife mentioned on Run Talk Radio a little while back. When I was starting out, I was a little shy about sharing my miles. I really wanted greater granularity when it came to privacy. Ideally, I’d love to see options where posts can be made private, friends only, or public. At this point I’m not sure that I’d avoid posting publicly all that often, but the option would be nice.
  2. Sanity checks.
    I’ve almost made the mistake myself: posting a 262-mile run instead of 26.2 miles, or missing a digit while entering my time. It would be nice if the site checked to make sure what you were entering makes sense. Not that I think dailymile should prevent you from posting something that seems extreme… I just think the site should prompt you to make sure you didn’t make a mistake. So, for example, a run over 150 miles or under 3 minutes/mile might trigger a sanity check, a simple dialog asking if you possibly made a typo. Similar appropriately gauged triggers for cycling, swimming, etc. could be implemented as well.
  3. More options for challenges.
    I think that the challenges on dailymile have a lot of potential yet. Multi-sport challenges, group or team challenges, etc.
  4. Better gear management.
    I love using dailymile to keep track of how many miles my shoes have on them (and how little rubber the soles have left), but I wish the feature was a little more developed. In particular, I’d love to hide gear without retiring it–I want to keep the info on my older shoes in dailymile, but I don’t want to always see those older shoes when posting runs. Also, stats about your gear seem a little hidden right now, it would be nice if they were available from the analytics page.
  5. Exporting data.
    I’m not looking to leave, but being able to easily get my data into Excel, Numbers, or OpenOffice for custom graphs and charts would be pretty cool.

Those are just a few ideas I wanted to jot down. They’re only meant as a starting point for thinking about what dailymile can offer down the road–they are by no means a criticism. I’ve been loving the site since I joined, more and more each day, to be honest, and I’m excited to see what comes next… whether it’s Garmin-integration or something else entirely!

Musical Cross-training?

Wednesday 3 Mar 2010
Filed under: a few miles Tags: , ,

I’ve recently augmented my runs with some non-traditional cross-training.

Throughout January and February I was busy with rehearsals for a musical put on by the local community theater group. Singing, dancing, etc. was great fun, but once we started rehearsing with the orchestra I started feeling nostalgic for the days when I would have been one of their number instead of a member of the ensemble.

So I picked up my clarinet and started playing again. And I really think it’s a form of cross-training. It does nothing for my legs, of course, but the breath control needed can only improve my cardiovascular fitness. It’s a great, relaxing way to help improve my running without sacrificing my rest days.

Cozy fingers and toes

Monday 1 Mar 2010
Filed under: a few miles Tags: , , , , ,

I didn’t think we needed it, but I’m so glad my wife bought it. It’s my favorite bit of winter running gear, and it never leaves the house. It keeps my hands and feet warm and dry–or at least warmer and dryer–without damaging my gloves and shoes (the latter take enough punishment as it is.) I speak, of course, of our boot and glove dryer.

We have a Pacific Outdoors Deluxe Boot and Glove Dryer. And it makes a difference. No longer are my shoes still damp from the melted snow accumulated during my last run. No longer are the insides of my gloves moist from, well, sweat. Like socks fresh from the dryer–another winter running essential–my shoes and gloves are fresh and ready for nature’s worst… which they often get.

My wife chose carefully. She went for a model with convection drying to circulate heat without blowing, preventing any damage from cracking or what have you (though that’s probably more a concern for leather items.) With four posts I can get the gloves and shoes done at the same time. It’s a luxury, sure, but I love it!

And hopefully I won’t be needing it much anymore until November or December.

Marathon mishaps: vanishing aid station

Thursday 25 Feb 2010
Filed under: intervals, the long run Tags: , ,

This is the sixth in a continuing series on marathon mishaps.

I ran my first marathon in 2008 in Potsdam, Germany. But that wasn’t my first marathon experience.

My first marathon experience came two years before that in Mombasa, Kenya. I didn’t run, but rather I helped organize the first (and only) Americans in Mombasa Marathon. Read the rest of this entry »