Sunday, April 08, 2007
Kennesaw Mountain in Under 4 Hours
Today's Run: 16.41m
Run Time: 3:52:47 (14:12 minutes per mile)
Total Miles to Date: 493.4
Thoughts on the Run:
First, Happy Easter everyone!
On July 13th, 2003 I accomplished a personal goal. From my blog posting on that date:
The goal had been to hike the entire trail system at Kennesaw Mountain, and I did it in 5 1/2 hours.
Today, four years later, I returned to tackle the same feat. Only this time, I did it running.
My goal was to average a 15-minute pace and finish in just over four hours.
I came to the mountain well prepared. I'd already tackled the main, steep climb last week in 18:22 so had a definite time to beat.
A company called Enervit had contacted me prior to the ING Georgia Marathon and promised to send a "race pack" for me to try out. It arrived two days. Too late for the marathon, but perfect for my run this weekend.
The race pack included pretty much everything I'd need on the run:
A powder to mix for electrolytes and calories during the run,
Several "shots" (like Clif Shots) for added calories and energy,
A "cheerpack" (hey, cool name, huh?) which is supposed to provide a burst of energy without caffine,
And a post-workout mix to replaced branch-chain amino acids.
I mixed the drinks in my hydration pack, loaded up the shots (added a PowerShot I had left over) and added some CLIP2 because I knew that the 1 liter of drink wasn't going to last me the entire run.
To be quite honest, I was trying to talk myself out of the run this morning. I woke up just feeling tired and run down. When I went to take the dogs out, my right knee was throbbing in pain, forcing me to limp. It just didn't seem like it would happen.
A few hours later, however, I felt fine. And no, just because a few weeks have gone by, I haven't lost my desire or drive. I'm still hungry. So I packed it all up. I wore a CoolMax type long sleeved shirt with a thin pull-over over that, long running shorts, wore my New Balance cross country shoes, threw on my bandana and was set to go.
When I arrived at just after noon, it was terrific. It was freezing cold but the sun was shining and the skies were clear. I didn't waste much time ... just a quick trip to the restroom to relieve myself and then I hit the trail.
Here is my mile-by-mile breakdown of the run:
Mile 1: 16:52
This mile is part of the infamous climb up Kennesaw. I've included the profile view for you below (just click on it to see the bigger picture).
As you can see, it's easily 600 feet the first mile.
I felt like I was struggling but I pushed farther than yesterday.
Mile 2: 15:37
I reached the summit during this mile. It took me 17:40 total, or a full 40 seconds faster than last week. REAL PROGRESS! I had already taken a few swigs of my liquid. I've settled into a pattern of 3 - 4 swallows every 15 minutes, but that strategy will have to change - I'll explain later. At the top of the mountain, I had my first shot of the Enervit product. I must say, I enjoyed it better than any shot I've had ... the reason is it is not as thick as Clif or Power shots, so it went down a lot easier. This one was Cola flavored. Yum!
This climb mostly went down the back of Kennesaw. It is very technical with lots of boulders. I LOVE TECHNICAL. I had forgotten how much I enjoy running extremely rocky trails with lots of roots. I think it has to do with the mind always looking ahead and anticipating. I bound here and there. Most people are afraid and pick their way through these sections (and for good reason, they can be dangerous) but I've always felt sure-footed and bound down.
Mile 3: 13:51
This mile climbed up Little Kennesaw (much smaller) and then down a series of highly technical switchbacks. I just kept thinking to myself how much fun this type of terrain is, then my knee started getting tender and reminded me it doesn't enjoy it quite as much as I do. At the end, I descended rocky Pidgeon Hill and crossed Burnt Hickory Road.
Mile 4: 12:27
Mile 4 was over the rolling hills of Burnt Hickory loop. There is a nice, wide path and not too many steep hills. I veered off a side trail that is more technical but still fairly easily and packed with pine and leaves so the ground was soft.
Mile 5: 13:54
This mile is a fun one. You follow a creek for a bit, cross over on the "bouncy bridge" and then follow the creek again to finish the technical side of the loop.
Mile 6: 12:52
Mile 6 crossed over to Cheetham Hill. This is a long out-and-back path that follows the road to the Illinois monument. Nice, easy run.
Mile 7: 12:53
Kolb's farm is another splendid run if you don't like steep hills. It follows a fairly rolling terrain. The scenery gets interesting because part of the trail is over a marsh on a boardwalk. I crossed over Dallas Highway.
Mile 8: 12:01
I was picking up speed on the easy terrain. More of Kolb's farm loop.
Mile 9: 13:45
Mile 9 was a great mile. I knew I was halfway done, and at the furthest point from my car in the run. This loops past a copse of native bamboo. There was a nice drinking fountain and I followed Power Springs Road in direct sunlight and warmed up a bit.
It was here that I began to realize I had a chance of beating my goal. While my pace had been over 16 minutes the first part of the run due to the steep climb, the pace kept creeping down and was faster than a 14-minute mile at this point.
Mile 10: 13:25
In mile 10 I began looping back. I had another shot but began feeling a little tired. My spirits were lifted, however, knowing I was heading back. I had to walk a few hills but always picked up the pace and ran strong on the flats and downhills. At one point I slammed into a root. I stubbed my toe but felt like I also rubbed the bottom of my toe and worried that I might have gotten a blood blister (I didn't).
Mile 11: 13:54
I began looping back. Quite a few hills so more walking led to a slower mile.
Mile 12: 14:26
Mile 12 brought me back to the main road leading to Cheetham Hill. I was getting tired and slowing down but also knew I had one more segment behind me. I pushed on and crossed over back to the Burnt Hickory Loop.
Mile 13: 12:27
A good bit of downhill helped on this route. This time I didn't take the side trails that were more technical, but headed straight down the main fire path. This is very wide and covered with gravel. It was an easy, pleasant run and I was able to pick up some speed.
Mile 14: 22:46
There were several reasons why this was my slowest mile. The wheels did not come off, but I did face a technical challenge. I had run out of fluid, so I went to mix my CLIP2.
Challenge one: the wind was blowing and my hydration pack was wet so the sides were sticking together. I had trouble getting the powder into the pack and ended up covered in it. People were staring, wondering why I was standing in a cloud of pink dust.
Challenge two: I then went to pour water into it. The drinking fountain shoots a high stream. The wind turned this into an ineffective spray, so again it took some time to actually get liquid back.
I finally got it. The next challenge was that the climb across the street is very vertical up Pidgeon Hill (about 300 feet over 1/2 mile) and my legs were burning.
This is when I decided to take advantage of the "cheer pack." It tasted like cough syrup, but I must say, I did feel like I had a boost of energy. Placebo? Anyway, no ill side effects and 100 extra calories in my system.
Mile 15: 12:55
I began picking up the pace because I knew I was on my return loop. This was challenging with lots of rolling hills so I did a bit of walking but kept going strong. I was conscious of the time I lost at mile 14 and was set on finishing in under 4 hours, so I stubbornly pushed hard to trim off the time and get some solid speed in. I was elated to get 12:55 after already running 14 miles.
Mile 16: 14:23
This mile was frustrating because I was getting so close but there was a long uphill. I walked part of it, then realized I was losing time so I jogged it (albeit slowly).
Mile 16.4: 4:20
Then I could see the parking lot and kicked it into high gear. I cannot tell you how happy I was to come in at 3:52 - almost 8 minutes under 4 hours and almost 15 minutes ahead of my goal. My overall pace was a 14:11 minute mile when my goal had been 15-minutes.
The Aftermath:
How does one feel after climbing 2,374 vertical feet over the course of 4 hours, and burning more than 2,000 calories? Pretty good. My legs were jelly but not dead and I knew I could have gone further if needed. I brought a dry shirt, socks, and new pair of shoes. I inspected the damage to my feet. Just a small blister on the side of the ball of my foot, and some rubbing on the tops of my toes, but nothing major.
So far (knock on wood) no black toenails!
With all my electrolytes, shots, etc, I had consumed nearly 1,200 calories on the run and ingested about 64 ounces (4 pounds) of fluids. I then drove to Starbucks and rewarded myself with an Espresso Brownie and a Caramel Macchiato.
After arriving home, even after all of that, I was still down 2.5 pounds (207.5 from 210) or over 1 percent of my total weight. That means I need to step up the fluid ingestion ... probably 6 swigs per 15 minutes, and in the heat that may go up to 8.
I'm doing a 12 mile run next week to "rest" and then after that will tackle the mountain for 20 miles (doing the Kolb's farm loop TWICE .. right now I don't even want to try to conceptualize that).
Here is a satellite scan of my run (again, click for the larger picture):
The main mountain is on the right, and Kolb's farm is on the left.
After finishing this run, I've also logged my highest volume week to date at 31.6 miles. It's substantial for me but a far cry from the 60 - 80 miles many ultrarunners and even marathon runners do on a regular basis.
Here is the progression of my weekly mileage since September 2006 when I first started tracking this:
The only other thing to mention is a little hobby of mine. I have been having a blast using Google Gadgets so I decided to try my hand at making a few. The result is a new calculators section at my website. I'll add more but the fun part is that you can syndicate them easily onto your own web page.
Okay, now it's time for a massive dinner and some relaxation to start the recovery process. Take care and again, Happy Easter!
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
Run Time: 3:52:47 (14:12 minutes per mile)
Total Miles to Date: 493.4
Thoughts on the Run:
First, Happy Easter everyone!
On July 13th, 2003 I accomplished a personal goal. From my blog posting on that date:
The hike was incredible. I was very nervous, I have no clue why, probably just coz I was leaving the house for so long, but when I got there, I knew I was ready to do it. I had toyed with a lot of ideas throughout the week ... So Friday night I just decided ... yes, I will do the hike .. and the rest was history.
The goal had been to hike the entire trail system at Kennesaw Mountain, and I did it in 5 1/2 hours.
Today, four years later, I returned to tackle the same feat. Only this time, I did it running.
My goal was to average a 15-minute pace and finish in just over four hours.
I came to the mountain well prepared. I'd already tackled the main, steep climb last week in 18:22 so had a definite time to beat.
A company called Enervit had contacted me prior to the ING Georgia Marathon and promised to send a "race pack" for me to try out. It arrived two days. Too late for the marathon, but perfect for my run this weekend.
The race pack included pretty much everything I'd need on the run:
A powder to mix for electrolytes and calories during the run,
Several "shots" (like Clif Shots) for added calories and energy,
A "cheerpack" (hey, cool name, huh?) which is supposed to provide a burst of energy without caffine,
And a post-workout mix to replaced branch-chain amino acids.
I mixed the drinks in my hydration pack, loaded up the shots (added a PowerShot I had left over) and added some CLIP2 because I knew that the 1 liter of drink wasn't going to last me the entire run.
To be quite honest, I was trying to talk myself out of the run this morning. I woke up just feeling tired and run down. When I went to take the dogs out, my right knee was throbbing in pain, forcing me to limp. It just didn't seem like it would happen.
A few hours later, however, I felt fine. And no, just because a few weeks have gone by, I haven't lost my desire or drive. I'm still hungry. So I packed it all up. I wore a CoolMax type long sleeved shirt with a thin pull-over over that, long running shorts, wore my New Balance cross country shoes, threw on my bandana and was set to go.
When I arrived at just after noon, it was terrific. It was freezing cold but the sun was shining and the skies were clear. I didn't waste much time ... just a quick trip to the restroom to relieve myself and then I hit the trail.
Here is my mile-by-mile breakdown of the run:
Mile 1: 16:52
This mile is part of the infamous climb up Kennesaw. I've included the profile view for you below (just click on it to see the bigger picture).
As you can see, it's easily 600 feet the first mile.
I felt like I was struggling but I pushed farther than yesterday.
Mile 2: 15:37
I reached the summit during this mile. It took me 17:40 total, or a full 40 seconds faster than last week. REAL PROGRESS! I had already taken a few swigs of my liquid. I've settled into a pattern of 3 - 4 swallows every 15 minutes, but that strategy will have to change - I'll explain later. At the top of the mountain, I had my first shot of the Enervit product. I must say, I enjoyed it better than any shot I've had ... the reason is it is not as thick as Clif or Power shots, so it went down a lot easier. This one was Cola flavored. Yum!
This climb mostly went down the back of Kennesaw. It is very technical with lots of boulders. I LOVE TECHNICAL. I had forgotten how much I enjoy running extremely rocky trails with lots of roots. I think it has to do with the mind always looking ahead and anticipating. I bound here and there. Most people are afraid and pick their way through these sections (and for good reason, they can be dangerous) but I've always felt sure-footed and bound down.
Mile 3: 13:51
This mile climbed up Little Kennesaw (much smaller) and then down a series of highly technical switchbacks. I just kept thinking to myself how much fun this type of terrain is, then my knee started getting tender and reminded me it doesn't enjoy it quite as much as I do. At the end, I descended rocky Pidgeon Hill and crossed Burnt Hickory Road.
Mile 4: 12:27
Mile 4 was over the rolling hills of Burnt Hickory loop. There is a nice, wide path and not too many steep hills. I veered off a side trail that is more technical but still fairly easily and packed with pine and leaves so the ground was soft.
Mile 5: 13:54
This mile is a fun one. You follow a creek for a bit, cross over on the "bouncy bridge" and then follow the creek again to finish the technical side of the loop.
Mile 6: 12:52
Mile 6 crossed over to Cheetham Hill. This is a long out-and-back path that follows the road to the Illinois monument. Nice, easy run.
Mile 7: 12:53
Kolb's farm is another splendid run if you don't like steep hills. It follows a fairly rolling terrain. The scenery gets interesting because part of the trail is over a marsh on a boardwalk. I crossed over Dallas Highway.
Mile 8: 12:01
I was picking up speed on the easy terrain. More of Kolb's farm loop.
Mile 9: 13:45
Mile 9 was a great mile. I knew I was halfway done, and at the furthest point from my car in the run. This loops past a copse of native bamboo. There was a nice drinking fountain and I followed Power Springs Road in direct sunlight and warmed up a bit.
It was here that I began to realize I had a chance of beating my goal. While my pace had been over 16 minutes the first part of the run due to the steep climb, the pace kept creeping down and was faster than a 14-minute mile at this point.
Mile 10: 13:25
In mile 10 I began looping back. I had another shot but began feeling a little tired. My spirits were lifted, however, knowing I was heading back. I had to walk a few hills but always picked up the pace and ran strong on the flats and downhills. At one point I slammed into a root. I stubbed my toe but felt like I also rubbed the bottom of my toe and worried that I might have gotten a blood blister (I didn't).
Mile 11: 13:54
I began looping back. Quite a few hills so more walking led to a slower mile.
Mile 12: 14:26
Mile 12 brought me back to the main road leading to Cheetham Hill. I was getting tired and slowing down but also knew I had one more segment behind me. I pushed on and crossed over back to the Burnt Hickory Loop.
Mile 13: 12:27
A good bit of downhill helped on this route. This time I didn't take the side trails that were more technical, but headed straight down the main fire path. This is very wide and covered with gravel. It was an easy, pleasant run and I was able to pick up some speed.
Mile 14: 22:46
There were several reasons why this was my slowest mile. The wheels did not come off, but I did face a technical challenge. I had run out of fluid, so I went to mix my CLIP2.
Challenge one: the wind was blowing and my hydration pack was wet so the sides were sticking together. I had trouble getting the powder into the pack and ended up covered in it. People were staring, wondering why I was standing in a cloud of pink dust.
Challenge two: I then went to pour water into it. The drinking fountain shoots a high stream. The wind turned this into an ineffective spray, so again it took some time to actually get liquid back.
I finally got it. The next challenge was that the climb across the street is very vertical up Pidgeon Hill (about 300 feet over 1/2 mile) and my legs were burning.
This is when I decided to take advantage of the "cheer pack." It tasted like cough syrup, but I must say, I did feel like I had a boost of energy. Placebo? Anyway, no ill side effects and 100 extra calories in my system.
Mile 15: 12:55
I began picking up the pace because I knew I was on my return loop. This was challenging with lots of rolling hills so I did a bit of walking but kept going strong. I was conscious of the time I lost at mile 14 and was set on finishing in under 4 hours, so I stubbornly pushed hard to trim off the time and get some solid speed in. I was elated to get 12:55 after already running 14 miles.
Mile 16: 14:23
This mile was frustrating because I was getting so close but there was a long uphill. I walked part of it, then realized I was losing time so I jogged it (albeit slowly).
Mile 16.4: 4:20
Then I could see the parking lot and kicked it into high gear. I cannot tell you how happy I was to come in at 3:52 - almost 8 minutes under 4 hours and almost 15 minutes ahead of my goal. My overall pace was a 14:11 minute mile when my goal had been 15-minutes.
The Aftermath:
How does one feel after climbing 2,374 vertical feet over the course of 4 hours, and burning more than 2,000 calories? Pretty good. My legs were jelly but not dead and I knew I could have gone further if needed. I brought a dry shirt, socks, and new pair of shoes. I inspected the damage to my feet. Just a small blister on the side of the ball of my foot, and some rubbing on the tops of my toes, but nothing major.
So far (knock on wood) no black toenails!
With all my electrolytes, shots, etc, I had consumed nearly 1,200 calories on the run and ingested about 64 ounces (4 pounds) of fluids. I then drove to Starbucks and rewarded myself with an Espresso Brownie and a Caramel Macchiato.
After arriving home, even after all of that, I was still down 2.5 pounds (207.5 from 210) or over 1 percent of my total weight. That means I need to step up the fluid ingestion ... probably 6 swigs per 15 minutes, and in the heat that may go up to 8.
I'm doing a 12 mile run next week to "rest" and then after that will tackle the mountain for 20 miles (doing the Kolb's farm loop TWICE .. right now I don't even want to try to conceptualize that).
Here is a satellite scan of my run (again, click for the larger picture):
The main mountain is on the right, and Kolb's farm is on the left.
After finishing this run, I've also logged my highest volume week to date at 31.6 miles. It's substantial for me but a far cry from the 60 - 80 miles many ultrarunners and even marathon runners do on a regular basis.
Here is the progression of my weekly mileage since September 2006 when I first started tracking this:
The only other thing to mention is a little hobby of mine. I have been having a blast using Google Gadgets so I decided to try my hand at making a few. The result is a new calculators section at my website. I'll add more but the fun part is that you can syndicate them easily onto your own web page.
Okay, now it's time for a massive dinner and some relaxation to start the recovery process. Take care and again, Happy Easter!
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
Labels: google gadgets, kennesaw mountain, long run, marathon training
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