Like a Bigfoot

Motivation, Mindset, Positivity, Endurance, Adventure, Perseverance, and Possibility

Month: February 2016 (page 2 of 2)

Baby Backpack

I love going hiking with my daughter.  She will be 2 in a week from now and ever since she was 5 months we have taken her hiking in a Deuter kid carrier I bought at REI.

With this bag she’s been all over Virginia and North Carolina.

She’s been carried up mountains, around lakes, through swamplands, over hills, and so on.  She’s hiked when it was hot out and hiked in the cold.  We’ve experienced highs and lows.  There have been (many) moments of laughter and (fewer…thank God) moments of ‘get me the hell out of here’ screaming agony.

We’ve shared snacks, sang songs, learning much about each other during these hikes.  Our time with the backpack has been some of our best father-daughter bonding moments or “Daddy daughter trip” as she likes to call it.

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Holiday Lake 50k

Yesterday I ran the Holiday Lake 50k- a notorious “easy” 50k in Appomattox Virginia (where the Civil War ended).  It’s labeled as “easy” solely based on the very little elevation gain- it is flat flat FLAT.  Personally, I thought that made it harder.  I’m used to hills and I love climbs in trail races because it gives me an excuse to walk (power hike).  Power hiking in an ultra gives you a chance to rest your running muscles for a little bit which helps you save your leg muscles from the pain-in-the-ass (literally) soreness.  Power hiking is wonderful.  If you have the fortitude, it also gives you an opportunity to man-up and pass people on the uphills.

Needless to say, this race had very FEW uphills.  This time there were maybe two or three that took less than a minute to ascend.  That means the rest of the time you were running…nonstop.  No breaks, no walking, just repeatedly pounding your legs repeatedly for 31 miles! Continue reading

50k Training: 2 Days Out (The Dream of Pizza)

The Holiday Lake 50k is 2 days away!  On Saturday I’m going to be freezing, exhausted, and sore, but more importantly I’m going to meet up with an old friend…Pizza.  The meeting will be brief.  So brief in fact that I will probably not even recall inhaling this beautiful piece of food, but by golly it’s going to taste FANTASTIC!

Three weeks ago I gave up pizza, ON PURPOSE, with the sole purpose of giving myself a reward to look forward to during the race.

My mental plan of attack:

  • Give up something you love 2-3 weeks leading up to a tough event
  •            -For me that’s the three amigos of deliciousness (Pizza, Beer, Cookies)
  • ​Reward yourself after the event

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50k Training: Race Week

Race day is fast approaching for the Holiday Lake 50k.  One more week to go.  Training is essentially done and now all I have to do is sit here and TAPER.  This means that you run way way less than normal to rest your legs up for race day.  So my week looks like this:

  • Monday: Light weightlifting, 5 mile trail run, recovery yoga
  • Tuesday: Light weightlifting, 4 mile trail run, recovery yoga
  • Wednesay: Recovery yoga, go for a walk or play around on the slackline
  • Thursday: Gentle yoga, Eat a big bowl of spaghetti
  • Friday:  Rest the legs, light stretching, drive to Appomattox, eat sweet potato and avocado tortillas
  • Saturday: RACE DAY!!! Run 31 miles, eat a whole bunch of pizza and beer

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50k Training: Two Weeks Out

At this point I’ve started figuring out what works for me when training for these difficult events.  Whether or not its an adventure race, a marathon, or an ultramarathon, I’ve figured out how to successfully handle the last two weeks of pre-race training.

This isn’t going to be about how runners taper (fancy word for “SLOWING DOWN” or “NOT RUNNING AS MUCH”).  Instead these are a lot of mental tricks that help me through the most difficult part of the training plan- NUTRITION Continue reading

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