The after math....

For those that read this...I finished the entire 105 miles in 30 hours and 1 minute.
The charities were great and we had a wonderful celebration!
I ran through terrible conditions. It downpoured for about 9-10 hours of the run.
It was quite hot at times.
I had no pace runners.
My route left much to be desired. I found myself often time without so much as a shoulder to run on.
My only crew member was my saving grace!
Thanks Brian!

And thanks to everyone who supported me along the way!

If you wish to continue reading about my adventure and seeing what else i have in store for myself check out my other blog:
http://elwellrunsforever.blogspot.com/

Thanks again to everyone,

Jeremy

The night before....

I am nervous! I am excited!
Hopefully i will be able to sleep.
I have packed everything I could think of.
Have all contacts stored in phone and on paper.
Camera, phone, GPS are all charging.
Time for a restless nights sleep!

On a side note here are some really good articles Kathy with DFW Wildlife was able to have posted:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2010/sep/23/ultramarathon-elwell-bat-wildlife-running-wild/#c77973

http://www.examiner.com/animal-rescue-in-dallas/support-running-for-wild-and-win-a-live-wildlife-release-event

Well keep in touch with my Facebook to see how it goes tomorrow!
Jeremy

1 day left

Hello everyone still following along to my training. I have not ran in 2 days. Those last few muscle creaks are just about gone. I am itching to run. I almost went out for a 2 miler with the dogs tonight. Luckily school got in the way! Everything is all set.
stay tuned to my Facebook page and the Running for WILD Facebook page for current updates, locations and mileage during my run.
Thanks to everyone that donated!
Thanks to everyone that has supported me!

Week 9: 13 Days until the RUN!!

Total Mileage: 33.4 miles Total Hrs Run: 5.16hrs Next Weeks Goal: 30 miles
Sun. 8/22: ARMS/Run-2.5 miles
Mon. 8/23: REST
Tue. 8/24: Run 6 mile (TREADMILL)
Wed. 8/25:Run-7.2 miles
Thu. 8/26: CHEST/Run-7.2 miles
Fri. 8/27: BACK/TRAPS
Sat. 8/28: Run-10.5 miles (TREADMILL)

Well the taper has begun. Time to let my body fully recover. I cut the mileage a little more than I anticipated this week. The high humidity over the weekend was just too much of a motivation killer. I really wanted to get a good long run in, but heat index on 107 sucks. I managed a boring 1.5 hours on a treadmill Saturday. I was really hoping for 80 degree weather for this run when I started planning it 2-3 months ago. Oh well, I will manage! And Sunday with the 2.5...that was harder than you would believe. I toted along the dogs. They are poorly leash trained so I was drug for the first mile by their combined weight of 150lbs. After that they were pooped and it was an easy jog home.
So my plans for this week are to take it pretty easy. I have cut all weight lifting until after the WILD run. I think I will get a good 10-12 miler in mid week, then keep everything under 10 miles until next Sunday. After that maybe a 4 miler and I'm thinking a short 2 miles wednesday.
I did see some wildlife this week.
Sunday we had a close encounter with a skunk! My boxer saw it a took off after it...lucky nothing got sprayed! The Rotty never saw it...
On Thursday night a coyote was about 50yards to my right. When he heard me he paused in his tracks to watch me pass. As I was directly across from him he decided he was going to come see what I was all about. I didnt stick around I quickly crossed 4 lanes of road and he disappeared. Surprisingly the coyote didn't seem at all afraid of me or surprised by seeing me.

Well that is all!
Make sure you go to www.runningforwild.com and check out all the new updates on the donation page. We have a lot of cool things offered for your donation!!

Week 8: 19 days until THE RUN

Total Mileage: 35.78 miles Total Hrs Run: 5.71hrs Next Weeks Goal: 55miles
Sun. 8/22: ABS
Mon. 8/23: Run-6.98 miles (HILLS)
Tue. 8/24: CHEST
Wed. 8/25:Run-10.5 miles (TREADMILL)
Thu. 8/26: Run- 8.1miles
Fri. 8/27: BACK
Sat. 8/28: Run-10.2 miles


Well this week kicked my butt! I seemed to be busy busy busy! I'll blame it on starting college. I was in class for the first time in about 11years!! All is good though. 35 miles is a decent week. As you can see I took an extra day off. Friday was not going my way. My right knee was achy all day at work, and my IT band was very tight. This caused a bit of a scare because I've had problems with this in the past. No worries though. It is an overuse injury. Taking Friday as a rest day and stretching it out, I felt perfect come Saturday night. I still took it a little easy for a Saturday. I usually like to put in higher mileage, but maybe I used the ITB as an excuse to cop out to a nice lil' 10 miler. Something new for this training period was the treadmill work. I usually use the treadmill alot in the winter. I did 10.5 mile or 99 minutes. I progressively raised the incline from 1.0%-3.0% until the halfway point then I progressively started it back down to 1.5%
Speed started at 5.0 and progressively increased it per lap(track lap) to 6.5mph.
With that said I needed a nice low mileage week. I was literally exhausted most of last week. I'm done with the hill training and done with any incline on the treadmill. Any excessive incline or decline running aggravates ITB injuries. That is what I'm going to avoid. I'm going to maintain a nice stretching routine. I am going to continue to train hard but at this point with 17 days to go as I write this I have one last week of training before I start to taper my mileage and let my body recover for the big day.
Oh got my new shoes in on Thursdays run! They should be nice and broken in for the Run for WILD!! I will post pictures ASAP!
A single little cotton tail bunny was the only wildlife I saw running this week.
Happy Running
Jeremy

Week 7: 26 days until THE RUN

Total Mileage: 41.24 miles Total Hrs Run: 6.76hrs Next Weeks Goal: 55miles
Sun. 8/22: ARMS
Mon. 8/23: Run-7.15 miles
Tue. 8/24: CHEST/Run-6.91 miles(HILLS)
Wed. 8/25: REST
Thu. 8/26: Run- 10.18miles
Fri. 8/27: BACK
Sat. 8/28: Run-17 miles

So I'm getting down to the wire here....just about 3 weeks until the big day! I'm getting nervous, but am content with my training. I was hoping to be putting in more mileage per week by now. Fortunately I feel like I am ready. The long runs are going well. I struggle with boredom, and beating myself mentally. Physically my lungs are ready for more. My lungs are unphased by 3 hours of running. In fact 3 hours of running last night and I can easily sit indian style on the floor and type this, with no pain:) You runners know that sore knees and sore muscle normally have us moving like we're 80. By boredom and beating myself mentally, I mean I run the same route day in and day out. When I run for that length of time, I need to see something new. Some new stretch of Grand Prairie. I know come run day I will have 105 miles of "new" roads to explore! Goodbye boredom!
Yes my mileage was short of my goal this week. I had planned on a 35miler on thursday to test my support crew and myself. I took wednesday off to be fresh. Well thursday rolled around and neither my pacer, support car driver, or myself felt much like cruising the backroads for 5-6 hours. My little brother/pacer Jacob and I settled on the 10 miler. The 17 miler on Saturday was good. I ran the same 10 mile course from thursday. Stopped by the apt, a few laps around my 2 mile course and I was done.
I'll wrap this up by saying keep an eye on the website www.runningforwild.com we are going to have some events coming up to boost fundraising. Hopefully I can have it updated today!!

Note:Click on Jacob's name in the above article to check out the charity run he has planned for October. Running for the Cure.

WEEK 6-1 month 2 days until THE RUN

Total Mileage: 48 miles Total Hrs Run: 7.78hrs Next Weeks Goal: 50miles
Sun. 8/15: ARMS
Mon. 8/16: Run-6.4 miles
Tue. 8/17: Run-8.3 miles
Wed. 8/18: Run-11.1miles
Thu. 8/19: CHEST
Fri. 8/20: Run-7.2 miles
Sat. 8/21: Run-about 15 miles

So another really great week. I felt really comfortable on every run.
Saturday I labeled mileage at about 15 miles. This is because my GPS said I ran 28.2 miles at 13.2 miles an hour...lol...i'm not quite that fast. I was shooting for another 20 like last saturday, but I was having car problems and didnt want to use the truck as an aid station then have it not start after running for 3-4 hours. So instead I ran until I literally ran out of road, then turned around and ran home. It was exactly 2.5 hours of non-stop running. That is roughly 15-16 miles at my pace. Other than that i want to pick up the weight lifting a little more, and do alot more ab work.
On a side note this weeks I saw quite a bit of wildlife while I was out running. 2 skunks, a coyote, a bat(almost hit me in the face), and a handful of toads. Also something rustling in the bushes about 3 feet to my left on my run last night. It was either go towards the rustle or into traffic(barely any shoulder on this stretch). i went towards the rustle and still have no idea what it was. Probably a coyote.
I want to hit 50+ miles this week. I want to do a trial run of the run day. Maybe about 35-40 miles and use my crew team as aid stations so we can all get the hang of running and coordinating things along the side of the road.

Week 5: 1 month 9 days until THE RUN

Total Mileage: 48.5 miles Total Hrs Run: 8.58hrs Next Weeks Goal: 45miles
Sun. 8/8: on Vacation
Mon. 8/9: Recovered stolen Jeep
Tue. 8/10: Run-4 miles A.M(HOT HOT)/9miles P.M.
Wed. 8/11: Chest
Thu. 8/12: Run-9.1miles
Fri. 8/13: Run-6.4 miles
Sat. 8/14: Run-20 miles

I was a bit concerned about this week when I had 0 mileage going into Tuesday! I decided to tough it out and hit a few miles at 10am. BAD idea it was already about 98 degrees. I pulled over under a tiny tree trying to get out the sun for a minute and came close to losing my breakfast. I finished my run home and immediately took a cold shower. I did manage another 9 miles that night and felt much better. Saturday I finally squeezed in a long run. I parked my truck about 2 miles from home and used it as an aid station. I did four 5 mile loops. Or so i thought they were 5 mile loops. I came in after the last loop and the GPS read 18.5...ugh....I was determined to get my 20 miles though so I ran another 15 minutes. Back I the truck I check GPS 19.97. I ran a lap through the parking lot to get the last .03 miles. I was determined to hit 20 miles....lol.....
Here is what I took and ate during the run(similiar to what I use during an ULTRA)

• I took 2 fish oils,2 advil liquid gels, and 2 Endurolytes(see below) before the run.

• 1 roast beef and cheddar sandwich @ 10 miles.

• Half a Turkey sandwich @15 miles.

• A twizzler stick as I left the aid station each time.(3 total)

• An Endurolyte capsule every 45 min.
  
  

• 35oz of ENDURANCE amino VITAL (drank at every aid station)
  

Note for those wondering why I parked my truck to use as an aid station....I find that if I use my apartment, when I am fatigued about 15 or so miles into a run I am less likely to get my butt back out the door to finish another loop.

Week 4:

Total Mileage: 22.6 miles Total Hrs Run: 3.6hrs Next Weeks Goal: 40miles
Sun. 8/1: Arms
Mon. 8/2: Run 10.7 miles
Tue. 8/3: Run 7.9 miles
Wed. 8/4: Chest/Back/Arms
Thu. 8/5: on Vacation
Fri. 8/6: Run-4 miles (hotel treadmill@3am)
Sat. 8/7: on Vacation

Notes: So all in all a pretty low mileage week. I had planned on alot more. I didnt want my vacation weekend to stand in my way, but it did. I had also planned on running most nights, but waterparks and Six Flags take alot out of ya!
My apologies to anyone following this on the late blog update. My Jeep that was stolen a year ago was recovered on Monday 8/9!!!
Still havent decided on a pair of shoes! We raised another $50 in donations this week as well!
Well thats all for now! Happy running!
Jeremy

Week 3: 1 month 23 days until the Run

Total Mileage: 32.76 miles Total Hrs Run: 5.05hrs Next Weeks Goal: 30miles
Sun. 7/11: Run-8.17 miles
Mon. 7/12: Chest
Tue. 7/13: Rest
Wed. 7/14: Rest
Thu. 7/15: Run-7.26 miles
Fri. 7/16: Back/Run-7.69 miles
Sat. 7/17: Run-9.64 miles

Ok, so I scrapped together a half-way decent week. Not too bad considering the 3 days I took off when my Dad came to visit. I did need a rest week, and I got caught up! So I'm concerned I may have another slightly low mileage week. I may have to pack a pair of running shoes and run on my long weekend visiting water parks, Fiesta Texas, and the Guadalupe. No worries. I feel great! I feel ready to add in a long run each week. By this I mean a 3+ hour or 20+ miler. So far seems to be I'm getting 4 solid days of running. I'd like to add a 5th day, of which would be my long run. Then make one of the other days an easy 5 or so miles. I think this would jump my mileage to around 40-45 miles a week.
On a side note, I need a new pair of shoes. I have been running for most of this year in Brooks Cascadia. I love my Cascadias and swear they are the best trail shoe ever. BUT since I'm training for a road run, I wonder if I should invest in a pair of road shoes...anyone have suggestions or ideas? Guess I will have to shop around. I really dont want to splurge and buy both...I'm still not made of money.

Week 2: 1 month 30 days until The Run

Total Mileage: 34.6 miles Total Hrs Run: 5.43hrs Next Weeks Goal: 35miles
Sun. 7/11: REST
Mon. 7/12: Run-7.9miles
Tue. 7/13: Chest
Wed. 7/14: Run-11.7 miles
Thu. 7/15: Run-7 miles(Hills)
Fri. 7/16: Back/Biceps
Sat. 7/17: Arms/Run-8 miles

So this week went well. Did a decent job of sticking to the training plan that I keep in my head...
I was a little disappointed in the weight lifting I did this week, but my focus is on running. I must say I was exhausted most of the week. I didn't finish most of the runs until after 11pm. After protein, dinner, shower....that put me in bed around 1 am and at work by 8am. I was averaging 6 hours a night. Something I will work on. I did have a lot going on. The brothers were in from out of town on Sunday, and I went to a concert on Friday(which means drinks!). All in all I am right on track.

Next weeks goals I want to keep the same. No increase in mileage until I balance out my rest situation. A few things coming up this week are my Dad is coming in Tuesday and Wednesday. This may effect some mileage. I am not worried and wont be discouraged, I need the rest:)

Week 1: 2 months 6 days until the run

Total Mileage: 27.5 miles Total Hrs Run: 4.43hrs Next Weeks Goal: 35miles
Sun. 7/11: Arms
Mon. 7/12: Run-7.2miles
Tue. 7/13: REST
Wed. 7/14: Chest/Run-6.36miles
Thu. 7/15: ABS
Fri. 7/16: Back/Run-9.75miles
Sat. 7/17: Arms/Run-4.2 miles

My goal was 30 miles this week. I came up 2.5 miles short, but I am still pleased. Every run went very well. My endurance seems to be increasing nicely. Muscles still seem to be playing catch up to my lungs. Monday I had big plans of squeezing in 10-12 miles, but about 2 miles into the run I wasn't able to cross a busy intersection due to traffic. I took a detour for about a mile and planned to cross under I-20 through a grassy field. About 50 yards through the grass I came upon a huge/steep ravine, that would have been a pain to cross. It was at this time I felt the little burrs sticking and scraping my skin! I looked down and realized from just above my waist on down I was covered in tiny little burrs. I shuffled awkwardly to a cement slab. It took me about 10 minutes to pick enough of these things off to be able to move without chaffing my body terribly. Check out the pictures below. They were taken after running about 3-4 miles home.

Note: When I say just Arms or Chest that means I lifted weights and specifically worked those muscle groups.

Post #1

Well this is a new idea for me. I am not sure if anyone will even be interested in following, but the plan is to post either weekly or daily training updates. I would like to keep a pretty decent blog of mileage and hopefully GPS of my routes. I have added a counter on the right side showing how much time we have to the run.
So for a little background. I haven't competed in an Ultra since a 100 miler in February and a 50k at the end of February. I came out of that 50k pretty beat up...well mostly my right leg ITB. I took it easy for about a month and have been regularly running 20-30 mile weeks since. I haven't covered any distance further than 10 or 12 miles.
My goals over the next 2 months will be to work my weekly mileage up about 10% a week until I am averaging 60-75 miles a week. My personal goal will be to hit 100 miles a week.
I am also going to try and get a few races in. If my stamina and energy level are up I think these will make for good training runs.
My #1 goal is to stay injury free until RunningforWild kicks off. Once I hit the road on that I can destroy my body as long as I need to hit the finish line...
I am very excited. As stated before this is a first for me, so any advice or suggestions are welcome!