Food and Rest...

Food and rest, 2 things it seems like you never get enough of when you add running so many training miles into an already full work week.

This week my goal is to get all of my food lists made, food list items purchased, and food items packed for the trip across the state.

Some folks might get a kick out of what fuels you to run 500 miles in 2 weeks so when I get a concrete list I will post it here...it should probably look something like: 23 gallons of lemonade, 541 Pop-Tarts, and 239 string cheeses.

The other goal this week is to get all of our first week lodging figured out. Were taking tents, sleeping bags, etc. but after so many miles we are hoping for a roof over our head nearly every night! It sounds like everything after Mobridge is almost covered, but besides Capitol, MT, all of our lodging in the first week of the run still needs to be planned! So...........SPREAD THE WORD to everyone you know in northern SD!

Pack lots of food and run long,

Nolan

More than 1 way...

There's more than one way to skin a cat...errr...opps...wrong blog!

This morning I woke up early and ran 15 miles to work. After work I will have another 15 miles to go to get back home. I ran in that dead piece of time between night and day, when the moon and the sun are on the horizon at the same time, just different horizons and if you are running north or south, you can look way 1 and think night fall is coming and look the other way and get excited for a new day! which brings me to my point...

There's more than one way to run 30 miles in a day!

As our cross state run gets closer now is the time to start experimenting with different foods, drinks, run/rest schedules, hydration systems, electrolyte replenishment, etc. I feel pretty good about my one the run food and drink options. I also feel pretty good about my hydration systems, and electrolyte options. However, one thing I am still toying with is what is the best way to get in an average of 30 miles for 14 days.

There's two runs of 15 miles, three runs of 10, or one big ol' run of 30. There's run 5 walk 1 and run 8 walk 2 or...

Or maybe we'll just have to wait and see what the day brings us. Roll with the punches and see how we feel. It might be smartest to let our bodies tell us which plan is right for the day rather than our watches. As long as we keep putting 1 foot in front of the other we will get to where we need to be!

Now if I could just come up with an easy way to explain to my boss why I showed up to work in running tights, worn out running shoes, and a stretched out sweaty running shirt!

Wake up early and run long,

Nolan

A day in the life...

Seems like I can't find enough hours in the day to enjoy things other then running like kayaking, geocaching, goofing arounsd with the dogs, unicycling, etc. so I thought I would break it down and see where all my day is going. I thought this might be interesting to folks who are wondering what it takes to get ready for something like this.

A day in the life of this Ultra-runner lately looks something like this...

5:15 - Wake and go for 3-8 miles.
6:00 - 7:30 - Get ready for work.
8:00 - 1:30 - Work
1:30 -2:30 - Go for lunch run. There will be more of these starting next week. 3-8 miles.
2:30 - 6:00 - Work and go home.
6:00 - 7:00 - Go for night run. 5-8 miles.
7:00 - 9:00 - Shower, EAT (and I mean SCARF!), and go to bed.

Fridays are different because those are an optional day, and Sundays are different because those are LONG RUN days, like this weekend is a 20 miler.

AH HA...now I see where all my day is going!

Run long (REALLY LONG) and strong,

Nolan

Braving the COLD!

Hard to believe the Chemo Is Harder run is right around the corner. Seems like yesterday I was thinking, "Our run date will be here in 10 months!", now I am thinking, "Wow, our run date will be here in 3 months!"

As my mileage starts to add up I have been having to brave some pretty cold morning runs, and with the weather man saying the temperature won't break 10 degrees for the next few day it looks like there is little relief on the horizon. On a positive note though we have gotten lots of snow in the last few days which is is always fun for XC skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, etc.

I am proud to say we have added a couple more sponsors to our adventure!

Newton Shoes has stepped up as our shoe sponsor for our run. I was really excited when I got home from work last week and found a box sitting on my doorstep. When I opened it up, I noticed that these shoes really ARE different from any other shoe on the market! These shoes are designed by runners to mimic barefoot running. Because of how they are built, they encourage you to land on your forefoot and not be a heel-striker. Not only is landing on your forefoot a more healthy way to run, but also more efficient! Check out our sponsors page and click on their link. When you get to their site read the portion that says, "RUN BETTER" and "HOW THEY WORK". We are really excited to have newton teaming up with us and I can't wait to fill my log book full of Newton miles.

Thanks for all the encouraging words about our journey so far, they are so nice to receive as it reaffirms our believe in what we are doing every time we read them.

Run long and strong,

Nolan

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

Hello everyone-

Time continues to fly by and for some reason I cannot seem to find out where it has gone. Christmas season is approaching and before you know it, we will all be starting on our New Year's resolutions...

I hope each of you has a wonderful 2008! There are many things to be thankful for and just as many things to look forward to over this next year. I cannot believe that the Chemo Is Harder run across South Dakota will be here in just over 4 months. Nolan and I have a lot to do in preparation for this historic event.

We are excited and honored to run 429 miles for cancer research and hope that each of you that read this can help support our cause in some way. No contribution is too small and everything Nolan and I do is for all those who have had cancer, currently battle cancer, and for those that may have cancer...that research efforts will someday find a cure!!

Please enjoy this time with your family, friends, and all those you love and cherish. Remember that "family is where your home is..." May you and yours be blessed this holiday season!

If you want to laugh or need a bit of cheer, please check out this link: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1414981314

Take care & God Bless~

Brendan

Way too long!

Hi everyone who reads this crazy Chemo Is Harder Journal! Sorry it has been so dang long since our last post. Truth is, both Brendan and I have been really busy with non-Chemo Is Harder stuff. Not only that but we are at a point in the process of making this a big deal that we are needing some outside assistance. Chemo Is Harder is about to come WAY to big for just the two of us to handle.

We have been revamping a few things with Chemo Is Harder as well. We are in the works of trying to get a PayPal account set up on our site so folks can purchase shirts online via a secure site. There have been A LOT of folks who have been asking how they can get shirts and soon it will be easier that trying to catch up with one of us.

Brendan, his wife, and myself actually went on a run tonight and talked a little bit about getting together a no-kidding gear list, talking with a sports nutritionist, etc. I have been focusing for so long on a race that I have this weekend (East Meets West Dryland Challenge - 1 Dog Pro-Class Canicross) it felt great to start thinking about our long cross-state run again.

Anyways, just an apology for the lack of updates in the last 2 months. We WILL be making them more often!

Nolan

PS - The picture on the top is of a Mountain Goat on Harney Peak. This weekend Meg and Susan (from the Heart of the Hills Running Club in Hill City) and myself run up Harney Peak. It turned out to be an awesome run with good company to the highest point in South Dakota.

Letters from a tent...

9-1-2007
11:26 PM

Hey everyone,

I'm writing this from my tent in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest. I'm out on a back-to back long run weekend. My original plan was to do a 60 mile tune-up to test the B.O.B. and all of my differant systems on 2 consecutive long run days, originally planned for 30 mile days. I was also going to do all of this east of Rapid City on flat highways, being that that is about all we will encounter on our cross state run.

I changed my plans before leaving town. It was 96 degrees in Rapid today and to tell you the truth, I wasn't that excited to head out of town, pushing 40 pounds of gear while the rubber off the bottom of my shoes melted to the black-top a little more with each step, so...I waited until it cooled off a bit (7 PMish) and got in about 20. My run home tomarrow is a differant route so I am guessing my weekend test-drive will become a 50 miler or so, whish isn't as wicked as the 60 I had hoped for but still, what's better then 50 miles in a weekend, all totally self-sufficient?

Anyways, if my run tonight was any indication of the heat I will have to run in tomarrow, then it's a good thing I plan and getting on the road between 5AM and 6AM. It's late now and I better get some shut eye.

Run long and sleep hard,

Nolan

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