Badwater Forum

Good luck in your training this year John. You weigh right now exactly what I weigh and I am just slightly taller. I weighed 195 2 years ago and and started an intense 6 months training program for weight loss and conditioning for Ironman Arizona for 2006. I entered a fitness competition and ended up getting down to 146 pounds. the only way I was able to lose that much  weight was by  counting every single calorie every day for every meal and snack, along with training intensly of coarse. It was very intense and don't know if I would do it again. Since then I have put just under 30 pounds back on in over a year. For me I am much happier where I am now although I could stand to lose maybe 5 to 10 pounds. I was wondering why you were planning on getting down to the weight you mentioned?

Steve Ochoa

As John's wife, I'll step in and say that I agree with his assessment of weight. John has a lot of natural talent for endurance (and tolerating extreme temperatures) but he's definitely more athletic <150.
I must confess that I'm his downfall in the food department, though. I run a lot more mileage than he does, so I can get by with a few more dietary indiscretions. It's hard for John not to pile his plate up when he sees me doing it. I'd probably run better if I lost a few pounds too, so maybe I should work on being a better influence.

Weight is an interesting factor, when it comes to events like this. In general, my perception is that ultra runners tend to have a little more meat on their bones than, say, marathoners. But is that because having a little more substance helps them or not? It's hard to say for sure. Somebody tell me if I'm wrong on this, but I think slimmer bodies tend to tolerate the heat a lot better. My experience with horses tells me that lean, long body types handle heat and distance much better than horses with bulky muscles. I presume this is because they have a larger surface area (for evaporation and convection) in relation to their total mass. And I think that the thicker muscles have a harder time ridding themselves of waste products during exercies...but now I'm getting off on a tangent.

In any case, I weighed in at a rather chubby 140 for my first Badwater Solo, and felt like a water buffalo. The following year, I slimmed down to about 130. The main difference I noted was in my feet. The first year, I had a whole lot of non-specific foot pain--they felt like they had been hammered into hamburger. The next year, my feet still hurt, but the pain was centered more around particular trouble spots, like blisters and bruised toenails. I credit the change almost entirely to my dropping 10 pounds.    

In any case, I'll cheer John on toward his weight loss goal. Even apart from his running, I think it's a move toward better health.

Marcia,
I experienced the same thing when I ran the LA Marathon 2 years in a row with a 10 pound difference. Only I was lighter the first year and heavier the 2nd. My feet really felt the difference.

My wife is such a good cook that I have a hard time with quantities of food. Fortunately she is very health conscience and cooks healthy the thing is, is I tend to eat more of that type of food because it is usually low in fat and which is one of the mechanism that suppresses my appetite.

Your muscle theory makes sense to me I am not the classic Cheetah framed runner I am built more like a pitbull or a Razorback which does not make for a very efficient runner. I am not very fast but have love to run for a long time and a long ways. Runningis my passion, so I make do with what I have.

How's the training going, John and Marcia?  Everyone else?

I have my second 100 and first trail 100 coming up April 13th, McNaughton Park Trail Runs:  www.mcnaughtonparktrailruns.com and plan to use this as a long training run for the solo. 

Last year in preparation of my crewing/pacing duties for Bill at his race, I conducted what I now know to be far too much heat training.  For those new to the heat training, please don't take what I say here to be necessarily applicable to you, as we are all different.  I saw my endocrinologist several weeks after the race and the results of a thyroid panel helped us to get my menstrual cycle normalized.

I haven't begun heat training yet but plan to about two months prior to July 1 . I had considered only 2-3 weeks of this training but have decided to do it for a longer period of time with less intensity/duration per session than least year.  I would very much appreciate feedback from others once I begin the training.

I'll post my training to date after tomorrow, when I have a long run planned.  I look forward to us supporting each other through our training!

Happy Trails,

Connie Karras
2006 Crew/pacer, Bill LaDieu - 54:50
2007 First Solo Attempt

My training's going pretty well for the Solo. I'm consistently doing about 50 miles a week with as much hill work as my legs can handle. Long runs are about 25 miles, and I'll increase that to 30 as I am able.
My heat training depends a lot on when it actually gets hot here. I like to give myself the month of June to heat train, but I think it's counterproductive for me to start any sooner. I get more miles done if I'm not trying to heat train at the same time. But if it warms up before June, I just go with it.

I'll let John post about his own training.

Hello John, I just climbed into the same boat as you. I need to drop a few pounds to get down to a weight that will help me cover ground easier. I think the training report is a good way to keep track of the mileage one puts in. I like to track my miles on the shoe box of each pair of shoes I run in. I think working toward the Solo will be a good way to train. I will be making a few trips to DV to train after the temps get up a little. I will be running Rock N Roll in June, so I want to start hitting DV soon. 

My training has been pretty regular for about the last two months:
Saturday 20 - 30 miles on rocky hilly trails.
Sunday 10 - 15 miles on hard packed dirt roads with sandy patches.
Monday - Thursday 3 miles on a treadmill at 4:00 in the morning.
Friday rest no miles, some weight training.

With daylight saving starting I think I will switch to evening running for the daily mileage.

My first DV run will be on 04/06/06 from ten miles before Stovepipe Wells over Towne Pass to ten miles down over the summit.

Anybody running Rock N Roll Marathon Sunday?

No speed record, but my 6:00 marathon was good enough for my training schedule.

Hey, a 6:00 marathon pace will get you a 31:00 finish on the Badwater course!

We are coming into the last two weeks . Time to keep the heater on when driving, finalize the list, and stock the supplies. I'll be staying at Stove Pipe Saturday.
See you there in the pool. Greg

We plan to arrive Friday afternoon, and will be staying at Stovepipe as well.
Assuming we're not delayed, we will eat supper at the restaurant in Stovepipe, both Friday and Saturday nights. Anyone is welcome to join us.
We will plan to eat at 6:30, when the restaurant opens.
Menu is somewhat limited, but they do have some basic "runner food" options, like pasta, baked potatoes, and salads.
We look forward to seeing old friends again, and meeting others for the first time. This will be FUN!

I am looking forward to meeting everybody as well. I would like to talk about Javelina last year. We went for the training run, but we did not make it back for the race. This year we plan on making that race.