Sunday, December 30, 2012

Weekly Training Wrap - 12/24 - 12/30

A few weeks ago I said that I needed a bit more base before I started hitting the quality. Well, the time has come and I may have over done it this week! Originally I had a lactate threshold pace run scheduled for Christmas day. Snow arrived over night and I opted for a hard effort that amounted to a marathon pace (grade adjusted) on my neighborhood hills. I proceeded to do the LT workout Thursday. And I followed that with a tough weights session on Friday followed by a tempo/steady long run Saturday. Whew! What was I thinking? I ran all day Saturday and Sunday on sore glutes. I plan to take my foot off the gas a bit this week.

Anyway, it was a productive week and I am glad to be running at 100%. I am finding that I really enjoy Yoga on my off days right now. The relaxed intensity, the stretching, and the functional movements seems to really make my off days more enjoyable. But, I still plan to mix it up at least once a week and keep my body guessing.

This week also wrapped up my month and my year. If you haven't already, you can read my year in review over here. As for the month, well it exceeded all my expectations that I had post-injury. I was hoping to be putting in 30 miles a week by the end of the year. Instead, I am more or less full speed. I am so thankful. Here is a quick summary of the month:

  • 227 miles in 34.5 hours, the most I have done since July
  • 23 runs for an average of almost 10 miles per
  • 19K of vertical, a bit below average for the year

Day Miles Notes
Monday Rest Yoga and PT
Tuesday 9 MP Snow Effort
Wednesday5 Recovery
Thursday7Tempo/LT 
FridayRest Strength and Core
Saturday 20Steady Paced Long
Sunday 14 Easy Long
Total 55 About 2100 vertical feet

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Weekly Training Wrap - 12/17 - 12/23

I said I was going to do a cut-back this week and I have pretty much lived up to that. It was a good thing because the weather sure made it tough to do anything hard outdoors. I did still get in a fair bit of "quality" with a mini-B2B on Friday and Saturday totaling nearly 4,500 of vertical in two days. In fact, Saturday's hill repeats turned into an anaerobic workout like intervals. I have now completed my first 12 weeks of training back from injury and I feel like my fitness is returning. Even though my HR monitor is being a stinker right now, the readings I am getting suggest that I have a base of miles worthy of doing some hard training.

I am actually sort of eager to turn the page to 2013 and get focused on the Old Pueblo 50. In fact, I am hoping that race will be a pretty big 50 mile PR and a break through to my future ultra events. But, I do tend to be a dreamer! Appropriately, I wrote my 2012 year in review this weekend as well.

Here is some video I shot at Deer Creek Canyon on Friday.


Day Miles Notes
Monday Rest Yoga and PT
Tuesday 6 Easy with Progression
Wednesday5 Blizzard Run
Thursday7Easy 
Friday14 Deer Creek in Snow
Saturday 10Hill Repeats
Sunday Rest P90x Legs, Chest, Ab Ripper X
Total 41 About 5900 vertical feet

Saturday, December 22, 2012

2012 Year In Review

Before writing this post, I read my 2011 Year In Review again. What a year that was! I had breakout performances all over the place and raced like crazy. This year was an attempt to build on that and take on the new challenge of running 100 miles. While I would never call 2012 a failure, I would say that it was a struggle to build on the success of 2011. The one thing that I did right was enjoying some adventures that I would not have attempted 2 or 3 years ago. As I began discussing in my posts after Leadville, I think the one thing I did wrong was allowing my mind to focus solely on mileage and vertical totals. As a result, I don't think I am as fit right now as I was in 2011. I plan to race a little bit more in 2013.

Before sharing my memories of 2012, I will throw out some stats to wow you (ok, maybe not):
  • About 2400 miles run (a small step back from 2011, mostly from missing half of August and all of September to injury)
  • 270K of vertical, about a 40% increase year over year
  • A PR in the 100 mile distance (26:45, my first attempt), marathon (3:13), and half marathon (1:31). 
  • I "only" competed in 4 races (Leadville 100, San Juan Solstice 50, Colorado Marathon, and Platte River Half Marathon)
  • I ran 20 miles or more twenty-four times, 30miles or more seven times, and 50 miles or more three times. Lots and lots of long slow runs.
Nothing that really blows an "elite" ultrarunner away, but I am proud of it. I am constantly toying with the limits of *my* body and the limits of the tolerance of my family. And frankly, I am not a huge believer that big miles equals big success. The amount of miles you run should be appropriate for the length of the race, your natural ability, and your running history. Can anything really prepare your for 100 miles? But, I digress...

Frozen Front Range Marathon

Running with the Boulder Peaks behind me

I kicked off the year right with a great Fat Ass run with Sherpa John in January. This was an attempt to hit 6 of the biggest peaks in the Boulder, CO area. It was one of the biggest vertical days I had ever done (almost 7K of vertical) and I was sore for days. It was an awesome time and I hope to go back for the event again this year.

Colorado Marathon

Unfinished Business

Anyone that follows this blog knows that I had a horrendous experience at the Las Vegas RnR Marathon in December of 2011. Frankly, I wasn't really sure I wanted to do the Colorado Marathon all the way up until race week. I signed up shortly before it filled mostly because I was hoping to make things right from Vegas. It turned out to be an incredible race and I more than erased any lingering doubts about my speed. I will contend that I probably left a BQ on the table that day. Instead, I chose to run a conservative first half, allowing me to finish incredibly strong and have a positive memory of the race. My five fastest miles in that race where miles 19 (up hill), 23, 24, 25, and 26. The last four are after the course "flattens out". Someday I will attempt to BQ, but I don't know when that day will be.

Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim

Descending the North Kaibib Trail of the Grand Canyon

Ascending the South Kaibib Trail of the Grand Canyon in 100+ degrees

Sherpa John on top of a giant rock pillar along the North Kaibib Trail

In February, I reached out to Sherpa John after discovering that a R2R2R adventure was in his thoughts. He immediately took me up on the offer to tag along and just like that a plan was hatched. This remains the most incredible adventure that I have done to date (with the LT100 a close second). I had been to the Grand Canyon before and, like most people, I simply stood on the rim and took photos. It is indescribable how awesome it was to see the canyon from within. I learned a ton about ultra running and taking care of my body that day. The day did not go exactly as I had hoped, but we still had an amazing time. I want to return and do at least a R2R with my kids someday.

San Juan Solstice 50

An early summit during the SJS50, elevation 13,000 feet

Joining my family at the 40 mile aid station of SJS50

Feeling happy after a massive rally from a major bonk

San Juan was supposed to be a 50 mile training run for Leadville. Accordingly, we planned to take it easy. Instead, I wound up experiencing the most amazing bonk of my life. Man did that rattle my confidence in the notion that I understood the ultra distance. Wow. I simply don't train enough at altitude to seriously race an event like this (about one third of this race is run close 13,000 feet). Instead of a race, it probably more appropriately called a mountain adventure. Lake City is simply amazing and the San Juan mountains are widely regarded as some of the prettiest in all of Colorado. Honestly, the race was stinking hard. So hard that I doubted I would ever do it again. Unexplainably, this new race in the San Juans has recently started creeping into my imagination... Maybe!

Leadville 100

The top of Hope Pass (12,600'), mile 45 of the Leadville Trail 100
Descending Hope Pass... just wow! 
Photo taken by my pacer on the return climb up Hope Pass

Coming into Twin Lake at mile 64 after a double crossing of Hope Pass
Refueling at May Queen (mile 88) at 3:15 in the morning of day 2
Ah, the finish line. I was too tired to be emotional.
This photo sums up what I will best remember about that day.
Tony and his cousin JD after a long, tough night.

The Leadville Trail 100 was all I hoped for and more. Sure I wish I had run faster. And, yeah I was a bit disappointed to be injured the week of the race. But this was my inaugural 100. And I like to believe that the memories made that day will be life long for everyone that contributed to making it happen for me. One of the best moments was talking with my sister (and crew chief) on Sunday after the race, both of us extremely sleep deprived after being awake for nearly 40 hours. I was totally captivated hearing how the race unfolded from her perspective: where she was during the day, who she was with, the things they thought and felt at those moments, etc... And I will always remember how she got choked up trying to talk with me at May Queen (mile 88, pictured above). That must have been the point when she allowed herself to believe that I was going to finish. I probably would have started crying had I not been so delirious and high on Red Bull. Words cannot express how much I appreciate the sacrifices that everyone made for me that day.

The second to last picture above is one of my favorites: me and my crew. Almost my whole crew -- Jen had returned to Denver, Jon was outside the frame, and my wife was taking the picture. I was truly amazed at how much my kids enjoyed the experience. They got up at 2:30 in the morning to watch me at the start line!!! Wow.

And I have to say a few words about my buddy Tony (last photo). I don't think he trained as hard as he would have liked. And he had his share of struggles that day. But it was so impressive to see him finish. His determination and unwillingness to quit is what makes ultra running a great sport -- an example of people dreaming big and pushing themselves to the limit.

What's in store for 2013? 

I have published a tentative list of events for 2013. The only thing written in ink at this point is the Old Pueblo 50 in March. There is too much momentum behind the Leadville Silver Rush 50 to imagine that not happening. Beyond that, I am not sure what is in-store quite yet. I have a couple of thing hanging out there that could change the entire course of the year for me. In general terms, I am likely to continue mountain and ultra running. It is unlikely I will do a 100 miler. Beyond that, there a lots of options still in play. I expect a plan will come together quite quickly in the first few weeks of 2013.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Weekly Training Wrap - 12/10 - 12/16

Another good week in the books. True to my plan, it was mostly easy running overall. But I did add in just a bit of some early cycle quality, particularly on Sunday's long run. A significant goal of this cycle was to have well thought out long runs and less "just logging big miles". The plan Sunday was to run each segment of the run faster, providing a progressive-quality element to the end of the run. We ran our segment splits like this:
  • Loop 1 - 9 miles @ 9:21, 138 avg. HR
  • Loop 2 - 9 miles @ 8:50, 142 avg. HR
  • Loop 3 - 6 miles @ 8:12, 149 avg. HR
The workout was all on the local hills around my house and we averaged nearly 100 feet of vertical per mile. So this was by no means a typical flat, road workout. I honestly wasn't sure how much I had left in the tank after I made my final stop at home around mile 18. I told my running buddy Jon that I wanted to try and get the overall pace of the run under 9-minutes on the last segment. Before long, we were just cruising and had dropped the pace to 8:51. I was certainly tired at the end, but I wouldn't say I was wiped out like I was after my first 20 on November 18th.

Perhaps the biggest highlight this week was my 5K race on Saturday. Both of my kids ran with me and we had a blast. I kept my daughter company during the Turkey Trot in November, so I decided to run with my son this time (he's a little faster). He ended up running a 27:45 5K as an 8-year old! You wouldn't believe the number of comments that he and his buddy Chris (a 7 year old) got as they passed many adults. My daughter ran pretty hard even without me around to push her. I am proud of them both and certainly wouldn't be disappointed if they became runners.

Being that it is December 17th, I have started to think a lot about my year and all the places running has taken me the past twelve months. While I have many events and races that I am proud of this year, getting past my Summer injury and learning to run healthy is near the top of my proudest accomplishments. I can honestly say at this moment that I am running as close to 100% healthy as I have all year. My left ankle feels better after being a chronic ache for almost 9 months. My knee is feeling great, other than some left over internal scar tissue from my fall. Even my lower back is feeling significantly better than it has in a while, particularly after a long run like yesterday. Looking at my training log and listening to my body, I think I am due for a cut back week. I have gone 6 weeks of hard build up and it is time. My legs are feeling a bit fatigued and I am feeling less motivated to hit my cross training workouts as I recover from my running days. As a bonus, this fits better into my "life schedule". 

Day Miles Notes
Monday Rest PT exercises
Tuesday 9 Easy Maffetone
Wednesday6 Easy Maffetone (P90x - Chest and Back)
Thursday5Easy 
FridayRest Iron Strength Workout
Saturday 6Super Easy (Avg HR 131)
Saturday 3Santa's Stampede 5k with my kids
Sunday 24 Progressive Super Long
Total 54 About 3800 vertical feet

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Old Pueblo 50 - Midway Training Update


It occurred to me yesterday that I often put out my week-to-week training blogs and don't always consider the "big picture". And, thus, this is my big picture training update, which also happens to be almost exactly the midway point of the 24-week plan I put together for the Old Pueblo 50.

Before diving into the update, I think it is important to provide a quick update on where I've been. 2012 has been my second full year ultra training and my second full year of training on relatively high mileage (almost 5,000 miles in two years or a little more than 200 miles per month). In between those ultras, I have also run/raced about half a dozen marathons. So I am familiar with marathon training, speed work, etc...

This year I took a big leap and signed up for the Leadville 100. I completed the race, but I wound up injured during training. I think it is important to note that I got injured during training and not in the race. During the month of July, I pushed to 310 miles of running with nearly 40K of vertical gain in nearly 53 hours of training. My body was giving me signs well in advance and I ignored them. I honestly battled injuries on and off for most of 2012. Fortunately, I was somehow able to get through the race. Afterward, I shut down and decided to rededicate myself to getting healthy and running smarter.

Long story short, like many mid-pack runners, I struggle with the trade off between quality and quantity. Should I run big miles or fast miles? Should I run up mountains or on roads? After evaluating my results, accepting my injury, and studying the practices of others, I decided that I had swung the pendulum too far in favor of quantity and perhaps not given up enough quality in the process (vertical primarily). I set two primary goals for training this cycle:
  1. I needed to take a small step back in mileage as I rebuild.
  2. I wanted to add more quality (speed work and tempo work) for this ultra cycle
And finally, onto the midway update, here are some quick stats:
  • I have been back at it 10 weeks with regular running (4 or more days a week)
  • Of those 10 weeks, I have averaged about 38 miles per week
  • The last 5 weeks have been an average of about 47 miles per week
  • I have done 3 quality sessions (anaerobic hill repeats, a set of hard intervals, a tempo long)
  • I am averaging about 4 sessions per week of either strength or core training, or both
Unfortunately, I started getting doubts in my own head, wondering if I am putting in enough quality or quantity. Yesterday, I re-read this incredible blog by Lucho* and I think the following paragraph really sums up how I planned to approach training (based on a Hudson plan):
So, in terms of periodization we must prepare our body for the training to come. In a well planned periodized plan you have 12-16 weeks of training that is ONLY preparing you to train effectively in the last 8-10 weeks. There must be a period of time where we focus solely on training that strengthens our tendons and muscles and metabolic economy. I think we should get as fast as possible at 20 beats below threshold first. Once you do this then start thinking about getting truly fast. For most of us the distance we are trying to race is part of the challenge! So build your body to be able to handle this aspect first. How can you consider the speed for 26.2 miles when simply finishing is still the major challenge? Don't put the cart before the horse. Once you have reached a solid level of fitness then start to think about quality. Once you have built an adequate base then quality is king!
Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I am going to get out of my own head and stick with the plan. I think I need another two weeks of primarily base building to keep me in the 50 - 55 mile per week range, where I like to be. From that point, I will be 10 weeks out from the race. Then I can start hitting the quality runs more routinely, maybe step up to two in some weeks (as in a speed workout plus a hard long run).

* By the way, Lucho's stuff is great and he is available for hire as a coach if you are interested. He also won the Leadman competition last year (setting a new record for the series) and finished 11th overall at the LT100.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Heart Rate Training

So you want to heart rate train? This post should hopefully be a good place to help you get started. But, let me warn you, there is some very fine technical details that can bog you down if you let them. Before going further, I should preface that the information in this post is oriented primarily at endurance runners. However, the applications of heart rate training can be far reaching into almost all areas of sports and is very popular with tri-athletes and cyclists in particular. I apologize for the length of this post, but there is lots to be said on this topic, entire books!

The first thing to know is that the applications of heart rate training are often dependent on your experience as a runner and your goals as a runner. I often interact with at least three levels of endurance runners:

  1. The first time or inexperienced marathon runner
  2. The advanced/experienced marathon runner
  3. Ultra marathon runners

My advice would be for runners #1 and possibly #3 above to keep it pretty simple. There are some pretty precise and valuable things that can be done when advanced marathon training, but those things should really be done by experienced runners with sound training plans and possibly even coaches.


Benefits


Base Building

There are multiple "systems" in your body that ultimately determine how you will perform on race day. These systems are both specific to you and to your goals. As endurance athletes, one of the primary systems that we rely on is our aerobic system. Our aerobic system is what provides us with the steady state energy and helps us maintain a relatively long and constant ability to exercise. Inexperienced marathoners in particular should do lots and lots of aerobic training, possibly even their entire training cycle. This kind of training will help your body learn to burn fat as a fuel source. Even experienced marathon runners and ultra marathon runners will do many weeks (often 8 - 10 weeks) of primarily base building before they begin hard training. Another benefit of base building is that sets the foundation for your body to reap the rewards of hard training.

Avoid over training

Over training is a serious condition that usually results in a runner being worn out and unable to train properly. If you spend too much time training at high intensities you could go backwards in your training. Or you could wind up injured. All running requires at least some recovery, but high intensity runs in particular can take several days. Recovery time is dependent on the race length, your age, and other factors. In general, the less experience you have and the smaller base you have, the longer it takes you to recover from a hard workout. Most advanced training programs do not have more than two key/hard workouts in a week. For example, it is common for advanced runners to have a speed workout and a long run each week. That is two key workouts. Sometimes a third key workout is added during key weeks or peak weeks along the week. Using a HR monitor helps to ensure that you are actually going easy when you intend to. Reading your heart rate can also tell you if your body is over stressed.

Ensure proper physiological responses to training

You don't run every long run at race pace because that would not training your body properly. The purpose of the long run is to get used to running for a long time, learning to eat and drink on the run, and helping your body to learn to utilize fat (instead of sugar) as an energy source. Run too fast on your long runs and you are likely to neglect almost all of the benefits above. Your body will rely too much on glycogen (sugar) for energy and won't learn to burn fat as effectively. Once again, using a HR monitor to ensure that you are training within a proper zone is an advantage to knowing you aren't going too fast here. (Some advanced marathon plans have a couple of "quality" long runs that allow you to train near race pace for a few miles as a test/preparation, but no plan that I have seen has one every week.)  Conversely, if you are doing a key workout, then having a heart rate monitor will help you to ensure you have achieved the targeted heart rate zones.

Proper recovery

Recovery from hard workouts is important. However, recovery is different for all runners. Some, like myself, prefer to take days off or x-train in between hard workouts. Other runners like to run almost everyday and choose "recovery" runs to fill in the gaps. In either case, the idea is to keep these days very low in intensity and allow your body to recover (re-hydrate, rebuild muscle, replenish glycogen) from other hard workouts.

Good race strategy

A common mistake that first time marathoners and ultramarathoners make is going out too fast. They underestimate how hard of an effort they can maintain for the given length of race. This results in rapid depletion of their primary energy source (glycogen), inability to properly take in additional fuel, and too much strain on the body. This often results in a crash that is very painful, hard, and unpleasant. In extreme circumstances or really long races, it can results in dropping out of the race. If you are familiar with your HR, then you can use that data and feedback to develop a proper pacing plan to ensure you have the best possible chance of completing the distance without a crash.

Track your fitness

Over time you can see your fitness improvements through data. For example, new runners and runners early in training cycles should find that they become faster running in the same zones while they are base building.

Determining Your Zones

Determining your heart rate zones is somewhat technical and may require a little bit of trial and error (see my point about "observation only" below). I will not give you much detail here because it is a lot of math! You can read any of the sources below or Google the topic to find tons of information. Most of the zones are derived using formulas that are based off of deciding your max heart rate, which is an imperfect exercise. This process is worthwhile and necessary if you intend to do advanced training. If you'd prefer to keep it simple, I recommend the methods of Maffetone and Mittleman.

If you are an experienced runner looking to take your running to another level, then I recommend Peter Pfitzinger's book Advanced Marathoning.

Below is the table of workout zones outlined by Pfitzinger using my estimated maximum HR of 195.

HR Targets (% of max)Maximum HR 195
Workout/ZoneLowHighLowHigh
V02 Max92%95%179185
Lactate Threshold82%91%160177
Marathon Pace79%88%154172
Long Run74%84%144164
GA/Easy70%81%137158
Recovery76%148

If you are a new runner, interested in building a bigger base, or just a runner runner that likes to keep things simple, then I recommend reading the work done by Philip Maffetone and later added on to by Stu Mittleman. Here are my zones based on Mittleman's book:
HR Targets
Workout/ZoneLowHigh
Speedy Aerobic Pace (SAP)155174
Most Efficient Pace (MEP)144154
Mostly Aerobic Pace (MAP)124153

How to Use It


Base Building

For base building, I recommend using Maffetone's work and keeping things simple. Run at your MAP or MEP for most of your miles, possibly even all your miles if you are an inexperienced runner. If you are using Pfitzinger's zones, then base building will be primarily done using Long Run, GA/Easy, and Recovery zones.

Observation Only

One way that I use HR data is just to observe it and store away the outcome for future use. For example, I will wear my HR monitor on a hard work or key run. After the run I will look at the data and compare it with what I think my HR zones (and maximum) are to compare. Sometimes they match. Sometimes I've trained too hard. Sometimes I decide I've gained fitness and might need to re-think my zones. Another good observation is wear it during a race. I wore my HR monitor during the GTIS half marathon in 2011. At the time, I thought my maximum HR was close to 185. However, my average HR for that race was 170 and my maximum was 181. This was a clear indication that my maximum was higher than I thought. If you look at the table above, I was clearly racing (in the LT zone) the entire time and starting to dip into V02 max at the end as I got tired and a bit dehydrated.

Executing a Key Workout

If you are following and advanced marathon plan, then the author of the plan will usually give you an specific goal for the workout.  These goals are sometimes pace zones and sometimes heart rate zones. If they are heart rate zones, that makes it easy.  If they are pace zones, then I will often revert to the point above ("observation only") and see where my heart rate landed after the workout is complete -- or even during the workout. Overtime, pace zones and heart rate zones begin to line up and you usually predict one from the other.

Planning a Race Strategy

Once you know your heart rate zones, using a heart rate monitor to race in those zones is a great way to ensure you are executing a good plan.

Closing Thoughts

Like almost everything I utilize in running, I don't see HR data as a silver bullet. I use it as a tool to help me get better and make good training and racing decisions. But the tools offered can be powerful in helping all levels of runner get better.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Weekly Training Wrap - 12/3 - 12/9

Running is such a mental sport. Or maybe I am just a mental case? After Leadville, I decided that I was not doing enough hard workouts and that my fitness level was slipping, even as my endurance was peaking. I was determined to do more long tempo (or marathon pace) workouts to increase my fitness. But now the time has come and I am struggling with the motivation to do the hard work. I love to run slow, particularly during this time of year where the days are short and the nights are long and cold. It is hard to find the motivation to get up early and push my heart rate. I have never felt better than I did after my Wednesday Maffetone workout. I literally felt like I hadn't run at all. After my hard run on Saturday, I was dragging all day.

Where is the happy medium? Well, I think I can do 80 - 90% of my miles within my easy limits to continue base building and endurance building. But I am committed to adding in at least one quality workout every 7 - 10 days. That workout won't always be a long tempo run. Sometimes I may do speed work, hill work, etc...

All in all, I am very satisfied with where I am at. I hope to continue increasing my miles gradually as I work toward the Old Pueblo 50 in March. But, I will not do it at the expense of core work and x-training.

I have updated my 2013 list of events and begun to trim the fat. I will likely have to trim it one last time to keep the strains on family life to a minimum. But this is a pretty solid list at this point. My season will be built around the Old Pueblo 50 and then the Leadville Silver Rush 50.

Day Miles Notes
Monday Rest P90x - X Stretch
Tuesday 6 Easy
Wednesday9 Easy Maffetone (P90x - Plyo)
Thursday5Easy 
FridayRest Strength Training
Saturday 18Long Tempo Run (MP+30sec)
Sunday 12 Easy Maffetone
Total 50 About 2900 vertical feet

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Weekly Training Wrap - 11/26 - 12/2

I am back! There, I said it. Since September 1st, I have done over 40 hours of cross training (p90x mostly), rehab, and PT. In that same time, I have run only about 45 hours. It has been a long road back to health, but it I am better for it. There are still some fitness gains to be made, but I am as healthy as I have been in at least a year. And, I have a plan to keep that on the right path moving forward.

I did two key workouts this week. The first was a tempo-interval workout on Tuesday where I ran 2 x 2 miles at my half marathon pace (6:55 or so). I was a little surprised that I could hit this workout. It hurt, but I did it. On Saturday I did a long run with huge vertical (roughly 4K) and I simulated my race day nutrition and hydration strategy. It was flawless, almost easy. Before the run I ate a packet of PocketFuel to satiate hunger. During the run I consumed more about 80 oz of fluid (800 calories) and four gels. I would say that my pace was sustainable for a 50 mile run, particularly since Old Pueblo is just about half that amount of vertical.

The key now is to continue to execute. I may pick up my miles just a bit for a few key weeks -- namely when there are some back-to-back efforts -- but I will not sacrifice the cross-training that I have established. This next week is supposed to be a cut-back week and I will likely take it.

Before leaving, here is a quick update on how my November training went:

  • 175 miles with about 15K of vertical
  • I ran 20 times for an average of 8.7 miles per run and a total of 26 hours
  • Longest run was 20 miles


Day Miles Notes
Monday Rest P90x - Yoga
Tuesday 7 Tempo Invertals - 2 x 2 miles at half marathon pace
Wednesday5 Recovery
Thursday7Easy
FridayRest P90x - Legs, Back, and Ab Ripper X
Saturday 20Deer Creek Canyon Long
Sunday 6 Recovery
Total 46 About 5400 vertical feet