Monday, February 24, 2014

Weekly Training Wrap - 2/17 - 2/23

Huge week for me and lots I could say. I think the table of workouts basically says it all, I mini-tapered for the big event on Saturday and then recovered from it on Sunday. Overall I am really pleased with how the day went. I would say I gave it an 80-85% effort based on the distance and vertical. My heart rate was pretty moderate the entire day (only a few blips of Zone 3 time), which allowed me to remain comfortable and test my nutrition plan. I went with Ucan, plain water, and some Hammer Bars for most of the day. After about 5 hours, I started putting in some gels mostly because they were more convenient and because I wanted some pep to finish strong. I can definitely begin using this technique for some races.

The event (a fat ass put on by Sherpa John and his Human Potential Running Series) was sort of in three parts. The first part was a 10 mile section of trail that took us from the Devil's Backbone Open Space in Loveland to the southern tip of Horsetooth Reservoir. In this section Tony, Chuck, and I just chatted and tried to keep an eye out for the trail so we could find our way back. I dictated the pace for the most part and kept it at what I perceived was easy. We got passed by quite a few runners, but I am guessing many of them did a shorter distances as we didn't finish behind that many people. After a few miles Chuck realized we were on the trails from the Blue Sky Marathon, which was reassuring to me because we didn't print a map. Then I got to run on the famous slanted rock trails everyone talks about from that race. I didn't particularly enjoy that section in either direction. In that same section, Nick Clark passed us wearing some brand new looking Altra Lone Peak. It kind of made me jealous that I wasn't wearing mine. After a bit of climbing, my tummy got briefly upset, but that was the only few miles of discomfort the whole day. The last few miles into the ten-mile aid station were gently downhill and muddy.

The second part of the event was the climb up Towers Road and summit of Horsetooth Mountain. Along Towers Road -- wicked steep, by the way -- we caught up to Trevor and Robbie and chatted for a long while. We eventually made a wrong turn and missed the trail, continuing to ascend Towers Road instead. Then we made another wrong turn and kept going up Towers Road, toward the towers, duh! Robbie got us back on track and we ended up doing kind of a lollipop loop at the top. The trails in the section were very muddy and icy and not particularly fun. Tony, in fact, twisted his ankle and that kind of previewed the rest of his day. Once we made our way down from the top, we hit several junction points in the trail and were not sure what to do. We ended up waiting at one such junction for about 5 minutes for some other runners to catch up and show us the way (we had not come in this way and were confused!). Just before we arrived back at the aid station (this is an out and back event), Tony started giving indications that he was not feeling well and would call it a day. We took a long pit stop and he confirmed he was done when we arrived back at the aid station. At the aid station, I met two gentlemen (Jason and Brandon?) that recognized me and said they had read my blog when training for Leadville. That made me feel good since that is why I put the information out there. I know that I am just a mid-pack runner, but one of my gifts is analyzing the heck of things. If people benefit from that, then I am happy to share it!

Tony stayed behind to catch a ride to the start as Chuck and I resumed our quest to finish the event in the final leg back to the start. In my mind, I figured that "gentle downhill" into the aid station from earlier would feel like a monster climb back out. That's usually how the cruiser downhills feel. While it was tough in spots, we kept a much better pace than I expected and probably ran 95% of this. It was at this point when I decided to hit a few gels just to keep the energy up. We pretty much kept a steady effort the rest of the way mixing in a little hiking and mostly running, matching the grade. This was the heat of the day and the wind picked up a bit and my drink rate probably doubled. I had gone through about 70 oz in the first 22 miles and maybe 50 oz in the last 10 miles. As the miles ticked by, I was fatiguing and my the effort level to keep the pace felt like it was increasing. I knew it was mostly downhill to the finish and was happy to "cruise" in, but it is these waning miles that usually leave me wondering how I can ever run 50 miles or 100 miles. The reality is that your mind is way more powerful than your body. I set out to run 32 miles and the whole day had been framed with that in mind -- pace, nutrition, mental exertion, etc... -- so that was all I had in me that day. Tony, Chuck and I headed to Oskar Blues for some BBQ and beers afterward. It was great run and a great day hanging with very good friends.

The best news is that while I am certainly tired and a bit sore, this felt like the easy effort I was hoping for. I should be good to resume training this week and can knock one more confidence building event off the stack.

Day Miles Notes
Monday 10Easy Miles
Yoga
Tuesday Off Rest
Wednesday6 Easy
Strength Training
Thursday7Light Hill Work
FridayOff Rest
Saturday 32Headless Horsetooth 50K
Sunday OffRest
Yoga
Total 556600 feet vertical

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Weekly Training Wrap - 2/10 - 2/16

Lots to say this week... First of all, I said last week that I was likely to sign up for North Fork 50 this week and I did. My hope is to get fit enough to race that, with a goal somewhere around 9:15 or 9:30. We'll see how my body responds as time goes by.

This week was the first week that I really felt like I was "training" since I returned from surgery. While I have generally been following good principals for increasing mileage, structure, etc..., each week up until now has just been a course of methodically testing my limits and hoping for no setbacks. This week I was on a "plan" with some structure and goals. I managed to run nearly 50 miles in only 5 runs, which is a very good starting point. And I feel very fortunate to be in this position after a near year long struggle in 2013. That said, I feel that my fitness has somewhat stalled out. I haven't seen much progress in the past 4-6 weeks. When I looked back at where I was a year ago, it is mind boggling. I was running sub-8 paces on my hilly neighborhood routes in mostly MAF type efforts. Those same efforts today are more like 8:30 - 8:45 pace.

In an effort to get back on track, I went back and checked my training log to see what I was doing last Winter to prepare for Old Pueblo 50. Honestly, there are only a few things that stand out. The first is that I was returning from my LT100 injury, but I still had an incredible base of miles I was working from. I trained the summer of 2012 like no other time in my life. I averaged 270 miles per month and 37K of vertical in the three months prior to LT100. Wow, those numbers seem unrealistic to me right now. The second thing that stands out is the frequency and consistency of my longs. I was hitting long runs with significant vertical or pace (and some B2Bs) nearly every weekend last Winter. While I cannot change the 6 month layoff due to injury, I can start to increase my frequency and intensity of my long runs. Now that I am officially training, those things should start to just take care of themselves. It started this weekend with a mini-B2B that included a pretty strong effort in the mud and ice at Mt Falcon. My body is not specifically trained for that much vertical right now and I felt it. (Nor am I trained for that crappy footing that comes with mud and ice.)

Day Miles Notes
Monday OffYoga
Tuesday 9 Hilly Run w/ 9 Fartleks
Strength Training
Wednesday6 Easy
Thursday9Easy/MAF Run
Body Weight Strength Training
FridayOff Rest
Saturday 14Mount Falcon
Sunday 10Recovery/Easy Effort
Yoga
Total 485900 feet vertical

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Weekly Training Wrap - 2/3 - 2/9

Tough week to train in Colorado: low temps, consistent snow falling, and lots of frustration. Due to the weather, I ended up doing quite a bit of road running and two "speed" workouts from McMillan running. Saturday's long run was a "tempo" effort with several miles at marathon pace and all on level terrain. One of the measures of training that I use is based around the time I spend in each HR zone. As a result of the three hard runs this week, I ended with 850 points, which is my highest total since June of 2013. (That phrase "since June" has been appearing in this blog a lot lately...) While I have only been tracking "Trimp Points" for a little over a year, it is my 6th highest total in that span. Long story short, I had a strong week of training. My biggest disappointment is the lack of vertical that went into my week. I will look to improve that this week with either some trail runs or hilly runs in my neighborhood.

This week my six month milestone since surgery passed. There is nothing magical except the reassurance that I should be full speed by this point. It is a milestone worth celebrating, but I have constant reminders that I am a work in progress. Nonetheless, this week I will likely round out my race schedule by signing up for one final event -- the North Fork 50 mile race in June. I will wait for things to unfold, but my preliminary thought is to make that my "A" race for the year and just enjoy the Bear 100.

Day Miles Notes
Monday OffYoga
Tuesday 7 TM - Pyramid
Strength Training
Wednesday5 Easy
Thursday7TM - Lab Rat
Strength Training
Friday4 Easy
Saturday 18Tempo Long Run
Sunday 6Easy
Total 473000 feet vertical

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Weekly Training Wrap - 1/27 - 2/2

The week started a little slow as I continued to recover from my virus from the week prior. Finally, on Wednesday, my body started sending signals that things were normal. I ended up running six days and put together a decent week. My left leg (knee) is starting to find a new normal, but I am always cautious as I try to include some weights and other sources of training stress. Winter is also really starting to weigh on me. Motivation is more of a concern right now than health. While March is an up and down month weather-wise, February is the toughest Winter month to preserver through. I'll just keep grinding a day at a time.

I finished the month of January with about 170 miles and a little over 15K of vertical. Both are about 20% behind my monthly average to get to my goal of 2500 miles and 215K for the year. I am neither surprise nor concerned that I am a bit behind right now. My hope is to approach the entire year like one long race, start slowly and just keep gaining momentum. Things like nutrition and fat efficiency are coming back slowly. Overall, I feel like my paces are pretty far behind, but I have done relatively little speed work the past few months. Of course the constant variation in weather makes that somewhat hard to measure.

Day Miles Notes
Monday OffRest
Strength Training
Tuesday 7 Easy w/ Strides
Wednesday6 Easy
Thursday9Progression
Strength Training
Friday5 Snow Run
Saturday 14Snowy Long Run
Sunday 7Easy
Total 483300 feet vertical