Weekly Training Wrap - 09/12 – 09/18

If you read my goal update, you know that I have finally decided to settle on racing a marathon as my next goal. Thus I have decided to jump back to a Pfitz 18/55 plan as a "guide" for training. This week is a cutback week because of my Lead King race.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	11	A nice GA run to start the day and then some light hiking later.
Wednesday	5	An aggressive paced 5 miler.
Thursday	8	Tempo run
Thursday	4	Recovery run with my wife.
Friday	Rest
Saturday	4	Easy warm up in Marble, CO
Sunday	16	Lead King Loop Race
Total	48	About 6400 vertical feet gained

Goal Update

I'm starting to get some clarity on my goals. The key was to break the goals down by duration, specifically short/medium and long term. I've been back and forth in my mind many times (surprise, surprise!) over the past few months trying to decide what I should be doing. And finally, when reading a fellow blogger's interview with Nick Clark, it hit me:  it's not that I don't want to train for a marathon, it's that I need a fresh approach to training. Planning and then executing on that plan is always worthwhile in any goal you set. In fact, when I reflect on my Summer, my proudest achievement is the constant focus to follow one goal and stick with my plan. With that, here are my goals:

Short

As you already know, I have the Lead King Loop race coming up this weekend. I don't have a specific goal for the race.  However, I do plan to give it a hard effort. When racing this type of event it is difficult to predict finish times and it often becomes you versus the course. Depending on the depth of the field, I have a chance to bang out a top 25 finish (or higher).

Medium

I am finally going to let my mind embrace the idea of training to "race" a marathon. Frankly, I still haven't really done this yet.  Perhaps I'm just scared to put myself out there and let it hang out. To date I have completed 5 marathons, but I'd be hard pressed to say I have raced any of them. When I ran Denver RnR (2009 and 2010), the goal was really to gain enough fitness and lose enough weight to complete it under four hours.  Both the Colfax Marathon and Steamboat Marathon this year were meant to be training runs on my path to the Leadville Silver Rush 50. I suppose the closest I've come to a race was the Leadville Marathon in July. I gave an all-out effort that day -- in fact I wonder if it hurt my chances for a strong(er) Silver Rush 50 only two weeks later -- but it's hard to compare a road marathon and a trail marathon.

The goal for the Las Vegas RnR marathon on (December 4th) is sub-3:25. My current road marathon PR is 3:34:18 at Steamboat Springs. My last four mile splits were my fastest of the race (average of 7:27 per mile) because I was running above my marathon pace while pacing a friend early in the race. Clearly I left gas in the tank. During my speed work training all Summer I have been using 3:25 as my marathon pace and I have been able to complete all of those workouts.  And, according to this altitude calculator, the drop of nearly 4,000 feet in elevation should help my chances as well.  What's more, my performance at the GTIS half marathon suggested it is possible.

So how am I going to get there? The good news is that I have plenty of miles and a solid (almost 50 mile per week) base to jump into the middle of most any plan. Most likely I will follow a Pfitz 18/55 plan as a guide with some modifications that suit me (or just to entertain me). In particular, I'd like to try some longer interval runs as were suggested in the interview with Nick Clark. If the opportunity comes up, I will certainly still trail run. I am going to have to accept mid-week MLRs: drink some Red Bull and quit whinning!

Now that the goal is out there, help me achieve it by keeping me accountable!

Long

As for long term goals, I think those are still being flushed out a little bit and the situation is somewhat fluid.  I know this much, I probably need one more Summer to get Leadville out of my system.  For some reason I still feel like I have unfinished business there. While I'm not sure it mattered, being sick the week of the race left a lot of unanswered questions. Plus I was just a rookie. And while I don't know that it is the wisest idea, the LT 100 is almost too tempting to pass up. I project as a 26 hour finisher (easily below the 30 hour time limit). In fact, if I was willing to accept the risks (see DNF), it's not out of the question that I could aim for the big buckle and a sub-25 hour finish. Trying for that would definitely not be the wisest idea.

The other idea being kicked around would be to run the Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim. It's a 47.5 mile run with roughly 12.5K of climbing.  While technically it would be an unsupported, non-race event, there is water at various camp grounds along the way.  It is reasonable that I could do this run in 11 - 14 hours depending on how hard I wanted to push it.  Due to the weather, this would most likely take place early in May as a training event for Leadville.  Again, it's fluid and will most likely change.

So those are my current thoughts on goals.  I promise that only the long term goals may change.  Leadville 100 registration opens in late November and usually fills by early January, so that is the next logical point to evaluate my long term goals.

Race Week - Lead King Loop

This week I will be running the Lead King Loop and Quarry Climb in Marble, CO.  This is a wonderful small town race to support the local charter school.  It is a 25K, or as they call it in Leadville, a "heavy half".  The town of Marble is near Aspen and very beautiful.  This time of year is usually good to see Aspen trees changing color as well.  Here is a preview of the Lead King profile.  It climbs approximately 2900 feet in a 4 mile span from .5 mile to mile 4.5 and then descends the rest of the way.  Based on previous years' results and similar courses, I should be able to run this between 2:35 to 2:45.

I'm excited for the race because we are making it a family weekend in Marble.  My buddy Tony secured us some cabins at the Beaver Lake Lodge, which is walking distance to the start line.  We will be heading up Friday night and then we'll enjoy Marble and Carbondale on Saturday before racing on Sunday Morning.

Weekly Training Wrap - 09/05 – 09/11

This was my biggest mileage week since before the Leadville Marathon (June 20 - June 26).  It was supposed to be a cutback week, but my race next week forced me to swap the schedule.  Next week will be easy miles and then the Lead King Loop 25K on Sunday.  Tough week of running and I am looking forward to some easy miles next week.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	10	Unscheduled open space run.
Tuesday	5	Recovery pace
Tuesday	4	Fun run to try out my Hattoris
Wednesday	10	Mile Repeats (6:58,6:53,6:48,6:35,6:30)
Thursday	5	Recovery pace
Friday	2	Easy miles in my Hattoris
Saturday	23	Long run with some MP miles
Sunday	6.5	Easy pace
Total	65	About 4500 vertical feet gained

Weekly Training Wrap - 08/29 – 09/04

As many of you that follow me on the DailyMile know, I am training for two races at the moment. However, I prefer to follow a plan that has more miles on the weekend and fewer miles during the week. Running MLR runs before work just feels like work to me. Thus I have chosen to follow an ultra plan from the book "Relentless Forward Progress" -- the training for a 50K on 50 miles per week. I added a few miles Thursday because it felt right and I was up early in the morning (4:30). Saturday was a tough trail run to keep my vertical skills improving and to prepared for the Lead King Loop trail race. As always I try to do core work (push ups, leg raises, crunches, or Yoga) at least 5 days a week.

The only other big news this week is that I am trying to find a new goal. There has been some movement over the last few days on that. I am not going to reveal it until I feel things are a little more certain. I am hoping to take a small group on this adventure. This adventure will entail 50ish miles with 12K feet of climbing and will likely take place in early May.

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	Rest
Tuesday	7	GA pace
Wednesday	5	Easy pace
Thursday	10	3 miles at Tempo pace
Friday	Rest
Saturday	20	Trail miles with 4200' vertical gain
Sunday	8	Easy pace
Total	50	Almost 6500 vertical feet gained

Goals and What Drives Us

"Running has a way of possessing your soul, infiltrating your psyche, and quietly becoming your central life force. The difference between a jogger and a runner is that a jogger still has control of his life. We runners have lost it."
- Dean Karnazes

People around me probably know that I've been a little off lately.  I don't think this is all that unexpected as it is common after conquering a big goal to have a little hollow spot in your life that was previously occupied by the pursuit of that goal.   This summer I conquered a huge goal -- my first ultramarathon.  And the high from that experience has worn off.  I am now left with the decision of what to do next.  Sure, I have some races planned, but nothing that "gets my juices flowing".  (I am training for them and expect to do well.)  In reflecting on Dean's quote, I think I have become a jogger again -- running just stay in shape and keep a mileage base.  There is no passion in what I'm doing.

In some ways I think this problem is somewhat amplified by the fact that I am predominantly a morning runner.  It's a little more difficult to be adventurous when the clock is ticking and kids, work, and the real life await your return.  It's harder to enjoy the beauty of the world under a cover of darkness (though magical once in a while for sure!).  Getting up at 4 am to go rock fifteen miles in pursuit of a goal is hard core and invigorating.  Doing the same thing just to run some miles before work is boring and unfulfilling for me.

There was a discussion on the DailyMile a while back about the perfect run length and the consensus seemed to be about seven or eight miles.  And as I recall, the reasoning was something along these lines (or least this is why it would make sense to me):

1. Time - it takes most runners little more than an hour to run that length.  This means it is not an interruption to life and not a huge strain on your body.  No recovery need, no permission from your spouse.
2. Balance - it is enough of a run to get your endorphins flowing, burn some serious calories, but not enough to require serious planning or thought.  No need to think about how much water you need or what route you'll take (most people probably just have a standard one).

And don't get me wrong, for many people these goals are enough.  What's more, for many of those people they do run seven or eight miles with passion and purpose and it does fulfill their force.  I know many such friends.  The problem is that it's just not me.  Unfortunately, as Dean says, "moderation bores me".  In everything I do, it's all out or not at all.  There are days when I wish I wasn't wired that way and other days when I think it is one of my best qualities.  I am who I am.

So what's the answer?  I think I need a new goal.  Even if that goal is many months away, I need a reason to get up in the morning and push my limits.  Some would say that a hundred mile race is a reasonable next goal for me.  I trained hard enough to run one hundred this summer.  My finishing time for my fifty miler suggests that I project easily as a sub-30 hour hundred mile runner.  But if I go and run one hundred miles next year, then have I created an even bigger hole to fill after that?  A marathon already seems like it's not enough for me -- unless it's uphill!  If I complete one hundred miles, I fear that running fifty won't be as adventurous anymore.  And frankly, I had some issues during my fifty miler that leave me thinking I couldn't shoot for "the big buckle". Instead I'd likely have to be conservative and aim just to finish my first time out.  I'm not sure my mind will allow me to shoot for that.  Perhaps the answer lies in putting my passion into another hobby (brewing more beer!) until after the Winter.

Any suggestions on what I can do next?  One hundred miles? A destination fifty?  Something else?  

Moving Past Leadville

Several people have commented that either:

1. I graded my Leadville experience on my expectations and did not revise for my illness
2. I graded myself by section and but provided no overall grade, or
3. I should consider my training as a success in it's own way

Based on this feedback and my own need to analyze, I decided some type of reflection was a good (maybe just fun) idea. I'm glad I waited until after my race result had set in so that I didn't make an emotional analysis.

Leadville SR Wrap

The Grade

Goal Time 10:00 (though I internally always want better)
Actual Time 10:07 (gun time), 10:05 chip time (difference is Dutch Henry)
Grade: A-/B+ (cannot decide)

The Explanation

The grade is very tough and extremely subjective. I am very happy with training and have come to the realization that it was a GREAT first ultra result. The conditions were extreme (heat, altitude, mountains, technical terrain, illness), much tougher than a flatland looping 50 miler. The only thing I am really disappointed with is that if you inspect the results, you will notice that I had fought back (from 129th) into the race and couldn't close the deal. At one point I was in 48th place and I let 30 runners pass me down the stretch. Bummer. If it were not for that detail, I would give myself and A. If I had finished in 9:45 or less, I'd likely give myself and A+.

Positives and Negatives

Positives that I took from my experience

• Sharing this with my family (and friends)
• An amazing experience that I will remember for a lifetime
• A very respectable time for a first timer
• Power walking
• Mental resolve
• Planning and attention to detail

Negatives

• I was unable to capitalize on my mid-race momentum and an easy finish
• No clear understanding of what caused my stomach problems (not sure how to treat)

What's next?

Quite simply more. I loved my experience. It is difficult to explain to someone what a life changing experience an ultramarathon becomes. That said, I want to improve. Here are some areas that I think I can improve upon for my next ultra:

• Hill Running, lots and lots of hill running. No more walking medium grade hills for me.
• Hiking and altitude acclimation, which mostly likely means summiting some 14ers
• More technical trail running. I'd like to double or triple the number of miles I spent on the trails next summer
• Nutrition. I need to keep dialing that in. And I need to condition my body to go farther on less.
• Hot weather running. More practice running in the heat of the day running.
• Cross-training. I need more, particularly in the off-season.

Races

As of the moment I have one more official race for the year, the Las Vegas Marathon. I plan to race that and put marathon "racing" to bed for a while. That doesn't mean that I'll never run another marathon, I just don't anticipate it being my focus over the next 12 months (or more). I haven't committed to a training plan for Vegas just yet, but I'm thinking about going away from a Pfitz-type plan and doing more of the same. That would mean lots of long runs, lots of hill training, and the addition of some speed training. I will probably dial my mileage back a touch from my peak (70+ miles on peak weeks). I have also committed to the Lead King Loop trail race in September.

As for races next year, here is a potential list of things:

• Pikes Ascent or Marathon
• A shorter race in the Leadville Series (Marathon, Heavy Half)
• Collegiate Peaks 25M or 50M
• Leadville Silver Rush 50
• Some other 50 mile race
• Golden Gate Dirty Thirty
• Western States 100 (I qualified but would need to get in 10% chance lottery)
• Leadville 100
• Something I have yet to even consider

Training/Summer Wrap Up

I have kept detailed notes and could probably give you a monologue about each of my runs over the past 7 months. That said, here is a collection of dates and runs that stand out to me. Most of my friends and family shared in one or more of these days, which is the best part.

• January 2nd, Signed up for the Leadville SR
• February 5th, Running in Blizzard with Jon and Karen
• February 22nd, DailyMile Group Run in Boulder
• March 1st, Doctor Cured My Knee
• May 1st, run to Fresh Craft with Karen (and my first 80 mile week)
• May 8th, my first Mt Falcon run (with Tony)
• May 14th, 72 laps (18 miles) at the RHMS track with "tummy issues"
• May 15th, April & Eileen (Colfax Marathon)
• May 28th, Mt Falcon after Jen's difficult week
• May 30th, Bolder Boulder with Savannah
• June 5th, Steamboat Marathon
• June 11th, Running My Age (34 miles)
• June 15th, Run/Walk Home from Rockies Game
• June 18th, Mt Falcon 24-miler (with a fall)
• June 22nd, Bike to Work Day (Part 1 | Part 2)
• July 2nd, Leadville Marathon