I've had a really solid string of runs since my last posting, so I thought I'd post them.
Wednesday last week: 10x400. First pure 400s workout since high school probably, but I can already tell a difference since doing it. I expected to average about 75s, but I averaged 72s. I did the first one in 70 since I wasn't paying attention to splits and then did most of the rest in 73s and then hit the last 2 in 71 and 68. I felt that I could've easily done 15 at my 72 average, but the schedule just called for 10 and I guess the point of a 400 workout isn't to totally trash my body. Having a little more speed than expected, especially on a crappy non-banked indoor track with sharp turns that probably cost me some time was definitely a good surprise.
Thursday last week: 10k. Did 10k in 37:50. Doesn't sound fast, but the course was at around 4700' elevation average and had over 600' of gain and drop, so it was extremely hilly. Didn't quite go race effort, but it still translates to an equivalent performance better than my atrocious PR of 35:08 (though when I ran my 35:08 i was capable of sub 34 if I hadn't run like a frickin retard and split the first 2 miles in 10:15...)
Friday last week: 10 miles in Denver since I was there for the Rachmaninoff Festival. Fairly hilly, but less than Salt Lake City, the equivalent of up and down 3/4 of the Boston Marathon's Heartbreak Hill each mile, IE WAAAAAY easier than the horrendous hills I hit on the trails here. Not a big effort, but put in 6:30s. Also, interesting to note that I walked approximately 12 miles on Friday since I had a hotel 4.5 miles out of downtown and walked the roundtrip in addition to walking around exploring the city for awhile... haha... Surprisingly, I felt that walking that far was somewhat strenuous and came to the conclusion that running a marathon anywhere above 7 minutes per mile would probably be less painful than walking one since I'm just not used to walking so far and it actually strains my quads after 12 miles. haha...
Saturday: no running, my off day, but walked about 10 miles, my legs felt awfully bad for walking that far.
Sunday: My pained quads recovered quickly, probably thanks largely to the 3-4 grams of hydroxymethylbutyrate I take daily. I did a 16 ish mile trail run (by 16-ish I mean that I had it logged as 16, but I think my GPS cuts it short in a few wooded sections, so it may have been a bit longer) in 1:58 with 2600' feet of gain. This translates to about 6:30s @ flat sea level, but the trail is pretty darn technical and has a lot of rocks, so the effort level for 6:30s is much higher here. I was keeping my heart rate right around 170 the whole way, but it dropped on a handful of really technical rocky downhills that were impossible to run at that effort due to the hazard of tripping involved with running that fast, so I averaged 168. I'm looking to be able to average right around the magic 170 at Vegas, so being able to hold it there for 2 hours without trashing myself with over a month and a half to train still was a very good sign. When I finished this run, I declared to my roommate that I thought it was the single best trail run I've ever had in Salt Lake City.
Today, Monday: 7 miles. I said I'd go easy and I did, well, for the first 5 miles at least. I ran on a really good treadmill that I actually believe is credible (in the past, specific paces between here and a track at the same elevation have matched exactly for heart rate values). I did the first mile in 7:00 flat and it felt like a total joke, so I did the next 4 in 6:30s (I was running at a 6:31 and just cranked it every once in awhile to knock a second off each mile). By mile 5, which I hit in 33:00, I was getting bored with the super easy pace (not to mention that my heart rate was barely at 160, which is literally the effort I was able to put in for just over 9 hours in my super tough last 50 miler), I ran mile 6 in 5:59, which surprisingly only brought me to a 172 heart rate. As you recall, last week, a 172 was getting 6:17s or something at this elevation, but I literally feel like my strength is multiplying on a daily basis. I could tell that my legs were running really fast at this point but it just felt insanely effortless. Anyway, after mile 6, it still felt pretty easy, so I cranked up the pace some more for the last mile. I was going to do it in somewhere around 5:30, but I just kept upping it and finished the last .2 at 4:40/mile, so I did mile 5 in 5:21 for a total of 42:20 or an average of 6:20 per mile. I had been wondering if my heart rate monitor was slightly off, but I got up to 190 in the final bit of the run and while it felt very strenuous, I was definitely not maxed, so I believe it actually was accurate and 6:31s really did correspond to a sub-160 effort. Oh, and yes, the treadmills I run on here actually go faster than 12 mph... They actually go to 15 mph, so when I feel like cranking out a 4:00 mile on a treadmill, I can do it... haha... Either way, going harder at the end of a 7 mile easy run doesn't seem detrimental to me. I did it for a short enough period of time that my legs don't have to recover or anything and I'll still get to reap some rewards from working on my speed.
One other note, the fact that I held a 161 for my last trail 50 and that 6:30s on flat corresponds sub 160 BPM heart rate does NOT mean I'm going to go run 6:30s for 50 miles. (My current marathon PR is only 6:36/mile, so that should be obvious.) I guess what that means is that my cardiovascular system is capable of doing a 50 that fast, it's just that my legs are nowhere near strong enough to withstand that pace for so long. On the trails, I'm not running as fast, so my legs don't really break down the same way and I'm able to withstand a much higher effort level and cardiovascular taxation. I've talked to bikers who can hold 180+ heart rates for 4+ hours, which would be unfathomable for running, but it's simply due to the fact that the bikers aren't pounding their legs into oblivion on asphalt. Trail running is the same thing. The insane hilliness on a course like Mt Dis 50 prevents one from running fast and therefore prevents the legs from getting destroyed (given good hillwork of course), but the effort level remains pretty high for a very long period of time.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Some interesting heart rate info...
So, today I had an 8 mile run that wasn't supposed to be at a moderate effort, not going anaerobic, but not going easy. I decided to go 8 miles on flat at 6:15s at 5000', which I seemed to remember being about 6:07s at sea level, which is pretty close to the marathon pace I'd have to run to do a 2:40. It turns out, it corresponds to 6:02s on sea level, in fact about a 2:38 pace, according to the Jack Daniels Calculator that I am so fond of. I've figured that if I have a great day in December (assuming I continue to train well), I could probably hold an average of 169 or 170 for the duration of 26.2 miles. 6:15s at 5000', similar to 6:02s at sea level, got me an average HR of somewhere between 171 and 172 today, so I'm cardiovascularly right around being able to run a 2:41 or so right now if I can hold up the 169 or 170 the whole way. My legs probably can't hold up on roads well enough to run that right now, but I have 2 months and that's plenty of time to get my legs fully from trail form to road form.
My short distance speed and my ability to keep a lower heart rate at a fast pace is definitely getting better as well, which is a good sign. I did a 4.8 mile tempo on roads the other day (was supposed to be 5, I guess I'm cheating... haha...). The run had very serious hills the first 2 being straight uphill with 600' gain in 14:30, and from 2 to 4.8 rolling downhill (net 600' downhill, but about 250' up, 850' down) in 14:50. Obviously, despite the rolling nature, this is going to be faster than flat, but the 5000' elevation still costs me time. The last 2.8 corresponds to 15:20 on flat at sea level, or just under a 17:00 5k. This doesn't sound fast, but my heart rate averaged only about 177 and never crossed 180 except for the last 1/4 of a mile or so when I picked up my pace to 4:40/mile on the heavily downhill finish. In an actual race, I'd average WAY higher than 177 (actually averaged 191 in a 10k), so the fact that 177 puts me only 25 seconds off pace for a 5k PR during the last 2.8 miles of a run means that I could destroy my marathon PR on a good course right now.
Back to thinking about the marathon... I think with some good training focused on roads, I should be on track to be able to get right around that 2:40 point by December, though I'm sure it will take everything I have to race a marathon in 2:40 this year. I think my half marathon I'm running 2 weeks out from the race should give me a good idea, but I really think it should be possible at this point.
My short distance speed and my ability to keep a lower heart rate at a fast pace is definitely getting better as well, which is a good sign. I did a 4.8 mile tempo on roads the other day (was supposed to be 5, I guess I'm cheating... haha...). The run had very serious hills the first 2 being straight uphill with 600' gain in 14:30, and from 2 to 4.8 rolling downhill (net 600' downhill, but about 250' up, 850' down) in 14:50. Obviously, despite the rolling nature, this is going to be faster than flat, but the 5000' elevation still costs me time. The last 2.8 corresponds to 15:20 on flat at sea level, or just under a 17:00 5k. This doesn't sound fast, but my heart rate averaged only about 177 and never crossed 180 except for the last 1/4 of a mile or so when I picked up my pace to 4:40/mile on the heavily downhill finish. In an actual race, I'd average WAY higher than 177 (actually averaged 191 in a 10k), so the fact that 177 puts me only 25 seconds off pace for a 5k PR during the last 2.8 miles of a run means that I could destroy my marathon PR on a good course right now.
Back to thinking about the marathon... I think with some good training focused on roads, I should be on track to be able to get right around that 2:40 point by December, though I'm sure it will take everything I have to race a marathon in 2:40 this year. I think my half marathon I'm running 2 weeks out from the race should give me a good idea, but I really think it should be possible at this point.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Really kicking it hard in that speed gear and how I plan to break 2:40 this year.
I've decided that Las Vegas MUST be a breakthrough race for me. 2:40 sounded like an awfully fast goal considering that I'm not going to be doing my fall marathon on a net 2600' drop course anymore, but I've decided that I still think it will be attainable. In the past, I had never done enough track work and very serious tempo workouts to obtain my maximum potential at the time in a marathon, but this time it's different. I'm doing a weekly road tempo now, a very strenuous long run every thursday (should be at least 150 minutes every week at this point), and a weekly 3x3 mile on Saturday in addition to a 3 other runs (1 easy and 2 moderate days on trails) and an off day, totalling around 65-70 miles a week, half of the mileage being in the mountains or at least on extremely hilly trails, far more difficult than any trail I had available to me in Baltimore.
My first attempt at the 3x3 9 days ago failed miserably and I quit after 2 intervals after being totally demoralized by a torrential downpour and heavy winds. Yesterday, however, was much different. I went out and did the workout slightly more conservatively than I could've (heart rate averaging 175 or 176 when I could feasibly due the workout at 179), but it was a nice first super tough threshold-boosting workout after not doing one for 2+ months. My times were 17:40, 17:48, 17:39, but I feel confident that a maximal effort for the workout could net me all 3 in less than 17:30, which I plan on attempting to hit in my next 3x3 workout on Saturday now that I know I can stomach the workout again. Also, keep in mind that I'm running these on a track at 4700' elevation, which costs me nearly 10 seconds per mile at an equivalent effort, even though I'm well acclimated at this point. In July, I had done a 3x3 at 5:40/mile at 4800' elevation, much faster than my 5:54 I did yesterday, but the indoor track I did it on was probably a few seconds short per mile, not to mention that I was running in a nice climate controlled environment free from wind.
Why the 3x3? In my previous marathons, the one thing I lacked physiologically was a high lactate threshold. I had a very strong endurance base going into most of my recent marathons and going 26.2 miles wasn't a big deal, but my legs were not able to hold up to the pace that my aerobic system was capable of for the whole distance, so I was stuck in the low 2:50s while my heart and lungs were capable of propelling me to a hypothetical 2:35, based on some lab testing I undertook. While I doubt that I'll be able to maximize my heart/lung potential from one marathon to the next, proper training can get it pretty close. The best way to boost my lactate threshold is to run tempos or long intervals as close to 179 beats per minute (my threshold point) as possible. Track workouts provide the best way to run pure flats here in Salt Lake City where there really are not many miles of flat roads. While doing tempos at 179 on roads would be beneficial, my speed would have to be slower due to the massive hills that are so abundant, so I'm sticking to the track. Fortunately, Karl is a big proponent of the 3x3 for me as well, so he was more than happy to prescribe the workout on a weekly basis, provided that I was able to use enough common sense to run them evenly, which I did a good job of yesterday (all 400 splits were between 86 and 90 except the very last lap of the last 3 mile, which I ran in 80).
Part of getting myself into top marathon form by December includes listening to my body like I never have before. I've learned from my past, especially when I seriously overtrained for Rocky Raccoon, putting in heavy mileage all at a very strenuous effort, mostly in snow, all last winter. While my endurance base definitely increased, I simply ran too much at too high of an effort and my legs were absolutely trashed by the end of the winter. Now that I have 3 key days per week, I need to make certain that I'm going into the workouts fresh. If I'm not recovered for a 3x3, the most important day of the week, I'm not going to run as fast and I'm not going to get out of it what I should. If I run really hard the day before a serious workout, I might get a little extra out of that particular run, but I'm going to be trashed going into the important workouts and my overall benefit will be lower, not to mention the fact that I will be in jeapardy of overtraining. I'm still having a bit of a problem holding back on my easy days that Karl throws in my schedule since I had always been one to push a little too hard on a daily basis, but having learned my lesson a few times now, I'm willing to do the right thing this time.
2:40 is a very lofty goal for me and I'm not totally sure that I'll be able to hit it, but I decided to run a half marathon a couple weeks out from my marathon to get a great sense for where I'm at. If I can go much under 6:00/mile on this relatively hilly half marathon course at 2500' elevation without much of a taper, I think I should be able to break 2:40 (6:06/mile) on a totally flat course under ideal conditions at sea level with a good taper. Assuming that I feel pretty close to 100% at the half in mid-late November, I'll probably base my pacing at Vegas pretty heavily on how that half goes.
In the mean time, I'm going to still be running the Helen Klein 50 on Halloween, but I don't anticipate this disrupting my training much. I'm going to taper for about a week, during which I'll probalby just run a 2x3 and skip my long run, but if it goes as well as my last couple 50s, I should be back at 100% and training well again within 3-4 days after the race.
In the mean time, my motivation is the highest it's been in a long time. I have a few friendly rivals that are set to run verygood marathons this fall (you know who you are... haha...), so just thinking about that keeps me wanting to be ready for and kill it in my key workout days. :)
My first attempt at the 3x3 9 days ago failed miserably and I quit after 2 intervals after being totally demoralized by a torrential downpour and heavy winds. Yesterday, however, was much different. I went out and did the workout slightly more conservatively than I could've (heart rate averaging 175 or 176 when I could feasibly due the workout at 179), but it was a nice first super tough threshold-boosting workout after not doing one for 2+ months. My times were 17:40, 17:48, 17:39, but I feel confident that a maximal effort for the workout could net me all 3 in less than 17:30, which I plan on attempting to hit in my next 3x3 workout on Saturday now that I know I can stomach the workout again. Also, keep in mind that I'm running these on a track at 4700' elevation, which costs me nearly 10 seconds per mile at an equivalent effort, even though I'm well acclimated at this point. In July, I had done a 3x3 at 5:40/mile at 4800' elevation, much faster than my 5:54 I did yesterday, but the indoor track I did it on was probably a few seconds short per mile, not to mention that I was running in a nice climate controlled environment free from wind.
Why the 3x3? In my previous marathons, the one thing I lacked physiologically was a high lactate threshold. I had a very strong endurance base going into most of my recent marathons and going 26.2 miles wasn't a big deal, but my legs were not able to hold up to the pace that my aerobic system was capable of for the whole distance, so I was stuck in the low 2:50s while my heart and lungs were capable of propelling me to a hypothetical 2:35, based on some lab testing I undertook. While I doubt that I'll be able to maximize my heart/lung potential from one marathon to the next, proper training can get it pretty close. The best way to boost my lactate threshold is to run tempos or long intervals as close to 179 beats per minute (my threshold point) as possible. Track workouts provide the best way to run pure flats here in Salt Lake City where there really are not many miles of flat roads. While doing tempos at 179 on roads would be beneficial, my speed would have to be slower due to the massive hills that are so abundant, so I'm sticking to the track. Fortunately, Karl is a big proponent of the 3x3 for me as well, so he was more than happy to prescribe the workout on a weekly basis, provided that I was able to use enough common sense to run them evenly, which I did a good job of yesterday (all 400 splits were between 86 and 90 except the very last lap of the last 3 mile, which I ran in 80).
Part of getting myself into top marathon form by December includes listening to my body like I never have before. I've learned from my past, especially when I seriously overtrained for Rocky Raccoon, putting in heavy mileage all at a very strenuous effort, mostly in snow, all last winter. While my endurance base definitely increased, I simply ran too much at too high of an effort and my legs were absolutely trashed by the end of the winter. Now that I have 3 key days per week, I need to make certain that I'm going into the workouts fresh. If I'm not recovered for a 3x3, the most important day of the week, I'm not going to run as fast and I'm not going to get out of it what I should. If I run really hard the day before a serious workout, I might get a little extra out of that particular run, but I'm going to be trashed going into the important workouts and my overall benefit will be lower, not to mention the fact that I will be in jeapardy of overtraining. I'm still having a bit of a problem holding back on my easy days that Karl throws in my schedule since I had always been one to push a little too hard on a daily basis, but having learned my lesson a few times now, I'm willing to do the right thing this time.
2:40 is a very lofty goal for me and I'm not totally sure that I'll be able to hit it, but I decided to run a half marathon a couple weeks out from my marathon to get a great sense for where I'm at. If I can go much under 6:00/mile on this relatively hilly half marathon course at 2500' elevation without much of a taper, I think I should be able to break 2:40 (6:06/mile) on a totally flat course under ideal conditions at sea level with a good taper. Assuming that I feel pretty close to 100% at the half in mid-late November, I'll probably base my pacing at Vegas pretty heavily on how that half goes.
In the mean time, I'm going to still be running the Helen Klein 50 on Halloween, but I don't anticipate this disrupting my training much. I'm going to taper for about a week, during which I'll probalby just run a 2x3 and skip my long run, but if it goes as well as my last couple 50s, I should be back at 100% and training well again within 3-4 days after the race.
In the mean time, my motivation is the highest it's been in a long time. I have a few friendly rivals that are set to run verygood marathons this fall (you know who you are... haha...), so just thinking about that keeps me wanting to be ready for and kill it in my key workout days. :)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Restructuring my fall schedule.
I'm cutting back to 2 big races that I'm going to let my entire fall success ride on. I was going to be running the St George Marathon in 2 1/2 weeks, but I decided after Cascade Crest that I'm not ready for it. I'd been doing fairly consistent speed/tempo work through July, but didn't really do any in August, so I'm going to want to rebuild a bit of that top-of-the-line speed and add even more on before I run another marathon. I've decided to do the Las Vegas Marathon in early December. That gives me 2 1/2 months to peak, which is precisely what I'll need to hit it perfectly. The course is flat instead of downhill like St George, but since it's basically right at sea level compared to the 2000-5000 feet that St George is at, it shouldn't be much slower.
I'm still going to be running the Helen Klein 50 miler on Halloween, but it's not really a typical ultra. Based on the heart rate I was able to sustain for 50 miles at Mt Disappointment (~160 average), I should be able to hold a little over 160 bpm average at HK50 since it's a faster course that will require less time at any given level of effort. On a flat course at very nearly sea level, 160 will put me well under 8:00/mile, so figuring maybe 10 minutes in for water bottle refills, very quick 30 second breaks to pound down high calorie foods, and an almost certain bathroom break, I think i should be able to run somewhere around the 6:30:00 range (6:40:00 would be 8:00/mile if I never stopped). 6:30 sounds somewhat ambitious, but I split the halfway point at American River 50 (which runs on the same bike path as HK50 for the first 27 miles) in 3:17 and I was able to hold a pretty similar effort for the second half (only it was on much slower trails, which took a lot longer to run). Also, my fitness will certainly be much better going into this race than going into American River, so I think I should be able to have a better performance.
As for training, I've been kicking up the speed. On the easy days that Karl gives me, I'm trying to find the flattest ways to run that I can so even if my effort is low, my pace will still be pretty fast. My long runs are mostly mountain runs right now where the pace is slow, but the intensity and time taken to complete the run are both pretty high due to very long strenuous climbs, etc. I'm also going to be consistently hitting tempo-range track workouts at least once a week pretty much every week between now and December. My cardiovascular system is definitely much more efficient than it was at the beginning of the summer, so my VO2 max has certainly improved, which gives me room to raise my lactate threshold, and therefore drop my racing times a fair amount.
I'm still going to be running the Helen Klein 50 miler on Halloween, but it's not really a typical ultra. Based on the heart rate I was able to sustain for 50 miles at Mt Disappointment (~160 average), I should be able to hold a little over 160 bpm average at HK50 since it's a faster course that will require less time at any given level of effort. On a flat course at very nearly sea level, 160 will put me well under 8:00/mile, so figuring maybe 10 minutes in for water bottle refills, very quick 30 second breaks to pound down high calorie foods, and an almost certain bathroom break, I think i should be able to run somewhere around the 6:30:00 range (6:40:00 would be 8:00/mile if I never stopped). 6:30 sounds somewhat ambitious, but I split the halfway point at American River 50 (which runs on the same bike path as HK50 for the first 27 miles) in 3:17 and I was able to hold a pretty similar effort for the second half (only it was on much slower trails, which took a lot longer to run). Also, my fitness will certainly be much better going into this race than going into American River, so I think I should be able to have a better performance.
As for training, I've been kicking up the speed. On the easy days that Karl gives me, I'm trying to find the flattest ways to run that I can so even if my effort is low, my pace will still be pretty fast. My long runs are mostly mountain runs right now where the pace is slow, but the intensity and time taken to complete the run are both pretty high due to very long strenuous climbs, etc. I'm also going to be consistently hitting tempo-range track workouts at least once a week pretty much every week between now and December. My cardiovascular system is definitely much more efficient than it was at the beginning of the summer, so my VO2 max has certainly improved, which gives me room to raise my lactate threshold, and therefore drop my racing times a fair amount.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Figured I should post a recap from CCC100
I totally forgot to write a recap for it and it's been 2 weeks now so I don't really feel like writing out a huge super long report, but here's what happened:
Finished in 26:55. First 74 miles were really good, absolutely died after that and lost a ton of places and time, felt very lucky to finish.
My pace was really good for the first 74 and my effort levels were exactly where the should've been. However, I pulled my calf somewhere around 70 and it just started to get really bad at 74. Also, I had been getting sick (almost threw up the night before the race) and my body was failing to convert calories to energy. In other words, I could sit down in an aid station, eat 1000+ calories, and then just sit there for up to an hour to let it process, go out and run, and within 1 mile, feel like I was so hungry and weak that I was going to pass out. My first 74 miles took somewhere around 16:50 (on pace for a sub 23, about 4 hours faster than what I ran), but I took about 10 hours for the last 26, mostly because I wasted 3-4 hours lying down in aid stations trying to recover. I'm still not quite sure what happened... I don't think I went out too fast and I'd like to think I could've held onto that pace if I hadn't hurt my leg and messed up my energy levels so badly, so I think getting sick was a big part of it.
Overall, Cascade Crest was pretty miserable and the altered course this year (going over a mountain instead of through it via tunnel somewhere around mile 50) was not incredibly well done in my opinion. Right around mile 52, we had to run down a rock-covered ski slope that had lots of boulders and rocks covered by straw, which proved to be a tripping hazard for a TON of people and while I didn't fall going down it, it was totally unrunnable, which cost me a lot of time. Also, the whole "trail from hell" section was pretty obnoxious. It included roughly 6 miles of totally unrunnable and barely hikeable trail with tons of fallen trees, huge rocks, etc. I'm all for a challenging run, but the keyword there is "run". When a part of a course becomes unrunnable, it should NEVER be included in a "running" race. I do these things to run, not to traverse fallen trees and giant boulders, so as far as I'm concerned, this area of the race should either be fixed up or removed.
When I finished, I said I would never do this race again, but I just might. I almost certainly won't next year, but who knows, I might come back for a better time in the future.
Finished in 26:55. First 74 miles were really good, absolutely died after that and lost a ton of places and time, felt very lucky to finish.
My pace was really good for the first 74 and my effort levels were exactly where the should've been. However, I pulled my calf somewhere around 70 and it just started to get really bad at 74. Also, I had been getting sick (almost threw up the night before the race) and my body was failing to convert calories to energy. In other words, I could sit down in an aid station, eat 1000+ calories, and then just sit there for up to an hour to let it process, go out and run, and within 1 mile, feel like I was so hungry and weak that I was going to pass out. My first 74 miles took somewhere around 16:50 (on pace for a sub 23, about 4 hours faster than what I ran), but I took about 10 hours for the last 26, mostly because I wasted 3-4 hours lying down in aid stations trying to recover. I'm still not quite sure what happened... I don't think I went out too fast and I'd like to think I could've held onto that pace if I hadn't hurt my leg and messed up my energy levels so badly, so I think getting sick was a big part of it.
Overall, Cascade Crest was pretty miserable and the altered course this year (going over a mountain instead of through it via tunnel somewhere around mile 50) was not incredibly well done in my opinion. Right around mile 52, we had to run down a rock-covered ski slope that had lots of boulders and rocks covered by straw, which proved to be a tripping hazard for a TON of people and while I didn't fall going down it, it was totally unrunnable, which cost me a lot of time. Also, the whole "trail from hell" section was pretty obnoxious. It included roughly 6 miles of totally unrunnable and barely hikeable trail with tons of fallen trees, huge rocks, etc. I'm all for a challenging run, but the keyword there is "run". When a part of a course becomes unrunnable, it should NEVER be included in a "running" race. I do these things to run, not to traverse fallen trees and giant boulders, so as far as I'm concerned, this area of the race should either be fixed up or removed.
When I finished, I said I would never do this race again, but I just might. I almost certainly won't next year, but who knows, I might come back for a better time in the future.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Mt Olympus run report, Last 2 weeks of training, also, now being coached by Karl Meltzer, also, ran another 10k
Last 2 weeks have been pretty light as I expected.
The Mount Olympus run to the summit a a week and a half ago was significantly harder than I thought I would be (the last 1.25 miles apparently has an incredible 2300' of pure gain) so I just did the one climb on Sunday. The whole thing was about a 7 mile round trip, but since it was on such horribly steep and technical hills, running nearly the entire thing still gave me about a 20:00/mile climb for the 3.5 miles up. I did the easiest portion (first 2 miles, with only 1500' of gain or so) in under 30:00, though when I say easiest, that means that a 14:xx/mile pace put my heart rate at a 180 average. After 2.25 or so, the trail quickly steepened and I had to take my first walking break after 2.3 or 2.4 miles and 1800' of climbing when I came to a slippery rock slide at about a 40% grade, that when run on, would cause me to slip and slide backwards. After I walked that, I got to some more runnable portions, but soon ended up in a huge boulder section where each step would require a several foot climb, so I had to hike my way through that part as well, which lasted a surprisingly long time and dropped my pace to something ridiculous like 50:00/mile for a little bit. After I finally finished with that section, I got to run some more on a horribly steep and technical portion on which my pace was like 25:00/mile while RUNNING (partly due to the intense difficulty, partly due to my fatigue from not knowing how bad the last bit was and going out too hard). Basically, it took everything I had to even run to the saddle at that point, at which point I got to run a little more and then scramble until I got to about 100 or 200' from the top, at which point, I decided to skip the last super steep scrambling section (it looked really dangerous) and turn around. I took the downhill really easy to recover and still had to walk through the boulder sections and rockslide, which were apparently totally unrunnable in either direction. All in all, this was a great run and I'm going to have to do it again and try to go for a faster time by not starting out so fast.
Other than that run, I've had about 45-50 mountain miles/week (according to a new system I've developed in conjunction with the Daniels Method of logging mileage via a point system, this would correlate to roughly a similar effort of 70-80 miles/week on flat at sea level) over the last 2 weeks, so while it sounds low, it's actually not bad training.
Most importantly in this post, I'm now being coached by fellow Salt Lake City runner Karl Meltzer. Karl holds the world records for both most 100 mile wins in one year (6, back in 2006 or 2007) and most 100 mile wins in general (26). He has also set course records at races such as Hardrock 100, San Diego 100, Wasatch Front 100. Karl is most distinctive on incredibly difficult courses and has 6 wins at Wasatch Front and 4 at Hardrock, probably the 2 hardest 100s in the continental US and on top of that, he knows what it takes to maintain good footspeed while training for long runs (he was dropping 10ks minutes faster than me at my current age), so while he only really does 100 milers seriously right now, I feel that Karl will still help me to develop the whole package with my running.
I went running with Karl for the first time today and we did a nice 12.3 mile jaunt through a moderate-difficulty - but very high elevation trail - going from 7600' at Mill Creek all the way up to the peak of the Canyons ski resort at 9700' with some downhills along the climb to be made up for and then a nice gradual descent back to 7600' (haven't looked at my GPS statistics yet, but it was easily over 3000' of gain). Most of my runs tend to peak around 7000' and I've only been above 7200' a couple of times this summer, my max being almost 9000' at Olympus, so when I started to get above 9000' or so, breathing became extremely difficult and the effort level felt incredibly strenuous even on a flat, so I was pretty glad to finally hit the peak after 70+ minutes and 6.2 miles of pretty high intensity. We ended up doing the 12.3 in 1:58, which correlates to 9:35s, which probably sounds ridiculously slow for all you road guys, but I actually considered this to be an extremely good trainer for the upcoming St George Marathon in October. Effort level wise, I felt like I did the 2 hours at an average intensity not too far off from how I race in a marathon (though the marathon is typically run at one pretty constant intensity and this was basically all over the place). Since we were done after 2 hours, I was just slightly sore after we finished but am better already now, later in the day, so this run won't affect my ability to perform this weekend at Cascade Crest. Oh, and, Karl said he probably would typically do this run in 2:05 or 2:10, so I guess having a young gun there breathing down his neck the whole way made him have to push a little harder. :)
One other quick thing... I raced some small little 10k on Saturday. I got a free entry and the prize was $100, so I had no reason not to do it. Unfortunately, a few other fast guys wanted the money so I ended up getting 2nd. The course was really tough (out and back with a 2% grade average uphill first half that was fairly rolling and just not fast at all). My first half was an unbelievably slow 19:00 or so and my second half was a fairly lazy 17:50. I led for the first mile (which according to the course markers I ran in 5:19), but according to my watch, I was only at .9 and by the mile 2 mark, the course was back to 1.99, so they obviously just put it in the wrong place. The guy who eventually won passed me with a lot of gusto after a mile and just opened up a lead from there. I don't know why he started so slowly, but I remember looking back around a half mile and not seeing anyone within 150 or 200 feet. Apparently, something clicked though, and he just sped up a lot and had about 45 seconds on me by the half. Since it was an out and back, we passed each other and he looked really smooth and I knew he wasn't catchable, so I just got somewhat lazy in the 2nd half and didn't run as fast as would've been possible. In all, since I made sure not to go out super hard and die in the 2nd half, my heart rate just averaged 182. My tempo workouts are run at somewhere around 178 or 179 if I'm really running it perfectly, so it was basically just an ever-so-slightly harder than normal tempo run as far as my body was concerned, which is definitely good to have done. Anyway, I finished a minute or so back in 2nd in 36:50 with a pretty big margin over 3rd (like 2 minutes I think) and got nothing but a medal that says "2nd place" and doesn't even list the race or anything. haha...
I'm taking the last 2 days before Cascade Crest completely off, despite already feeling well rested. There's not really anything I would be able to do at this point that would help my race on Saturday. The work is already done and I think I'm ready to run a good race. My body is pretty healthy, I've strongly improved my hill running abilities, I'm well-acclimated at elevations exceeding the highest point of the course, and my nutritional strategies and general racing tactics have significantly improved since my last 100. My last 2 50s have been much more consistent throughout the race than my last 50 prior to my last 100 and I also got to run a not insignificant 62 miles as a pacer at Badwater, so I think I'm pretty well prepped. While my overall mileage leading up isn't as high as it has been in the past, I've been running for a longer amount of time on a daily basis at a similar or higher effort to what I'd have been running at on roads and "trails" (if I can even call them that anymore after experiencing a summer of running in Salt Lake City), in Baltimore, so in reality, I've done the equivalent of higher mileage training than what I've done in the past. Since Cascade Crest is such a difficult race (course record is about 20 hours), my #1 goal is just going to be to finish without hurting myself, though I think with my strong performance at the very tough Mt Disappointment 50, despite going in with a painful sprained ankle, and my solid training in general, I think sub-24 is doable and I have this idea of beating my 100 mile PR (despite the course being MANY hours slower from either of my other 100s) in the back of my mind. Who knows... Breaking my PR would require a nearly perfect race, so we'll see if I can manage to put the pieces together with effort levels/pacing and nutrition this time. I think I can.
The Mount Olympus run to the summit a a week and a half ago was significantly harder than I thought I would be (the last 1.25 miles apparently has an incredible 2300' of pure gain) so I just did the one climb on Sunday. The whole thing was about a 7 mile round trip, but since it was on such horribly steep and technical hills, running nearly the entire thing still gave me about a 20:00/mile climb for the 3.5 miles up. I did the easiest portion (first 2 miles, with only 1500' of gain or so) in under 30:00, though when I say easiest, that means that a 14:xx/mile pace put my heart rate at a 180 average. After 2.25 or so, the trail quickly steepened and I had to take my first walking break after 2.3 or 2.4 miles and 1800' of climbing when I came to a slippery rock slide at about a 40% grade, that when run on, would cause me to slip and slide backwards. After I walked that, I got to some more runnable portions, but soon ended up in a huge boulder section where each step would require a several foot climb, so I had to hike my way through that part as well, which lasted a surprisingly long time and dropped my pace to something ridiculous like 50:00/mile for a little bit. After I finally finished with that section, I got to run some more on a horribly steep and technical portion on which my pace was like 25:00/mile while RUNNING (partly due to the intense difficulty, partly due to my fatigue from not knowing how bad the last bit was and going out too hard). Basically, it took everything I had to even run to the saddle at that point, at which point I got to run a little more and then scramble until I got to about 100 or 200' from the top, at which point, I decided to skip the last super steep scrambling section (it looked really dangerous) and turn around. I took the downhill really easy to recover and still had to walk through the boulder sections and rockslide, which were apparently totally unrunnable in either direction. All in all, this was a great run and I'm going to have to do it again and try to go for a faster time by not starting out so fast.
Other than that run, I've had about 45-50 mountain miles/week (according to a new system I've developed in conjunction with the Daniels Method of logging mileage via a point system, this would correlate to roughly a similar effort of 70-80 miles/week on flat at sea level) over the last 2 weeks, so while it sounds low, it's actually not bad training.
Most importantly in this post, I'm now being coached by fellow Salt Lake City runner Karl Meltzer. Karl holds the world records for both most 100 mile wins in one year (6, back in 2006 or 2007) and most 100 mile wins in general (26). He has also set course records at races such as Hardrock 100, San Diego 100, Wasatch Front 100. Karl is most distinctive on incredibly difficult courses and has 6 wins at Wasatch Front and 4 at Hardrock, probably the 2 hardest 100s in the continental US and on top of that, he knows what it takes to maintain good footspeed while training for long runs (he was dropping 10ks minutes faster than me at my current age), so while he only really does 100 milers seriously right now, I feel that Karl will still help me to develop the whole package with my running.
I went running with Karl for the first time today and we did a nice 12.3 mile jaunt through a moderate-difficulty - but very high elevation trail - going from 7600' at Mill Creek all the way up to the peak of the Canyons ski resort at 9700' with some downhills along the climb to be made up for and then a nice gradual descent back to 7600' (haven't looked at my GPS statistics yet, but it was easily over 3000' of gain). Most of my runs tend to peak around 7000' and I've only been above 7200' a couple of times this summer, my max being almost 9000' at Olympus, so when I started to get above 9000' or so, breathing became extremely difficult and the effort level felt incredibly strenuous even on a flat, so I was pretty glad to finally hit the peak after 70+ minutes and 6.2 miles of pretty high intensity. We ended up doing the 12.3 in 1:58, which correlates to 9:35s, which probably sounds ridiculously slow for all you road guys, but I actually considered this to be an extremely good trainer for the upcoming St George Marathon in October. Effort level wise, I felt like I did the 2 hours at an average intensity not too far off from how I race in a marathon (though the marathon is typically run at one pretty constant intensity and this was basically all over the place). Since we were done after 2 hours, I was just slightly sore after we finished but am better already now, later in the day, so this run won't affect my ability to perform this weekend at Cascade Crest. Oh, and, Karl said he probably would typically do this run in 2:05 or 2:10, so I guess having a young gun there breathing down his neck the whole way made him have to push a little harder. :)
One other quick thing... I raced some small little 10k on Saturday. I got a free entry and the prize was $100, so I had no reason not to do it. Unfortunately, a few other fast guys wanted the money so I ended up getting 2nd. The course was really tough (out and back with a 2% grade average uphill first half that was fairly rolling and just not fast at all). My first half was an unbelievably slow 19:00 or so and my second half was a fairly lazy 17:50. I led for the first mile (which according to the course markers I ran in 5:19), but according to my watch, I was only at .9 and by the mile 2 mark, the course was back to 1.99, so they obviously just put it in the wrong place. The guy who eventually won passed me with a lot of gusto after a mile and just opened up a lead from there. I don't know why he started so slowly, but I remember looking back around a half mile and not seeing anyone within 150 or 200 feet. Apparently, something clicked though, and he just sped up a lot and had about 45 seconds on me by the half. Since it was an out and back, we passed each other and he looked really smooth and I knew he wasn't catchable, so I just got somewhat lazy in the 2nd half and didn't run as fast as would've been possible. In all, since I made sure not to go out super hard and die in the 2nd half, my heart rate just averaged 182. My tempo workouts are run at somewhere around 178 or 179 if I'm really running it perfectly, so it was basically just an ever-so-slightly harder than normal tempo run as far as my body was concerned, which is definitely good to have done. Anyway, I finished a minute or so back in 2nd in 36:50 with a pretty big margin over 3rd (like 2 minutes I think) and got nothing but a medal that says "2nd place" and doesn't even list the race or anything. haha...
I'm taking the last 2 days before Cascade Crest completely off, despite already feeling well rested. There's not really anything I would be able to do at this point that would help my race on Saturday. The work is already done and I think I'm ready to run a good race. My body is pretty healthy, I've strongly improved my hill running abilities, I'm well-acclimated at elevations exceeding the highest point of the course, and my nutritional strategies and general racing tactics have significantly improved since my last 100. My last 2 50s have been much more consistent throughout the race than my last 50 prior to my last 100 and I also got to run a not insignificant 62 miles as a pacer at Badwater, so I think I'm pretty well prepped. While my overall mileage leading up isn't as high as it has been in the past, I've been running for a longer amount of time on a daily basis at a similar or higher effort to what I'd have been running at on roads and "trails" (if I can even call them that anymore after experiencing a summer of running in Salt Lake City), in Baltimore, so in reality, I've done the equivalent of higher mileage training than what I've done in the past. Since Cascade Crest is such a difficult race (course record is about 20 hours), my #1 goal is just going to be to finish without hurting myself, though I think with my strong performance at the very tough Mt Disappointment 50, despite going in with a painful sprained ankle, and my solid training in general, I think sub-24 is doable and I have this idea of beating my 100 mile PR (despite the course being MANY hours slower from either of my other 100s) in the back of my mind. Who knows... Breaking my PR would require a nearly perfect race, so we'll see if I can manage to put the pieces together with effort levels/pacing and nutrition this time. I think I can.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
2 1/2 weeks until Cascade Crest Classic 100
I haven't really thought much about this race yet since Mt Dis was 3 weeks before it. I originally signed up for Mt Dis intending for it to be a warmup for CCC, but I've realized that 50 is a pretty optimal distance for me, so I didn't quite put in the same training I'd normally do for a 100 and focused on being fast for a hard trail 50. That being said, I think I avoided becoming overtrained this time, so I'm probably going to be in far better shape to run a fast trail 100 miler than I was in my previous 3 100s. So yeah, I'm intending to keep it that way and not get over-trained in the last couple weeks.
I'm planning on a big day on Sunday, probably summitting both Mt Olympus, which boasts a super steep 4000' climb up to 9026', and Mt Nebo, the highest peak in the range, at 11928' with a 3800' climb. The 2 mountains are fairly separated, so I'll run one, drive to the other, and then run that one. Like my other really long climb runs, the goal will just be to run the whole thing without stopping regardless of pace. Oh, and since I've found that hitting the 185-190 heart rate range climbing up a mountain is rather painful, I'll try to keep my heart rate from hitting higher than 185 :).
I'm also finally getting my trailwork done on Saturday by helping out with the Wasatch Front 100 trails for 8 hours... That ought to be a long day. haha...
After this weekend, I'll probably use a strategy similar to what I did before Mt Dis: lots of super hilly runs that tax me but aren't longer than 10 miles and then a good taper for a week or so with almost no running.
I'm planning on a big day on Sunday, probably summitting both Mt Olympus, which boasts a super steep 4000' climb up to 9026', and Mt Nebo, the highest peak in the range, at 11928' with a 3800' climb. The 2 mountains are fairly separated, so I'll run one, drive to the other, and then run that one. Like my other really long climb runs, the goal will just be to run the whole thing without stopping regardless of pace. Oh, and since I've found that hitting the 185-190 heart rate range climbing up a mountain is rather painful, I'll try to keep my heart rate from hitting higher than 185 :).
I'm also finally getting my trailwork done on Saturday by helping out with the Wasatch Front 100 trails for 8 hours... That ought to be a long day. haha...
After this weekend, I'll probably use a strategy similar to what I did before Mt Dis: lots of super hilly runs that tax me but aren't longer than 10 miles and then a good taper for a week or so with almost no running.
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