Saturday, December 31, 2011

Weekly Summary: Dec. 24 - Jan. 1

It's time to get a little more regular on the blog again.  It helps me to record my training and analyze what I need to work on while I'm on schedule for my goal race. I've spent the last couple weeks sort of ramping up to the start of my "official" training for my focus race this year, the 2012, and innaugural, Run Rabbit Run 100-mile ultramarathon, slated for September 14-15. The course sounds ridiculously tough with 22,000' of elevation change, including two climbs to Buffalo Pass, a 25-mile loop on Emerald Mountain and two trips to the top of Mt. Werner (at the beginning and the END of the race). More details on the race can be found here:  http://www.runrabbitrunsteamboat.com/.  

As of this week, I'm trying to establish my workout routine, which will more or less resemble an intermediate runner's marathon training schedule for the first few months, before I really start to pile on the miles.  For the first couple months, I'll have two off days and three on days during the work week and I'll be working up to doing back to back long runs on the weekends.  Starting at 10 miles, this weekend and increasing by 10% every week.  Every 4th week will be an easy week with reduced mileage for recovery purposes.   By March, I should have built my long runs up to 3-4 hour range and may run a 50K trail race as a 6-7 hour training run.  In April, I'll continue long-running in the 4 to 5 hour per day range on the weekends, with base miles during the week.  Possibly return to Buena Vista to do Collegiate Peaks Trail Run as a training run (25 miles) the beginning of May.  I'll also have a few days off in April as Katy and I are planning to go to Boston for the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park and watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees!  We are also hoping to volunteer at an aid station at the Boston Marathon a couple days later. In mid-May, I might try to run the innaugural Quad Rock 50-miler in Fort Collins.   It looks like a good, challenging race and I'm a huge fan of Nick Clark, who is putting on the race with Ft. Collins' Gnar Runners.   That will be my first opportunity for a 12-hour run this year.   In June, I'm going to run the Steamboat Marathon for the first time.  Possibly for a road PR (under 3:38) if (and only if), I've just been running really strong leading up to it.  Otherwise, I just want to get in the miles and slow down and enjoy the marathon.  It's a beautiful course. At the end of the month, Katy and I fly to San Francisco to get married!  Amazing!   In July, I've got my eye on running the Leadville Silver Rush 50-miler as another 12-hour training run.  July and August will also bring some of the best races in the Steamboat Running Series including a new mountain marathon (Steamboat Stinger) and the addition of a 50K distance for the Mount Werner Classic.  Great training opportunities.  In the beginning of September, I will begin a two week taper until race day.  Hopefully that plan, good nutrition, solid training, a little money and a whole lot of luck will put a 100-miler finisher's buckle around my waist. 

Here's how it all started:

12/24/11:  12.0+ miles.  ~7 hrs.  2,260'v.  Sand Mountain.  Splitboard mission.  Chris and I skinned up to the north face of Sand Mountian into an area known as Jackson's Bowl, named after local Clark resident Jack White.  The approach was a nice, long gradual 6 miles in snowmobile tracks.  We got a few inches of snow a couple days prior and Chris and I planned out a nice day trip.  No real hiccups on the tour into the area, although it ended up being way longer than we first thought.  The final approach was steep and fun and the ride was worth it all.  A short, untouched and steep session in new snow.  Awesome.  Unfortunately, just as we began our tour out, I pulled out the mounting plates on my front foot binding after doing an endo.  Wham!  Right out of the snowboard and right to the ground!  I was livid.  I had to "skate" the entire way out switch stance (backwards) while using poles to keep my speed up.  It was incredibly awkward trying to push with my left foot but I managed and we did the down hill tour (with about a 1/2 mile of up hill hiking) back to the truck in a little more than an hour.  

12/25/11 - Rest.

12/26/11 - 6.28 miles.  1:04:34.  1,000'v.  Spring Creek Trail.  I've been running Spring Creek on my lunch breaks the few days before Christmas.  Seemed proper to "officially" begin my training on this trail that I love running so much.  It's even part of the race!  I think one of the reasons I want to do Run Rabbit Run so much is because I know many of the trails on the race course very well.  Then, I think, running the race will be like spending a day (and night) with an old friend.

12/27/11 - ~8.0 miles.  1:10:51.  Yampa River Core Trail.  Cruiser run from JDs house down to the skate park on the Core Trail.  Then, turned around and ran to the botanical gardens and then back to JDs.

12/28/11 - 6.2 miles.  1:02:40.  1,000'v.  Spring Creek Trail.

12/29/11 - Rest.

12/30/11 - 10.7 miles.  1:48:07.  1,000'v.  Spring Creek Trail and Core Trail.  First long run of my schedule.  Good, mellow effort to the top of the Spring Creek Ridge and then looped back to town and ran along the Core Trail to Stockbridge before returning to Howlesen Hill and then the high school.  It actually started to get warm and sunny towards the end there.  I don't think I've ever run on (much less seen) dirt in December (30th!) since I've lived in Steamboat.  Well, I did today!  Crazy.  Where is the snow?!  I guess I'm okay with it since I want to log the miles but I sure would like to know there was some snow out there to ride.  I may still get some powder this weekend up on Stagecoach Mtn.'s north facing slopes but it won't be deep.  This was the longest I've run for about two months and it felt good to go a little farther.  I should be fine on next weekend's 12-miler. 

12/31/11 - 4.61 miles. :55:59.  520'/-480'v.  Stagecoach.  Down, down, down the hill.  Up, up, up the hill.  Windiest.  Day.  Ever. 

1/1/12 - Rest.  ~1:30:xx 1,270'v./-1,300'v.  Stagecoach.  Hike Stagecoach Mtn. with Benihana looking for powder stashes.  Not that great.

Total miles (9 days):  47.7 miles.  +4,790'/-4,800' 

Sunday, December 4, 2011

12/4/11

12/4  -  A couple days after my last post, I decided to put my training and racing plans for 2012 on hold and only run for enjoyment.  For the last 8 weeks or so, I have been taking it easy and running primarily on the weekends, usually nothing more than an hour with alot of hiking thrown in to focus on strength building and, hopefully, giving my body a chance to recover from a few physical issues I have been dealing with. Winter has begun and I've been switching it up with alot of hiking in the snow, a couple of short spiltboard missions and couple of days of snowboarding at the Steamboat Ski Area. Without a season pass, I'll be hiking and splitboarding alot more this year and I had a great session here in Stagecoach today, hiking the mountain with Benihana.  Even though the coverage isn't deep yet, I got a few good powder turns.  If nothing else, it just got me more motivated to get out there even more once I realilzed how convenient it is to just walk up the mountain from the house. 

Now, 2012 is starting to look very interesting from a trail running perspective and it's time to start ramping up again.  Yesterday, I found out that the Steamboat Springs Running Series is going to add some longer distance trail races to its schedule next summer including a trail marathon and half-marathon and possibly a 50K.    I read on Nick Clark's blog about a month ago that there was rumor of a 100-miler being planned for the Steamboat area and it looks like Run Rabbit Run is going to go for it.  Presumably the same day as the 50-miler and I'm guessing the course will be running the out and back to Rabbit Ears twice.  Well, it looks like I'll be staying in the valley next summer for my racing and I am going to try to win the masters division in the running series as well as attempting my first 100 mile foot race.   In the meantime, I've got to keep the nutrition dialed, get stronger and climb (and descend) as many mountains as I can this winter because, come next summer, I'll need to be in the best shape of my life.