April 23 - April 29: Build week 3 (13 days until next race)
Mon April 23:
pm-1: 8.73 km road bike to work in 23 minutes
pm-2: 7.99 km road bike home from work in 17 minutes
Tues April 24: no run, work
Wed April 25:
am: road run 30 mins, 30 metre elev gain, 6 km; ran dropped car off at shop, bussed to bike shop to buy a tube, ran home from bike shop
pm1: run 37 mins, 66 metre elev gain, 7 km; bike tire failure (the metal lining that keeps the tire in the rim was exposed from whatever caused my flat, blew out my new tube so I ran to work)
pm2: run/walk 50 mins, 33 metre elav gain, 7 km; run home from work
thur april 26: bussed to penticton, 4 km walking from greyhound station to my mothers house
fri april 27: 6 hr 52 mins run, 1043 metre elev gain, 60.32 km; ran from Penticton to West Kelowna on the highway with a detour up pin cushion trail in Peachland. Fairly tedious run, very glad I through in the pin cushion part. Got a rather painful sunburn on my calves.
sat apr 28: 3 hr 49 mins run, 1036 metre elev gain, 24.15 km; running in myra bellevue park with pace. Meant to only run 2.5 hours, but we did a nice easy paced route that included angel springs which had tonnes of water in it. Felt surprisinglt good considering the effort of the last couple days. worked that night
sun apr 29: 80 mins, 140 metre elev gain, 14.61 km; road running in rutland after work. fantastic evening weather. Was beautiful.
Weekly totals:
Biking: 41 minutes, 16.73 km
Running: 14 hrs 34 mins, 2375 metre elev gain, 123.18 km
This week was my third longest week of running ever, and April will finish with 394 km running which I'm pretty sure is the most of run in a month ever. Other than the fact that I"m rather tired from the last three days of running (99 km, 12 hours and work) and will be taking ibuprofen to get to sleep today, I feel good. No painful issues.
Very much looking forward to recovering and tapering to the race in two weeks. This week I spent 13% of my time awake running, and probably 20% of my awake time running or preparing/traveling and other stuff from running. I will probably rework my schedule next week to both my long runs on work days, so I can have a day where I don't work or run, and it will be glorious.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Week ending April 22
April 16 - 22; Build week two (of three); 20 days until next race
Mon April 16: no run; exam; work
Tue April 17: run in the morning before work; 33 mins, 50 metre elev gain, 6.41 km of easy road running around home. work after
Wed April 18: no work
am: 115 metre elev gain, 248 mins, 46.01 km of trails on the greenway flats. Maintained a steady pace for first marathon portion. Didn't feel the best though, still neglect my hydration while at work a little bit. Ran the first 42 km in about 3 hr 39 min, which is faster than any marathon race I've ever run.
pm: 506 metre elev gain, 104 mins, 9.91 km of trails. Hike up and down knox twice with some pseudo sprints in between. Intended on running between 50 - 55 in the morning, so I did more later that day.
Thur apil 19: no work; 198 metre elev gain, 64 mins, 8.96 km trails in penticton. Hobo trails, munson mountain and a bit of the kvr. Hot tub after felt so good.
Fri April 20: no run, work
Sat April 21:
am: 1124 metre elev gain, 192 mins, 20.53 km; trails in ok mtn park. I only ran 3 hrs 12 min, I wanted to go longer but didn't hit the trails until later than I wanted to, I woke up to a flat tire and had to put the spare on before heading to the trailhead. Ugh.
pm: 8.57 km road bike to work in 24 mins, no push at all
Sun April 22:
pm-1: 8 km road bike to work in 26 mins, no push at all
pm-2: 8.12 km road bike home from work in 18.5 mins, a little pushed
pm-3: 82 metre elev gain, 63 mins, 13.22 km of road running. Feet sore for the first 2 km as they always are post during post workk runs, paced around 4:30 min/km for about 6 km and then cruised home. Sunday night runs in 17 degrees are always a nice way to end the week.
My legs feel good on the week, looking forward to the challenged of next week (70 km long run planned)
Weekly totals:
Running: 11 hrs 48 mins, 2.1 km elev gain, 105.04 km.
Biking: 67 minutes, 24.57 km.
Total exercise time: 12 hrs 55 minutes
Mon April 16: no run; exam; work
Tue April 17: run in the morning before work; 33 mins, 50 metre elev gain, 6.41 km of easy road running around home. work after
Wed April 18: no work
am: 115 metre elev gain, 248 mins, 46.01 km of trails on the greenway flats. Maintained a steady pace for first marathon portion. Didn't feel the best though, still neglect my hydration while at work a little bit. Ran the first 42 km in about 3 hr 39 min, which is faster than any marathon race I've ever run.
pm: 506 metre elev gain, 104 mins, 9.91 km of trails. Hike up and down knox twice with some pseudo sprints in between. Intended on running between 50 - 55 in the morning, so I did more later that day.
Thur apil 19: no work; 198 metre elev gain, 64 mins, 8.96 km trails in penticton. Hobo trails, munson mountain and a bit of the kvr. Hot tub after felt so good.
Fri April 20: no run, work
Sat April 21:
am: 1124 metre elev gain, 192 mins, 20.53 km; trails in ok mtn park. I only ran 3 hrs 12 min, I wanted to go longer but didn't hit the trails until later than I wanted to, I woke up to a flat tire and had to put the spare on before heading to the trailhead. Ugh.
pm: 8.57 km road bike to work in 24 mins, no push at all
Sun April 22:
pm-1: 8 km road bike to work in 26 mins, no push at all
pm-2: 8.12 km road bike home from work in 18.5 mins, a little pushed
pm-3: 82 metre elev gain, 63 mins, 13.22 km of road running. Feet sore for the first 2 km as they always are post during post workk runs, paced around 4:30 min/km for about 6 km and then cruised home. Sunday night runs in 17 degrees are always a nice way to end the week.
My legs feel good on the week, looking forward to the challenged of next week (70 km long run planned)
Weekly totals:
Running: 11 hrs 48 mins, 2.1 km elev gain, 105.04 km.
Biking: 67 minutes, 24.57 km.
Total exercise time: 12 hrs 55 minutes
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Week Ending April 15
April 9 - April 15: Build Week 1 to 100 k race
Mon Apr 9: rest day: work
Tues Apr 10: work: ran 41 mins, 51 metre elev gain, 8.33 km on the roads after work.
Wed Apr 11: ran 75 mins, 644 metre elev gain, 10.78 km; pace hill run
Thur Apr 12: exam in morning: ran 192 mins, 111 metre elev gain, 35.63 km on greenway.
Fri Apr 13: work, too long, planned rest day
Sat Apr 14: skipped planned run, didn't get to bed until 2 am after working long day. work
Sun Apr 15: ran 217 mins, 1162 metre elev gain, 35.75 km; ran phase 2 of greenway then up myra canyon forest service road to the first trestle and back down. Ran 90% of the hills at steady pace, and was doing a nice downhill running avg pace of 4:30 min/km pace down the fsr. felt good.
Weekly totals: 8 hrs 45 mins running, 1968 metre elev gain, 90.49 km.
My planned running schedule for the week was made assuming I was going to get tue/wed off work like I had usually been, but I had wed/thur off instead. So my long run was moved to thursday and shortened, which prob wasn't good. Also, the thursday run was the day after a hard hill session the night before, and didn't start until 3:30 as I had been at school all day studying and writing an exam until 2:30, so I wasn't well nutriated and as a result I felt like ass the whole run. Maybe it was running a long run the day after a hill session, maybe it was because I was poorly fed because I spent the day at school in study mode where I neglect my eating habits, I don't know, so I will try doing the long run on the first of my days off. And hopefully this week coming up friday at work won't be a shitshow and I won't be there so long and I'll still get my normal saturday/sunday runs in.
Sunday run was pretty cool, I had intended to do laps at the hilly end of the greenway, but ended up heading up myra forest service road at the end of the first time; intending to go out on the railroad bed and come down angel springs. The FSR was all snow free, but the kvr wasn't, so just came back. I'm very amused with myself that I can run two 35 km runs in what was a fairly busy week and still feel good. The snow is almost melted enough to head up real high into the mountains. Once I'm done my next race and focusing in sinister prep it will be the perfect time of the year where it's not so hot out, and the snow will be melted, but there will be plenty of running water on the mountains to soak in if needed.
Mon Apr 9: rest day: work
Tues Apr 10: work: ran 41 mins, 51 metre elev gain, 8.33 km on the roads after work.
Wed Apr 11: ran 75 mins, 644 metre elev gain, 10.78 km; pace hill run
Thur Apr 12: exam in morning: ran 192 mins, 111 metre elev gain, 35.63 km on greenway.
Fri Apr 13: work, too long, planned rest day
Sat Apr 14: skipped planned run, didn't get to bed until 2 am after working long day. work
Sun Apr 15: ran 217 mins, 1162 metre elev gain, 35.75 km; ran phase 2 of greenway then up myra canyon forest service road to the first trestle and back down. Ran 90% of the hills at steady pace, and was doing a nice downhill running avg pace of 4:30 min/km pace down the fsr. felt good.
Weekly totals: 8 hrs 45 mins running, 1968 metre elev gain, 90.49 km.
My planned running schedule for the week was made assuming I was going to get tue/wed off work like I had usually been, but I had wed/thur off instead. So my long run was moved to thursday and shortened, which prob wasn't good. Also, the thursday run was the day after a hard hill session the night before, and didn't start until 3:30 as I had been at school all day studying and writing an exam until 2:30, so I wasn't well nutriated and as a result I felt like ass the whole run. Maybe it was running a long run the day after a hill session, maybe it was because I was poorly fed because I spent the day at school in study mode where I neglect my eating habits, I don't know, so I will try doing the long run on the first of my days off. And hopefully this week coming up friday at work won't be a shitshow and I won't be there so long and I'll still get my normal saturday/sunday runs in.
Sunday run was pretty cool, I had intended to do laps at the hilly end of the greenway, but ended up heading up myra forest service road at the end of the first time; intending to go out on the railroad bed and come down angel springs. The FSR was all snow free, but the kvr wasn't, so just came back. I'm very amused with myself that I can run two 35 km runs in what was a fairly busy week and still feel good. The snow is almost melted enough to head up real high into the mountains. Once I'm done my next race and focusing in sinister prep it will be the perfect time of the year where it's not so hot out, and the snow will be melted, but there will be plenty of running water on the mountains to soak in if needed.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Week ending april 8
April 2 - April 8: race recovery week
April 2: rest day
April 3: biked 29.74 km, 65 minutes; biked lakeshore and back swamp road and then up through the orchards, very windy day made for some tough riding.
april 4: 85 mins, 460 metre elev gain, 12.5 km; hill repeats with pace, ass kicked
april 5: 48 min, 68 metre elev gain, 9.01 km; easy post work road run
april 6: rest day
april 7: 1385 metre elev gain, 183 min, 17.15 km; pin cushion repeats (5) with pace. Don't know how I had energy on this day, but I did and the three middle times were fairly fast which felt good.
april 8: 152 metre elev gain, 89 mins, 15.59 km; easy pace post work run.
Totals: 6 hr 45 min run, 2065 metre elev gain, 54.25 km. 29.74 km bike in 65 min.
Worked full time and got in five days of exercise without feeling destroyed, which is better than I can say for most work weeks last year, and I was still at school for parts of four days of the week, so it should become more managable come summer time.
April 2: rest day
April 3: biked 29.74 km, 65 minutes; biked lakeshore and back swamp road and then up through the orchards, very windy day made for some tough riding.
april 4: 85 mins, 460 metre elev gain, 12.5 km; hill repeats with pace, ass kicked
april 5: 48 min, 68 metre elev gain, 9.01 km; easy post work road run
april 6: rest day
april 7: 1385 metre elev gain, 183 min, 17.15 km; pin cushion repeats (5) with pace. Don't know how I had energy on this day, but I did and the three middle times were fairly fast which felt good.
april 8: 152 metre elev gain, 89 mins, 15.59 km; easy pace post work run.
Totals: 6 hr 45 min run, 2065 metre elev gain, 54.25 km. 29.74 km bike in 65 min.
Worked full time and got in five days of exercise without feeling destroyed, which is better than I can say for most work weeks last year, and I was still at school for parts of four days of the week, so it should become more managable come summer time.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Week ending April 1
Mar 26 - April 1
Monday 26/03/2012; 15.23 km 70 min 92 metre elev intervals on road near UBCO, ankle almost better
Tuesday 27/03/2012 rest day
Wednesday 28/03/2012; 10.8 km 71 min 184 metre elev loops at knox with pace
Thursday 29/03/2012; 8 km 40 min 90 MIN post work; easy street run
Friday 30/03/2012 rest day
Saturday 31/03/2012; 5.5 km 39 min 180 metre elev gain
Sunday 01/04/2012; 21.1 km 89 min 100 metre elev gain OC 1/2 Marathon
Pretty easy week for running, leading up to half marathon on the sunday.
Don't feel like writing, so copy and pasting an email about the race.
Overall, it went pretty darn fantastic!
I ran without ipod, heartrate monitor, watch, or gps. And that felt pretty good. Typically in road races I go out fast, usually passing lots of people at the start, and then end up getting passed by others in the second half, which I take to mean I don't keep my pace consistent throughout. Today, only one person passed me past the 10 km mark, and a couple other runners even commented that they expected to be able to overtake me part way in, but couldn't; so that felt good to be able to maintain a pace.
I found myself thinking about positive thoughts affecting running, throughout the race, when I was in a funk or whatever, I would naturally just smile myself faster, rather than going through negative self talk that I used to do.
I do think I could have gone faster though. Not taking the day off work on Saturday really affected my run today, and maybe running on saturday as well. I only got 10 hours sleep total the last two nights. My time means I averaged a 4:13 min/km pace, but there were times of the run that my mind was foggy from lack of sleep and if it were a trail race I definitely would have tripped on something from lack of focus. I think in a race like this I could definitely maintain 4:00 min/km pace or better if properly rested. But, oh well, this race wasn't a major goal race or anything, I just wanted to do it because I've done it for 6 years in a row now and its neat to gauge my fitness through the results.
Monday 26/03/2012; 15.23 km 70 min 92 metre elev intervals on road near UBCO, ankle almost better
Tuesday 27/03/2012 rest day
Wednesday 28/03/2012; 10.8 km 71 min 184 metre elev loops at knox with pace
Thursday 29/03/2012; 8 km 40 min 90 MIN post work; easy street run
Friday 30/03/2012 rest day
Saturday 31/03/2012; 5.5 km 39 min 180 metre elev gain
Sunday 01/04/2012; 21.1 km 89 min 100 metre elev gain OC 1/2 Marathon
Pretty easy week for running, leading up to half marathon on the sunday.
Don't feel like writing, so copy and pasting an email about the race.
Overall, it went pretty darn fantastic!
I ran without ipod, heartrate monitor, watch, or gps. And that felt pretty good. Typically in road races I go out fast, usually passing lots of people at the start, and then end up getting passed by others in the second half, which I take to mean I don't keep my pace consistent throughout. Today, only one person passed me past the 10 km mark, and a couple other runners even commented that they expected to be able to overtake me part way in, but couldn't; so that felt good to be able to maintain a pace.
I found myself thinking about positive thoughts affecting running, throughout the race, when I was in a funk or whatever, I would naturally just smile myself faster, rather than going through negative self talk that I used to do.
I do think I could have gone faster though. Not taking the day off work on Saturday really affected my run today, and maybe running on saturday as well. I only got 10 hours sleep total the last two nights. My time means I averaged a 4:13 min/km pace, but there were times of the run that my mind was foggy from lack of sleep and if it were a trail race I definitely would have tripped on something from lack of focus. I think in a race like this I could definitely maintain 4:00 min/km pace or better if properly rested. But, oh well, this race wasn't a major goal race or anything, I just wanted to do it because I've done it for 6 years in a row now and its neat to gauge my fitness through the results.
Friday, March 30, 2012
work as a workout
Today's work work-out:
30 - 40 fifty metre sprints down a hallway
30 - 40 sets of stair climbs (half of those carrying at least 15 pounds)
about 2 km worth of steps
70 - 100 times carrying or tossing weights (garbages, stock pots, oil pots etc)
Throughout the day I do these sorts of physical activity, in between prepping and cooking. It feels like my heart rate is bouncing back and forth from 100 to 130 and back for nine hours, and at the end of the day my muscles in my legs and upper body feel not just tired, but the same soreness as though I've had a workout.
Last week; I worked Friday night, ran 2.5 hours saturday morning, worked saturday night.
This week: Work thursday night, run after work at night, work friday night, run saturday morning (short), work sat night, 1/2 marathon race sunday morning.
Work, eat, run, eat, sleep. Repeat. And Yet I feel like I have more energy than last year.
30 - 40 fifty metre sprints down a hallway
30 - 40 sets of stair climbs (half of those carrying at least 15 pounds)
about 2 km worth of steps
70 - 100 times carrying or tossing weights (garbages, stock pots, oil pots etc)
Throughout the day I do these sorts of physical activity, in between prepping and cooking. It feels like my heart rate is bouncing back and forth from 100 to 130 and back for nine hours, and at the end of the day my muscles in my legs and upper body feel not just tired, but the same soreness as though I've had a workout.
Last week; I worked Friday night, ran 2.5 hours saturday morning, worked saturday night.
This week: Work thursday night, run after work at night, work friday night, run saturday morning (short), work sat night, 1/2 marathon race sunday morning.
Work, eat, run, eat, sleep. Repeat. And Yet I feel like I have more energy than last year.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Week ending mar 25
Mar 19 - Mar 25
mar 19: no run
mar 20: 59 mins, 344 metre elev gain, 9.77 km; running trails on mill creek up and down two tits. Saw a couple coyotes running around, very cool, well maybe not as they were in town.
mar 21: 102 mins, 156 metre elev gain, 18.8 km; today was meant to be a beep test which I was actually looking forward to. Ran a couple km to warm up, then ran a few more before going right into the beep test, which was completely uninteresting and uninspiring. I thought it would be cool to challenge myself to see how far I could go in the test, but running back and forth over a 20 metre stretch didn't do it for me. So I just stopped. After I ran another 10 km, much nicer.
mar 22: 75 mins, 419 metre elev gain, 13.16 km; scenic canyon regional park trails. Snow is almost gone, which is so cool because these trails are so close to home.
mar 23: no run
mar 24: 147 mins, 708 metre elev gain, 16.46 km; trails in knox mtn. Beautiful day, felt good to get running with the sunrise, and the legs still felt good through my whole workday after. But the next day felt rough
mar 25: 79 mins, 109 metre elev gain, 15.58 km; greenway and roads through the orchards. Kept the pace under 5 min/ km for most of the run, but it felt rough for parts.
Weekly total:
Time: 7 hrs 42 mins
Elev gain: 1736 metres
distance: 73.77
mar 19: no run
mar 20: 59 mins, 344 metre elev gain, 9.77 km; running trails on mill creek up and down two tits. Saw a couple coyotes running around, very cool, well maybe not as they were in town.
mar 21: 102 mins, 156 metre elev gain, 18.8 km; today was meant to be a beep test which I was actually looking forward to. Ran a couple km to warm up, then ran a few more before going right into the beep test, which was completely uninteresting and uninspiring. I thought it would be cool to challenge myself to see how far I could go in the test, but running back and forth over a 20 metre stretch didn't do it for me. So I just stopped. After I ran another 10 km, much nicer.
mar 22: 75 mins, 419 metre elev gain, 13.16 km; scenic canyon regional park trails. Snow is almost gone, which is so cool because these trails are so close to home.
mar 23: no run
mar 24: 147 mins, 708 metre elev gain, 16.46 km; trails in knox mtn. Beautiful day, felt good to get running with the sunrise, and the legs still felt good through my whole workday after. But the next day felt rough
mar 25: 79 mins, 109 metre elev gain, 15.58 km; greenway and roads through the orchards. Kept the pace under 5 min/ km for most of the run, but it felt rough for parts.
Weekly total:
Time: 7 hrs 42 mins
Elev gain: 1736 metres
distance: 73.77
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Week ending March 18
Sat mar 10; was the 50 km trail race. Made the mistake of hanging arounf in my sweaty wet gear for an hour outside before getting changed, I think it helped my get sick, but I didn't feel it until wednesday. So tired driving home from Vancouver, picked up a hitchiker in Merrit just to keep my awake.
sun mar 11: 48 minute recovery run, some hills some trails, and 8.84 km. Felt good to stretch the legs out after.
mond mar 12: 51 minutes 314 metre elev gain and 7.02 km. Felt like running angel springs trails. legs were feeling mostly race recovered by now.
tuesday: no run; massage therapy appointment though. started to feel sick, earache and head cold coming on.
wednesday: spent the day sleeping all day other than 4 hours in the day
thursday: 86 minutes, 533 metres elev gain, 13.58 km in knox mtn. Was running along nicely thinking how easy a section of trail was compared to the terrain I was running in vancouver when I slipped on some ice and landed funny and rolled my ankle a bit. walked most of the rest of the run.
friday: no run
saturday: no run
sunday: 213 minutes, 752 metre elev gain, 20.05 km; really slow run in myra-bellevue park. The city snow is melted, so I got over excited and ran some of the higher trails. Still lots of trails with knee deep snow, and of course lookout trail has a tonne of treefall to climb over. Not much actual running happening.
Didn't get as much running as I wanted, but I felt good by the end of the week in terms of muscle recovery. A little annoying about the ankle though, by the end of next week I should be solid again though. Sadly, with end of term happenings at school, nothing will be beyond a two hour run until april.
sun mar 11: 48 minute recovery run, some hills some trails, and 8.84 km. Felt good to stretch the legs out after.
mond mar 12: 51 minutes 314 metre elev gain and 7.02 km. Felt like running angel springs trails. legs were feeling mostly race recovered by now.
tuesday: no run; massage therapy appointment though. started to feel sick, earache and head cold coming on.
wednesday: spent the day sleeping all day other than 4 hours in the day
thursday: 86 minutes, 533 metres elev gain, 13.58 km in knox mtn. Was running along nicely thinking how easy a section of trail was compared to the terrain I was running in vancouver when I slipped on some ice and landed funny and rolled my ankle a bit. walked most of the rest of the run.
friday: no run
saturday: no run
sunday: 213 minutes, 752 metre elev gain, 20.05 km; really slow run in myra-bellevue park. The city snow is melted, so I got over excited and ran some of the higher trails. Still lots of trails with knee deep snow, and of course lookout trail has a tonne of treefall to climb over. Not much actual running happening.
Didn't get as much running as I wanted, but I felt good by the end of the week in terms of muscle recovery. A little annoying about the ankle though, by the end of next week I should be solid again though. Sadly, with end of term happenings at school, nothing will be beyond a two hour run until april.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Non-race based running plans for the summer
Between running a pretty nice trail today, and foregoing studying to read hours of nutrition/hydration information my mind has been on running today. I have a few races planned this year, but there are also a few runs I want to make sure to get in.
First on the wish list is the high rim trail from Vernon to Kelowna. I already have a friend that has loosely planned to do this run with me between may and august. Need two cars to do it, one parked at each end. 54 km of gorgeousness. Apparently it's been run in under six hours before, but I think I would try and make it a 9 - 10 hour run.
High Rim Trail
Little White Mountain. I just love the scenery of this run, and there is a fairly simple route that was the bulk of the 2010 scorched sole 50 mile course. the course goes from about 350 metres elevation to about 2200 metres elevation. Starting at the entrance to myra-bellevue park going up through nice easy single track to the old kettle valley rail bed, upper crawford trail which is a nice climb them the mountain ascent, and then some super fun running down the other side of the mountain. Depending on the route, and starting location it can be done in runs ranging from 30 km - 80 km.
Little White Mountain
Okanagan Mountain. The scorched sole 2011 covered this course. Fantastic climbs, fantastic descents and even more fantastic views. Until july there is usually enough running water on the trails to make up to 50 miles safely.
Okanagan Mountain
Kelowna to Penticton and back via the Kettle Valley Railway. I can park on the KVR at several different points near Kelowna and run through to penticton. It's an old rail bed so the grade is never steeper than 2.2% Beautiful scenery the whole way. You get to see chute lake, a couple tunnels, pass through rock oven park. And depending on where you start and whether or not you cut through rock oven park you can do kelowna to penticton anywhere between 55 km - 75 km. This year I want to do a there and back run to Penticton at the longest distance of 150 km. Logistically very achievable; there's running water at a couple spot in rock oven park, chute lake seems drinkable, there is a ranger type camp 11 km away from penticton with water, a bathroom at the cemetary 5 km from penticton and I can refuel essentials in penticton.
Kettle Valley Railway Trail
Pincushion trail: A very short trail in peachland which I've run before in the snow. About 300 metres of elev gain over 3.5 km. A fun, challenging run would be to do as many up and downs of the trail over 5 or more hours, that would be a fun training run whenever appropriate in my summer.
Pincushion trail
Probably some more places I want to check out. I know there is a trail race done at Silverstar ski resort so those trails need to be checked out too.
First on the wish list is the high rim trail from Vernon to Kelowna. I already have a friend that has loosely planned to do this run with me between may and august. Need two cars to do it, one parked at each end. 54 km of gorgeousness. Apparently it's been run in under six hours before, but I think I would try and make it a 9 - 10 hour run.
High Rim Trail
Little White Mountain. I just love the scenery of this run, and there is a fairly simple route that was the bulk of the 2010 scorched sole 50 mile course. the course goes from about 350 metres elevation to about 2200 metres elevation. Starting at the entrance to myra-bellevue park going up through nice easy single track to the old kettle valley rail bed, upper crawford trail which is a nice climb them the mountain ascent, and then some super fun running down the other side of the mountain. Depending on the route, and starting location it can be done in runs ranging from 30 km - 80 km.
Little White Mountain
Okanagan Mountain. The scorched sole 2011 covered this course. Fantastic climbs, fantastic descents and even more fantastic views. Until july there is usually enough running water on the trails to make up to 50 miles safely.
Okanagan Mountain
Kelowna to Penticton and back via the Kettle Valley Railway. I can park on the KVR at several different points near Kelowna and run through to penticton. It's an old rail bed so the grade is never steeper than 2.2% Beautiful scenery the whole way. You get to see chute lake, a couple tunnels, pass through rock oven park. And depending on where you start and whether or not you cut through rock oven park you can do kelowna to penticton anywhere between 55 km - 75 km. This year I want to do a there and back run to Penticton at the longest distance of 150 km. Logistically very achievable; there's running water at a couple spot in rock oven park, chute lake seems drinkable, there is a ranger type camp 11 km away from penticton with water, a bathroom at the cemetary 5 km from penticton and I can refuel essentials in penticton.
Kettle Valley Railway Trail
Pincushion trail: A very short trail in peachland which I've run before in the snow. About 300 metres of elev gain over 3.5 km. A fun, challenging run would be to do as many up and downs of the trail over 5 or more hours, that would be a fun training run whenever appropriate in my summer.
Pincushion trail
Probably some more places I want to check out. I know there is a trail race done at Silverstar ski resort so those trails need to be checked out too.
Dirty Duo race thoughts
Quick Summary: Finished in 5:08:43 - 50 km with about 5,300 ft elev gain. That's just under an hour faster than the Frosty 50 k ultra from 6 months ago. I felt pretty good for most of the race, but had a bit of muscle tightness in my qauds around 30 km mark which I chose to ease up for and still haven't mastered my nutrition/hydration during a race. But, super stoked for making progress. very challenging, and very rewarding.
Onto some random thoughts from the race.
Coming in I felt like I had the best running base for any race I've done yet, having been running consistently for the last 5 months, and with a purpose for the last three of those.
I'd never run on the trails of the course before, so before the race I asked a fellow runner to compare the course to another course I'd run, and what time she expected for a finish. Turns out I misunderstood both her answers which had me heading out on the trails expecting a much easier day than it turned out to be. These trails were so technical, nothing like what I run on at home. So many roots to slow you down and force you to be more mentally aware while running. So many rocks and drops to descend on which to hammer your quads. I can't even think of any trails in the area here that are anywhere near as rooty as the trails the race were on, nor can I think of any trails nearby with the amount of stairs as there were.
I still haven't figured out my race day hydration/nutrition/electrolytes plan for the good yet. I had some slight muscle cramping issues heading up the major climb the second time, and around the same time I was feeling like I had been punched in the stomach from the inside with a brick, and I had to pee four times during the race, and a lot after the race. Which is a little frustrating because two weeks prior I had ran a 50 km training run using an almost identical nutrition plan and felt great. But the course I ran that day was about 500 metre less elevation gain and much easier on the legs, so that might be it. But I still want to get this figured out better.
I ran the entire race without music, sinister doesn't allowed headphones so I need to get used to it. Not sure if it helped or hindered my run, but I felt like I was used to it by the end.
In my last 50 k race six months ago I felt like I gave up with about 8 - 10 km to go, both mentally and physically. This race, I didn't feel that at all. Sure, I don't think I was pushing quite as hard as the first half but I was still pushing though.
I ran this 50 k race 55 minutes faster than my last 50 k race 6 months ago. Which I am super stoked about, I feel like the things I am doing better in life and in running are showing in my progress. I had a super fun run, shared the trails and shared conversations with wonderful people as always happens at races.
Super stoked from this race, and find myself even more stoked about the rest of my running plans based on how the day went.
Onto some random thoughts from the race.
Coming in I felt like I had the best running base for any race I've done yet, having been running consistently for the last 5 months, and with a purpose for the last three of those.
I'd never run on the trails of the course before, so before the race I asked a fellow runner to compare the course to another course I'd run, and what time she expected for a finish. Turns out I misunderstood both her answers which had me heading out on the trails expecting a much easier day than it turned out to be. These trails were so technical, nothing like what I run on at home. So many roots to slow you down and force you to be more mentally aware while running. So many rocks and drops to descend on which to hammer your quads. I can't even think of any trails in the area here that are anywhere near as rooty as the trails the race were on, nor can I think of any trails nearby with the amount of stairs as there were.
I still haven't figured out my race day hydration/nutrition/electrolytes plan for the good yet. I had some slight muscle cramping issues heading up the major climb the second time, and around the same time I was feeling like I had been punched in the stomach from the inside with a brick, and I had to pee four times during the race, and a lot after the race. Which is a little frustrating because two weeks prior I had ran a 50 km training run using an almost identical nutrition plan and felt great. But the course I ran that day was about 500 metre less elevation gain and much easier on the legs, so that might be it. But I still want to get this figured out better.
I ran the entire race without music, sinister doesn't allowed headphones so I need to get used to it. Not sure if it helped or hindered my run, but I felt like I was used to it by the end.
In my last 50 k race six months ago I felt like I gave up with about 8 - 10 km to go, both mentally and physically. This race, I didn't feel that at all. Sure, I don't think I was pushing quite as hard as the first half but I was still pushing though.
I ran this 50 k race 55 minutes faster than my last 50 k race 6 months ago. Which I am super stoked about, I feel like the things I am doing better in life and in running are showing in my progress. I had a super fun run, shared the trails and shared conversations with wonderful people as always happens at races.
Super stoked from this race, and find myself even more stoked about the rest of my running plans based on how the day went.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Analysis of past tapers
Five days away from my first ultra, in a year that will include at least five of them, the idea of tapering is on my mind. So I thought I would look back on some previous tapers (and training leading up to them).
Elk/Beaver 50 km in May 2010:
Week 8: ran 0 miles, biked 38 miles
Week 7: ran 7 miles, biked 70 miles
Week 6: raced a half marathon, biked 10 miles
Week 5: ran 7 miles
Week 4: biked 30 miles
Week 3: ran 4 miles, biked 40 miles
Week 2: ran 10 miles, biked 48 miles
Race week: biked 18 miles on monday tuesday. Then 50 km race on Saturday and road marathon on sunday.
Result: I feel like I had lots of energy leading up to the race. I was getting over a stress fracture in my anterior tibularis at the time. Pretty sure that was not the proper way to train for an ultra, or taper. Having said that, I was still exercising 4-6 times a week though.
Scorched Sole 50 mile, June 2010:
Week 8: 6 miles run, 51 miles biking
Week 7: 35 miles run, 44 miles bike
Week 6: 91 miles run, 6 miles bike
Week 5: 29 miles run, 37 miles bike
Week 4: 55 miles run, 6 miles bike
Week 3: 48 miles run, 59 miles bike
Week 2: 22 miles run
Race week: Monday 6 miles run, Wednesday 12 mile mountain run, Thursday 5 mile run, Saturday race
Result: I felt like I was very physically ready for this race. I was very focused, I had treated my body well leading up to the race, but looking back the 12 mile run the week of was probably the only really, really bad decision during the taper (but I was happy with that as I was scouting the race course). The race felt pretty good that day, and I might still consider this my most pleasing race day performance ever.
Death Race. August 2010: 5 weeks after scorched sole
Week 5: 40 miles running
Week 4: 36 miles run, 25 mile bike
Week 3: 33 miles run
Week 2: 17 miles run, 10 miles bike
Race week: sat, sun, mon, tues before the race my log indicates the type of activity I did at the time while hungover. So the week before the race I decided to be drunk.
Result: Training would seem to be negligent for volume for the race distance I was going into. Weeks 4,3 should have been way heavier with exercise. I tapered nicely I think, but clearly decided to sabotage my race week with horrible body treatment the week before the race. Resutling in a race where I feel like I made a fair amount of nutrition mistakes, and had some massive muscle cramping issues.
Scorched sole 50 mile: June 2011
Week 8: 45 miles run
Week 7: 23 miles run
Week 6: 45 miles run
Week 5: 12 miles bike
Week 4: 50 miles bike
Week 3: 52 miles run
Week 2: 13 miles run
Race week: 14 km run on wednesday; race on saturday
Results: Clearly I don't think I was running enough to have adequately prepared for this distance. If I recall during weeks 7 - 4 I was transitioning from starting work at 5 am, to starting work at 2 pm. So running got sacrificed. And then in week 5 I also stopped my attempt at sobriety and started drinking again. Surprise, not enough running to prepare. But the race went decent, kind of. I didn't cramp at all during the race which was much better than the SS 2010 or the DR 2010, my nutrition was good. My race plan was good (because I knew the course) and talking more now with people about the race I think I ended up finishing ahead of several runners that may have been better runners than me at the time, but weren't mentally prepared for the course based on things they didn't plan for (longer course, technical terrain, lack of water, heat) which I felt prepared for (I had run the course 3 weeks prior, knew what to expect for the terrain, knew the distances between water aid would be long so planned to take bottles to fill up at rivers as well as my water pack, and knew to expect the heat). So, even though I wasn't as physically prepared for the race, ad had started drinking again, I really think I had started to learn about race strategies and nutrition and that was what carried me to a relatively succesful race. But very poor training and taper, but training did not match my ambition at all.
Walk in the park 54 km: Sept 2011
Week 8: 8 miles run
Week 7: 22 miles run
Week 6: 27 miles run
Week 5: 44 miles run
Week 4: 3 miles run
Week 3: 34 miles run, 10 miles bike
Week 2: 19 miles run, 39 miles bike
Race week: Wednesday 40 mile bike ride, Thursday 21 mile run, Friday registered for race, friday night drunk - slept 3 hours, saturday - worked until 10 pm then drove 3 hours and slept in my car for 3 hours the night before the race
Result: Beat my time in the same race a year before by 20 minutes. I'm sure that was from nothing but just adding a year of running onto my legs. Shit training, shit nutrition, treated my body very horribly in the months leading up to the race, destroyed my body the week of the race. Again though, I think I managed my water, and nutrition well during the race which made up for some other bad stuff.
I do believe I could have done so much better in all these races with better training, taper and nutrition. In fact these ideas seem so poorly executed that I am kind of looking at the 2010 / 2011 as nothing more than base building and learning race strategies through trial and error.
Upcoming dirty 50 km race:
Week 11: 50 miles run (5 runs)
Week 10: 46 miles run (5 runs)
Week 9: 42 miles run (5 runs)
Week 8: 50 miles run (5 runs)
Week 7: 28 miles run (4 runs)
Week 6: 54 miles run (5 runs) (massage therapy appointment on tuesday)
Week 5: 63 miles run (5 runs, 1 hike)
Week 4: 26 miles run (4 runs)
Week 3: 69 miles run (5 runs, 1 hike) (massage therapy appointment on tuesday(
Week 2: 32 miles run (4 runs)
Race week: will do a 40 min run on tuesday followed by a leg massage on tuesday night, a 4 - 5 mile run on wednesday and then race on saturday. Also, I won't work at all the week leading up to the race so all I have to do this race week is school, 2 runs, and focus on getting good sleep and good nutrition. As well, it's monday of race day and I already have my plans outlined for drop bags, race day nutriton, clothing etc. But won't actually pack until the Thursday.
I think it goes without saying. This is the most well prepared for any race I have ever been. Even if I somehow do way worse than I hope on Saturday, I feel like I am already kicking ass compared to before, and know that I am well on the way to being very well prepared for my big summer races I have planned.
Elk/Beaver 50 km in May 2010:
Week 8: ran 0 miles, biked 38 miles
Week 7: ran 7 miles, biked 70 miles
Week 6: raced a half marathon, biked 10 miles
Week 5: ran 7 miles
Week 4: biked 30 miles
Week 3: ran 4 miles, biked 40 miles
Week 2: ran 10 miles, biked 48 miles
Race week: biked 18 miles on monday tuesday. Then 50 km race on Saturday and road marathon on sunday.
Result: I feel like I had lots of energy leading up to the race. I was getting over a stress fracture in my anterior tibularis at the time. Pretty sure that was not the proper way to train for an ultra, or taper. Having said that, I was still exercising 4-6 times a week though.
Scorched Sole 50 mile, June 2010:
Week 8: 6 miles run, 51 miles biking
Week 7: 35 miles run, 44 miles bike
Week 6: 91 miles run, 6 miles bike
Week 5: 29 miles run, 37 miles bike
Week 4: 55 miles run, 6 miles bike
Week 3: 48 miles run, 59 miles bike
Week 2: 22 miles run
Race week: Monday 6 miles run, Wednesday 12 mile mountain run, Thursday 5 mile run, Saturday race
Result: I felt like I was very physically ready for this race. I was very focused, I had treated my body well leading up to the race, but looking back the 12 mile run the week of was probably the only really, really bad decision during the taper (but I was happy with that as I was scouting the race course). The race felt pretty good that day, and I might still consider this my most pleasing race day performance ever.
Death Race. August 2010: 5 weeks after scorched sole
Week 5: 40 miles running
Week 4: 36 miles run, 25 mile bike
Week 3: 33 miles run
Week 2: 17 miles run, 10 miles bike
Race week: sat, sun, mon, tues before the race my log indicates the type of activity I did at the time while hungover. So the week before the race I decided to be drunk.
Result: Training would seem to be negligent for volume for the race distance I was going into. Weeks 4,3 should have been way heavier with exercise. I tapered nicely I think, but clearly decided to sabotage my race week with horrible body treatment the week before the race. Resutling in a race where I feel like I made a fair amount of nutrition mistakes, and had some massive muscle cramping issues.
Scorched sole 50 mile: June 2011
Week 8: 45 miles run
Week 7: 23 miles run
Week 6: 45 miles run
Week 5: 12 miles bike
Week 4: 50 miles bike
Week 3: 52 miles run
Week 2: 13 miles run
Race week: 14 km run on wednesday; race on saturday
Results: Clearly I don't think I was running enough to have adequately prepared for this distance. If I recall during weeks 7 - 4 I was transitioning from starting work at 5 am, to starting work at 2 pm. So running got sacrificed. And then in week 5 I also stopped my attempt at sobriety and started drinking again. Surprise, not enough running to prepare. But the race went decent, kind of. I didn't cramp at all during the race which was much better than the SS 2010 or the DR 2010, my nutrition was good. My race plan was good (because I knew the course) and talking more now with people about the race I think I ended up finishing ahead of several runners that may have been better runners than me at the time, but weren't mentally prepared for the course based on things they didn't plan for (longer course, technical terrain, lack of water, heat) which I felt prepared for (I had run the course 3 weeks prior, knew what to expect for the terrain, knew the distances between water aid would be long so planned to take bottles to fill up at rivers as well as my water pack, and knew to expect the heat). So, even though I wasn't as physically prepared for the race, ad had started drinking again, I really think I had started to learn about race strategies and nutrition and that was what carried me to a relatively succesful race. But very poor training and taper, but training did not match my ambition at all.
Walk in the park 54 km: Sept 2011
Week 8: 8 miles run
Week 7: 22 miles run
Week 6: 27 miles run
Week 5: 44 miles run
Week 4: 3 miles run
Week 3: 34 miles run, 10 miles bike
Week 2: 19 miles run, 39 miles bike
Race week: Wednesday 40 mile bike ride, Thursday 21 mile run, Friday registered for race, friday night drunk - slept 3 hours, saturday - worked until 10 pm then drove 3 hours and slept in my car for 3 hours the night before the race
Result: Beat my time in the same race a year before by 20 minutes. I'm sure that was from nothing but just adding a year of running onto my legs. Shit training, shit nutrition, treated my body very horribly in the months leading up to the race, destroyed my body the week of the race. Again though, I think I managed my water, and nutrition well during the race which made up for some other bad stuff.
I do believe I could have done so much better in all these races with better training, taper and nutrition. In fact these ideas seem so poorly executed that I am kind of looking at the 2010 / 2011 as nothing more than base building and learning race strategies through trial and error.
Upcoming dirty 50 km race:
Week 11: 50 miles run (5 runs)
Week 10: 46 miles run (5 runs)
Week 9: 42 miles run (5 runs)
Week 8: 50 miles run (5 runs)
Week 7: 28 miles run (4 runs)
Week 6: 54 miles run (5 runs) (massage therapy appointment on tuesday)
Week 5: 63 miles run (5 runs, 1 hike)
Week 4: 26 miles run (4 runs)
Week 3: 69 miles run (5 runs, 1 hike) (massage therapy appointment on tuesday(
Week 2: 32 miles run (4 runs)
Race week: will do a 40 min run on tuesday followed by a leg massage on tuesday night, a 4 - 5 mile run on wednesday and then race on saturday. Also, I won't work at all the week leading up to the race so all I have to do this race week is school, 2 runs, and focus on getting good sleep and good nutrition. As well, it's monday of race day and I already have my plans outlined for drop bags, race day nutriton, clothing etc. But won't actually pack until the Thursday.
I think it goes without saying. This is the most well prepared for any race I have ever been. Even if I somehow do way worse than I hope on Saturday, I feel like I am already kicking ass compared to before, and know that I am well on the way to being very well prepared for my big summer races I have planned.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Week ending March 4
Feb 27 - Mar 4: Recovery week
Feb 27: no run
Feb 28: 71 minutes, 340 metre elev gain, 9.49 km; slow run on very icy trails in scenic canyon park
Feb 29: 10.5 km of treadmill running in 42 minutes.
Mar 1: no run
Mar 2: 75 mins, 113 metre elev gain, 12.39 km; running after work with L. Much slower pace than I would have gone if I had gone on my own, but nice run nonetheless
Mar 3: no run
Mar 4: 196 mins, 748 metre elev gain, 20.4 km; long run with pace through glenmore trails. Slow pace, went on some trails I'd never been on before. Thankful for a slow paced run; little sleep last few nights. The day before at work there was a function where a tonne of coke was leftover, so I took some and let it go flat and tried running on flat coke for this run. Did not like, not doing that again.
Weekly totals: 6 hrs 24 mins, 1188 metre elev gain, 52.78 km.
First race of the year in 6 days. I have a massage appointment on tuesday, and don't work at all so I should be able to make sure I am well rested and sleep well leading up to the race. Super stoked.
Feb 27: no run
Feb 28: 71 minutes, 340 metre elev gain, 9.49 km; slow run on very icy trails in scenic canyon park
Feb 29: 10.5 km of treadmill running in 42 minutes.
Mar 1: no run
Mar 2: 75 mins, 113 metre elev gain, 12.39 km; running after work with L. Much slower pace than I would have gone if I had gone on my own, but nice run nonetheless
Mar 3: no run
Mar 4: 196 mins, 748 metre elev gain, 20.4 km; long run with pace through glenmore trails. Slow pace, went on some trails I'd never been on before. Thankful for a slow paced run; little sleep last few nights. The day before at work there was a function where a tonne of coke was leftover, so I took some and let it go flat and tried running on flat coke for this run. Did not like, not doing that again.
Weekly totals: 6 hrs 24 mins, 1188 metre elev gain, 52.78 km.
First race of the year in 6 days. I have a massage appointment on tuesday, and don't work at all so I should be able to make sure I am well rested and sleep well leading up to the race. Super stoked.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Week Ending Feb 26
Feb 20 - 26 Build week (last build leading up to first race of the year)
Feb 20: hiked 5.26 km at knox mtn in 1 hr 46 minutes with 500 metre elev gain. Was a beautiful day to go hiking at a friends pace, lots of detours and discovered some trails I've never run on that will be super fun to descend the mountain with.
Feb 21: 107 minutes, 115 metre elev gain, 21.83 km; ran to UBCO and back on the roads, raining and slushy road. Felt like a good run though at a easy/steady pace. Massage therapy appointment later that night, worked my groin muscles good, talked about more stretches to be done for that area as its feeling a little tighter than other areas, and was reminded to ice more post run.
Feb 22: 75 minutes, 174 metre elev gain, 15.17 km: hilly tempo 10 km in 44:18, with warm up and cool down runs after. Muscles still felt a little non-fully healed after massage, but not too bad. Forgot to make ice, so just had an insanely cold shower after running.
Feb 23: 78 minutes, 358 metre elev gain, 11.33 km; easy running in scenic canyon park. Didn't mean to go this long, but those trails are hard for me to go for just a short run on. Again, super cold shower in lieu of icing.
Feb 24: 39 minutes, 59 metre elev gain, 7.43 km; post work recovery run, definitely feels better to run after work. Again, icy cold shower in lieu of icing.
Feb 25: no run. Finally remembered to make room in the freezer for ice cube trays though.
Feb 26: 328 minutes, 1266 metre elev gain, 50.06 km; long run with pace. 8.5 km loops. First four loops in (55:28, 51:29, 48:22, 49:39) then 10.75 km in 1:13:54 (much slower pace on purpose) and a 5.39 km cool down in 50:23. Felt solid the whole way. The loops were much more enjoyable the first three times when I had company.
Weekly Totals: 12 hrs 13 minutes (1 hr 45 were easy hike though), 2378 metre elev gain, 111.08 km.
Fourth longest kilometre totals for a week ever, and I feel better than I did last week. Super excited about the possibilities for the 50 km race in 13 days. Six months ago I ran the Frosty 50 k in 6 hrs 5 minutes, and today I ran 50 km in 5 hrs 25 mins. Granted today was 350 metre elev gain less, but the conditions were rougher on the trails (snow), and today I felt like I had much left in the tank having purposely run slower than I felt capable the last 90 minutes and walking the last 15 minutes. I don't really have a time goal for the race, other than to do what feels right. I have started wearing a heart rate monitor though, and will try and keep myself from going above 160 bpm, and keep in the 145 range until at least aroun 38 km or so and see how I feel there and push hard to the finish or keep at the pace. Either way, I'm excited going into a race feeling properly prepared and I will have done a successful taper as well.
Was watching some tv show and there was a quote that's been on my mind; "Your dreams won't chase themselves". I don't know if my 'dreams' are necesarily based on running, but I know that by chasing passions built around running I will keep working towards something better than what I have been before.
I've really been enjoying this song. It's perfect for that moment of reflection when your sitting on the trunk of your car after a 50 km run, eating your double stack peanut butter and jam sandwich, and staring out at a view of the lake on a beautiful winter day.
Feb 20: hiked 5.26 km at knox mtn in 1 hr 46 minutes with 500 metre elev gain. Was a beautiful day to go hiking at a friends pace, lots of detours and discovered some trails I've never run on that will be super fun to descend the mountain with.
Feb 21: 107 minutes, 115 metre elev gain, 21.83 km; ran to UBCO and back on the roads, raining and slushy road. Felt like a good run though at a easy/steady pace. Massage therapy appointment later that night, worked my groin muscles good, talked about more stretches to be done for that area as its feeling a little tighter than other areas, and was reminded to ice more post run.
Feb 22: 75 minutes, 174 metre elev gain, 15.17 km: hilly tempo 10 km in 44:18, with warm up and cool down runs after. Muscles still felt a little non-fully healed after massage, but not too bad. Forgot to make ice, so just had an insanely cold shower after running.
Feb 23: 78 minutes, 358 metre elev gain, 11.33 km; easy running in scenic canyon park. Didn't mean to go this long, but those trails are hard for me to go for just a short run on. Again, super cold shower in lieu of icing.
Feb 24: 39 minutes, 59 metre elev gain, 7.43 km; post work recovery run, definitely feels better to run after work. Again, icy cold shower in lieu of icing.
Feb 25: no run. Finally remembered to make room in the freezer for ice cube trays though.
Feb 26: 328 minutes, 1266 metre elev gain, 50.06 km; long run with pace. 8.5 km loops. First four loops in (55:28, 51:29, 48:22, 49:39) then 10.75 km in 1:13:54 (much slower pace on purpose) and a 5.39 km cool down in 50:23. Felt solid the whole way. The loops were much more enjoyable the first three times when I had company.
Weekly Totals: 12 hrs 13 minutes (1 hr 45 were easy hike though), 2378 metre elev gain, 111.08 km.
Fourth longest kilometre totals for a week ever, and I feel better than I did last week. Super excited about the possibilities for the 50 km race in 13 days. Six months ago I ran the Frosty 50 k in 6 hrs 5 minutes, and today I ran 50 km in 5 hrs 25 mins. Granted today was 350 metre elev gain less, but the conditions were rougher on the trails (snow), and today I felt like I had much left in the tank having purposely run slower than I felt capable the last 90 minutes and walking the last 15 minutes. I don't really have a time goal for the race, other than to do what feels right. I have started wearing a heart rate monitor though, and will try and keep myself from going above 160 bpm, and keep in the 145 range until at least aroun 38 km or so and see how I feel there and push hard to the finish or keep at the pace. Either way, I'm excited going into a race feeling properly prepared and I will have done a successful taper as well.
Was watching some tv show and there was a quote that's been on my mind; "Your dreams won't chase themselves". I don't know if my 'dreams' are necesarily based on running, but I know that by chasing passions built around running I will keep working towards something better than what I have been before.
I've really been enjoying this song. It's perfect for that moment of reflection when your sitting on the trunk of your car after a 50 km run, eating your double stack peanut butter and jam sandwich, and staring out at a view of the lake on a beautiful winter day.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Week ending Feb 19
Feb 13 - 19. rest week
Feb 13: road bike; 56 mins, 25.42 kms. The roads were clear of snow, the sun was shining, it was over 5 degrees outside and I just couldn't resist a bike ride. Pushed a little too hard, but oh well. It felt great.
Feb 14: no run
Feb 15: 48 mins, 18 metre elev gain, 10.4 km; flat tempo run that didnt get pushed very hard, already tired from work/school so took it easy
Feb 16: no run
Feb 17: 129 mins, 371 metre elev gain, 20.76 km. Long run for the week, on snow covered trails and some roads. Scenic canyon park section of the greenway, then back via mcculloch road and the greenway.
Feb 18: no run
Feb 19: 93 mins, 500 metre elev gain, 10.4 km. lower angel springs trail to springs and back.
Weekly totals: 4 hrs 10 mins running (5 hrs 6 min total exercise), 889 metre elev gain, 41.44 km running and 25.42 km bike.
Made a video of the lower part of angel springs. Forgot to turn the camera audio off, so my heavy breathing makes a "nice" backdrop to the scenery.
This week was supposed to be a rest week in my training plan, and hardly felt restful. By the end of the week I do feel like I have enough energy to get through the next build week, but it was a stretch. I worked more than I wanted to as I was transitioning from the winter job to the summer job. With school and work I spent 6o hours between the two. Much more than I want to do. And I made two trips to Penticton as well. I used what I knew would be a a rough week to test out a couple different ideas of when to run around busy work times, and different eats while at work.
Once school is over, any running I have to do on workdays will be happening after work. So, midnight runs will be happening a lot. But I do think I will feel good enough to do an easy one hour or less run in the morning before work if needed. And food at work; I will need to make sure to remember to take proteins shakes and smoothies to work, then on busy days I will at least be able to eat something.
Seven weeks into the running year and I'm currently on pace to double my running distance from last year.
In the soundtrack for my week, this will be Monday's song.
and the rest of my week . . .
Feb 13: road bike; 56 mins, 25.42 kms. The roads were clear of snow, the sun was shining, it was over 5 degrees outside and I just couldn't resist a bike ride. Pushed a little too hard, but oh well. It felt great.
Feb 14: no run
Feb 15: 48 mins, 18 metre elev gain, 10.4 km; flat tempo run that didnt get pushed very hard, already tired from work/school so took it easy
Feb 16: no run
Feb 17: 129 mins, 371 metre elev gain, 20.76 km. Long run for the week, on snow covered trails and some roads. Scenic canyon park section of the greenway, then back via mcculloch road and the greenway.
Feb 18: no run
Feb 19: 93 mins, 500 metre elev gain, 10.4 km. lower angel springs trail to springs and back.
Weekly totals: 4 hrs 10 mins running (5 hrs 6 min total exercise), 889 metre elev gain, 41.44 km running and 25.42 km bike.
Made a video of the lower part of angel springs. Forgot to turn the camera audio off, so my heavy breathing makes a "nice" backdrop to the scenery.
This week was supposed to be a rest week in my training plan, and hardly felt restful. By the end of the week I do feel like I have enough energy to get through the next build week, but it was a stretch. I worked more than I wanted to as I was transitioning from the winter job to the summer job. With school and work I spent 6o hours between the two. Much more than I want to do. And I made two trips to Penticton as well. I used what I knew would be a a rough week to test out a couple different ideas of when to run around busy work times, and different eats while at work.
Once school is over, any running I have to do on workdays will be happening after work. So, midnight runs will be happening a lot. But I do think I will feel good enough to do an easy one hour or less run in the morning before work if needed. And food at work; I will need to make sure to remember to take proteins shakes and smoothies to work, then on busy days I will at least be able to eat something.
Seven weeks into the running year and I'm currently on pace to double my running distance from last year.
In the soundtrack for my week, this will be Monday's song.
and the rest of my week . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)