pics from race
heizer trial four hour recovery hike
Live, eat, breathe...single track.
rolled out thurs. w/tapp, whisk, and dierk. set up camp and picked up packets on friday at pine valley park, co. race morning was warm but nice.
this is a killer course for a flatlander, 4700 ft of climb in 32 miles. starts with a 2 mile climb up buck trail, you get some nice buttery flow in the burn areas, but interspersed with some steady ups. i felt super strong, running conservatively. the day heated up and tried to balance the fluid/electrolyte thing, tough to do in heat w/ no humidity. chatted with some folks and rolled, enjoyed the scenery.
felt really great going into the aid station at 24 miles, probably on sub 8:00 pace or even better. ran into dierk, his son and girlfriend at that aid station, BUT, right after that is a climb. i got smacked hard about a 1/2 mile into that, maybe let the highs get too high from 20-24 on the sweet downhill. sucked down what water i had and slugged out the four miles into the last aid station--wasn't pretty for me, at least the trail was beautiful. heat was brutal by this time and the last section is downhill but exposed. i chose not to push hard to speed recovery, coasted and ran when i could, mostly hiked, sub 9:00 was the goal at this point. finally hit the bottom and rolled across in 8:57, maybe not a seemingly fast time, but was super pumped for first official mountain ultra finish, and considering the altitude, heat, and climbing, this was actually a good number for me.
tapp killed it at 7:07, dierk was just a beast on the day before his 61st bday at 8:46, alex and dani knocking out their first official ultra finish in the same time, and whisk giving a brave performance in the heat (he'll be back). postrace was feet in the river, tapp kind enough to bring my fat butt a beer and a burger, chilling out, then dinner of a massive trout filet with friends that evening. killer. only thing better would have been family there to share.
rest of trip was awesome: relaxed in manitou with some ipas, four hour "recovery" hike up heizer trail in cascade, hung out and soaked up the mountain vibes. already looking at next year--bring on quad rock, this race again (fitty??), silver rush--something in the mountains. ah, yeah.
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headed to middletown, il on saturday for tonya and mike siltman's 6 hour beer run. this is a timed effort on a (roughly, although i think it's a tad short, whatever) 2 mile loop through their 40 acre farm. i was able to put up a good measured, well-executed effort despite increasing heat and lots of sun exposure. never really wavered pace-wise and stayed on top of hydration. this is still a small race, only 18 entered, but i have a feeling it will grow. the intimate setting means you're out there chatting with the other racers, enjoying the day. got to meet some new folks and chat a bit with rich breaux, an ultra veteran who was out getting some miles in. ended with 13 1/4 loops for a recorded 26.25 miles.
post-race at this even cannot be beat. you get a pint glass with the race logo, runners and RDs hanging around drinking mike's homebrew. and i mean really, really top notch homebrew. i only had time for the ipa, but there were five other beers kegged out. i would take this sort of grassroots race over the big glossy stuff any day, and i will be back next year. you should be there, too.
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56.25 miles, one rest day: had a solid weekday build-up, then a 6 hour effort at siltman beer run.
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solid 52 mile week with zero rest days, sprinkled in some slightly longer stuff. felt good.
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4/27/-5/3 37 miles, 0 rest days
5/4-5/9 38 miles, 1 rest day (work imposed, finals!)
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4/13/-4/19 40 miles--one off day, birthday and work imposed
4/20-4/26 42 miles--solid week, one off day, sore and tired on monday. great weekend, rainy on sat., but radiantly sunny, forest bursting with life on sunday, 20 miles on weekend.
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39 miles, 0 rest days.
some good harder early morning workouts midweek. clear, mostly dry trail conditions, can finally get out at 6:00 a.m. without a headlamp. this is what we wait all winter for. forest floor started greening out on wed. into thurs., especially after rain. still waiting on the first bluebells.
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former training philosophy:
-mix of road and trail running
-long runs 3-6 hrs. on trails, generally every other week, to train for ultras
-self-created training plans
-maintenance mileage during week, run 3-5 days per week on average
-diet philosophy: sometimes low fat, cut weight, sometimes not
-weight class: usually clydesdale, 200 lbs. +
-2-4 weight training sessions per week
caffeine intake: ZERO
current training philosophy:
-will walk on roads in off season, no running
-100% of running on trails
-no structured training plan, train by feel
-varied pace, lots of power hiking, will gentle run downs depending on feel and conditions
-goal is to strength build and work towards durability
-very few long training runs, aim for accumulated time on feet. this means lots of double and triple workouts
-diet philosophy: none, probably need one
-weight class: always clydesdale, 200 lbs. ++
-zero weight training due to back
-caffeine intake: coffee fiend
2015 training:
doing what you can in the snow and ice, often power hiking w/trekking poles
1/1-1/4: 27 mi. 0 rest days
1/5-1/11: 46 mi. 0 rest days
1/12-1/18: 46 mi. 0 rest days
1/19-1/25: 29 mi. 0 rest days
1/26-2/1: 34 mi. 0 rest days
2/2-2/8: 34 mi. 0 rest days
2/9-2/15: 27 mi. 1 rest day
2/16-2/22: 35 mi. 1 rest day (cold and i'm soft)
2/23-2/28: 17 mi. 1 rest day
3/1-3/4 in fl.: 13 mi. 0 rest days
3/5-3/8 27 mi. 0 rest days
3/9-3/15: 39 mi. 0 rest days
dry trails, yeah! time to run:
3/16-3/22: 47 mi. + 16 mile straight hike 0 rest days
3/23-3/29: 15 mi. 4 rest days (bronchitis)
3/30-4/5: 47 mi. 0 rest days
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decided to undertake this little project to track training through summer and towards a couple of events. starting with some historical data, then a weekly log of loose mileage with reflections on philosophy and what i think i know. any feedback or suggestions are appreciated!
started running seriously in june of 2001. first race was lung run 5k in oct. of 2001.
total miles since june 2001: 17,382
injuries: pf in both feet, patellar tendonitis (long ago), anterior tibial stress fracture (out 8 months in '04/'05), itbs in left knee (long ago), soft tissue issues on bottoms of both feet, back injury playing basketball (herniated disc? maybe, never mri'd)
marathon/ultra race history:
4/2003 st. louis marathon 4:32
11/03 quivering quads 50k, cuivre river state park, mo.
4/04 mcnaughton park 10 mile--anterior tibial stress fracture from late summer 2004 to early 2005
10/05 glacial trail 50k, wi. 7:50
4/06 mcnaughton park 30 mile
8/06 howl at the moon 8 hour, il. 29.61 miles
5/07 berryman trail marathon, mo. 6:11
4/08 mcnaughton park 50 mile, 13:15 (mud year)
9/08 rock cut hobo run 50k, il. 6:14
1/09 mcnabb fat ass 50k, 6:03
4/09 mcnaughton park 50 mile, 12:07
7/09 dances with dirt devil's lake marathon, wi. 5:52
8/10 howl at the moon 8 hour, il. 33.4 miles
10/13 farmdale (jubillee st. park, il) 30 mi. 7:08
6/14 kettle moraine, wi. 50k 8:38
8/14 howl at the moon 8 hr., il 30.11 miles
9/14 evergreen lake, il 50 mile 13:31
10/14 farmdale, il 30 mile 7:45
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total miles: 1970 per week: 37.88 per day 5.41
ultras:
6/14 kettle moraine 50k
8/14 howl at the moon 8 hour, 33.11 miles
9/14 evergreen lake 50 mile
10/14 farmdale 30 mile
2015: more miles!?!
ultra wish list:
4/15 6 hour siltman beer run
5/15 berryman marathon
6/15 north fork 50k
8/15 howl at the moon 8 hr
10/15 farmdale hundo??
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