One week closer

Another week closer to the big trip to the left coast for the Always Brothers 100 Miles for One Mind (I'll be supporting the boys as a pacer this year). That also means another week closer to flying from Seattle to Denver for the Pbville 100.

This week was another solid effort. I focused a little more on climbing and descending and a little less on mileage (as planned). I still worked in some decent mileage days with decent elevation gain. The totals for the week are nothing eye popping, but they make a lot of sense to me. I didn't want to push too hard after last week, but it ain't time to taper (insert wry smile here) yet.

I felt a little tired the Monday and Tuesday, but bounced back and started feeling strong by Wednesday, which seems about right given last week's totals. The best news was basically zero soreness. The normal ankle/foot pain I have experienced with a high volume of training hasn't been an issue this time around. I attribute that to a smart, steady build up, and to mixing up shoes between the NB Leadville and the Hoka One One Stinson Evo. I also spent a little time this week experimenting with Endurolyte Fizz tabs in my water bottle to take on a good flow of electrolytes without having to drink gatorade all the time. So far so good. I'll keep testing them out next week too. I wouldn't want to invite some last minute stomach problems.

I also had some good company on a few runs this week. Carla and Geoff, who are training for the Marine Corps Marathon, did 12 of my 17 with me yesterday morning in a pretty epic rain storm at Moses Cone. It was nice to have company in some nasty weather. Misery does love company. 12 was the long run so far in Carla & Geoff's training program and they are looking strong. Don't tell them, but they actually went 12.6. Hey, bonus mileage right? Anyway, the sun came out for the first time in a while today so Ginger and I knocked out some miles on Rich Mtn from Trout Lake. It was Ginger's longest run in her Marathon training program, and she rocked it out. So glad to have her back out on the trails having fun.

One Month to Leadville

Well, I haven't found writing a training blog all that interesting. I can't imagine that it's all that interesting for someone to read either. So, I haven't been doing it. Without trips to cool places to write about and cool pictures, it just seems like all it would be is:  I ran today. It was fun, and it was hard. I ate lots of food, and now I want some ice cream. That would be the daily entry around here. Ha ha ha. But, it's been a while and this week is a training milestone, so here's the latest.

Since I got back from Pbville, I've been running plenty. Lots of miles in Damascus, Boone, and up on the trails at Moses Cone. I've been slowly building from 50 mile weeks to the big 100 mile week. I haven't done a 100 mile week in either of my previous 100 training cycles, but Leadville is a different beast, so I decided to do it this time. Good confidence builder, I think.  Last week was my big mileage week in the build up. Check out the stats:

7 days: 109 miles. Not too shabby. My goal was a 100 mile week, and I'm happy to have gone a little over. I think I'll take the day off tomorrow. I want some ice cream.

I did my 50 miler at Moses Cone on Monday (that's been a standard 100 prep thing for me). It took me a little over 11.5 hours total time (best time in training). My average pace was pretty good, and there was plenty of climbing. I ran mostly solo, but Ginger and Kramer both joined me for a few miles, and it was very nice to have the company. 50 miles is a long way to run alone. Heck, my solo 50K (At Moses Cone and sub 6 hours a couple of weeks ago) felt like a long way to run alone. Even at a race- without a pacer- there are other racers to talk with. The trails at Moses Cone can be a bit lonely. But, that's kind of what I was going for: time to test myself in the dark place. Anyway, I took Tuesday off, and then got right back at it on Wednesday. This was a little departure from my normal 100 miler build up. For the first two 100s I did, I took a week off after my 50 miler. I needed it too. But, I figured I should not do that this time. Leadville will be harder than either of those previous hundies, so I wanted to push it. The crazy thing is that my legs felt fine. I really wasn't even all that sore this time around. Sure, I was tired. I've been tired all week. Running 100 miles in a week takes a lot of time. Running 100 miles in the mountains (on trails) in a week is tiring. But, it was a fun week, and I have to say I'm feeling good about my chances of hitting my goal in Pbville. I want some ice cream.

Next week, I'll still be logging lots of miles. I won't start the taper (bleh- I feel like a triathlete using that word) until the very end of the month. (And really, I'm gonna refuse to call it "tapering"because I'm going surfing) Mostly, though, next week will be about climbing and descending. I think I have plenty of miles on my legs, and now I want to spend a week really beating up my quads to get them ready for the descents in Pbville. I'll hit the Profile Trail at Grandfather Mtn, maybe some miles at Black Mountain, and lots of time at Rocky Knob part (awesome Mtn Bike trails in Boone).

Soooo, that's it for now. Big ups to my buddy Darris Blackford who rocked out Badwater on his 50th birthday this week. Check out his blog. If you read it, and you should (it's good- he's a bad ass), you'll see his advice saying your goals out loud so it'll be harder to quit. When I read that today, I decided I'd dust off the keyboard and write at least one more blog entry. Ok, I'm going to eat some ice cream now.

One more thing, contact me if you want to run the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Always Brothers is a charity partner and we have a couple of slots left. Deadline is August 2nd.