Training Week 7/11/11

7/11/11 - Ran 2 miles in my five fingers. Man are my calves sore and tight.

7/12/11 - Ran my 6 mile loop in 40:27 and cool down. Was trying for a sub 40 minute loop today but I think the humidity played a role and my legs were still off from the 50 mile road ride on Sunday.

7/13/11 - 8.5 mile run at the Cove. Ran 4 gorge, some of 4 gorge ext. comet, songbird, and out on the road.

7/15/11 - Ran 9.5 miles around the Grandin area. Some trail, some greenway, and road. Kept a 7:45min/mile pace.

7/16/11 - Ran 10 miles. This is a road loop that run from home to Lewis Gale, down Apperson and then in some neighborhoods of Raleigh Court. Ran at a 7:45min/mile pace.

Mtb later in the day on the Fishburn Park trails.

7/17/11 - Cycled 38 miles. Home, Roselawn, Sugarloaf, Hidden Valley golf course, Apperson, Harborwood, Wildwood, and back home via Apperson.

Week Total - 37.5 miles of Running, 10 mtn biking, and 38 cycling.

Good week of running. My legs didn't care for the back to back 10 miles days. I see the benefit of doing longer back to back runs for endurance. The road bike is a huge benefit that gives my joints a break while still getting the aerobic workout. In addition, my legs can be dead from running but still be on form for biking. Next week will be a similar run load with a shift to a slower pace in all runs and maybe a shift to a few more cycling days.

Training the Week of 7/4/11

Well I'm not sure if being in CO for a week made any changes to my physiology or not but I'd like to think that I may have a performance boost for a little while because of it.

7/5/11 - 8 miles running. 6 mile loop CCW with cooldown.
Also ran 2 miles later that evening on the treadmill in my Five Fingers.
7/6/11 - 7.75 miles at the Cove. 4 Gorge, comet, enchanted forest, songbird. Very humid. Was soaked following the run.
7/8/11 - 16.4 miles at the Cove. This is my last long training run before the Catoctin 50k. Ran up Buck, trough, Gauntlet, 1000ft, comet, enchanted forest, little bell, some of schoolhouse, back on little bell, and then out on the gravel and then asphalt road. This was my first run in my new Inov-8 RocLite 285s (inov-8 name their shoes by the weight in grams). I really like the way these feel. I ended up having an early hot spot on my right heal and blister below my right big toe. Otherwise I would have made this into a 20+ mile run today. I'm hoping these shoes just need to be broken in. They are nice and light.
7/9/11 - Did 3.5 hours of maintenance at Explore Park and covered 4 miles. Stop and go running and hiking. Good recovery mileage.
7/10/11 - 50.5 mile Road bike ride. Home - Bradshaw - North Fork - Route 11 - Riverside - Apperson and back.
38.65 miles running and 50.5 mile cycling.
I would have liked to be above 40 miles for the week but things didn't work out. My feet weren't too bad from the Friday run and have recovered alright. Next week I plan to get above 40 miles without doing too long of a run. This is something that I normally try to cycle through. Weeks of high mileage with a long run and high mileage with many shorter runs.

Two months late - Training Update for May and June

I'm not as consistent on this as I'd like. Can you say too much to do and too little time? Anyway, next goal is top 10 (or best case scenario of top 5) at the Catoctin 50k on 7/30/11 in hopes that I feel good enough to tackle a race length that I swore I'd never do again following my 2003 Mountain Masochist. The Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 miler is on 8/26. It is near Snowshoe Mtn. This race starts at 9pm. Moonshine fun, maybe.

Week of May 9th.
5/9/11 - Wore my five fingers on a 2 mile run.
5/10/11 - 7.5 mile run. Did my usual 6 mile loop this morning. Felt good and decided to go for a PR. Ran the loop in 39:19. My splits were 7:06, 6:07, 6:29, 6:20, 7:10, 6:39. This loop in the CCW direction ends with the last 2 mile being in the woods. At 5:30 in the morning the woods don't have much light so the going is a little slower and hard to push the pace. Previous best was 40:22.
5/11/11 - 6.2 miles at the Cove. Hotel, buch, hi-dee-ho.
5/13/11 - 23.5 miles the Conquer the Cove Marathon course. This was a crutial decision for me. With only 2 runs of 10 miles or longer since the 2/12 Holiday Lake I wasn't sure how it would go. I felt like I should "race" the course prior to the event and this was the only day that would work. So I started out at the end of Timberview knocking off the 2.5 road miles with my Camelbak mule, 100oz of water, two clif bars, first aide kit, and handsaw. Not a racing set up but that is what I normally run in. I ran the course in 3:12. I did stop my watch a couple times to clear debris from the trail and to call Gina to let her know I wasn't going to bail early (My backup plan was to stop at the gate. You know, before the 2.8 mile 1000ft climb).
5/15/11 - 3.5 mile recovery run in my five fingers.
This was a big week. Hard run on Tues and then the marathon course on Friday.
42.7 miles of running.

Week of May 16th
5/17/11 - 7.5 mile run. The normal 6 mile loop with a 1.5 mile cooldown.
5/18/11 - 7.85 mile run at the cove. 4 gorge, 1000ft climb to the drop, comet, and then out via the road.
5/20/11 - 8/4 mile run at the cove before 5 hours of trail work on Sawmill Branch Trail. Ran in on the road, ran the road to the end of Arrowhead, ran arrowhead and songbird cutting back new growth hanging into the trail and then ran back on the road.
5/22/11 - Rode the lower loop at the cove. Cut out a few downed trees. Then later in the day ran 3.4 miles in my Five Fingers.
27.15 miles running and 11 mtn biking.

Week of May 23rd
5/24/11 - 7.5 mile Birthday run. Did the usual 6 mile loop CW today in 40:03. Ran as hard as I could. I now believe the loop is easier CCW.
5/25/11 - 7.75 mile run. Hi-dee-ho, 1000ft climb, and back on 4 gorge.
5/26/11 - 15 mile run. Back wood trail from Hollins up to the AT, AT to Sawmill Branch Trail, and back to Hollins on the Happy Valley fireroad.
5/27/11 - 13 mtn biked at the cove.5/29/11 - Road biked to Green Hill Park and back.
30.25 miles running, 13 mtn biking, and 20 cycling.

Week of May 30th
Not much training this week in preparation of the Conquer the Cove 25k and Marathon races. Too much to do and too much stress to fit in the usual training schedule.
5/31/11 - 7.5 mile run. Ran the 6 mile loop CCW - 41:32 ran pretty easy.
6/1/11 - Ran 5.5 miles at the Cove. Ran 4 gorge out and back.
6/3/11 - 16 mile mtn bike ride marking and clearing the course. Cut out a number of trees.
13 miles running and 15 mtn biking.

Week of June 6th
6/7/11 - 8 Mile loop at 7 min pace. Went at about 80-85%
6/8/11 - Easy 6 mile run at the Cove. Road in, comet, tuck-a-way, comet, 4 gorge.
6/10/11 - 16 miles mtn biking at Douthat. Lots of elevation.
6/11/11 - messed up my ankle riding the day before. Did an easy 5 miles.
6/12/11 - 10 mile run from home to the greenway, did 5 out and 5 back.
29 Miles running and 16 miles mtn biking.

Week of June 13th
6/14/11 - 7.5 miles running. Did the 6 mile loop CCW. 43:30. Legs felt heavy.
Also cycled 16 miles on the greenway and back on the road.
6/15/11 - 6.75 miles running from Dragon's Tooth to 311. Really hard section. Did it in 70 minutes.
6/17/11 - 16.5 mile running at Mill Mountain. Ran woodthrush, chestnut ridge, woodthrush, changed shoes, refueled, and then ran the greenway home. Legs had not recovered from Wed.
6/19/11 - 7.5 mile run. Did the 3 & 4 miles loops.
38.25 miles running and 16 miles cycling

Week of June 20th
6/21/11 - 7.5 miles running. 6 mile loop CCW.
6/22/11 - 7.4 miles running at the Cove. Up Hi-Dee-Ho and back on 4 gorge.
6/24/11 - 4 miles of hiking at Chatauqua Park in Boulder CO
6/25/11 - 12.65 miles mtn biking at Heil Ranch in CO
6/26/11 - 14.2 miles mtn biking at Bobcat Ridge in Ft. Collins CO
18.9 miles of running and 26.85 mtn biking.

Week of June 27th
6/27/11 - 15.65 miles running at Hall Ranch in CO
6/28/11 - 9.25 miles mtn biking at Valmont Bike Park in Boulder
6/29/11 - 13.2 miles hiking Longs Peak. Made it to 13252ft before having to turn back due to snow, ice, and heavy winds.
6/30/11 - 15.7 miles mtn biking on the Sourdough Trail in Nederland CO
7/1/11 - 4.6 miles hiking at Batasso Preserve in Boulder CO
9.35 miles biking at Valmont Bike Park in Boulder CO
7/3/11 - 4 mile loop at Fishburn Park.
37.44 miles of running and hiking and 34.3 miles of mtn biking.

Alright, I'm all caught up in my training log. Remember this is a log to show you how you can train less than most plans suggest and still do well in long distance events. My goal with many things I do is to do the least to effect the most. Why run 60 miles per week if I can concetrate on my runs and do shorter more specific runs to achieve the same result.