Week 16 2014 Recap

One week to go to the Bear Mtn 50!  I picked up the speed a bit during the week then got on the trails on Sat for a muddy, steep shorter run.  On Sunday I ran with Hillary for about 6 miles before hitting the trails on an easier effort run.  This is the best shape I have been in this early in the season and I think I am in decent shape for Bear Mtn.  Compared to Virgil Crest last fall I have not been on the epic mountainous long runs that I was able to get in during the summer, but I have certainly gotten in way more miles.  
So far for 2014 I have laid down 724 miles and 70,000 feet of elevation gain we will see soon if it is enough.  We will try to update my Twitter feed, which will be posted on the left side of the page here during the race with updates.  Race start is 5:00am on Sat. May 3rd.

Summary of Week 16:
M    OFF
T     6.3 mile run w/ Castleton XC team
W    OFF
Th   8.0 mile tempo rail trail (1 mi warmup, 5 mi at 6:20 pace, 2 mi cooldown)
F     OFF
S     6.7 mile trail run (~1400' gain)
S     12.4 mile run (~1400' gain)

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    33.5 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    3,107 feet 
Total run time:                    4 hours 41 mins 

Week 15 2014 Recap

I am starting to taper a bit for Bear Mtn, which is less than 2 weeks away!  I am trying to get out on the trails at lower elevation as much as possible, but it is still really wet and muddy out there.  The runs this weekend went well.  On Saturday I put in a decent effort on a hilly 15 mile run at sub 8 minute miles and Sunday was a nice conversation pace run with Hillary.  I have some shorter miles this week and might try to swim a bit if I can fit it in my schedule.  My fitness has come a long way this winter and I hope my leg strength will be there for the race!

Summary of Week 15:
M    OFF
T     8.6 mile run w/ Castleton XC team
W    OFF
Th   6.4 mile run on atv trails
F     OFF
S     14.9 mile run (~1400' gain)
S     20.1 mile run with Hillary

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    49.4 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    3,425 feet 
Total run time:                    7 hours 2 mins 

Week 14 2014 Recap

It was spring break week, the week for the biggest training miles, end of sugar season, and perfect weather and conditions for backcountry skiing!  Needless to say this week was full of outdoor activities.  I had an incredible week and I can't believe it but my body feels the best it ever has.  We started the week boiling the last of our collected maple sap and decided to call the season over after this weekend.  We may have been able to collect a bit more, but the weather was beautiful and there were other things I wanted to get done this week.  
Wednesday night we had a pretty decent freeze and highs on Thursday were in the 60s, so I couldn't pass up a day to ski in the Adirondacks.  I made the 6 mile skin and slide climb from the Garden TH in Keene Valley in almost exactly 2 hours.  Ski conditions were marginal, but it was a great day to be in the mountains and get a great workout in.  I wasn't sure how this would set me up for my long run on Friday, but I felt great for about 24 miles and fair to good for the remainder of the run.  Hillary was nice enough to find me along the way for a refuel stop!
After running 34 miles I figured I wouldn't be to keen on getting out of bed at 4:40am the next morning to spend a day skinning and climbing another Slide in the Adirondacks, but to my surprise my legs felt 100% when I woke up and I felt strong the entire day in the mountains.
Today I tried to get out on some of the atv trails around the house and the trails were muddy and marginal.  I did muster an 18 mile loop consisting of some trails and dirt road with nearly 2000' of elevation gain.  The run started a bit sluggish, but I finished the training run feeling really strong again.
Overall, this was a big week and I was expecting the be in the hurt box, but the miles since January are really starting to pay off.  I plan on starting to taper for the Bear Mountain 50, which is in just 3 weeks, and then start to focus my training towards the VT100.  I will not formally train and taper for the Bryce Canyon 50, but instead it will more be used for a vacation and training race with just a one week slow down prior.

Summary of Week 14:
M    OFF
T     5.1 mile run on icy snowmobile trails
W    7.8 mile Griffin Hill Loop run
Th   Backcountry Ski Bennies Slide in Adks (12 miles; 2767')
F     33.8 mile run, Lake Bomoseen Circumnavigation
S     Backcountry Ski Colden Slide in Adks (9 miles; 2500')
S     18.0 mile muddy trail/dirt road run

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    64.8 miles (85.8 mi all activities)
Total run elevation gain:    4,876 feet (10,143' all activities)
Total run time:                    9 hours 36 mins (18h 40m all activities)

Week 13 2014 Recap

What a glorious down week that lined up perfectly with the sap run for making maple syrup.  I am feeling the best I have since starting to train in January and am looking forward to my final week of big miles this upcoming weekend.  The thaw is on which means we are in the midst of mud season.  The snowmobile trails are still a mix of ice and deep mud, so I am still stuck on the roads for my 35 miler and 20 miler this weekend.  Endurance wise I should be in pretty decent shape for the first week of May for the North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler, but I guess I will see how my leg strength is doing after not being able to run huge vertical gains yet.  Bear Mtn will be a good test against some of the best ultra runners in North America and a good test to see where I stand physically in my preparation for the VT100 in July.

Since I had fewer miles this week and not a ton of elevation gain my workouts were a bit faster this week.

Summary of Week 13:
M    OFF
T     7.0 mile run at 7:46 pace
W    OFF
Th   OFF
F     7.3 mile run Pond Hill Loop at 7:49 pace
S     11.4 mile run at 7:34 pace
S     14.8 mile run with Hillary (casual pace)

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    40.1 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    3,320 feet 
Total run time:                    5 hours 3 mins

Week 12 2014 Recap

Well it was a bit of a crazy week, but in the end I was able to get in nearly the number of miles I projected for the week.  A lot was going on at work, Hillary is in South Africa, had an all day workshop on Sat., rain and the spring thaw washed out part of our road, and I was still able to put in an 11 miler on Sat night in the dark followed by 26 miles the next day.  Oh, and we cooked up some maple syrup.
I am feeling a bit tired from the weekend since my alarm went off at 4:45 this morning to get to work and catch up on everything I should have gotten done over the weekend.  It feels good to be back on track.  Joints, and overall the body feels good.  The warm weather (40s!) has been nice, but there is still a lot of snow that needs to melt.  This is a down week before climbing back up for one big week before I start to taper for Bear Mountain.  It is crazy but the race is just 4.5 weeks away!  Hard to believe the trails around here will be passable by then!
I hit 500 miles for the year earlier this week.

Summary of Week 12:
M    OFF
T     6.4 mile run with Castleton XC team
W    OFF
Th   7.3 mile run Pond Hill Loop
F     OFF
S     11.4 mile night time run
S     26.1 mile Monument Hill Marathon distance run (1,654')

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    51.2 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    3,692 feet 
Total run time:                    7 hours 21 mins

Week 11 2104 Recap

I am really itching to get out on the trails again, but there is still nearly two feet of snow in the woods around the house.  I'm ready to get off the roads.  My knee was pretty sore for the end of my run today, otherwise my body is feeling good.  I plan on increasing my pool workouts with a mixture of lap swimming and aqua jogging this week so that I don't over do it.

Summary of Week 11:
M    OFF
T     8.2 mile run Griffin Hill loop
W    6.9 mile run Pico Mtn Hill workout, snow (3,257')
Th   OFF
F     45 minute lap swimming
S     14.0 mile run Pond Hill Loop
S     22.0 mile run (1,841')

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    51.2 miles 
Total run elevation gain:    6,402 feet 
Total run time:                    7 hours 56 mins (8 hours 41 mins total)

Week 10 2014 Recap

Well this was supposed to be a down week and it was really treated as such.  I actually didn't run again until this past weekend and only got out for two cross training sessions (Swimming and Classic Skiing).  The 2 day snowstorm that dumping 20 inches of snow at the house and heading up a new faculty search interview at work certainly contributed to my lack of training time this week.  I feel like my body needed some recovery time anyways so I am not too concerned.  My calves now feel great and my right knee was feeling about 90% during today's 15.5 miler with Hillary.  This week I am back on the train!

Summary of Week 10:
M    OFF
T     Lap swimming
W    OFF
Th   XC Classic Skiing in deep snow
F     OFF
S     11.8 mile run in NH;  XC Classic Ski on Newfound Lake
S     15.5 mile run on pavement and hard packed snow on dirt roads

Weekly Totals:
Run distance:                    27.3 miles (33.6 miles total)
Total run elevation gain:    1,792 feet (1,838' total)
Total run time:                    3 hours 53 mins (6 hours 38 mins)

Irish meal of champions!