3rd Annual BPL Spring Run -Zion Training Thread

looks good Mike.
what length screws do you use so they are long enough to stay in but not so long that they poke your feet ?

do you ever have a problem with them staying in ?

Art- with these PI's I went w/ 3/8" because they seem a little thinner than past Montrails where I used 1/2" screws- the 1/2" screws in the Montrails stayed in really well- I wore more down than came out, I think I only lost a couple over two winters

we'll see on the 3/8" ones, their maiden voyage this evening went w/o a hitch

had a pretty good week- the highlight a 19 mile run yesterday w/ about 5700' of elevation- a little snow, a little ice, a little mud and even a little dry :)

strength/0/5.5/4.5/strength/19/4; 33 miles total

lost a couple of screws in my shoes (had to be on the long run), might have to try 1/2" screws- at least in the thicker portions in the rear

another pretty good week- highlight was a 17.5 mile run today w/ ~ 5000' of elevation gain; gorgeous November day, highs in the mid 40's- little sun, little clouds, little light rain

strength/5.5/6/0/strength/5.5/17.5; 34.5 miles total

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one training, am I? :)

You’re on your own Mike…..

I’ve been slacking on logging my weekly run totals! I’m still out there running with you in spirit Mike!

Ran a local trail 10K race yesterday morning in 43:57. I feel pretty good about that time considering 4 miles of the desert course consisted of gradual incline. I was 5th runner to the final turnaround with all the top 4 runners within 2 minutes. I foolishly stopped for a moment to down a cup of water from a helpful aid volunteer- that moment turned into 30 seconds when my legs turned to mush. I let 4 runners pass me in that time when I should have just pushed through it and held my position. I was able to regain and pass 2 of those 4 runners on the gentle downhill back to the finish for 7th overall. Wining times were a hair under 40mins. at 39:XX and some change, so my time wasn’t too far off the mark.

I had not “officially” run a 10K race until yesterday, so it was a good gauge on my current fitness, which isn’t horrible, but definitely needs some building! Had it been a flat road 10K I’m fairly confident that I would have run a sub-40 minute 10K. It’s on my list of things to shoot for this coming up year. I’m not sure where this falls into training for Zion, but it’s where I’m at right now.

Weekend after next is the Picacho Peak 50K Fat Ass Race, a small low key race we’re putting on in our area. I’ll have my course flagging responsibilities ahead of me over the next two weeks, so I’m sure I’ll get in some longer miles.

But a fad unmotivated. Did a 14 mile road run. Over the last few weeks I have concentrated on long runs, 13-20 miles once a week. Did a 32 mile trail run/hike three weeks ago. Getting good base fitness in, will have to get serious in upcoming weeks.

only doing about 15 miles a week right now, but should resume training in a week or two and slowly return to some real mileage.

Eugene- that's screaming fast! I'll occasionally run 8 minute miles when doing mile repeats, I don't think I'd ever be able to run 7 minute miles over any distance- well maybe one mile w/ a grizzly on my tail :)

Greg- I've read that a little road running can be beneficial; theory is that it "shocks" the body a little bit more vs trails-I have to run ~ 1/2 mile of roads (to and fro) to get to the trailheads around here so I get a little road work in

Art- I'm confident your base is solid :)

Mike

Much faster than me , Eugene.

I've been having tons of fun outdoor adventures but little in the way of actual running training.

I'm going to hold at 20 miles/week of easy stuff for another week, then start bumping things up.

I'm struggling. I'd like to believe I'm hard enough to surf most mornings before work AND run AND do my cross training AND weekend backpacking trips (on top of full time work and gardening and parenthood!)…
…but since surfing comes at dawn, I'm usually pretty spent by the time I'm home at 4:30…easy to blow off the running and other training.
Gonna start trying my best…..If I'm going to be maintaining the current amount of surfing I'm doing (which is a non-compromise at this point) and add in the distance running, I think I'm going to really have to get my sleep and diet cleaned up too (and ditch the beer).

I'm sure surfing could easily be counted as cross-training, add in a couple of shorter runs here and there and a long run on the weekend and you'll be GTG! :)

due to the time change, I've been running at night the last couple of weeks (except weekends), it's definitely a little tougher for me to get motivated vs running in the day- I am getting better at running at night though and we've got a full moon coming soon which will help

Ride it out Craig. I don't know your challenges and priorities, but know that we all have our own unique daily obstacles and hardships to overcome in this process. This isn't to diminish your individual struggle, but hopefully to encourage you in the knowledge that consistency isn't easy for anyone. I appreciate your honesty here, Craig. Let it be known, I envy your morning surf sessions.

Illuminated full moon runs out in the desert without a headlamp are hard to beat. Looking forward to Sunday evening.

I really enjoyed your TR from the other day Craig. I'll trade a run or two for a family backpacking trip for sure.

It's been raining a lot. I've been… not running much. 2-5 miles once or twice a week. That isn't going to get me anywhere. Transitioning jobs right now so schedule is crazy, but the move will be good in the long run. Experimenting with some non-slip footbed material for huaraches to help keep things less bananapeel-esque on the really muddy days.

hit rock bottom this week with a total of 13 miles.
(and I wasn't even surfing).
the slow road back begins today …

had a pretty good week, got in a tough 14 miler yesterday w/ ~ 4000' of elevation-it was a trail I hadn't run before, but definitely will again :)

strength/5.5/6/0/strength/14/4- total of 29.5 and just shy of 8000' of gain

Brrrr- been a little chilly here this week; my two mid week runs were in the dark and one night it was 6F- also took a heck of tumble and black & blued my elbow and shoulder- my fault as I usually bring two lamps (one on my head, the other on my waist) for better depth perception and picking up hazards. I was hoping that the full moon would make up for one lamp, which it might have had the clouds not rolled in-doh!

had a good long run yesterday, but cold, 7F to start about 20F when we were done

week looked like this: strength/7.5/4/0/strength/18/4.5= 34 miles w/ ~9000′ of elevation

log in the back makes me looking like I’m carrying a club :)

Training locations. I would love to have that vertical training ground in my back yard. I have two choices, runnable but flat or a rock scramble and hilly. I have been in a great routine over the last 8 weeks. Very consistent 13-20 mile relatively flat runs every weeks with one 32 mile AT run/fast rock scramble. Last week I also began my patented treadmill routines which I know will prepare me for the uphills. 4.5mph and increase the elevation by 1degree per minute up to 12 degrees, later more. I follow this with a speed workout going from 4.5-5.4 by .1mph increases every minute. This is all done walking, no running which is significantly harder for me.

My plan is to get a few 30+ mile days in over the winter and section hike some of the AT this spring doing 30-40 mile days. Don't know if I will get the same level of vertical that I did for the R2R2R two years ago, that was nice thing about living near the GA AT. There was plenty of vertical.

Greg- no complaints here (well except that weather thing :)

I'm pretty sure I'll be spending a fair amount of time on the treadmill due to weather, I was disappointed that my gym doesn't have an old fashioned step machine like they did in Miles City- that was a dandy of a machine!

Mike

You guys are bonafide badasses. Glad to hear you came out relatively unscathed from your recent tumble. Those temperatures are making the hair on my neck stand up. It would take some serious motivation to get me out the door in 7F temps for a run. How are you feeling after your long runs? You've been doing that 18 mile/9K vertical run regularly now. Sounds like your base is really solid.

Yesterday a few NM locals came together to run the Picacho Pk Fatass 50K, a low key free race my good friend Dan Carter put on in the Robledo Mtn range. We wrapped up course flagging this past week and dropped off a cache on the course for runners Friday night. It was pretty much a self supported affair, save for the small aid I setup at mile 10/18. Saturday morning we had a wintry mix which made the start unusually brisk for the motley crew of desert rats that showed up, all ten of us.

I havent been running much volume the last 6 weeks or so, a few good runs but no significant weekly long runs, so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel yesterday toeing the line for a 50K run. We headed out at 8am from the start area and I knew within the first mile that I was feeling pretty good and had a good chance for a decent run. Had a short rough patch at mile 18-20 with some cramping issues in my quads coming off one of two longer climbs, but was able to throttle my effort back and keep them at bay, enough to finish without feeling completely wrecked. Finished in 6:20 with a smile on my face and a beer in hand at the finish. I was stoked with the time considering the tough course Dan put together and the cold weather that kept us on our toes. The run was a good excuse to get a crew of people together to have fun and push each other and it was a great success.

I'm feeling more confident now that I'll be able to maintain my base through winter and be ready for more specific training starting in January, leading into April.

Anyone have running plans for Thanksgiving weekend?

Eugene- congrats- sounds like you did great! that 9000' is for the week, my 18-ish mile runs have been in the 4-5000' range which is still pretty decent. I'm a little sore after those long runs, but not terrible- good enough I've been getting a shorter run in the next day. the cold weather does take a little motivation to get out, especially in the dark, but once I get going it isn't too bad :)

I'm definitely running over Thanksgiving, but no races (they do have a 8k Turkey Trot I'll pass on). I'll be in MIssoula visiting my daughter, grandson and son-in-law, some very good running in Missoula- so at least one good long run in the mix.

How about you?

Mike

Enjoy Missoula!

No plans for the holiday weekend, probably ease back into a run. Feeling pretty sore today, more than Sunday for sure. I'm fundamentally opposed to running anything with the words turkey and trot as a descriptor, so I think I will just eat, drink, and be merry.

Everytime I go off the deepend and checkout of BPL-land for a while, I always regret it, and this is not exception. Look at all the good run-vibes I've been missing!! Time to plug back in and recharge the running batteries!

Looks like everybody is doing similar to how I'm doing. Some on-and-off weeks, some great weeks, but overall some good running motivation to share. I love it.

My summer was basically backpacking, with Craig and with family, Surfing, with Craign and with family, bbqing, van-tripping, etc with beer and running sprinkled in here and there. I must not have killed my fitness too much during all of this because already I'm feeling some real good energy coming back into the ol' getaway sticks. I'm also getting pumped about my night runs lately, running without lights has become more natural and now I'm like, getting a good high on some of these night runs. Yesterday, I capped the week off with a favorite, Baldy+ in the snow, which always gets the juices flowing big time. In between, I will be logging some bodyweight stuff that Ive been "enjoying". I call it Run to the park, climb tree branch mucho, mantle up wall mucho, burpees muchos, run over park bench some, run home, Lift heavy bag mucho.

5t/xtrain/5t/xtrain/10t
5t/xtrain/8t
8/xtrain/7t/xtrain/10t (Baldy!!)

The ocean has won again. I surfed for 8 days straight, took Sunday off, then surfed again today.
I think two 5Ks, one lap swimming session, and 3 cross training sessions got worked into that stretch.

I called Adan on Friday to see if he wanted to surf on Saturday. He reminded me that we just got our first snow and seemed a bit disappointed I wasn't thinking mountains. He went and got some snow. I surfed. Shows where my head's been.

But hey, this morning a juvenile whiteshark graced me by showing me its fin tip. It slowly swam by about 15 feet away, calm and cool as could be. Like a boss. I was riding a 9'6" longboard (small waves) and it was at least as long as my board. Four other surfers about 20 feet to my right saw it as well. We kept surfing. If it wanted to eat someone I figure it wouldn't have been so obvious to us.

Check out this link:
http://ktla.com/2013/11/20/possible-great-white-shark-caught-on-video-as-sightings-appear-on-rise/#axzz2li6mfGSr

This was filmed only a week ago on a GoPro at the exact spot I've been surfing every morning for the last week.

I'm fairly certain the shark I saw today was one of the same above; size was identical.

Don't count ol' Craig out of this Zion run though. I'll get it together one of these days.

Adan- glad to see you checking in! I know you guys have some serious vertical nearby (as well as a ocean!!), I wouldn't have believed it, but got to see it w/ my own eyes :)

Craig- that's very cool AND scary at the same time- kind of like seeing a grizzly in the backcountry

Glad to hear " most " of you have been doing some training.

I officially hit bottom 2 weeks ago with a 13 mile week, preceded by two 15 mile weeks. So last week I began the crawl back to fitness with 29 miles, this week will be similar, with a goal of 40 a week by New Years, then the real training.

In my defense this is my normal time of year for laying off the running, but I'm also trying to heal up a weird hip issue that seems to get aggravated by up hill power walking of all things. Plain old running, I am fine. Its not quite healed yet, so in my come back I'm temporarily avoiding training runs that are steep enough to require walking … we'll see what happens.

And in a true shoot the messenger sense, I'm wondering if its my Cascadias that are causing my biomechanics to be off and thus causing the hip issue. So, yes, I'm looking for a new pair of shoes … maybe the Pearl Izumi N2's ? Haven't tried them in a store yet though.

Craig, super bummed I missed the shark encounter. As you know, I'm kinda in the reverse situation. I wish I surfed weekly, but the mountain's pull is stronger, especially in winter. Anywho, in a shameless and selfish effort to pull you to the dark side, here are some pics from this weekend.