Training thread. Goals, updates, questions, etc.

Good job Kat, 9 miles is getting up there, and especially good if it still felt fun.

When I was first getting into distance running I remember 9 miles being somewhat of a milestone distance, long enough to start feeling like I was really covering some ground and opening up some real possibilities in the mountains.

Thanks  BJ and Craig :)

I ran 2 miles four days last week. On Friday I fell on gravel and bruised my hand ( plus a bit o’blood on knee). Yesterday had that great run, followed by a shower/ hot tub in the woods/ shower all at the resort where I later gave my wildlife presentation to a full house. A very good day on so many levels. Today I am just a little sore but a good sore .

This week has been wild.  A few days I just did kettlebell workouts.

Wednesday I did another 3 hour canyoneering run.  It’s always a good workout that usually entails very steep approaches followed by lots of hiking on wet, slippery and uneven/rough terrain.  This particular canyon has upwards of 400′ of rappelling spread among 6 or 7 drops including two 100’+.  It always feels easy enough while I’m doing it, but I always realize it’s more strenuous than I think when I get home and feel tired.

This weekend I had a brutal training hike, definitely one for the books, likely harder than the Grand Canyon R2R2R in a day on many levels.  The R2R2R is long and has substantial elevation, but it’s just a trail- no particular obstacles to deal with save some hiking in snow/weather.

This hike ended up being ~37 miles, ~6500′ gain, 25# pack, 14.5 hours pretty much nonstop.  What made it killer were the conditions, namely huge canyon stretches with nonstop blowdowns which get incredibly exhausting when you’ve got a pack on.  Falling, stumbling, ripping pants, etc.  Add in wet feet and constant stream crossings and I had slightly macerated/painful feet at the end.  Got a bit dehydrated out of simple laziness.  Got lost in a side canyon and added 5 miles to correct.  And I had a swarm of gnats hovering around my head the entire trip, inhaling and choking on them constantly.  It was definitely a test and quickly went into solid Type 2 Fun territory.

But overall I recovered very well and I have almost zero muscle soreness.  All of my post-hike problems stem from simply getting re-hydrated and foot maceration issues.  But those can be solved so I consider it a victory on the conditioning level.

Going out for a 5 mile hike to loosen up the legs this evening.

What’s difficult is finding time for this amount of training.  I’ll have put in nearly 20 hours on the trail this week.  In addition to family, a full time job and commuting, and working on a Master’s Degree, I’m getting stretched pretty thin.  Even took my daughter to her first punk show last Thursday night.  Not quite sure how I’m keeping it together…but my family still loves me and I haven’t had a breakdown…yet :)

That’s a beast of a week there Craig. Wow.

You have a full plate no doubt about it. I am very busy as well….I figure if I just keep up the 4 days a week as a base, which is doable long term, then I am already ahead of the game and any longer runs on the weekend are a wonderful bonus.

Kat- 9 miles- nice!

This hike ended up being ~37 miles, ~6500′ gain, 25# pack, 14.5 hours pretty much nonstop.  What made it killer were the conditions, namely huge canyon stretches with nonstop blowdowns which get incredibly exhausting when you’ve got a pack on.  Falling, stumbling, ripping pants, etc.  Add in wet feet and constant stream crossings and I had slightly macerated/painful feet at the end.  Got a bit dehydrated out of simple laziness.  Got lost in a side canyon and added 5 miles to correct. 

Craig- that sounds quite a bit like the Bob!  appears you’re good to go :)

I had a pretty good week: strength training Mon and Friday, ran 5-ish on the trails Tues- Thurs.  Yesterday I headed into the Elkhorns snowshoeing and an overnighter.  About 3-4 four miles in I got into some really bad snow- sinking up to my knees (this is with 30″ snowshoes!).  I kept thinking it will get better, it didn’t.  I was shooting for a certain meadow about 7-ish miles in and barely made it.  I took off this morning to finish the loop and almost immediately got into the same snow and thought I’m really screwed as I don’t think I could go too far in that stuff.  Luckily it was short lived and the rest of the loop went pretty well.

“with a mostly unfavorable strong wind”

That’s what we used to call a “character builder”  ;0))

I had a pretty decent week; strength trained Monday and Friday- the usual 3×5 squat/bench/deadlift along w/ pullups, dips (now weighted) and core

Tuesday- 6.5 miles on the trails

Wed- 5.5 miles on the trails

Thurs- Hill repeats- ~ 1000′ gain in a mile X 2

Sat- 18 miles on the trails- longest run of 2017 thus far, legs were pretty dead at the end, but surprisingly not as sore as I thought I would be

Sun 7.5 miles on the trails

40 miles and 10,000′ of gain- I’ll take those kind of weeks :)

“Sat- 18 miles on the trails- longest run of 2017 thus far, legs were pretty dead at the end, but surprisingly not as sore as I thought I would be.

Sun 7.5 miles on the trails”

These are the key metrics.  If you can do these two back to back, you are right about where you need to be at this point in the run up to The Bob.   Now it’s a matter of increasing the length of both days until you approach Bob length days.  The other thing to keep in the back of your mind, and you probably already know this, but I’m going to say it anyway just in case:  Don’t get so focused on increasing the volume of your training that you either break something or over train and go flat.  That has been the downfall of many a gifted athlete.

I think you’re just about spot on Tom; my goal is to increase that second day run until I’ve hit back to back 18-20 mile runs

I was a little surprised (pleasantly :)) that I wasn’t more sore after that long run- training must be coming along

In a perfect world I’d have a couple of back to back 30-ish mile hikes; I do hope to get some long day hikes in before hand, but likely nothing close to back to back 30’s

This week was maintenance  for me. Lots of physical work though.  No running  this weekend as work has built up and I just had too much to do.

Monday I did my usual two miles. Tuesday I think is when my run from the previous Saturday caught up with me and I just could not muster the (mental?) energy to go out and run. Wednesday and Thursday I ran faster and stronger than my usual; I need to do that more…get off that maintenance / saving my energy  thing and trust that I can give it more since it’s just a wee two miles anyway. Friday is when I decided to go off on another trail I was not familiar with and ended up adding just short of a mile to my run. That spontaneity of  taking a different turn in the woods and seeing where it goes was nice. I knew I would not get really lost but I also did not know where exactly I would end up.

Diet has been good, not perfect, but something I can live with. Scale is not working, oh well, maybe needs new batteries. I think my weight stayed the same which is fine. I would like to lose a few more pounds of fat but also make more muscle and that will be better if not rushed.

My phone pacer app is fun to see how far I walk and run. It is pretty entertaining how it nudges me on a day I don’t run or walk a lot, mostly the weekends: it just tells me how incredibly well I did the day before ;) Then at the end of the week it checks how I did compared to the goal ( it decided for me) of 10 thousand steps a day. It congratulates me that I “smashed” my goal and then next  it goes in the default message : ” oh well, let’s not dwell on the past. There is a new week ahead so let’s stay positive”. That one cracks me up :)

“In a perfect world I’d have a couple of back to back 30-ish mile hikes; I do hope to get some long day hikes in before hand, but likely nothing close to back to back 30’s”

When you get into endurance distance events, almost nobody trains the full distance.  It’s just too hard on the body.  You save that for “race day”.  In the case of a marathon, people typically max their distance training at 20-22 miles.  In your case, where your event day mileage will be in the neighborhood of 30 miles/day, back to back 20 somethings should prepare you without putting you in danger of breaking yourself down.  My 2 cents as a graduate of the school of hard knocks.  ;0)

Listen to Tom!!  +1

From today’s NY Times….

The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
MARCH 23, 2017

….Among the younger subjects who went through interval training, the activity levels had changed in 274 genes, compared with 170 genes for those who exercised more moderately and 74 for the weight lifters. Among the older cohort, almost 400 genes were working differently now, compared with 33 for the weight lifters and only 19 for the moderate exercisers….

On interval training….

Does 1-Minute Interval Training Work? We Ask The Guy Who Tested It
NPR
February 7, 2017

The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter
By Martin Gibala, Christopher Shulgan
2017

(my bolding)

another decent week in the books

Mon- strength training- 3×5 routine w/ weights

Tues- 5 miles on the trails w/ some strides thrown in

Wed- 6.5 miles on the trails

Thurs- 4.5 miles on the trails

Fri- strength training- 20 sets of 20 pushups, 20 situps, 5 pullups- this kicked my butt pretty good, my triceps are still sore today!

Sat & Sun- back to back 12 mile runs in the mountains- my legs are nice and fatigued :)

another 40 mile week and just shy of 10,000′ of gain- I’ll take it

Week before last was a challenge for me and I only ran one day. This week was better and I ran 3 days. I hope to go on a longer run tomorrow if I get caught up on sewing.

On Thursday I aired up the tires of my beloved but long neglected mountain bike, my Santa Cruz Tazmon, which I keep in my shop, at work. I loaned it to my student worker for a couple of hours. When it came back I went for a little ride and I was reminded of how much fun I have had on this bike through  the years. I might just make it a habit again :) . Long ago I used to ride it 17 miles to work at 5 am, ride back to college for classes and then up the hills for a couple of hours, down to the ocean for a cold swim and then back home to study. I really had my $hit together ;)

probably getting close to getting my bike ready to go- it’s only a 5-ish mile ride to work, but saves on gas/wear&tear on the truck

happy to report another pretty good week

Mon-strength train w/ weights

Tues-5.5 miles on the trail

Wed-7.5 miles on the trail

Thurs 5.5 miles on the trail

Friday- short bodyweight workout

Sat-16 mile out and back in the Rattlesnake Wilderness, 14 miles on snowshoes- more snow than I thought would be there

Sun- 5.5 miles on the trail

another 40-ish mile week w/ about 10,000′ of gain

nm

saw your post in my email :)

good question on the name, I’m not aware of any rattlesnake sightings in that area (that goes back to the mid 70’s anyways)

but found this:

There are at least two stories about how Rattlesnake Creek got its name. According to one account, a man bitten by a rattlesnake died in the 1800s while gathering firewoood along the creek. Another version suggests the namecame from the Salish word,“Kehi-oo-le,” whichmeans rattlesnake. 

put in a pretty good week

Mon-weight training

Tues-7.5 miles on the trails

Wed-5 miles of very tough hill repeats

Thurs- 5.5 miles on the trails

Fri- weight training

Sat- bag Casey Peak, some tough snowshoeing getting there, ~ 12 miles ~ 4000′ of gain

Sun-5.5 miles on the trails

about 35 miles for the week- a little less than the last couple of previous weeks, but the hill repeats and snowshoe trip were both extra tough

It was a good week for me as well. I ran Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and then I biked a good 10 miles on Wednesday. Also had a 6 mile run on Sunday :)

Nice! :)

Good to hear you’re both having consistent weeks.  I still haven’t had a chance to touch snow yet.  It’s pretty much already summer here; I’m more worried about sun protection than anything else weather-wise now.

Last week was light for me, nursing a sinus infection brought on by allergies.  Surfed a lot, ran twice (only 5K trail each time), and backpacked once, totaling only ~12 miles.

Week before that was decent though, managed 21 miles of running and a ~22 mile hike (was supposed to be a longer backpack but I cut it short because sinuses were coming on).

Still swinging kettlebells pretty regularly though, I’m having fun with them.  My lower back and core are in much better shape after over a month of this routine.  I’m finding them great for functional strength and I like the dynamic nature of most of the moves you do with them.

Feeling better this week and back to running.  Headed out for 4 mountian bike/ 5 run this evening.

Craig- glad you’re feeling better!

Saw some guys at the gym last week doing some figure eights with kettlebells- wild looking! :)

Mike

I must say all of you (especially Katharina) sharing your hard work has kept me motivated to overcome a couple of serious injuries that took me off the AT this last year. (A sprained MCL in my left knee and an intramuscular rupture of a quadricep head in my right leg.) I have built up since the fall to averaging about 8 miles a day running and hiking on top of the rehab work on my legs. Thursday I head for Grayson Highlands to take up where I left off.  Hopefully I can stay healthy this year. I hope all of you find that your hard work pays off in your adventures this year.

Katharina: the cycling is a great addition to your running, especially if you enjoy it. Aside from increasing leg strength, its effect on cardiovascular conditioning with low skeletal impact can’t be beat.

a pretty good week for me, mileage was cut back a little as I visited my oldest daughter and grandkids over the weekend

Mon- weight training

Tues- 7.5 miles on the trails

Wed- 7.5 miles on the trails

Thurs- 7 miles on the trails

Friday- weight training

Sat- 2 mile hike with the grandkids!! :)

Sun 12 miles on the trails- this an out & back with four tough climbs, I’ve run it over 30 times in the last 3 years, broke my fastest time today by two minutes- sweet!

36 miles total, about 7500′ of gain

looking at the possibility of trading in my mtn bike for a cyclocross bike, we’ll see