2016 Training Log : 8/15 - 8/21

Quality: 13 mile long run on Monday.

Trail: 6.5 mile race on Saturday at Hutton-Loyd Tree Farm. 26 miles at Red River Gorge on Sunday

Easy: 2 runs for 20 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  5 runs for 65 miles.

On Monday I went out for the second half of my back to back long run of 12 miles. It had been a while since I'd ran any mileage on the Legacy Trail so I opted to drive down there for the run. On the way to the trail, shortly after crossing some railroad tracks, my brake pedal went pretty soft. I pulled into the parking spot at the trail & felt a big pop in the brake pedal. Within an instant I had no brakes so had to jam the truck into park to get stopped. Pretty harrowing experience that could have been much worse. I then did what any runner would have done, I went for my run. Ended up doing a few miles on Legacy Trail then running back home. With a race on Saturday I skipped out on this weeks speed session & just did my runs at an easy pace.

On Saturday I drove up to the Hutton-Loyd Tree Farm in the northeastern part of the state for the Hot Hot Hundred 10k. I was fortunate to get in on a deal to run this race for a whole dollar. The event combines a 10k race & a 100k relay along trails around the farm. Beautiful course with some amazing views along the way & some seriously challenging hills! I'll leave the full details to the upcoming race review but needless to say I'm going to try to find a way to get this on my calendar for next year, maybe as part of a relay team.

Sunday's scheduled run is one I've been looking forward too ever since I put this training plan on paper. With a 50k on the calendar I could think of no better route than the one used for the Rough Trail Ultramarathon last year. Having packed everything needed for the outing Saturday night I woke up early so I could be on the trail at first light. It wasn't until about 20 minutes down the road that I realized I'd forgotten one very important item, my trail shoes! A quick 40 minute detour & I finally had everything needed. Once I arrived at RRG I swung by the Gray's Arch parking area to hide a gallon of water. I run by here twice on the route, once at 5.5 miles & again at 16, planning to fill up on water at the halfway point.

By 8am I was finally able to get going, starting from the parking lot of Koomer Ridge Campground. The first 6 miles links up the Koomer Ridge, Hidden Arch, Buck & Pinch-Em-Tight trails. This stretch is mostly flat with only one significant climb on Buck Trail. Upon arriving at Gray's Arch parking area the next 3 miles offer a chance to stretch the legs out as it is along Tunnel Ridge Rd.

After cruising down the gravel road the next 3 miles cover Auxier Ridge & Double Arch trails. Offering some absolutely stunning views & only the second significant climb of the run. Another 4 miles of gravel & I was back to Gray's for a fill up of fluids. This was my first outing with my Hydrapak 2L bladder & I've gotta say I love this thing. I still had fluid left after the first 16 so was certain a full bladder would last me the next 16 easily.

From here I went out Boone Hut & Rough to KY 77 & then back to the Rough/Gray's intersection. The climb from Boone/Rough to Grey/Rough is crazy steep & goes on forever. Really works the quads. This is just the beginning of the ascents as the route really back loads the climbing. The next 6 miles will have three more climbs.

Around the intersection of Rough/Rush Ridge I started developing a cramp in my left quad. I thought I'd been getting enough to drink but a quick pee stop told me that wasn't the case. I was at the orange juice level of dehydration, not a good place to be. I started trying to play catch up on fluids & starting feeling a bit better a couple of miles down trail. The downside was I'd drained most of my water. I made the call to cut the run short & remove the rough to Sky Bridge Rd out & back section.

On the last climb up Koomer Ridge I went for a drink & found my pack to be empty. This was about 2 miles from the campground & the cramps had returned in both legs. I had to death march the last 2 miles back to the car. The cramps & dehydration were just too much to allow much if any running.

All in all a great day out in the RRG with 26 miles & 4500ft of gain. From a gear check standpoint everything mostly worked great. I was able to stomach my homemade gels, the combo of my HF bladder/UD pack worked out & the Magellan/Glo/iPhone combo provided a reliable track. Some things didn't work out well. My Injinji trail socks don't seem to dry very well after a water crossing, basically remaining soaked the entire time. I might have to look at a lighter weight sock in the future, at least during the warmer months. I also need to find a way to either stash more water or carry more. Some salt tabs are on my list of items I should always have on me.

Just a taste of the views

2016 Training Log : 8/8 - 8/14

Quality: 18 mile long run on Monday. 4x3200 at the track on Wednesday. 16 mile long run on Sunday.

Trail: N/A

Easy: 2 runs for 17 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  5 runs for 64 miles.

I've actually started looking forward to the Monday morning long run lately. It's definitely a struggle to get the legs moving after almost running a marathon the day prior. It's definitely one of the hardest things I've done in training. I remember before I started training for an ultra distance thinking the back to backs wouldn't be that tough. The mental part of it may, in fact, be tougher than the physical. On Sunday during the first leg it's always on your mind that tomorrow morning you have to get up early & do another long run.

Another great speed session on Wednesday. Workout consisted of a 2.5 mile warm up, 3/3200 w/ 800 recovery & a 2.25 mile cool own. Did really well to come in ahead of my 13:20 goal on 2/3 intervals. I'm going to miss my track sessions in the coming weeks as I'm getting into the thick of my race schedule. With the Hot Hot Hundred 10k on the 20th & the Finley 5k on the 27th I won't be doing speed work on Wednesday. Instead the races will count as my speed work.

Used my Friday run to do a bit of exploring. They're getting really close to finishing an extension to the Legacy Trail up to the Scott Co. line. I wanted to see where it ended & if it was feasible to get there from my house. This would require about half a mile on Lisle Rd, which has no shoulder. Very sketchy! I wasn't able to find an easy way to the extension & ended up just running through the horse park & making a loop of it. Not a run I plan to duplicate. Hopefully they finish the extension to Georgetown College soon & I'll have a traffic free path all the way to Lexington.

Sunday's long run was "just" a 16 miler. A phrase I wouldn't have uttered prior to this training block. When a good chunk of your long runs start approaching a marathon in distance you start to think of anything under 20 as just another run. I don't know if that's a good thing or kind of scary. I was again strapped for time having a family reunion to get to so this run happened on the road. Going to take it easy next week leading up to my race on Saturday & my 50k training run on Sunday. Should be a fun weekend!

2016 Training Log : 8/1 - 8/7

Quality: 24 mile long run on Sunday. 4x2400 at the track on Wednesday.

Trail: N/A

Easy: 2 runs for 22 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  4 runs for 59 miles.

Decided to sleep in a bit Monday morning & put off the second half of my back to back until lunchtime. I do this every so often to remind myself why getting up at 4:45 is a good idea. Miserably hot outside. The upside is I got to try out a new route. Most of my 12 mile runs from the house are out & backs. This new route allows for a bit of a lollipop which helps keep things interesting.

Wednesday saw a return to the track. Workout consisted of a 2 mile warmup, 4x2400 w/ 800 recovery & a 2.25 mile cool down. I was able to hit my target of 10:00 per interval pretty easily. Being able to hit my splits after the brutal back to backs really builds my confidence going into the fall. I definitely feel stronger & the pace is starting to feel easy.

On Sunday I was strapped for time so opted to bang out my long run on the roads. With 22 scheduled I decided to lengthen it to 24 due to running on the road being easier & faster. Around 13 miles into my run the app I use totally crapped out & reset itself to 11.5 miles, luckily this kind of thing rarely happens. This left me having to do math the rest of my run to figure out how far I'd ran as I wasn't 100% sure how much distance it had cut off. I figured it to be at least 1 mile so I shot for getting home around 23 miles by the watch. Review of the run shows that it had chopped off 1.5 miles putting me at 24.5 for the day.

All in all a solid week. I ended up not running at all on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. I've got to get better with motivation for the "junk" miles. Maybe I can get the eldest back into running as running with her definitely helps get me out the door.

2016 Training Log : 7/25 - 7/31

Quality: 16 mile long run on Monday. 6x1600 at the track on Wednesday.

Trail: 19 miles at Capitol View Park on Sunday.

Easy: 4 runs for 35 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  6 runs for 70 miles.

Started the week off with an early rise to get my long run in. As noted last week I ended up having to cut it short on Sunday so just flipped the two days. I really enjoy these early morning runs but can only seem to get the motivation to do them when the mileage is high. Ended up taking Tuesday off as I've been want to do lately. I now understand why the plan I'm following has days off following the back to back long runs.

Wednesday saw a return to the track for the beginning of the strength sessions. I'm basically mixing the Hanson & Relentless Forward Progress plans. Doing the speed/strength from Hanson & the mileage from RFP. For this session I did a 3 mile warmup, 6x1600 in 6:40 w/ 400 recovery & a 1.5 mile cooldown. Had another guy on the track during most of the workout, which brought the added difficulty of passing someone during each interval. Still happy to have been under for each segment.

With Thursday being another day off I rolled into Friday & Saturday for just two easy runs. If I followed the layout of the plan then Thursday would be a 6 miler with Tuesday & Saturday off. So my slight modification is I get the 6 in during those easier days by just playing it by feel. I actually kind of like the freedom of this method.

Sunday morning I ventured out to Capitol View Park for a scheduled 24 miler. Usually I do three 8 mile loops, allowing for a water refill & general maintenance at evenly spaced intervals. Unfortunately this weekend someone was parked in my normal place so I relocated to the library, a section I normally skip for the 8 mile loops. With it feeling a bit cooler outside I went for the full loop on my first segment which put me back to the car after 10 miles. During the first loop it warmed up pretty quickly. With my feet already squishing I decided to try ringing out my socks/shirt & using the towel to dry out the inside of my shoesduring my stop. This actually had a pretty positive effect on my feet. I'm definitely going to pack some dry socks for the 100k.

After my second loop I got about half a mile from the car when my wife texted me asking where the car seat was. Big oops on my part. I turned around & booked it to the car. After a 30 minute drive home I changed into some dry clothes & finished the rest of my mileage for the day. My legs had already cooled off, starting to stiffen up, which made for an interesting first mile. Was definitely an odd feeling to be so tired in places where I'm normally just getting started.