2016 Training Log : 11/14 - 12/4

11/14 - 11/20: N/A.

11/21 - 11/27: 5 runs for 31 miles.

11/28 - 12/4: 7 runs for 49 miles.

I've been slacking in the blogging department lately, so decided to do just one catch up blog post. Considering a lot of the time since the race was spent not running & most of the runs were uneventful there really wasn't a lot to write about.

I decided to take the week following the race off & let everything reset. This coincided with a work trip that took me to Seattle & Dallas before returning home. For the first time in a long time I didn't pack anything running related for my trip & it was oddly refreshing. My week off turned into 11 days off.

I've picked the Big Turtle 50 as my spring race, put on by the same fine folks that did the Rough Trail 50k. With a very manageable elevation gain this will be a perfect first 50 miler & great prep for my fall 100 miler, the No Business 100. I'm going to be using the plans out of Relentless Forward Progress again for the 50 miler.

On Wednesday 11/23 I got back at it, jumping right into week one of the RFP plan. This time I'm going to be able to do the full 24 weeks & plan to do a good bit more trail running. I found over my last training cycle I just didn't do enough trail running & instead opted for the road. A lot of this has to do with the drive time involved in getting to/from the trail head.

I also got to try out the new section of Legacy Trail, 2 more miles which ends rather abruptly!

2016 Training Log : 11/7 - 11/13

Quality: Rough Trail Ultramarathon 50k

Trail: N/A

Easy: 3 runs for 10 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  4 runs for 41 miles.

I really enjoy the week leading up to a big race. Scheduled runs are pretty short giving the body & mind the rest it needs while still keeping everything fresh. Unfortunately my eldest did something to her arm resulting in joint pain & numbness. This had us in & out of doctor offices throughout the week which led to a few missed runs.

On Friday, the day before the race, we were able to get her in to see a sports medicine specialist. Getting home around 2100 caused me to scrap the idea of camping the night before the race, I'm not a big fan of setting up camp in the dark & figured I'd get more sleep if I just got up early on Saturday. This worked out surprisingly well. The drive in allowed me to get fully woke up & a quick stop at the rest area allowed me to use a real toilet before the race. Something to consider for the future.

I'll leave the majority of details concerning race day to the race report. In summary I came in 12th place overall with a time of 6:29:41!

2016 Training Log : 10/31 - 11/6

Quality: N/A 

Trail: 1 run for 10 miles.

Easy: 6 runs for 31 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  7 runs for 41 miles.

First week of my taper for the Rough 50k on 11/12 & I can definitely feel the extra spring in my step. The only downside to tapering is I start getting too fidgety & think now would be a good time to go after some Strava CRs along my normal routes. It takes a good bit of restraint to keep from doing this since a taper is all about resting. That said, I still went for the CR on one of the hills close to home. Unfortunately I forgot which hill it was & ended up going all out for two hills. The second one being the segment I was chasing. I ended up missing the CR by just 1 second so I'll have to rectify that after my race, it's all about the little things in life.

Sunday's run was another in the series of group trail runs being put on by John's Run Walk Shop. This week we visited SkullBuster which if you keep up with this blog you'll recognize it as one of my favorite trails. We ended up with a pretty large group of people with almost everyone being new to the trail. I ended up using two cut throughs on the Orange loop to make my run the 10 miles as scheduled. After the run I heard lots of praise from the group on the quality of this little hidden gem. Hopefully that brings a little more traffic & keeps it from being so overgrown in the spring. Would also be nice to have a few more cobweb sweepers out there.

The crew headed out!

2016 Training Log : 10/24 - 10/30

Quality: N/A 

Trail: 3 runs for 43 miles.

Easy: 4 runs for 21 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  7 runs for 64 miles.

Last week of training before I start my taper for the Rough 50k & it couldn't have gone much better. I made it out to SkullBuster on Monday for a 13 mile Blue & Orange loop run. This was my first trail run with the new phone & some bluetooth issues were causing it to flip between the Glo & the iPhone GPS. This resulted in a GPS track that was likely a bit long. I returned to SkullBuster on Wednesday for an 11 mile run just using Blue as a connector up to a full Orange loop.

John's Run Walk Shop has started up a group trail run recently & this week I was finally able to join up with them. We met down in Red River Gorge for a run from Whittleton Campground. We went up Sheltowee to Tunnel Ridge Road where we ran out & did the Auxier Ridge loop. We then returned back the way we came with an addition of Daniel Boone Hut back up to Grey's Arch parking lot loop which offered a great preview of one of the nastier climbs along the Rough course. I was also able to do a quick out & back to see Whittleton Arch. Ended up with 18.5 miles & 2600ft of elevation gain on the day. These group trail runs are amazing & I hope they're here to stay. I'm mostly a solitary runner but really enjoyed the companionship of running with others. These runs are also a great way to learn a new trail.

The group with yours truly in the center

2016 Training Log : 10/17 - 10/23

Quality: 18 mile long run on Sunday at Legacy Trail

Trail: 3 runs for 25 miles.

Easy: 1 run for 4 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  5 runs for 47 miles.

If the rest of the year could have a theme song it'd be "On the Road Again". This week saw me in Denver, CO for work. This is one of the few areas of the country I'd consider relocating to, just driving up to the mountains gets my heart pumping. Pictures just don't do the landscape justice, it is truly one of those places you just have to experience first hand.

This was my first extended stay within the Denver city limits as most of my trips to CO have been to the Boulder area. Luckily a hotel clerk was able to point me in the right direction. For my Monday adventure I went down to Red Rocks Park & got in a solid 9 miles of running with about 1800ft of elevation gain. Because of a few missed turns I ended up skipping a few points of interest along the route so Wednesday brought me back to the same place. This time I ran the route in reverse, which was much more enjoyable. This route ended up at 8 miles, also with about 1800ft of gain.

Fortunately we were able to finish work early & my coworker really wanted to get out into the mountains. Since we had the entirety of Thursday to enjoy ourselves I suggested we drive up to Boulder & tag a peak or two. I gave him the choice of South Boulder with an optional saddle hike to Bear to get in two peaks or hit Green he decided on the hike up Green. Our route took us on a 7.5 mile hike with about 2500ft of gain.

The rest of the week was pretty boring when compared to my three epic outings in CO. I can understand why so many people are moving to this area. There is enough outdoor activities to last someone a lifetime & I take every chance I get to visit.

Red Rocks Park was breathtaking!

Obligatory Green Mtn pic

2016 Training Log : 10/10 - 10/16

Quality: 12 mile long run on Sunday.

Trail: N/A

Easy: 6 runs for 28 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  7 runs for 40 miles.

This week brought on a mid week trip to NE Mississippi for work. When I'm on these trips solo I usually have no problem getting in my normal volume. When I travel with others, however, I'm always cutting runs short so they're not waiting on me. It always becomes a stressful thing that I don't enjoy very much. A lot of this stress would be alleviated if my lazy butt would get up early to knock these runs out.

I did luck out in finding a park very close to the hotel that had some offroad trails along with the paved variety. I ended up doing all of my runs here with my only complaint being that there wasn't more to it. Each "loop" was only about 3 miles long, but it sure beat banging the miles out on a treadmill. I'm going to have to figure out a solution for travelling as I don't have any solo trips coming up soon.

With my long run on Sunday I actually hit a 20 day run streak. I've toyed with streaking off & on with my longest being 251 days. During that streak was probably the best shape I've been in so I've thought about bringing the streak back. There will be a lot of starts to it before it sticks, especially with my busy travel schedule coming up. Hopefully once the streak gets going it will make it easier to get motivated for the shorter easy days. The only reason the last streak got broken was from a car accident on the way to run. I still wanted to put in at least a mile but I'm pretty sure that would have resulted in a divorce.

Next week brings a trip to Denver, CO. I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to get up into the mountains. One of the few places I'd live outside of Kentucky.

2016 Training Log : 10/3 - 10/9

Quality: 10 mile long run on Sunday at Legacy Trail.

Trail: N/A

Easy: 6 runs for 17 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  7 runs for 27 miles.

Disney vacations are usually where training plans go out the window. Usually there just isn't enough time to get in any kind of run & with the amount of walking it might even be detrimental. In the past I've always tried to maintain a normal volume, with some super early wake ups. This always had me leaving the vacation wishing for another one immediately after. This time I decided to just run whatever I felt like & had time for.

This resulted in mostly 2 & 3 mile runs in the mornings before heading to the park. Thankfully I was able to get out every day, even if it was just for 20 minutes. I figured the extra 4-6 miles of walking each day would more than make up for any loss of volume.

We ended up leaving a day early due to the hurricane & drove the ~14 hours straight back home. Even after being in a car that long & getting home at 4am I was able to wake up the next day & get in a 3 mile effort. Sunday saw a slight return to normal with a 10 mile long run at Legacy Trail. Unfortunately my travel schedule only picks up from here on out so running with any kind of consistency is going to be a challenge.

2016 Training Log : 9/26 - 10/2

Quality: N/A

Trail: N/A

Easy: 7 runs for 23 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  7 runs for 23 miles.

The original intent for this week was to just take the whole week off to recover from the 100k before going into a short ramp up for the Rough 50k. Due to my failed attempt at the 100k distance, only making it ~64km, I decided to just go with a reverse taper of sorts. Nothing extreme just a bunch of 2, 3 & 4 mile runs.

My legs were definitely screaming at me for the first part of the week but seemed to quiet down by the end. Hopefully this sped up the recovery process instead of hindering it. With a trip to Disney next week, which entails a ton of walking, I plan to keep the running easy & just do what I feel like each morning.

2016 Training Log : 9/19 - 9/25

Quality: N/A

Trail: 40 miles at Great Seal St Park on Saturday

Easy: 4 runs for 14 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  5 runs for 54 miles.

Race week! While I enjoy racing, I absolutely hate the week before a big race. All that free time I get back from running such reduced mileage is consumed by getting ready for the race. A lot of time was spent packing for the trip. With my wife & some friends joining me it meant an even greater amount of stuff was needed. Luckily we got everything together & made it to the campground right on time.

As far as running goes, I hit all of my scheduled runs with the exception of Tuesday. Taper's always drive me a bit mad. I start overthinking everything when I should just be enjoying the reduced mileage. On Saturday I attempted the Not Yo Momma's 100k up at Great Seal State Park in Chillicothe, OH. While you'll have to read the upcoming race report to get the full details of the event the short of it is a hot day, combined with getting behind on nutrition & hydration, led to my first ever DNF at the 40 mile mark. I learned a ton of things from the day & will be making some adjustments going forward. Next week will start a reverse taper & the search for my next ultra is on! I'll be looking for something in the Spring around 100k & still determined to try my first 100 miler next fall.

2016 Training Log : 9/12 - 9/18

Quality: N/A

Trail: N/A

Easy: 4 runs for 24 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  4 runs for 24 miles.

First week of my taper & also a travel week for work. With the travel I was lucky to get the mileage I got. I struggle to find a time to run on travel days as I'm usually up super early to get to the airport & then I spend the majority of the day just getting where I'm going. By the time I get there I'm too cooked to even think about going for a run.

Two of the four runs I did get in this week were on the treadmill at the hotel. While I'm not normally a treadmill guy I found these runs to be interesting. They allowed me to test out the treadmill mode on iSmoothRun. I was pleasantly surprised to find, as long as I kept the pace close to my road pace, that iSmoothRun & the treadmill agreed almost perfectly. Another neat feature was my heart-rate monitor automatically synced up with the treadmill. Some exciting tech going on for all of that to work out. While I kept the pace pretty consistent I varied the elevation on the treadmill to keep my heart rate up. This definitely helped with the boredom aspect.

One more week  of easy running coming up then Not Yo Momma's 100K on Saturday!

2016 Training Log : 9/05 - 9/11

Quality: 18 mile long run on Monday.

Trail: 13.1 mile Race at RRG

Easy: 2 runs for 17 miles

Cycling: N/A

Total:  4 runs for 48 miles.

With Monday being a holiday I slept in a bit opting for a lunchtime run. If you follow this blog any at all you probably have heard this story before. Basically it got wicked hot & I ran out of water resulting in a brutal final two miles. Cursing myself as I got to the house, promising to never get up late for a big run again. This was the second half of my 20/18 back to back & the conclusion of my last big effort before Not Yo Momma's.

I spent the rest of the week just taking it easy with only 2 runs. I needed to be semi-recovered by Saturday for The Rugged Red trail half-marathon. While not a race I'd planned on going all out at, I still didn't want to just jog it in. Friday's easy run left me feeling like I was going into Saturday still a bit over cooked.

The Rugged Red is an interesting event. With a 1 hour shuttle to the race start & then a 1 hour shuttle back to the parking area you spend almost as much time getting to/from the race as you do running it. Even with this seemingly negative it is still a must run race. The course is absolutely beautiful! I ended up coming in 19th overall in almost the exact same time as last year, only this time I came into the finish feeling like I could keep going for much further. It was actually very reassuring with Not Yo Momma's just two weeks out. Race report up soon detailing the adventure!

2016 Training Log : 8/29 - 9/4

Quality: 20 mile long run on Sunday.

Trail: 8 miles at CVP on Monday.

Easy: 3 runs for 27 miles.

Cycling: 2 rides for 12 miles.

Total:  5 runs & 2 rides for 67 miles.

After having to cut my run short on Sunday I planned to just do a swap of distance with Monday, shooting for 16 again. With it being a day off & still pretty tired from the day before I slept in once again. You'd think I would learn my lesson about sleeping in on big days during the Summer. I headed out to CVP intent on doing two 8 mile loops. After the first loop I was cooked & decided to just head on home. At this point I'm positive my problems with finishing runs is the heat. The only effort that is seemingly sustainable when it is this hot out is walking & I'm not even sure about that.

With a break in the weather on Friday I went for a ride/run/ride adventure. I really enjoy these but am pretty fair weather when it comes to doing them. Maybe once the Legacy Trail extension finishes up I'll do more of them. It is supposed to come through very close to my house. This would allow me to do some early morning rides before the heat kicks in & not have to worry about getting ran over.

Sunday was scheduled to be a 25 mile effort but with a family reunion that day & a race coming up on Saturday I decided to change the 25/12 into a 20/18. This should still get me in one last big effort before the taper but allow me to recover more quickly going into the Rugged Red. Was able to get out early & beat the heat, it was actually a chilly 55 degrees out for the start. Signs that fall is just around the corner! Not Yo Momma's is coming up quickly & I'm already starting to feel the butterflies of excitement.

2016 Training Log : 8/22 - 8/28

Quality: 5k road race with the kid.

Trail: 12 miles at SkullBuster on Sunday.

Easy: 3 runs for 24 miles.

Cycling: N/A

Total:  5 runs for 40 miles.

Down week after the big weekend. Leg's still felt like they were filled with lead on Wednesday, thankfully they finally started to loosen up about halfway through the run. Saturday's activities included a local 5k that has become a yearly event for the family. This is a race that I outright won the first year I ran it. It is held at 6 pm in absolutely miserable heat & this year was likely the hottest it's ever been. I had already made the decision early in the week to run it with my eldest, ended up having a blast running it with her & will likely continue to do so as long as she's interested. I'll find a nice & cool 5k if I'm PR hunting.

Sunday's scheduled 16 miler didn't go exactly as planned. As a result of sleeping in it was already well into the 90's by the time I decided to go for the run. I opted to head out to SkullBuster, which is well shaded, hoping for it to be a bit cooler. I don't know what it is about this trail but I have the hardest time doing any bigger mileage efforts on it. I always seem to run out of gas on it & end up cutting the run short. This is exactly what happened this time & had me promising I'd just flip my back to back. The plan was to run 12 Sunday & my 16 on Monday. I think I've failed to complete the distance on more runs this training plan than all others combined, not exactly confidence building going into my longest race ever. I'm likely just pushing too hard trying to race the clock.

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.

2016 Training Log : 7/18 - 7/24

Quality: 18 mile long run on Monday

Trail: 12 miles at SkullBuster on Sunday.

Easy: 3 runs for 24 miles.

Cycling: 4 rides for 32 miles.

Total:  5 runs & 4 rides for 86 miles.

Traveled for work this week, which always seems to throw me off a bit. Had to wake up at 4 am on Monday to get in the second leg of my 20/18 back to back before hopping on a plane. I'd almost forgotten how awesome watching the world wake up while out for a run is. Not that I can see myself up at 4 am often for a run. I also used my homemade energy gels again on this run, but this time I went with 2oz of gel & 1oz of water in the flask. Seemed to not only come out easier but wasn't as strong. I may have to maintain this ratio in the future.

Due to getting in wicked late Tuesday night, really Wednesday morning, I decided to just turn my speed session into an easy run. To up the difficulty I did it at 5 pm after dropping the family off at the airport. Also added in an 8.5 mile bike ride to the trail, then 8.5 mile bike ride home. Brought plenty of water for the trip but could have used some calories near the end. Was definitely close to bonking.

Near the end of the week it started to really warm up, like dangerously hot. When it gets like this there's no such thing as early enough to beat the heat. It's 75 at 5am with 80-90% humidity & quickly rises from there. With 16 miles on the schedule I arrived at SkullBuster shortly after sun up. This isn't a trail I'm ready to do much running in the dark on. It is also one of the harder places I run for keeping my heart rate in check. Even the downhills spike it up. By the time I got to my decision point where I could go 12 or 16 I opted to cut it short. My feet were squishing in my shoes from sweat & I looked like I'd found a pool somewhere to take a short swim. With the shortening of this run to 12 I'll just do my back to back in reverse, with the 16 miler on Monday. Speed sessions change to phase two next week, which is the strength part of the Hanson's plan.

2016 Training Log : 7/11 - 7/17

Quality: 3x1600 w/600 recovery at the track on Wednesday.

Trail: 20 miles at CVP on Sunday.

Easy: 4 runs for 29 miles.

Cycling: N/A.

Total:  6 runs for 57 miles.

Could have swore I put this one in last week. I blame a very hectic Sunday preparing for my trip. Another solid week in the books without anything too exciting, which is nice. On Monday I finished up the second leg of my 24/12 back to back. I had my doubts going into this training plan as to the effectiveness of back to back long runs. I am now a believer in them. They absolutely wreck your legs.

Wednesday brought about a return to the track for mile repeats. I have trouble with the longer repeats due to my tendency to check out from time to time. Really hard to stick the pace when auto pilot is so easy to engage. That said I came really close to my 6 minute target & my last interval was my fastest. I might have to reevaluate my pace before I go into phase two of the speed training.

Sunday's long run again had me headed back to CVP. Such a great place to do loops for these longer efforts, but I'm starting to tire of it. I need to diversify my trails. I also mixed in an experiment for this long run. I made my own energy gels! This is something I've been looking to do for a while now as I just can't stomach paying $1.50 per gel. I followed the recipe in this video, except I used honey instead of corn syrup. I'll continue tweaking the recipe until I get it to my liking then do a blog post on it. Currently I'm using some 3oz travel bottles I got at Target for about a buck each. They work ok but are pretty big & hard to get the last drop out of. If I stick with this I'll likely purchase one of the soft flasks out there specifically for this.

No pictures again this week. My phone is hard to operate when I'm absolutely drenched in sweat. Gotta love Kentucky summer...

2016 Training Log : 7/4 - 7/10

Quality: Ladder workout at the track on Wednesday.

Trail: 24 miles at CVP on Sunday.

Easy: 4 runs for 29 miles.

Cycling: N/A.

Total:  6 runs for 63 miles.

Training by heart rate can be frustrating, especially on the trails. I find myself walking a lot more than before & my pace on all runs is way slower than before. The plus side to it is I don't feel totally wrecked after a run, which I guess is kind of the point. I'm going to keep at this through the winter to give it a solid 9 month trial. While I try to stick with the zone 2 running for all my other runs I use my Wednesday run to really step on the gas.

This Wednesday I did a workout that I've been looking forward to since I put it on the plan. Unfortunately I missed it last week but decided to move it to this week. It's a ladder style workout that starts with a 2.25 mile warm up then a 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 ladder with 400 recovery & finally ends with a 2.25 mile cool down. Such a brutal workout but I definitely felt stronger coming out of it. I've got some shorter races on the calendar to test out the benefits of these speed sessions.

Speaking of shorter races. I was fortunate to land a registration to the Hot Hot Hundred 10k for just one dollar. My fall racing schedule is really starting to fill up with a 5k, 10k, half marathon, 50k & 100k. I'm following through with my plan to race more & not just train for A races only.

Sunday's long run was a distance I'd failed at previously. I've blamed that inability to finish the run on heat, nutrition & hydration. What I now know is that I was just running too fast, basically trying to do the entire run in zone 3. This lead to me just being totally zonked out around 16 miles into the run. Sadly I didn't complete the entire 24 miles on Sunday in zone 2. I had a hard cutoff at 11:30 to finish my run by, which led to me cranking it up on my third loop. With the majority of this segment in zone 3 I could really feel the familiar struggle & confirmed that the previous failed runs were caused by going too hard. In hindsight I should have stuck to my heart rate plan & just cut the distance short to make my cutoff, I just had to get that monkey off my back.