Leadville 100 run plan

Thought I would share my plan along with everyone else.  Same plan that I had in years past.  What was it you ask?

1. When I can I will run.

2. When I can't run I will walk.

3. I will eat as much as my glass stomach will allow me too.

4. I will hit Winfield when I get off of Hope Pass around the time I get there.

5. My goal finish time is when I cross the finish line.

Pretty simple, any questions?

Heading to Leadville this morning.  See ya on the other side.

LT100 MTB and 10K

Well I survived the weekend and it went a little better than I thought it would.  Sitting here on Tuesday night tired as hell still so at least I can say that I did not just go do the ride but actually tried and put out a big effort.  Not going to write a long race report but instead going to give thanks to a few people and post some photos from the weekend.  Thanks to Rebecca and Jen for crewing not only me but stepping up and helping my buddy J.P. also.  And of course thanks to Bob for letting J.P. and I crash at his place all weekend.  Great to see everyone out there that came up to cheer on the riders.  Also thanks to Clyde and Kathy for coming up to cheer me on help me with recovering after the race was over.

Finished the 100 MTB in 9:29:45 on Saturday and the 10K in 42:55 on Sunday.  Now onto the 100 run.

4 Days to Go TIme

Well it is race week for the 100 mountain bike.  Full taper mode is now in effect.  Ended up last week doing a little more time wise than I wanted but it was all at an easy pace with the exception of the bike trainer on Tuesday night and the 5K on Wednesday night which I ran a 18 second PR in 95 degree heat. 

Also helped get Clyde to the finish of Silverheels 100 over the weekend both riding around on the bike a little and pacing the last 20 miles.  Note on this course, it is a beautiful course and was very well run for a 1st year 100.  I was actually impressed.  On paper the course looks really hard to follow and was confused when studying to pace but once your out there John did a really good job marking the course and we had no issues at all.  This one maybe in the cards in the next year or two.  Here are some photos from Clyde's effort.

Was it enough?

I know we all have read a hundred of these blog posts over the years.  We as a group of ultrarunners and endurance athletes are some insecure whining babies when it comes to tapers but putting this thought process out there seems to help clear the mind and move us forward.  Even if you don't want to admit it we all have this thought process at one time or another.  I thought by putting it down in writing like so many others have would help clear my mind a little.

Been beating my head against my desk at work this week due to the motivation being at a null right now.  I feel like a kid on the last week of school before summer break.  Finding it hard to focus, my mind keeps wondering over to the upcoming Leadville 100 bike and 100 run.  Of course it does not help that I am now in full taper mode which means I am even more edgy and out of focus from not getting my daily hour or two of exercise.  Yes, I know it is weird to most of the general population that I need that daily exercise to operate normally, most of you reading that sentence understand this feeling or need.  Anyways I have been sitting here wondering over and over have I done enough?  Could I have done more?  Was my approach correct or did I flub it?  I know in my mind that it is normal to have these thoughts going into your main events of the year and it just part of the taper but it does not change the fact that it is happening, even worse this year than in years past it seems.  So to help calm my mind a little I started running reports from my training log on Attackpoint.org that I use to log everything and has all my data in since mid 2008.  Here is what I found as of this morning.  Of course these numbers will increase a little over the next 2 weeks for a taper does not mean to sit on my ass and do nothing but thought it was worth looking at today.

Note:  You can see what the different colors stand for in the bottom of the second chart, and there is a breakdown of the bottom 2 charts in both hours and total miles.

Year to date numbers Jan 1st to Aug 6th 2015 - click to enlarge

How does this compare to past years? (2015 is only 7 months, rest of years are 12 months- yes I almost matched past yearly totals)- click to enlarge

How did 2015 breakdown monthly? (sick a lot in Feb)- click to enlarge

How did the weekly breakdown look so far for 2015? -click to enlarge

How does looking at all this make me feel?  Like I have not done enough.  Yes I realize that it is way more than I have ever done in the past as far as overall work volume but it still feels like it is not enough.  I think that is a feeling that all of us that are involved in endurance sports understand and deal with.  Hell, I could have done double the amount of work getting close to 1000 hours year to date and I still would be sitting here whining about the same thing.  Time to deal with it and get my taper on.

Not much else planned between now and the 100 bike on Aug 15th.  Pacing Clyde this weekend at Silverheels 100 in Fairplay for 20 miles (excited for him!) and a few short bikes and runs not really adding up to anything.  The training is over or as they say, "the hay is in the barn".  The hard part now is not to burn down the barn before race day. 

Moving on I wish all who are now in taper mode a healthy taper and can't wait to see you all in Leadville, you know who you are.   See you all next week!

Beginning of Cutting Volume

2 weeks to go to the 100 mountain bike and 3 weeks to go to the 100 run, can't believe that it is here already.  Man the year went fast.  This past week I started cutting down the weekly volume a little but not a lot.  Went from being between 20-25 hours down to about 18 but still got in some decent vertical between the bike and run.

Click on to enlarge

It was nice cutting back my long ride on Sunday and being done and home by 11am.  It freed up the whole afternoon to allow for zombie hunting training (video below) and for me to take the boy to hockey camp.  Really wanted to get over to Boulder to catch friends doing Ironman Boulder but with the wife being sick in bed I had to do hockey camp duty which was fine also.  This is the first time I have let him shoot my Smith & Wesson 45 ACP, of course it was his favorite one to shoot and the most expensive ammo wise.

Anyways still on the fence as far as the plan for this week.  Should be down to around the 12-15 hour range but a huge chunk of that will be from next weekend pacing my buddy Clyde at Silverheels 100 mile run in Fairplay so the intensity will should be mellow for me, not so mellow for him since I should be picking him up between mile 80-85.  With that said still trying to figure out this week.  One thing is for sure, I need to cut my food intake since my workload is being cut or the weight will shoot back up there quickly.  Think I am in a good spot right now and want to keep it that way.

Quick congrates to GZ who won the burro race in BV this past weekend and Rebecca for powering through all kinds of issues and getting that Ironman Boulder finish.