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Training Weeks of August 15-October 3, 2010

StumpJump 50K Race Strategy or JB Hieroglyphics

Week of August 15

Total mileage: 37
Races: Taos Up and Over 2nd 57.08

Sun - Off, Back very unhappy

Mon - Lunch 9m @~7.24 on Boone Fork Trail with Ryan Woods Total - 9

Tue - Evening 8 1/2m - 3 1/4m tempo @~6.00 avg. with high school kids Total - 8 1/2

Wed - Lunch 4m @~10.00 in mountains Total - 4

Thu - Evening 5m @~12.00 in bigger mountains Total - 5

Fri - Off

Sat - Morning 10 1/2m - Taos Up and Over - 57.08, split 35.49 up;

cooldown with Jason Taylor Total - 19 1/2

Week of August 22

Total mileage: 18
Races: Continental Divide Trail Race 10th 46.44

Sun - Off

Mon - Off

Tue - Afternoon 6m - 4m tempo @~6.05 with high school kids Total - 6

Wed - Off

Thu - Afternoon 2m @~7.30 Total - 2

Fri - Off

Sat - Morning 10m - Continental Divide Trail Race - 46.44 Total - 10

Week of August 29

Total mileage: 39
Races: none

Sun - Off

Mon - Lunch 3m @~8.00 Total - 3

Tue - Morning 1 1/2m; Afternoon 5m @~7.30 at Fisher River Park Total - 6 1/2

Wed - Afternoon 5m @~7.30 Total - 5

Thu - Afternoon 8m - 3x 5/2 minute fartlek on trails at FRP; 2 x 600 on grass

with 5 min. rec.(1.50, 1.52) Total - 8

Fri - Morning 6 1/2m @~10.00 or more; up and down mountains Total - 6 1/2

Sat - Morning 10m @~10.00, maybe 12.oo; up and down big mountains Total - 10

August Milage: 149 1/2

Week of September 5

Total mileage: 52
Races: Fisher Farms 10 Mile 1st 1:09.06

Caldwell County CC Inv. Coach's Race 2500 meters 2nd 8.07

Sun - Morning 11m - Fisher Farms 10 Mile - 1:09.06, 6.55 avg. Total - 11

Mon - Lunch 5 1/2m @~10.00 Total - 5 1/2

Tue - Morning 2m @~7.30; Afternoon 8m - Caldwell County CC Inv.

Coach's Race 2500 meters - 8.07 Total - 10

Wed - Evening 8m @~10.20 up and down Fisher Peak from Low Gap Total - 8

Thu - Afternoon 8 1/2m @~7.40 with 4 x 100 meter strides(16.0, 16.0, 15.4, 15.3)

Total - 8 1/2

Fri - Lunch 9m - Bluff Mtn. up @ 12.00, down @6.10;

Grayson mtn. up @ ~10.00, down @ ~6.30 Total - 6 1/2

Sat - Off

Week of September 12

Total mileage: 63
Races: none

Sun - Morning 14 1/2m at Stone Mountain SP - lots of up and down Total - 14 1/2

Mon - Morning 2 1/2m; Afternoon 7 1/2 - 4 x 1 mile with 1 min. rec. (5.49, 5.47, 5.46, 5.43)

@Fisher River Park; Evening 2m Total - 12

Tue - Lunch 12m @~9.15 Total - 12

Wed - Lunch 5 1/2m @~10.00 Total - 5 1/2

Thu - Off

Fri - Morning 8 1/2m; Evening 3 1/2 @~7.10 with 4 x 100strides(16s) Total - 12

Sat - Morning 7m @~9.15 at Hungry Mother SP, VA - up and down Molly's Knob Total - 7

Week of September 19

Total mileage: 30
Races: Greensboro XC Inv. Open 5K 2nd 17.23

Sun - Off

Mon - Afternoon 15m @7.36 at Fisher River Park with high school kids Total - 15

Tue - Afternoon 6m @~7.40 Total - 6

Wed - Afternoon 1m @~8.00(felt crappy and unmotivated to hurt for a slow run) Total - 1

Evening - Canoe 1m on Yadkin River - 30 min.

Thu - Afternoon - Bike 22m @19.5 mph

Fri - Off

Sat - Morning 8m - Greensboro XC Inv. Open 5K - 17.23 Total - 8

Week of September 26

Total mileage: 51
Races: StumpJump 50K 1st 4.21.01

Sun - Off

Mon - Afternoon 6m @~7.40 Total - 6

Tue - Afternoon 11m @7.10 with Tanner Total - 11

Wed - Afternoon - Bike 13m @20.1 mph

Thu - Off

Fri - Morning 3m @~8.00 in Chattanooga, TN Total - 3

Sat - Morning 31m - StumpJump 50K - 4.21.01 Total - 31

September Milage: 191 1/2

Week of October 3

Total mileage: 16
Races: none

Sun - Off

Mon - Off

Tue - Afternoon - Spin bike 30 min.

Wed - Afternoon 3m @~8.15 Total - 3

Thu - Afternoon 5m @~7.45 Total - 5

Fri - Off

Sat - Morning 8m @~7.30 at Beeson Park Total - 8

Blah, Blah, Blah!! It's been a while to say the least. Just posting this in case someone is bored or wants to see my crazy training. Alison thinks my training is messed up, I'd have to agree a bit. I stopped forcing my running over the last few years, I just ended up hurt a bit and raced poorly or not at all. I'm probably still injured a bit, but racing better. Some of the training ups and downs have been because of my back. It has literally been a pain in the ass since April. A lot of the pain is in my glutes, either the right or left depending on the week. Some of the my training insanity has been because of work and working on our Continental Divide Trail Race. Life is a balancing act, so running is a balancing act. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As for the races, Up and Over in Taos was fun. I wanted to win, but that Bernie Bottecher. The race is pretty simple, up 3 miles at 17%, down 3.5 miles at 14.5%. I had a gap on Bernie at the top, he got me coming down. I was actually closer the results show. Bernie had just gone out of sight when came upon a confusing spot about 3/4 mile from the finish. There was a rope across the road with a sign "closed" on it. There was a bridge to the right and another road going down. Which way should I go? You got it, under the rope. I roamed a bit, until directed correctly under the rope? No worries, I wasn't catching Bernie. After the race, Bernie and I both said we thought about tying and wish we would have, especially me since I was second. So I finished 4th in the La Sportiva Mountain Cup, but got bumped to 3rd Open since Bernie took the top Masters spot. I meet a guy at Taos, Jason Taylor. He heard of me through a friend, Nate Bosey. I stayed in a playhouse in Nate's backyard before La Luz Mountain Race in NM in '07. I meet Nate on MySpace asking for someone's yard to sleep in. Now I just find places when I travel, but that was fun. Jason and I had interesting conversation on faith and church. Our stories were interestingly similar.

On to Continental Divide Trail Race, I ran it. Race directing and racing the same race was tough. I found myself think about race directing during the race instead of about the race. I felt good about my race with the mental absence and general fatigue. Our team, Appalachian Mountain Goats, won the open team division, so that was cool. The Fisher Farm race was part of the NC Xterra Trail series that I won, with two 1st places and one 2nd. The two cross country races were just speed work really, but I ran both flat out.

StumpJump 50K turned into a rather rewarding race. I put together my race strategy, stuck to it, and things turned out well. I wanted to be steady for the first 20 miles. I planned to take the climbs fairly easy through 20 miles, but wanted to really run "brake free" on the downs. I wasn't sure the quads would hold up, but that is kind of the point of racing. I planned to push the last 10 miles and really push the two big climbs in this section. The idea behind the easy climbing early was to prevent my back from tighten up for as long as possible. I also had heat patches on my back and right glute to help keep the back loose. At the race start Josh Wheeler, '09 winner, went out fast and several others were out of sight soon as well. I think I was in about 10th place early on. A few miles in there was a small pack of us in about 6th place(Bryan Dayton, Mark Lundblad, Jay Curwen, me, and maybe another guy or two). At 10 miles Mark and I were together in 4th, 8 minutes behind the leader. I thought then that if I could maintain that gap through 20 miles, I'd have a chance to catch Josh in the last 10. At 20 miles Anne, Mark's wife, said I was 2 & 1/2 minutes from second and 7 from first. I was encouraged that I had gained a little in the middle 1/3rd. I was guessing that I had only 30 seconds to a minute on Mark. I was through the 20+ mile aid station so time to push and be the hunter. I was now thinking in just small fragments of time. I caught 2nd in about 2 miles. At the next aid station around 24.5 miles, I was only 3 & 1/2 behind Josh. I hammered the next climb of about a mile. I figured most guys would have to hike some or most of it, so I ran all of it. I caught Josh on the next descent. He ended up having a rough finish as he walked a lot of the last few miles. Now I was concerned about Mark, I knew he was a threat to run me down. Plus I began to tank about 3 miles out. I held on for the win in 4:21.o1. I had hoped to run a good bit faster. Though as you can see from the sporadic nature of my recent training, I really wasn't to sure what to expect. As I expected Mark finish second. Fellow La Sportiva runner, Nathan Yanko, had strong finish. He went from 9th to 4th in the last 2 miles. He blogged about it at La Sportiva Mountain Running.

Hopefully I get back to a more regular blogging pattern now. I'll try to write something stupid again soon.