Changing Gears

Recovering from a race is such a tricky thing.  After Ovelook 50K I knew there would be a short turn around time before I starting peaking my training my first 50 miler at The North Face Challenge California.  

Usually after a 50k that doesn't have 7K+ ft of descent I would a day off for every 10 miles of racing but I needed to scout a route the following Wednesday for a run I was leading on Sunday.  This meant I needed to at least do some hiking on Tuesday and leaving Monday as the only 100% day off from running.  Soreness lingered in my quads for days.  It wasn't until 8 days after the race that my legs felt like mine.

Now that we have some depth...yeah there's over 9, 100 ft of gain and over 10k ft of descent on the North Face Course. Weather will add final touches with either El Niño wrecking havoc on the course or its going to be 90 degrees.  No joke Murphy's Law is chilling in a bush waiting to jump onto the trail with a surprise.

"A goal without a plan is nothing but a dream." Robert Herjavec

In preparation for this I reduced my in store hours at A Runner's Mind from five days to four giving me Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday off.  

Tuesday have been my uptempo day (threshold, farleks, hill repeats, tempos tu sabes).

Friday I intend to either a) get up to the headlands and memorize each rock for four hours or b) run up and down and around the P G & E trail in Rancho San Antonio.

Sunday I go by feel and by that I mean I am going to listen to my body.  If it feels fatigues then I rest or do something else maybe I need to find a pool and follow Dr. Hansen's recommendations.  Who's Dr. Hansen? He's a savant that can help you run faster if you listen. Check him out on Coach Jay Johnson's Run Faster Podcast.

This past week I joined Greg McMillan's McMillan Run Club.  Why? For staters I have been studying and learning about different aspects of running via the McMillan Running Calculator and the volumes of information explaining each aspect on McMillanRunning.com since my days at Fleet Feet Sports in 2012.

Sneak Peak of my plan

I purchased a plan from McMillan Running to prepare specifically for the 2015 Boston Marathon that led to my most complete road marathon to date and a forty-five minute PR in the 50k.  Following the build up to the launch of this unprecedented platform, becoming a founding member was a no brainer. Find out more about the McMillan Run Club here. 

Now some quick bullet points on the rest of changes/preparatory steps:

• I got rid of the bed/cot I have been sleeping on for the past five years because it was hurting me more then it was ushering in restful night's sleep.
• Found an amazing pacer or I should say she found me and I said yes after the TNF 50k sold out.
• I have a reason greater than myself to power me through the tough times.

A First Time for Everything

There are a lot of things I have to think about for the first time like creating a pace chart.  Even if I don't use it I know it may help my crew and pacer gauge what to expect at Stinson!

On my last training run I was like well these shoes feel good for three hours, fours, and five hours but I'm unclear about hour TEN!

Ever since Way Too Cool 2015 I have been fueling exclusively with Generation UCAN and hydrating with Tailwind.  However, there is a chance that what's worked for five hours might not be the jam on race day.  Thus, I am testing different combination of UCAN consumption, bringing back the almond butter, and testing different electrolytes for hydration (UCAN Hydrate, Sword, and Tailwind, Cliff, GU brew, etc.).  

During my last training run we made a couple turns or didn't trust the direction of the trail vs amount hydration we had remaining.  This proved fortuitous for it helped train the brain during hour four and change, under the hot sun the day after hill repeats, for those down moments of long endurance events.  Hey! Ya'll know I keep it positive.

I will be spending some of the downtime during my days off to fill this chart below and turn attention to what I may want to have in my drop bags.  My goal is to keep it as simple as possible because after all it's a long run in nature with a few hundred friends!

First Pace Chart. A work in progress.

I totally heed the calls for specificity of training and getting to know the course.  With vistas like these I'd say you are twisting my arm and holding me against my will not to get up there everyday!

Training Partners are the best! I spy with my little eye ___.

This coming week bring us the Rio Del Lago 100.  Thus, I shall be heading up after work on Saturday to witness my friends fulfill their dreams.  My friends I am in your service.

Thank you for taking the time to read another installment of RunMedrano: "Confessions of a Brown Runner."