As I've written about before, the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run became a bit of an obsession for me back in 2012. To someday be at that start line in Squaw the last weekend in June, the white bib pinned to my shorts, staring up at the climb up to the Escarpment while awaiting the shotgun blast signalling the start.
Three straight years of qualifying and attending the December lottery ended in disappointment, but it gave me the opportunity to run more races, and to learn more about myself and this sport. I knew my time would come eventually, and I drove up to Placer High this past December hoping this might be the year. And then Tim Twietmeyer called my name:
Since the Cascade Crest 100 in August, my running had been a little sporadic. I was still getting out and enjoying time on the trails, but without any real focus. After the lottery I had a trip to Oregon planned in late December, and a work trip to Vegas in early January, so I just focused on trying to get a little more consistent for that six week period with a plan to begin training in earnest in mid-January.
The break had also given me some time to re-evaluate my running and training. If I'm honest, while I've learned more about how to run ultras, I haven't really improved my fitness much the past few years. Looking back, that shouldn't be much of a surprise as I've lacked year-round consistency, and have pretty much just gone out and run easy most of the time. I'd been reading Jason Koop's Training Essentials for Ultrarunning, and even had the chance to chat with him a bit up at the Ouray aid station during Hardrock last year. So I decided to adopt his principles which are essentially:
This was a departure for me, but led to planning out a three-week block of vo2 max-focused intervals (2 x per week) in January-February, a short Endurance phase to ramp up my long run for Way Too Cool, a Tempo phase that went up to The Canyons 100K, and then the final several weeks leading into States were to be Endurance/SteadyState focused
Way Too Cool played out like I had hoped, I'd almost describe it as uneventful", which is exactly what I was looking for. I ended up at 6:08:21, 14 minutes off my PR from 2015. But considering the muddy conditions and an extra .3-.4 of a mile (including a climb) on the course due to a washed out section of trail, I was really pleased with the result. The purpose was to get in a long, supported training run, practice my nutrition (gel every 30 minutes plus 1 bottle/hour electrolyte drink), and come out uninjured. So I considered the day a success.
Three straight years of qualifying and attending the December lottery ended in disappointment, but it gave me the opportunity to run more races, and to learn more about myself and this sport. I knew my time would come eventually, and I drove up to Placer High this past December hoping this might be the year. And then Tim Twietmeyer called my name:
Since the Cascade Crest 100 in August, my running had been a little sporadic. I was still getting out and enjoying time on the trails, but without any real focus. After the lottery I had a trip to Oregon planned in late December, and a work trip to Vegas in early January, so I just focused on trying to get a little more consistent for that six week period with a plan to begin training in earnest in mid-January.
The break had also given me some time to re-evaluate my running and training. If I'm honest, while I've learned more about how to run ultras, I haven't really improved my fitness much the past few years. Looking back, that shouldn't be much of a surprise as I've lacked year-round consistency, and have pretty much just gone out and run easy most of the time. I'd been reading Jason Koop's Training Essentials for Ultrarunning, and even had the chance to chat with him a bit up at the Ouray aid station during Hardrock last year. So I decided to adopt his principles which are essentially:
- Train the least specific aspects farthest away, most specific closest to event
- You must incorporate all three key intensities during a training block - SteadyState, Tempo, Intervals
- Work strengths closes to race, and weaknesses further away
This was a departure for me, but led to planning out a three-week block of vo2 max-focused intervals (2 x per week) in January-February, a short Endurance phase to ramp up my long run for Way Too Cool, a Tempo phase that went up to The Canyons 100K, and then the final several weeks leading into States were to be Endurance/SteadyState focused
Way Too Cool played out like I had hoped, I'd almost describe it as uneventful", which is exactly what I was looking for. I ended up at 6:08:21, 14 minutes off my PR from 2015. But considering the muddy conditions and an extra .3-.4 of a mile (including a climb) on the course due to a washed out section of trail, I was really pleased with the result. The purpose was to get in a long, supported training run, practice my nutrition (gel every 30 minutes plus 1 bottle/hour electrolyte drink), and come out uninjured. So I considered the day a success.
Training went pretty well after Way Too Cool, and I ramped up to The Canyons 100K feeling pretty good. If you haven't run that race, I'd highly recommend it. I've run it the past two years, camping out in the back of the car behind Foresthill School, the race just has a cool vibe and provides the chance to cover 30+ miles of the Western States course.
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| Dirtbagging in the Duckmobile |
I recovered well, especially considering I had thought about dropping to the 50K going into the week to be sure I could keep training going. After a single down week, I put in four straight weeks of 10-12 hours and decent (5800'-8800') vertical. I did develop some pain in the back of my knee during the first 34-mile day of the Memorial Day training runs, so I took Sunday off but was able to run the 22 miles on Monday with no real issues.
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| Robinson Flat looking a little different than I've seen it on race day |
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| 110 degrees in the car |
#seeyouinsquaw
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