Last week - 100 Miles Running - 23,009 Vertical Gain - 18:58 Running time.
Friday was an awesome day. I parked at the old Monarch Lodge and ran up Highway 50 to the top of the pass and then headed south on the Monarch Crest Trail. 5 Miles up to the pass, ten miles out on the trail, then turned around and headed back. 30 Miles total, a crap ton of gain with an average elevation of 11,337 feet. Pulled it off in 5:59:01 which was awesome because I was really shooting for six hours.
But I have to say, running that trail and looking back at when I rode it on my mountain bike in 2013... if I had to guess, I probably did not enjoy it all that much. Of course I said it was "fun" when I wrote about it in 2013... but I wonder how much of that was me hyping it up because I felt that was what I was supposed to do. I just remember thinking a lot this past Friday that I was for sure a lot happier running it that day than if I were riding it again.
As I have alluded to earlier... the whole bike thing just escapes me now... no love for it at all.
But yeah... I am done with all of the heavy lifting in regards to my training for Leadville this year. In some regards the planning and strategizing began a year ago right after the Silver Rush 50. After the LT100 run last year I began to focus a little more on it as time passed. In April, at the beginning of training block #1 was when I really put my foot on the gas and with the exception of a couple of bumps here and there, I really haven't let up. If you are wondering, this is what life - week by week - since April has looked like....
18 April 2016 Run 81.3 Miles 6368 Vert 14:14 Time
25 April 2016 Run 70.4 Miles 9602 Vert 11:48 Time
02 May 2016 Run 81.6
Miles 9874 Vert 13:54
Time
09 May 2016 Run 84
Miles 10,126 Vert 14:10
Time
16 May 2016 Run 83.3
Miles 13,750 Vert 13:49
Time
23 May 2016 Run 94.2
Miles 12,900 Vert 15:36
Time
30 May 2016 Run 81
Miles 14,187 Vert 14:47
Time
06 June 2016 Run 92 Miles 18,067 Vert 16:17 Time
13 June 2016 Run 81
Miles 11,369 Vert 15:02
Time
Bike 28 Miles 4,691 Vert 2:19
Time 17:21
Total
20 June 2016 Run 47
Miles 11,977 Vert 13:05
Time
Bike 106 Miles 14,696
Vert
9:42 Time 23:49
Total
27 June 2016 Run 79
Miles 20,639 Vert 17:47
Time
Bike 28 Miles 7,273 Vert 4:11
Time 21:58
Total
04 July 2016 Run 98
Miles 28,491 Vert 21:05
Time
11 July 2016 Run 101
Miles 18,174 Vert 19:46
Time
18 July 2016 Run 100
Miles 23,009 Vert 18:58
Time
But what do all these numbers mean? In a way nothing if I can not execute a good race come August 20. I have goals and I hope that the work gets me there, the rest is just the rest as you never know what can happen in a 100 mile race.
Something that I have not shared with anyone (well on my blog anyway) is that back in March I sort of had a nightmare. In my dream I crossed the finish line in Leadville in 23:18 - again. But the weird part was that 1. I did not remember running it and 2. I had this really bad and nagging feeling that I did not put out any effort or tried to do better that day. If I had to say, all of the hard work and mileage has been my way of preventing that "dream" from becoming a reality this year.
So yeah... lots of heavy lifting... but that is over now...
Now to back down... 80M this week with two days off... two days off EVERY week between now and Leadville actually to start unloading fatigue. Part of me wonders if I realize just how tired I really am. I guess as I start to bounce back and feel better (or worse) I will get a full sense of it all. But that won't be for another two weeks or so I guess.
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