Boy, this forum has really slowed down this past year. Did everybody move over to the Ultra forum or just move away from trail running?
I've been gearing up for the Western States 3-Day training camp over Memorial Day Weekend. 70 miles in 3 days. Should be interesting. Those miles are to help prepare me for my second ever 50-miler up at Mt. Hood. I'm excited about both. My friend, Kate, will be running Mt. Hood with me, and she gave me the wonderful gift of 4 months of coaching from her coach. I started with him right after the Grizzly Peak disaster in April and have really been enjoying the change of training.
Anyway - That's all the big news on this front. Anybody else out there???
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
Well I'm not in your league, Leslie, but I ran a 5K trail race on May 6, getting a 3rd in AG ribbon. It was challenging (for me anyway) and loads of fun. The race was the first in a series, with the next being a 10K in July.
Don't make excuses for why you can't get it done.
Focus on all the reasons why you must make it happen.
Congratulations! Trail miles, at any distance, are wonderful. And I'm not that great of a trail runner. Definitely, solidly at the middle-back or totally back of the pack. And the only award I've ever won was for being DFL at the American River 50 miler in 2010. I got a full box of Clif Mountain Mix bars and a really nice Patagonia pack. First - and only - time I've ever gotten anything for being last. It was great!
Have fun with your race series this summer. Wish we had something like that around here. Unfortunately, not many folks in my area do trail running and participate in trail running events, which is unfortunate because we live in the perfect place to train. I have a friend I train with, and we generally have to travel a minimum of 4 hours (usually 6+) to get to any event.
Imminent Catastrophe
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
I just haven't been in the forums much lately. I ran a couple of trail races (an 8k and 10k) in April. I try to run a trail at least every other week, but usually am not able to.
Will run at least one trail 5k in August and might do another. Hope to build up to a trail half in December--it's basically two laps of the 10k course I did in April. I'm just not sure if my feet are ready for that distance on that trail--which has lots of little rocks and plenty of roots.
John
under a rock
I've been recovering from my calf strain for so long that I've had nothing to talk about. I'll be doing my first 3 mile run this week. I hope. It's been a frustrating 10 months of letting it heal, then it tore again, then letting it heal, and hopefully it will stay healed this time. I'm being much more cautious this time with building miles. I started with a 5 minute run and built up my runs a minute at a time at first with no back to back runs. Now I'm adding by 0.1-0.2 mile at most when I add and do one set of back to back runs a week. I'm just thrilled to have the ability to run any miles. If I am stuck running 3 miles for the next year I won't complain. I'm just happy to be able to run.
I've been on trails a good amount, despite having done a (road) marathon this month. Did a 10K trail race, plus trail runs at two other state parks.
Signing up for the trail series in one of my semi-local clubs this year. Doing a 50 mile ultra on June 30th. Think I have a five mile trail race second week of June, too. I have been really lax on the forums in general...as the madness of the ending of the school year weighs on me, I've been avoiding the internet.
On the plus side, I only have five more days with my students before the summer starts.
"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." Emil Zatopek
Fraggle - I was wondering where you'd been. Hope the calf holds up. Soft tissue injuries take so long to heal!
RGilbert - You'll like trails more than roads - - IMHO.
Fesser - Good luck with the run in July. That one definitely looks hard.
Getting geared up for the WS training camp this coming weekend. Here's the weather report. Ugh!
... Cooler and unsettled weather late this week... A cold late-season weather system will drop southward through northern California on Friday before moving east on Saturday.Showers and a few thunderstorms are expected to spread southwardthrough the region early Friday and begin to taperoff late Friday... however lingering showers along the Sierra are expected intoSaturday. Locally gusty winds with brief heavy showers arepossible during thunderstorm development. Light to several inchesof snowfall could accumulate along the higher elevations of thenorthern Sierra crest... generally above 5000 to 6000 feet. The systemwill also bring much cooler temperatures that measure about 10 to20 degrees below normal. Campers... hikers and other outdoorenthusiasts are advised to be prepared for this dramatic change inthe weather for the northern Sierra.
Absolutely. I am entirely and completely a trail runner at heart. The roads are just for convenience. I'm not planning anything serious on roads for the next year. I may drop-in to a road race here and there that the club puts on, but that's all.
Getting geared up for the WS training camp this coming weekend.
How was the training camp?
Steve - The camp was great! I did better than I ever could have anticipated and am more than ready to go back next year.
Day 1 (32 miles) - LOTS of climbing with quite a bit of snow at the start . It's the hardest day, acquaints the folks running the actual race with the canyons, and is always a sellout. The first climb is a doozy - and 2,030 steps to the top, give or take a few steps (MTA: First climb out of the canyon after crossing the swinging bridge). Counting was the only way I could get myself to keep moving. I'd make myself walk 50-100 steps (i.e., a step being each time I put my left foot down) before I could take a break. I think it took me about an hour to make it up the first climb. The second climb up to Michigan Bluff "isn't as hard," but you're so tired from the first one, it sucks, too. About 5 min before that aid station (which was also the last and 7 miles from the finish), it started pouring down rain and hail and got really cold. I wasn't prepared for that type of weather and started shivering as I waited for it (hopefully) subside. After a few minutes, Andy Jones-Wilkins pulled up in his car and said he had room to give 3 of us a ride, so I called it a day and jumped in. Suffered a bit of hypothermia once I got back to Forest Hill, but the massage folks helped me get warmed up with blankets and their friend's car with the heater blasting.
Days 2 and 3 (18 and 22 miles, respectively) - Perfect weather. Hard to believe we had the rain and hail the day before. I ran with my friend, Kate, off and on Day 2 and all of Day 3. She's going to run with me at the PCT Mt. Hood 50-Miler in July, so it was nice to get acquainted with each others' running style, etc. She's a stronger runner than I am, but I am very pleased that on the 3rd day I had no trouble keeping up with her and even had better legs than she did on the 1+-mile decent at the start.
I really had a lot of fun and discovered I am a much stronger runner than I give myself credit for. Great aid stations, great aid station workers, beautiful country, only $30 a day - couldn't ask for better. I'll definitely go back.
Thanks for sharing Leslie. I've thought about some of the multiday races but the training camp sounds like more fun.
I've been attending to life more with my 5 kids and wife, and my 100 year old house and haven't been as obsessed with training, so I haven't been dropping by much, for which I apologize to my psuedo, internet friends.
"Run slowly, run daily, drink in moderation, and don't eat like a pig" Dr. Ernst Van Aaken. Sorry ultrasteve.