Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Training Journal 6/10-6/16

Monday, June 10-June 16, 2013: It felt right this week to begin to taper for San Juan Solstice 50 miler (June 22).  The SJS50 is most definitely one of the toughest 50 milers in the US with 12,800 ft of climbing and high altitude running (7,000-12,000 ft).  So I'm taking the challenge seriously and letting my body rest in anticipation.  There is a chance I won't get into the race since I'm still on the wait list.  Also this week I spent some significant time slack lining (6.5 hrs!), what an amazing workout!! Core, legs, arms, everything!
Slack lining this week.  It was so much fun I got out most days and practiced. 
Monday: 2 runs for total of 17.5 miles: 4 mile easy AM (1hr 1200ft) plus 13.5 mile run PM 2,000ft/2.5hr- Twisp to Winthrop via trails.
Tuesday: 6 miles easy Patterson & Winthrop Trail. Legs are feeling tired. Maybe time to taper for SJS50? 1,600ft/1.25hr
Wednesday: 7 mile run from Whatcom Falls to Boulevard/Sehome (500/1hr). 2 mile easy PM run. 8.5 mile bike ride. 1 hr slack lining.
Thursday: 1.5 hr slack lining
Friday: 3  mile run Sehome to Whatcom falls (300ft/20 min). 2 hour slack lining, 8.5 mile bike ride
Saturday: 2 hrs slack lining
Sunday: 5 miles on Steven's Pass, 1hr/1,600ft.  Left for Colorado today!!!!

Totals
Running Miles: 40.5 miles
Running Elevation Gain: 7,200 feet
Biking: 8.5 miles
Slack Lining: 6.5 hrs
Total Running Hours: 6.5hr
Total Exercise Hours: 13.5hr

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Training Journal 6/3-6/9

Monday, June 3-Sunday, June 9, 2013: Big deal this week was biking from Bellingham to Winthrop and in the process going over the mountain pass and logging 152 miles with 8,300 ft. I've been scheming to do this route for a while and the weather & my training finally lined up.  Two days later James and I climbed Gardner Mountain, one of the toughest training days this year.  Good scrambling and lots of elevation gain 5,000ft climbing in just 2 miles.  Good week for toughening up mentally/physically.  Mileage this week suffered a bit due to my long bike ride and helping race direct at the Winthrop Marathon. When I added up the numbers, I realized I did 28.5 hours total biking, running, and slack lining.  Damn that's pretty solid.
Biking up to Washington Pass and all the way down to Winthrop from Bellingham
Monday: 10 mile run Stewart Mountain, 2900 ft/2hr
Tuesday: 152 mile Bike ride from Bellingham to Winthrop. 8,300 ft/climb/12hr
Wednesday: 10 miles 3,800ft/3.5hr Canyon Creek Ridge, much of it off trail, read: slow
Thursday: Climb Gardner Mt. 7,000 ft climb 24 miles. 8hr.
Friday: day off, well deserved!
Saturday: 10.5 mile run Patterson Mt. & lake trail 2hr/1,900 ft
Sunday: RDing, too busy to run :(

Totals
Running Miles: 54.5 miles
Elevation Gain, Running: 15,600 ft in just 54 miles
Biking Miles/Elevation Gain: 152 miles with 8,300 ft
Other: slack lining 1 hr
Total Time Running: 15.5 hr
Total Time Exercise: 28.5 hr
Climbing Patterson Mt.

Road Trip!

Sunday afternoon James and I began our journey to Colorado.  We are both on the wait list for the San Juan Solstice 50 miler this coming weekend in Lake City, Colorado.  If we don't get into the race, we'll do the Manitou marathon, It's almost 27,000 ft of climbing in 26 miles.  It's not an actual race, just a masochistic self-propelled repetition of a 1 mile uphill that has 2,100 feet of climbing.  Sounds awesome.  It looks like this is the only guy who has ever done it.  Can we beat his time of 13 hours
 15 minutes?! 
Manitou Incline: 2,100 feet in 1 mile
Last scramble to the top of Rock Creek Butte at 9,100 feet.
Back to the road trip, James' trail finding/race directing skills sure come in handy on these kinds of trips.  He managed to find one of the coolest trails I've run on in a while.  It was a 6.5 mile out & back (13 miles total) up to Rock Creek Butte, a 9,100 ft peak.  There's a nice scramble up the last 1/2 mile to the peak, where we saw a couple of mountain goats, one was a tiny baby.  I call it "nice" but full disclosure: I expressed how much I hate climbing up scree on the way up.  The route climbed 4,000 feet.  I'd love to explore more of the trail.  The Elkhorn Crest Trail is almost 24 miles and would make a great high altitude training run, since most of it is over 8,000 feet.  
Almost at the top of Rock Creek Butte, enjoying the view of Twin Lakes

After our adventure in Lake City or Manitou Springs this coming weekend, we'll make our way to Silverton (with some exploratory detours) to train and for James, to run the Hardrock 100 mile Endurance Run in mid-July.  Right after Hardrock, I'll be heading to Lake Tahoe CA/NV to prepare for and attempt a FKT on the 165 mile Tahoe Rim Trail
James trying to move rocks on our Elkhorn Mountain run.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Getting High

 
This is a very exciting time of year.  As the snow melts at higher elevations, there is suddenly a whole new playground high in the mountains that was previously too cold/snowy/dangerous to run in during the fall, winter and spring months.  So it was finally time to run/climb Gardner Mountain, the highest point in the Methow Mountains at 8,956 feet, on the East side of Washington.   James and I took the route of Wolf Creek Trail to summit the mountain. The Wolf Creek Trail is 10 miles long and climbs about 1,500-2,000 feet in those 10 miles.
At mile 10, we left the trail and began to climb almost straight up the mountain, gaining about 1,500 ft/mile for a pretty slow 2 miles to the saddle.  The last mile was through some short snow patches and lots of scree.  The scree fields became steeper and steeper as we climbed and I found myself worrying about how we were going to get back down. Just before the top, I had a major fear moment.  Looking back it was a bit odd because I have climbed on scree before and descended scree fields, but today I let fear overtake my better judgement and I sat about 50 meters from the saddle. I'd gone far enough.  After some convincing by James, I continued to the top.


The descent was much faster and fun than I'd expected.  And it made me wonder, where was that fear on the climb coming from?  Why do we sometimes freeze in a moment of fear and think that things are worse than they really are?  As someone who enjoys the challenge the bigger it is, this is an interesting question.  I have seen a number of people "freeze" before on steep, tough terrain.  It's usually just before they get to the top of something: they're almost there, closer than ever and yet they cannot continue because of fear.  Sometimes when we are the closest to our goal, the challenge is at its greatest and it seems as though we will never get there.  Most pivotal, memorable experiences have that moment where you think I can't do this!  It is worth remembering that those thoughts mean that you are close to your goal, closer than ever.  And to continue on, despite those fears is  a powerful experience.