Building to Buffalo...

The single-track of Prison Hill

This was a strong building week with a variety of efforts; my first 50-mile week of 2013. Started off with some focused walking practice and a good base run. But the highlight of the week was a smooth Tempo effort out Mexican Ditch during which I averaged a 8:17 pace and a 170 HR for a one-hour interval. The Tempo proved a good challenge and actually felt pretty comfortable right at the edge where the steady effort fights with motivation. I really enjoy the hard workout. I felt no echoes of the Tempo during a smooth shake out in the cool of Friday evening.

That cool evening turned into a blistering north wind as a small group of Carson Runners arrived to get in a long session on Saturday morning. For some crazy reason, Abbey wanted to climb the ridges from Centennial Park toward the high Goni Road near the McClellan Peak summit. I'd hoped to start off easier but the group seemed motivated to test will against wind-chill. So up we went into sideways snow-squalls and the daunting headwind for 2,000 feet in about four miles. Most of the group turned back after the climb, so Abbey and I continued down the descending road eventually heading to the excellent single-track around Deadmans Trailhead and Washoe Lake. The wind had sucked so much energy from us that we took the rolling return to Centennial at an easy pace. I tried to make up some time at the end (toward my 4-hour goal) but the wind was miserable and the car looked welcoming.

By Sunday the wind and my wind-weariness had settled enough to make up a bit of time and wrap the week with a loop through Gold Canyon and Dayton. Felt good to get warmed up again.

Last week I reported on a visit to Ascent Physical Therapy and some focus on strengthening the stabilizing muscles and connectors around the hip and pelvis. Kevin had also provided me with a slight heel-lift to get my legs and pelvis a bit more even. I had worried about changing anything in my running stride beyond strength, endurance, and flexibility, and questioned why any heel-lift would be relevant. When I asked Kevin about this on a follow-up, he simply laughed at me. The insert was for my daily shoes, not my trail shoes! Makes much more sense to me now. Nice. Some new exercises and stretches coming into play.

I hope it's warming up on Antelope Island. We will be there very soon!

Week Summary 2/24/2013

Monday

Hot Springs Walk: 3.0 mi (+83 ft); 13:49 pace

Tuesday

Ditch and Deadtruck OB: 8.3 mi (+823 ft); 10:53 pace
Thursday
Mexican Dam OB (Tempo): 10.4 mi (+197 ft); 8:50 pace
Friday

Chocolate Factory OB: 4.7 mi (+271 ft); 10:05 pace

Saturday
Centennial to Deadmans Loop: 17.1 mi (+3,394 ft); 12:34 pace
Sunday
Gold Dayton Loop: 6.6 mi (+579 ft); 10:33 pace

Weekly Totals: 50.1 mi (+5,346 ft); 9:15:04 on trail

A little recovery time...

I followed up the fun of the American Canyon 50K with a week of nice and easy runs without a focus other than simple recovery, working out the kinks of last Saturday's nice effort. Looking for some variety and a bit of varied terrain, I visited some trails I had not been on in a while due to snow-cover. I started with some rolling hills between Goni Road and Centennial Park, visited the gradual and steady climbs of Ash Canyon, and finished with some muddy trails north of Virginia City.

We had a big Carson Area Runners group for Saturday's cruise in Ash Canyon. I went a bit faster than my target but it was such fun running with the group; we were even joined by some cross-country guys from Carson High.

I also visited Kevin at Ascent Physical Therapy to work out some kinks and begin some long-term maintenance. Because he is also a local race promoter (Winter Trail Series) and pretty avid runner himself, I thought he might bring good insight to keeping the engines in good condition. So far, I'd say, it seems like a very good idea. Kevin's scar-tissue tooling was brutally successful -- I got some bruising from that helpful torture. His initial evaluation was interesting and ended highlighting that my right-side hamstring  response (and long ago injury) to my ever-so-slightly titled gait might be influenced by my left leg being slightly shorter than my right. We very cautiously added about 4 millimeters of drop to my left shoe (a small wedge) to see if the hamstring changes its response. I'm a little concerned about altering my gait at all so we will be monitoring this closely. My runs since then, adding about 4 millimeters of heel-to-toe drop to my left Bondis, have been very comfortable. Good, so far. But does this really amount to a big difference on varied trail terrain when the legs are constantly working at different "lengths" and strides?

Now begins the move toward the Buffalo 100. The training schedule looks mean and I'm looking forward to getting into it. The weather's been beautiful lately, but the forecast is conspiring a return of the snow. Here goes.

Week Summary 2/17/2013

Tuesday

Ash Canyon Shorts: 3.0 mi (+453 ft); 10:38 pace

Thursday

Goni Hills East: 6.4 mi (+1,055 ft); 11:19 pace
Saturday
Ash Canyon and V&T: 11.2 mi (+1,258 ft); 10:15 pace
Sunday
Seven Lasso: 6.0 mi (+718 ft); 10:45 pace

Weekly Totals: 26.6 mi (+3,485 ft); 4:43:07 on trail

American Canyon 50K Report

1st Place (M): Aaron Summerhays 4:16:05
1st Place (F): Erin Lostracco, Scottsdale, AZ 5:01:42

Darren: 10th, 4:53:49 (a PR for 50K with real hills).
DCraig: 32nd, 5:39:17 (PR 50K)

As the week ended in blustery, bone-chilling snow squalls, I looked forward to dropping to the west-side and starting the race season at the American Canyon 50K. Because this early season race is all about training for the year's 100s, I got up at 4 AM (the common pre-100 wake-up call) and was soon on the road to the starting line at the Auburn Overlook Park in Auburn, California. I stopped in Reno to pick up Darren, in route.

You could not ask for better starting conditions -- cool clear sky, slight breeze, and a relatively (for February) dry trail. The 50K event had 103 entries accompanied by a smaller contingent in the 25K and 15K, and the combined group clustered around Harlan Reymont RD for the 8 AM start. In the early morning chill, my hands were frozen but I was comfortable in shorts and a couple short-sleeved capilene shirts. We expected it to get much warmer as the day progressed; in the end it worked out perfectly.

I scooted out near the front at the start, but let the speedy boys and girls move by me and away. Darren slipped by me in the first mile as I maintained a tearful focus on the descent to No Hands Bridge. For some reason my eyes fill with tears on descents, especially on cold days (but not uncommon in any temperature; I'm not sad or nothin', I really don't understand it), and in the fast-moving group on the early single-track I had to concentrate on each step until the trail opened up. It was a little nerve-wracking; I didn't want to hit-the-dirt with the pack all around me.

I hit No Hands Aid Station (AS) at 4.3 miles in about 35 minutes, a brisk start but a pretty easy-going downhill. I grabbed a GU and skipped right through the AS.  Soon after, I met up with David from Napa as we began the climb to Highway 49, taking the "shortcut" as the 50K split from the 25K. Prudence from Tahoe City caught us on the climb and we were soon at the Highway 49 AS at 1:05 about 7 miles in. I had already begun my fuel regimen of one gel every 30 minutes and my single hand-held 20-oz bottle was now empty. I would stick with two gels and 20 ounces of water every hour for the duration; this was augmented by a little Coke and a few potato bits at a couple aid stations.

As we dropped down along the American River, David finally mentioned that he's been enjoying some sub-5-hour 50Ks and would turn it on soon. He was great to talk to, but I knew then that maybe I was going a bit fast given I was running with him and Prudence, although both claimed to be out for some training this early in the season. It wasn't long before they pulled away and I entered the nice solitude of long-distance trail running.

I felt good on the climb toward Maine Bar, though a couple guys and gals passed me. I hit the half-way point at just over 2:30 and was soon at the Maine Bar AS after a nice cruise on some beautiful single-track. This trail is really top-notch. The muddy spots increased as the day thawed, even becoming tacky later on, but there were relatively few bogs to navigate. Most of the time it's easy contouring almost perfect oak and pine forest trail -- some sun and lots of grove-like shade.

I took a first S-cap just after Maine Bar at Mile 17 or so. The steady gradual down-hill with occasional small rises allowed me to keep a pretty good pace, but I was soon looking forward to some hiking at Goat Hill, a stiff bump in forward progress about halfway from Maine Bar to Highway 49. The climb starts at Mile 21 and climbs about 400 feet in a half-mile or so. (A nice obstacle at Mile 90 of Western States!).

And then I kicked a rock for no good reason and the slight stumble and correction marked the beginning of some mild hamstring cramps. I was fine if I didn't make any lateral motions and, in general, the cramp wasn't too bad, mostly expressing itself as a twinge at any transition from downhill to uphill or vice versa. Anyway, my pace became more erratic as I approached the Highway 49 AS. The course has a few more stiff little ups-and-downs prior to the highway so that was expected. And Darren and I had expected some difficulties at Mile 22 given that that was our longest outing of the season prior to this. Not surprisingly, or as self-fulfilling prophecy, Darren too ran into some cramps at Mile 22. But as Footfeathers commented later, "Anyone running a race this early in the year better not be peaking and better have some issues later in a 50k."

Still, it was good to begin the mind games that keep forward momentum, slow as it might get at times. The downhill to No Hands was actually pretty good. Happily the twinges had subsided and there was no unexpected fatigue in the quads or ITs, excellent. Let's hope that pattern continues.

I pulled off one of my shirts at No Hands and began the climb to the finish. I was surprised that I could keep a pretty good pace on the gradual climb, only hiking on the true steeps. Checking my watch, I was happy I was going to set a nice PR and be below six hours in a 50K for the first time. Finish lines are always fun, of course, and it was great to climb to the grassy finish and finally catch up with Darren.

Great to be into the new season, and regardless of, or because of, the challenges that ultras present, it's just plain fun. A 27-minute PR reflects the success of discipline and training combined with more experience, along with a growing desire to be a bit more competitive. In similar and speedier fashion, Darren's outing was his best 50K time since Folsom Point, an event without much climbing. A good sign for good things ahead.  It's what we do...

Gear: Patagonia Software; Injini socks; La Sportiva Crosslites 2.0; Garmin 310XT; at least 11 GUs  and 4 S-Caps; one 20-oz handheld. Oakley shades, courtesy of Bikes and More, Winnemucca, NV.

Week Summary 2/3/2013

Tuesday

V&T Grade OB: 5.1 mi (+268 ft); 9:49 pace

Wednesday

Edgewood Loops (CA): 5.0 mi (+643 ft); 9:40 pace
Friday

EF Treadmill: 2.9 mi (+0 ft); 10:21 pace

Saturday
American Canyon 50K: 31.6 mi (+5,007 ft); 10:43 pace

Weekly Totals: 44.6 mi (+5,919 ft); 7:47:30 on trail

 

Ready to Begin...

The American Canyon 50K is less than a week away, and like any good training schedule, the past couple weeks have seen some great focus and some relaxing breaks. I cycled between some good Tempo and Long runs, learning to Walk (an important workout), and skipping a few days to handle some work.  

Also in the mix was a great weekend when all the Young Mountain Runners gathered at Sorensen's Cabins below Hope Valley. We were snow-bound and didn't get any running in, but we had a 3-hour snowshoe on the beautiful Saturday. It was a great time talking running and horses and planning the logistics of a trail and equine season.

The trails are starting to clear up a bit but super-icy spots remain and the gravity-sucking mud bogs are expanding. But, hey, it's only the first of February, we can't expect too much more. 

Might have had my best training run of the season at Prison Hill with the Carson Area Runners yesterday. We had pretty large group (looks like we are all getting antsy for the trails to clear), and we cruised the single-track of the North Loop (a true favorite) after circum-navigating the southern flank of the Hill. Nice to keep a sub-10 pace for the two hours. I hope it feels that good next week!  Let the season begin...

Week Summary 2/3/2013

Tuesday

Mexican Prison OB: 7.9 mi (+1,242 ft); 11:30 pace

Wednesday

Centennial Loop: 4.4 mi (+595 ft); 10:31 pace
Friday

Whites Creek OB: 5.8 mi (+673 ft); 11:01 pace

Saturday
Prison Hill Loop: 10.9 mi (+1,580 ft); 9:48 pace
Saturday
Ophir Grade OB: 6.1 mi (+677 ft); 9:51 pace

Weekly Totals: 35.0 mi (+4,768 ft); 6:21:37 on trail
JanuaryTotals: 150.3 mi (+12,445 ft); 30:32:54 on trail

Week Summary 1/26/2013

Tuesday

Nimbus OB (Folsom Lake Area): 6.0 mi (+54 ft); 10:04 pace
Nimbus Walk: 3.1 mi (+45 ft); 13:48 pace
Wednesday

Empire OB: 3.7 mi (+15 ft); 9:55 pace
Thursday

Carson River Flats (Tempo): 8.7 mi (+65 ft); 8:49 pace

Saturday
Sorensens Snowshoe: 5.4 mi (+1,261 ft); 22:23 pace

Weekly Totals: 27.0 mi (+1,439 ft); 6:41:46 on trail

Flats hurt... but good

Week Summary - January 20, 2013

The trails are still snow-bound and the deep-freeze has solidified the tracked trails into ankle-crushing textures where any pace results in a constant stumble. We need a few warm days to relieve the inversion and soften the snow -- snowy trails are fun, ice-sculpted tracks not so much.

So I kept it simple this week. Some workload forced me on to the treadmill for a spin and I enjoyed some cross work with core and a short jog mid-week. Goni Road was a nice surprise. Good hard-pack snow that the big trucks that usually work the quarry are currently avoiding. It provides some nice elevation gain and even gets into some nice air above the inversion.

Darren on Fort Churchill Road - Mile 12

To get out of the snow for some mileage, Darren and I hit the dry (!) dirt of Fort Churchill Road and got in a steady 22 miles with basically no elevation change. Easily a PR pace for 20+ miles, but I'm paying for the unvarying routine of pounding out the mileage. I have a growling IT and some nice leg soreness in general. Nothing undue for a good week of training. It felt great to run the distance, but I'm accustomed to variations brought on by steady climbs, power hiking, speedy descents, and occasional interval flats. The Fort Churchill Road allows none of that, you just go. There's probably benefit in testing the engines with that type of effort, and my next runs at American Canyon 50K and Buffalo 100 lack major climbs, so I need to be prepped for some steady turnover. Those courses do, however, have a few stout hills that provide variation, and wouldn't it be nice to have something between a 10- and 11-minute pace at American Canyon. Seems a good target for three weeks from now!

Feeling much better after a Sunday shake-out around Virginia City. It's also a good sign that the snow on the dirt tracks is softening up. Certainly because it's probably 20 degrees warmer up here than down in the valleys; nice to be breathing above the inversion too!

The Young Mountain Runners will rendezvous this week in Reno. Celebrating some milestone birthdays and a 50th Anniversary. Some Age Category changes take place this year as both Dennis and Mary move into the 70+ category. Hey, keep going...

Tuesday

EF Treadmill: 4.3 mi (+0 ft); 10:32 pace

Wednesday

Empire OB: 3.7 mi (+30 ft); 10:05 pace
Thursday

Goni Road Hill Climb: 7.6 mi (+1,723 ft); 11:18 pace

Saturday
Fort Churchill Road OB: 22.2 mi (+269 ft); 9:43 pace
Saturday
VC Circuits: 5.8 mi (+456 ft); 10:22 pace

Weekly Totals: 43.6 mi (+2,477 ft); 7:23:59 on trail

Hitting Stride in the Re-Set Week

Hill Repeats Anyone?

Week Summary (1/13/2013)

This was a re-set week at the start of the build-up to the American Canyon 50K. Resting the engines for the week, it probably couldn't have been better timing. After a cold start, temperature spiked near 60° at mid-week and then plunged to sub-zero by the weekend. This meant the previous snows melted, creating pooled and water-lined trails. These were then flash-frozen on Wednesday night and frosted with a few inches of new snow. Wait, this isn't a weather-blog! In summary, it was a difficult week to navigate the trails. In fact, on Wednesday, the warmest day of 2013, I had to bail (almost literally) and just go home early.

But what to expect? It's a western Nevada winter, it is what it is. Regardless, the weekend brought a little competition in the form of the Centennial Slug It Out 10K. This little event is part of the Winter Trail Series put on by Ascent Physical Therapy. Because Kevin didn't have a Zamboni available to groom the ice-covered trails, he adapted the course to the conditions and the event went ahead under a bright Saturday morning and a starting temperature of a biting 7°. Twenty-nine hearty runners lined up for the 10K, with a slightly smaller group sampling the 5K course. 

Centennial Freeze Out:  7° and ready to go...

My training and the rested engines of the re-set week served me very well. Although the 5.7-mile (modified "10K") course had little climbing I used the small hills to good advantage and concentrated on simply getting good turnover.  Brett Long was uncatchable as usual. We started one-two but I quickly watched him pull away on his quality strides. It was a brand new experience to cruise for a while in second place, knowing there's a group right behind me though it appears I've the trail all to myself. Then the 15-year old Ethan caught me as he dashed up to the race's highpoint turnaround. 

On the descent I was passed by two others. Patrick, running to his tunes, would kindly remove the appropriate ear-bud so that we could mutter "good job" or "damn it's cold" each time we yo-yo-ed our places. The out-and-backs were kind of fun, as the gave me the opportunity to encourage and say "hey" to Peter, Abbey, Sarah, and  all the others out there for a little run.

At about Mile 5, I moved past Patrick and Ryan knowing the turnaround hill was coming and that would be followed by a couple good rollers to the finish. If I could pace the hills, maybe I could even get close to the speedy Ethan; Brett was undoubtedly sipping hot-chocolate at the finish. What great motivation, again seeing the little trail of people as I cruised the descent and then hit the rollers pretty hard. At this point, I was sure Patrick or Ryan were in my shadow and would certainly catch me on the relatively flat finish. And yet, making the final little turn I glanced back and, wow, I was alone. 

Third Place in 44:57. First Place Masters, for a motivational and well-earned prize. The Winter Trail Series is a low-key event, and the turn-out was a little low due to the cold temperatures and sketchy trail conditions, but you win if you show up.  And this was good affirmation that the training regime pays dividends. 

Full results at Ascent Physical Therapy.

Congrats to everyone who showed up in the cold. Sarah got a nice age-category win; always good to carry a little prize for your effort (just a personal "prize", there aren't ribbons or medals for this fun run series). Thanks to Kevin and his crew for setting up and working through the difficulties. Keep going...

Tuesday

Carson River Flats: 5.5 mi (+79 ft); 11:00 pace

Wednesday

Carson River Flats: 2.0 mi (+30 ft); 10:44 pace
Thursday

Whites Creek Trail: 5.4 mi (+647 ft); 11:08 pace

Saturday
Centennial 10K: 5.7 mi (+448 ft); 7:54 pace
Saturday
VC Circuits: 5.9 mi (+386 ft); 10:41 pace

Weekly Totals: 24.4 mi (+1,590 ft); 4:09:14 on trail

Into the New Year...

Trail Option will be going through some changes over the coming weeks. I will be moving ever so slightly away from the "it's all about me" blog to a website about trails, specifically, and trail running, generally. My weekly training log will remain, as will news from the Young Mountain Runners team; hopefully these "it's all about me" diary entries will continue to motivate our team and our trail friends to keep going.

My new experiment, however, will focus on trails. This focus will provide information about trail conditions, location, and description. I'll have maps, statistics, photos, and the occasional video. Each trail will also have a Google Earth app along with kml and gps files for download. I'm also adding pages for occasional gear reviews, and periodic general commentary about trail running, and maybe some news from ultrarunning events that I find particularly motivating.

There will be some growing pains as I make the transition. I have registered the trailoption.com domain and will gradually unveil the the new site. I'm learning a lot of this on-the-fly, but it looks very interesting and I find a little change to be appealing.

Thanks much to the small but dedicated group of readers, along with all the occasional drop-ins, who visit Trail Option. I look forward to your comments as we take this trail and see where it goes.

Week Summary (1/6/2013)

I high-output week with some hill repeats in knee-deep snow and one of my best tempo workouts ever. Darren and I joined the Carson Area Runners on Saturday for some more snowy single-track on Prison Hill. The trails are in pretty good condition but the mileage and elevation are well-earned. Kudos to the Carson Runners who get out there and keep going, special thanks to Abbey for posting the runs and encouraging all to join in. At one point we caught up with George at Mexican Dam, and later crossed paths with Angela, Shannon, Jason, and Adam as we climbed the hill on our second lap. Crossed things up a bit with a snowshoe outing on Sunday. 

Tuesday

Larrys Hill Repeats: 4.2 mi (+989 ft); 19:03 pace

Wednesday

Empire OB: 3.7 mi (+13 ft); 10:23 pace
Thursday

Carson River Flats (Tempo): 10.0 mi (+118 ft); 8:52 pace

Saturday
Prison Hill Laps: 21.1 mi (+3,507 ft); 13:43 pace
Saturday
Emma Quarry Snowshoe: 4.0 mi (+473 ft); 22:16 pace

Weekly Totals: 43.1 mi (+5,100 ft); 10:01:12 on trail

Snow Day and Carson Area Runners - Prison Hill (Photo: Darren Young)