Its a funny thing as you get fitter, faster and stronger; even thought the races stay the same, they never seem to get any easier and if anything, the challenges imposed on ones self only prove to make things more difficult. 

This is how the Chuckanut turned out for me over the weekend… difficult. 

I didn’t have the ideal lead up to the race , coming down with a cold on Tuesday, I suffered thought the congestion and achy head for a couple of days before deciding to stay home for the day on Thursday in the hope of kicking it for the weekend.  Friday was marginally better and come Saturday morning I just was too excited to notice any lingering symptoms. 

Stacey and I had travelled down from Vancouver to Fairhaven after work on Friday and spent the night at the Old Fairhaven Inn.  Last year, I chose to car pool down on the morning of the race and wanted to afford myself the luxury of the sleep in this year, and the 6am start was far more welcome than the 4:30am start of last year. 

I checked in, got my gear sorted, packed a drop bag for Stacey who was kind enough to be my crew for the day and then met up with friends to trade training tales, and share in each others nervous energy.  Krissy Moehl did a great job of rounding everyone up on time and got us all on our way. 

post race smiles

I didn’t really have too much of a plan for the race on the day, just some rough splits to and from aid station 3, and a lofty goal of running sub 5 hours.  As we started out on the interurban trail, I was well aware that the first 10k were all on mostly flat hard packed trail and thought that I could run this section at a much faster pace than last year.  I managed to keep pace with Hozumi for a few k’s off the start and then settled into a slightly slower pace for the remainder of the stretch out to aid station 1. 

Rolling into Aid on at around 47 minutes I was expecting to see Stacey and Betty and was looking forward to shedding my Helly Hansen base layer and gloves before I hit the fun stuff, but unfortunately I couldn’t see them anywhere, so slightly confused I carried on and set off on the more enjoyable ‘middle 18′ of the race.  I was planning on eating while I ditched my gear at aid 1, but seeing I didn’t stop, I didn’t eat and took off on the first climbing section a bit hungry and a bit confused.  

The next 25 km or so were a struggle.  I met the crew at aid 2 and ditched my gear, I also met up with Ray and Tania shortly after and it was nice to have some familiar running buddies to climb up Cleator Road with.  I wasn’t feeling strong at all and I had originally planned (dreamed) on trying to run this whole section.  Turned out I was more than happy to hike the steeper parts and have a chat on the way up.  

Aid #2, happy to see Stacey and to change shirts

A quick pee break before the ridge and I still wasn’t really feeling it just yet.  I have run the ridge a few times and its clearly the most enjoyable part of the race.  The last time I ran it was in training with Tom, Coo and Stefan and we really smoked it, drawing off each others pace (until I tripped and got dropped, that is).  Unfortunately this time, I entered the trail alone and put in a really weak effort of running the ridge.  I did catch a few runners and found a small pack to run with near the end, but for the most part I was plodding along tentatively, mostly trying to avoid the onset of some calf cramping that would soon hinder the next few hours of my race. 

I still wasn’t feeling it when I got to Lost Lake Road and forced down another gel, hoping the sugar would give me the boost I was searching for all morning.  Tania had caught up again and it was nice to have a chat (well mostly it was nice of her to listen to me whinge) before putting my head down and beginning the grunt up towards Fragrance Lake. 

The trail quickly turned from a slog into some nice flowing downhill and normally I would welcome the relief, however today, for reasons that wont keep me awake at night, I was struggling with some severe calf cramping and I struggled to find a gait on the downhill that would let me keep my legs turning over without locking up below the knees.  I spent the next 15 minutes in an awkward shuffle round to aid 4 and the base of chinscraper.  

Chinscraper was a nice hike, I didn’t attempt to run any of it, and it gave me time to fuel up on coke and chips, both which I had been craving for over an hour.  The sugar and salt hit the spot and I had a renewed wave of energy and lifted spirits as I attacked chinscraper with my determined stride.  My calf’s were still twinging and as the summit came quickly the level running surface was to play havoc on my legs. I was forced to stop entirely at the view point and could only watch in confusion as my calf muscles were twisting and pulsating on the back of my legs, trying to burst out from the skin which contained them.  It was all a bit weird and took a few minutes to pass, before I was able to run comfortably again, but as quickly as the contortions came on it was gone and I found myself off and flying back down Cleator Rd. 

Blasting up Chinscraper on a sugar high

At this stage I had been running for over 3 hours and had completed all of the ’fun’ parts of the course but what do ya know … I had finally started to feel good!  

Unsure whether it was mental (5km down then the home stretch ahead of me), or physical (half litre of coke and a handful of thermolytes) I didn’t really wait around to question it, instead I leaned forward, lead with my hips and let my 180lbs do all the work and flew down the mountain.  No one stood a chance, and when I was asked over lunch how many people I passed on the way down, my reply was simply, ‘everybody’.  

I rolled into aid station 5 feeling strong and confident and was happy to mill around for some oranges and bottle refills.  I had previously been watching my 5 hour goal slip away slowly all day, it only dawned on me as I was leaving aid 5 on the final stretch home that I had 47 minutes to get over the finish line, exactly the same amount of time it took me to run this section on the way out.  Game on. 

Or not… 

Turns out it is a lot easier to run 10k on fresh legs than it is on the tired, cramping, anvils that I was trying to propel under my body…  Even the elites can attest to the long hard slog that is presented at the end of this race and the battle is as mental as it is physical.  Leg turn over is key and if you get stuck running alone it does your head in trying to keep moving without anything to chase.  I battled with the usual desire to walk, crawl or even roll my broken body in for the last k, but toughed it out and ran in to finish in 5:09:51 – a PB for the course and 20 minutes faster than last year.  

must ... keep ... running ...

There was a great turn out of BC runners and it was nice to be able to have a chat to everyone and trade trail tales after the race.  The day was filled with exceptional performances and smoking fast times and this race is quickly becoming the hot 50k of the early season and is the 3rd largest 50k in America with over 300 finishers. 

Thanks to Stacey, Betty, Linda, Mandy and Andrew for thier support out on the course and for the good company and laughs at Archers over a post race beer.  I’ll been keen to tackle this race again next year and will continue to chase that 5 hour goal and my new Chuckanut nemesis, Ray, who for the second year in a row managed to squeeze in ahead. 

Final thoughts:

50km is far.
5 hours is a long time to be running.
Coke = the anti-bonk.

I love the Dirty Duo. 

This race represents everything that is mountain biking. The bike course, a 30km trek across some of the North Shore’s finest XC mountain bike trails, has everything that got us all into mountain biking in the first place: sh#%tloads of mud, log rides, stunts, gnarly roots everywhere, gnarly climbing, gnarly descending (read: Ned’s), and of course, great people.  And what would the Dirty Duo be without snow?  Hehehe… 

Even though this really is Pricey’s blog page I’m not gonna start carrying on about what HR zone I was in on Old Buck (take a guess), or what my average cadence was throughout the race when at my VO2 max and what I ate on Wednesday and so-on (no offense fit people).I’m gonna tell you what I love about this event & why you should do it: 

1. THE LASAGNE.  The organizers truck in about 14 pallets of lasagna for the finishers.  That’s just unbelievable.
2. THE VOLUNTEERS. There were people at the top of Ned’s in a foot of snow, soaked to the bone yelling at everyone and giving out gummy bears.  Even when I came thru cramped up to the gills they cheered me on.  You lot are awesome.
3. THE DIALOGUE.  Runners telling riders “they’re crazy” for riding down Ned’s in those conditions, and the riders holding the exact same opinion about the runners….
4. THE FANS.  I’m slow and unfit and yet there were people all over the course shouting & cheering me on, as if I was challenging for first place. 
5. THE COURSE.  It’s just awesome.  C’mon, an XC race with Ned’s Atomic Dustbin stuffed in the middle?  Enough said. 

I’ve done this race before, and it is the stuff above that made me come back.  This was my second crack at the Dirty Duo, my first on a relay team. 

As you already know my partner was the one and only Chris Price (aka Pricey). He’s fast, he’s fit, and when something sets him off he’s gonna run hard. I knew he’d set a fast time.  So off he goes – he puts the pedal down and wouldn’t you know out of the relay men it he was third or fourth back. 

(What I haven’t told you yet is that I’ve not trained whatsoever in 8 months.  I’m a Weekend Warrior.  If I have a lactate threshold I wouldn’t know where to find it.) 

I’ve got a bit of pressure on me now!  Wicked. So off I go, do-dah, do-dah, trying not to explode in the first 10 metres.  I made it to the cemetery thinking ‘don’t look at your heart-rate monitor you jack-ass’, so I didn’t.  I just kept going.

Things seemed to be going well until I lost 7 minutes due to a wrong turn around Circuit 8.  Ah what the hell, I’m a Weekend Warrior anyhow so I figure just leave it alone and keep going and have fun. 

Except I can’t leave it alone, can I…. the thing with Weekend Warriors is that they (we?) think they’re invincible and as such I decide to go full bore to make up time.  By the time I get to Old Buck I’m pretty much cooked.  Definitely not the place you want to end up and be ‘pretty much cooked’.  What do I do now?  I do what any other Weekend Warrior does: he reflects on the heinous bet he made with his friends just before the race.

Two of our friends, Paula Armstrong & Katie Dreschel (aka the Bushwhacking Barbies), bet us that we couldn’t beat them by 40 minutes overall.  Sacre-bleu! The wager: losing team buys winning team dinner.

Refreshed with my new-found enthusiasm to beat those two cheeky monkeys and the desire to still win the bet, off I go again.  Feeling good, climbing not so bad.  But I’m fading before the top of Ned’s, thinking to myself “This is not good….”

But I still manage to get to the top of Ned’s because I’m also thinking “We’ve gotta beat these chicks and that I’ll make time up on the descent right?”

WRONG.  I do the descent like a drunken sailor and of course, just before Bottle Top both of my legs figure it’s a good time to have a Monstrous Leg Cramp Party.  Together.  Leg cramps are not fun, especially when you’re on the side of the mountain in freezing rain, uber-tired wondering if you’re losing a bet.

But what do I care, I’m a Weekend Warrior!  I keep pedaling and eventually finish the race, and boy was I glad it was over.  The whole time I was cramping and freezing on Ned’s I was thinking this race should be renamed ‘A Really Bad Idea’. 

The end result was the time posted by those cheeky Bushwhacking Barbies was only 33 minutes slower than us. Meaning they won the bet.  I hope they like McDonald’s…….

For anyone who’s ever ridden in this race & finished it my hat goes off to you. This race is not easy.  It’s not your everyday ‘hey, let’s grab a latte and go for a bike ride’ kind of course.  It’s hard, it’s nasty, and if you’re a sucker like me, it can turn out to be expensive.  However it’s all totally worth it.  The people are rad, & there is FREE LASAGNE!!!

And of course congrats to the Bushwacking Barbies…not just because they won the bet but also because they scooped up 1^st place in their category for the relay.  WAY TO GO!!!

PS – on a sad note, and because I was having so much fun, my brand new MTB shoes went missing from the transition area of the race (behind Jaycee House).  They were Shimano M086 shoes, black with white trim:

If you heard of a pair being found at the race or mistakenly picked up, or god forbid knows about a stolen pair please message or call me. It was only my second ride on the shoes, they were brand spanking new.

Cheers
Chris McGregor
604 318 7478

The 10th anniversary of the Dirty Duo this past weekend was nothing short of living up to its name. 

The weather in Vancouver in the days leading up to the race had taken a turn for the worse and the fast, dry trails I had trained on the week prior were left sodden down low, buried in a foot of fresh at the top and a dirty/slushy mess in between.  It was wicked!

The number of race options at this event guarantees to draw a large and diverse crowd with 50km, 25km, and 15km run distances, 30km ride distance or 25km/30km run/ride solo or relay.  I had chosen to run the 25km leg as part of a relay team with my buddy Chris McGregor doing the ride leg. 

Our friends Paula and Katie had also decided to team up and enter into the relay category as an all girls team and it didnt take long before a few jokes here and there turned into a friendly game of which team would come in first and by how much.

Girls vs Boys

The Challenge:  Team Pricey Runs vs Team Bushwacking Barbies.
The Handicap: 40 minutes for the Girls team.  20 minutes per leg.
The Stakes: Losing team buys winning team dinner.

The Race:

When I left my house in the morning it was wet / cold / and raining.  Needless to say I was pretty happy that the rain had stopped as I lined up for the 8am start along with the solo guys, ultra’s and other relay racers.  I was super relaxed at the start, this was primarilya fun race with friends and although I always like to run my best, I had low expectations and a singular goal of making sure I got the extra 20 minutes on my leg over the girls team.

The course starts off on some wide roads running downhill followed by some flats which gives racers a good chance to spread out and find their place in the pack.  I was in no hurry off the start and was happy to come across Jarhead in the pack and took the time to have a quick chat and introduce myself before getting stuck into the more technical running that would be the next 2 and a half hours. 

The first thing I noticed upon hitting the trail was just how wet it was, and I knew that I would need to be careful if I wanted to stay on my feet for the whole race.  I must have placed myself in the front group of the first wave of starters and for the first 40 minutes or so I was often running alone, working my way thought the foggy forest, occasionaly being pulled by the glance or a racer turning the corner ahead and then pushed on by the sounds of wet foot falls intensifying from behind.

I did manage some company along the Bridle Path and that company came in the form of a couple of out of towners, Brandon Weber from Seattle running his first 50km (finishing 3rd OA) and Mel Bos from Kelowna running on a mixed relay team.  Good company always helps on tough races, and while we all had our strengths and weakness on the trail our paths would cross often as we shuffled positions all the way over to old buck.

Old buck was a grind.  I fuelled at the bottom and then just got stuck in and caught back up to Mel who was climbing at an inviting tempo, so I settled in and let her drag me all the way to the top.  We pinned on to a 50km runner when we hit the snow line and had a nice little train cutting thought the fresh snow at the lead up to Neds.

Neds Atomic Dust Bin should have been named Neds Icey Slosh Pit on the day.  My first foot step on the technical mountain bike trail saw my leg absorbed by a foot deep puddle of slush and for the next 10 minutes each subsequent footstep suffered the same fate.  I was however, very quick and nimble down Neds, my knee held up nicely and despite the treacherous conditions I was able to bomb the fast downhill.  I had fully recovered from the climbing and by the time I had hit the bottle top trail with a few km left to race, I was feeling really strong and having a great time.

Fishermans to Homestead saw me running with Brandon again before he dropped me on Homestead and I ran the rest of the race in alone.  I had a great time charging thought the massive pools that had accumulated on the Diamond trail and felt really fresh and strong as I came out near the cemetery to charge across the line and tag in McG. 

I finished feeling great.  My body was telling me that I had run a hard race and the conditions combined with the technical nature of the trail attested to that.  I was really happy with my effort and time and know that with the right recovery this week I should be in good shape to run a strong Chuckanut this weekend.

More than anything I loved the team aspect of this race.  Running is often a solo pursuit and one that I don’t often get to enjoy with friends outside of the community.  It is a unique and rare opportunity to be able to race on the shore along side my buddy McGregor and regardless of the result I wouldn’t have wanted to do this any other way.

so … Pricey Runs vs Bushwhacking Barbies … ?

Well … they got us in the end by a few minutes (with handicap), but there is no shame as they finished first in the all girl category with our team finishing a respectable 9th out of 29 relay teams.

All in all – it was a stellar day, and a quality event with something for everyone - a highly reccomened day for anyone interested in getting dirty next year.

My buddy Tom has started teaching a Strength and Conditioning class at the new Cocoon Athletics facility in Vancouver. 

The class looks like a solid workout with a focus on functional and explosive movements incorporating techniques with bodyweight, kettlebells, kickboxing, heavy ropes and more.

Having trained with Tom previously I know that this class will challenge everyone from the beginner to even the fittest individuals.  Tom is a class act and really knows his stuff.

Check out the class below and if your in Vancouver check out Cocoon Athletics @ Main and Broadway.

Earlier on in the year I posted out a few race goals for 2010.  Now, with training going full swing, and 2 races coming up I need to put back out the importance of each race in relation to the other. 

Listed below on importance are my first 1/2 year goals:

A Goal: Miwok 100km (Sub 11 hours) – On track
B Goal: Chuckanut 50km (Sub 5 hours) – On track
C Goal: Dirty Duo (top 3 relay finish) – Not likely, but this race will be a ton of fun.

Stay tuned for the Dirty Duo race report this time next week…

Seek the Peak V3.0

A couple of weeks ago, I faced a bit of a delimma. 

My training goals and my race goals clashed on the last weekend of February and in order to get in the time I needed on my Saturday run, it looked like I may have had to miss out on a unique opportunity to run in the World Snowshoe Classic which also doubled as the National Championships. 

The race was open to anyone, and I thought it would be neat to partake in such an event during the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver.  Pondering my options on a walk into work one sunny morning, my plan came to me as I spied Grouse mountain in the horizon as I paced through the West End. 

Last summer I had used the run from my apartment in English Bay in a couple of variations in order to get in some longer runs with a decent elevation gain and on remembering these runs my plan for Seek the Peak v3.0 was born.

My intention, to run to the top of Grouse Mountain, race in the Snowshoe Championships and then run home. 

 This is how it all went down…

Packed

While I had been planning this in my head for a little over a week, I actually left all the strategic planning to the last minute and only figured out the race start time on Friday night before the race.  From previous runs I have figured it would probably take me around 2 hours to get up to the top and with a 12pm race start, I figured that a 9am departure would be plenty.  I packed my winter running gear in my pack, strapped on my snowshoes and rain jacket, filled a bottle a set off at an easy pace. 

The run thought the park, over the bridge and up the Cap Pacific trail was simple enough, I never thought I would be rushed for time so just took it at a relaxed pace, stopped to fuel every 45 minutes or so and wasn’t too panicked when I go to the registration a bit behind schedule.  The process of registration actually took a bit longer than I expected (I hate filling out forms and waiting in lines) and by the time I had my race number and a handful of sharkies, I was a bit behind where I wanted to be and actually contemplated taking the gondola up to ensure I made the start line.

The start line is up there somewhere ...

Quickly I reminded myself that this run wasn’t so much about the race, but more of the expedition of getting myself to the start line on my own two feet.  I stuffed my race number in my pocket and took off along the Baden Powell, in search of the BCMC, which was my original plan.  However being pressed for time, I decided to hit up the grind for my ascent to the start line at the top of Grouse. 

Now the only thing I can remember about the grind is the thought that kept running through my head … “this is probably not your brightest idea..”  it was all I could repeat to myself step after step.  I was feeling a bit rushed, and I know my HR was maxing out as I honestly thought I might just miss the start of the race at 12pm.  So I put my head down, uttered my misery mantra over and over in my head, and blasted to the top.  I made it up by 11.30am, plenty of time to refuel, find friends, put on my pants and get to the start line.

World class athletes ... and me

By the time all the athletes had gathered in the starting shoot, national champs in the front and recreational runners tucked in behind I was actually feeling quite rested and ready to get going again.  If anything I had probably had a little too much rest as I was itching to get going as the RD Marc Campbell went over the course explaining the route. 

With the race underway, I spent the first few hundred meters running with friends Ray and Matt, but quickly backed off their pace as we entered the first single track loop, happy to work a little less and try to enjoy the run without the lung burn of racing hard right from the start.  The first loop put us back thought the starting shoot and then off for the climb up Dam Mountain. 

The initial climb is very gradual, on a wide open track and I just put my head down, and dug in for this climb before the track narrowed to single and began to wind thought the mountains, climbing steadily all the way up to Dam.  I started to hurt through this climb and was reduced to a hike, remanence of my hike up grouse still very present in my heavy legs. 

woooot!

The peak of Dam was rewarding, and I paused at the top momentarily to appreciate the climb and to try and ease the cramps that had hit my quads before I was game to use them on the flowing steep descents that followed.  Once I was ready to get going, I was able to stride it out down some of the rolling sections all the way out to Thunder bird ridge.  After a bit more climbing and a few tumbles on the way down, I got to the turn around point really ready to get over the finish line.

I was getting tired, and my footing was unsure and that in turn made for some unpleasant tumbles in the rolling fresh single track.  It wasn’t long before I was pretty wet, and resorting to sliding down some of the steeper descents.  The final few km’s were all downhill and that gave me a chance to really open up the legs and get some good speed going, and the run into the finishing chute was welcomed by my tired legs.

Finish.

I was happy to be done the race,  my legs were bagged, I was soaked and pretty cold and why I still had every intention of running back home, I didn’t think twice when Ray offered me a lift.  I defrosted my hands by the fireplace inside the chalet, had an internal argument with myself about how I was getting home and resigned to the fact that my happy place right now was in a warm shower followed by a nice refreshing beer. 

I took the ride home. 

I was just shy of 4 hours running, having only covered 24Km, with a total elevation gain of over 2,220 meters and while I didn’t complete what I had set out to achieve by missing the return run, I still had a great day out in the mountains and had fun in attempting a crazy idea.

Climbing ...

My Gear
Shoes – Salamon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX
Socks – Drymax trail running
Shorts – Adidas run
Pants – Luluemon outdoor sport pants
Base – Helly Hanson Dry
Shirt – Luluemon run
Jacket – Salamon Clima Pro
Snowshoes – Atlas RUN
Pack – Gregory Diablo
Hydration – Nathan Quickdraw elite
Fuel – Accelerade

I’m a bit late in posting this one but need to stay true to my commitment of getting my workouts written down and up on the blog. 

Its interesting to note, that in my mind last week was probably a bit on the thin side for training, but looking back at my notes I’m happy to see that it was a solid effort and I didn’t really miss a beat, considering all the Olympic madness going on right now.

A couple of standout days as well, with Mondays Method Naturalle style workout in the Vibrams and then a sweet long run to SFU on Saturday.

Monday 
Methode Naturalle – took the VFF’s out to the trails in Stanley park and ripped of some pull ups on the jungle gym near second beach, ran through to thrid beach and performed a set of 5 beach sprints on the nicely groomed sand then hit the trails up to prospect point, back to the gym at 2nd and then home – no watch, no HRM, no shoes.

Tuesday
Zone 3 - Lacte threshold workout 5 sets of 3X3 (8.4mph low, 8.9mph high)

Wednesday
AM Zone 5 – Speed work 4 sets of (2 mins @ 11mph with 4 recovery  @ 4mph) 
PM Circiut training.

Thursday
Was fortunate enough to witness Australian snowboarder Torah Bright win an Olympic gold medal in the women’s halfpipe.  I was also fortunate enough to get myself on TV in New Zealand, Australia and Canada waving the boxing kangaroo flag!

The Poduim - Aussie Gold!

Friday
Strength training – chest and shoulders.

Saturday
Sweet long run from downtown Vancouver out to SFU, round the university and back to the city.   Hozumi was kind enough to take me out on this route, mostly paved for a total of 40km.  We were out for about 3 hours and 45 minutes.   The pace was easy, zone 1ish, and my knee felt pretty good.  It was also a good chance to pick Hoz’s brain a little bit as he ran Miwok last year but sadly missed the lottery this year.

Loop of SFU

Sunday
Recovery (read: hungover and then drunk again).
I had an easy 2 hours scheduled, but indulged in the Olympics on Saturday night, I flagged the run and then caught the Canada USA hockey game with friends in the afternoon, beers flowed, and much fun was had despite the result of the game.

Notes:
Olympics are fun !!!

Its coming… the 3rd installment of my seek the peak series!!!

This time round, something new, creative and a little bit loopy… can I pull it off…? 

Check back in a little over a week for the details.

The real highlights of last week were not in my athletic pursuits rather the festivites happening in downtown Vancouver, with the first few days of the 2010 Winter Olympic games.  I decided to throw myself into the frey wholeheartedly and the only running over the weekend was from the bar to the porta potty.

Here are a few highlights snapped along the way:

Olympic flame at English Bay

Opening Ceremony Party - go NZ!

German Fan Fest

Friends @ German Fan Fest

Lunch

When at German Fan Fest ...

Canada!

High five!

Livecity Yaletown

Vancouver is absolutely buzzing right now and its going to be pretty hard to remain focussed on anything other than the Olympics, expecially living and working in the heart of it all. 

I’m off to the womens halfpipe medals on Thursday and get to see Canada vs USA in the mens curling on Monday.  Tuesday will see me with about 20 close friends at the Molson Canadian Hockey House, watching some games and then catching Sam Roberts in the evening.

Still to check out is the Irish House, Heinekin House, all the mens hockey games … and the other 101 random fun and free things to do in this special city!  Loving it!

Photo Credit goes to Stacey Harman / Becca Twa.

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a big heart and more often than not wear it proudly on my sleeve. It is in that vain that I feel its probably appropriate to share my heart on here… well… my heart rate training that is.

Recently I have been focused on heart rate training for a few reasons:

1. It works.
2. Time and conditions make it easy.
3. I have a specific goal I am preparing for.
4. Better training benefit for less stress on the body.

Below ill share a few visual representations of my HR training over the standard Zone 1, Zone 3 and Zone 5 training zones. 

Zone 1 – Aerobic Zone – Goal HR = 155-170

Zone 1 - Treadmill - Controlled Environment

Comparative to a run of the same length (approx 2 hours).

Zone 1 - Trail - Uncontrolled Environment

Points of interest:  Controlled environment allows for consistent pacing in which it is possible to hold ones heart rate at whatever the desired number with little room for fluctuations.  A trail run, while infinitely more fun maintains a similar average HR over the time but jumps around due to terrain and is harder to monitor and maintain a specific range.

Zone 3 - Lactate - Controlled envirnment

Points of interest: This workout is done in stages, 10 minute warm up then 5 sets of 3 minutes at lower end 3 minutes of higher end of my tested Zone 3.  This workout primarily teaches my body how to train removal of lactic acid produced from the high leg turnover.  Working at the high end provides the “filling sink” effect and toggling down to the lower end provides the “draining sink” effect.  HR fluctuations looks to be minimal through the spectrum of speeds in training zone 3.

Zone 5 – Aerobic Interval Training 

Zone 5 - Aerobic Intervals - Controlled Environment

Points of interest:  This workout is focused around my top speed, with a stint of 3 minutes at full tit, and then a full 6 minutes recovery at my lowest speed.  this is repeated for as many times as I can hold good form though the maximum effort.  HR spikes indicate high levels of intense work followed by a long recovery.

A final thought:

While these style of workouts are designed to maximize training time and ultimately make me a faster runner, I do think they have a place in my training program but should only be a small percentage of it. They are convienant when pressed for time, or when the weather is crap, but come March, it will be very hard to get me on a treadmill. 

If someone asked me the question, ‘will this make you faster than the next guy?’ my answer simply be… who cares?

Certainly not me. For every single person that I beat in a race there are dozens, hundreds maybe thousands(?) at any given race that are faster than me.

I train not to be faster than the next guy but to be the fastest that I can possibly be with the amount of time and resources I have for training. I set myself realistic and achievable goals related mostly to fun and gnarly race courses with a lofty time target that requites me to train my ass off and then race my heart out to get there.

I train not to race again the next guy, but to race against myself and for the love of running and racing… unless of course I’m racing against Coo. Then I run for the win, but only by 1 second.

Robson Square - Vancouver, BC

With the City getting into full on Olympic mode my training in the next few weeks is sure to be broken and scattered, so I’m glad to have this one tucked under my belt. 

My solid week at it looked a lot like this:

Monday
AM Yoga
PM  Strength Training: 5 WG PU, 10 BW Dips, 20 Renegade rows – 30lbs dumbells X 5 Sets

Tuesday
Rest
Physio IMS – EMS

Wednesday
Zone 3 - 15 minute warm up then 4 sets of 3 minutes @8.4(low) 3 minutes @8.9(high)
Stretching

Thursday
Zone 5 -  3 minutes @ 10mph with 6 minutes recovery @ 6mph – 4 sets, 10 mins warm up and 10 cool down.
Stretching

Friday
Strength Training: 5 WG PU, 10 BW Dips, 20 Renegade rows – 30lbs dumbells X 5 Sets

Saturday
Trail run @ UBC!!  a little over 2 hours.

Sunday
Zone 1 – Treadmill – 1.5 hours @ 7.9Mph – HR ~163bpm
Motivation:  A race across the Sky - Leadville Trail 100 MTB bike film from the 2009 Race where Lance won in a CR riding the last 7 miles on a flat rear tire.  Machine.  Legend.  Man with a plan.

Notes
1. Poison – 1 pint Granville Islande Winter Ale and 1 Corona.
2. Knee still prone to flare ups, but generally day to day feeling alot better.
3. Brilliant run outside on Saturday, felt strong and good to run with Tania, Katie, Ray and Jeremy.
4. Sundays recovery run, was HARD.  Very unmotivated, misery loves company and I wouldnt have done it if Katie didnt show up to run as well so cheers.

Got in about 5 hours total running this week, all in my Zone 1 training zone or ‘aerobic’ training zone.  The goal in this zone is to average my HR 155bmp min and 170bmp max.  For most Zone 1 workouts require a conscious slow effort, for my profile however it means I need to work harder that I usually would on a LSD run.  Actually its like this accross all my training zones – work harder = run faster – not really rocket science…

This is how it all went down.

Monday
AM Yoga
PM Zone 1 - Treadmill  – 1 hour @ 7.8Mph - HR  ~160bpm

Tuesday
Rest
Foam Roller Session / Massage

Wednesday
Strength Training: 5 WG PU, 10 BW Dips, 20 Renegade rows – 30lbs dumbells X 5 Sets
30 Minutes Pilates
Foam Roller Session / Massage

Thursday
Physio IMS – EMS

Friday
Strength Training: 5 WG PU, 10 BW Dips, 20 Renegade rows – 30lbs dumbells X 5 Sets

Saturday
Zone 1 – Treadmill – 2.5 hours @ 7.9Mph – HR ~166bpm

Sunday
Zone 1 – Treadmill – 1.5 hours @ 7.9Mph – HR ~163bpm

Notes
1. Poison – can’t seem to avoid the booze at all lately, 1 Granville Island Winter Ale, 2 glasses Red.
2. Felt like throwing up during pilates class, left after 30 minutes and resigned that pilates is for chicks.
3. Knee rehab is coming along nicely, love IMS and EMS, stretching and rolling.  Managing inflamation with ice is also helping.  All good habits to get into regardless of injury level.
4. Could have used Katies company on the treadmill this weekend.  Womens tennis and endurance planet podcasts had to substitute.
5. I miss running trails – need to get out there next weekend and run free.

The major focus for my training this week was physical therapy.  I really want to try and clear up this problem with my knee before the training volume starts to increase, so I dropped all but the necessary workouts this week.

Still a lot on the go.

Monday
Physical therapy: Yoga
Strength training:  5 x strict inside grip pullups, 10 x 40lb alternating dumbbell curls. 8 sets in 15 minutes

Tuesday
Zone 3 workout on treadmill.  15 minute warm up then 4 sets of 3 minutes @8.4(low) 3 minutes @8.9(high)

Wednesday
Strength training: 200 pushups in 9:00, standing dumbbell military press 40lbs 5 sets of 10.
Physical therapy: 20 minute foam roller session
Planning/Motivation: Training zones and planning @ Peak Performance.

Thursday
Zone 5 workout on the treadmill.  3 minutes @ 10mph with 6 minutes recovery @ 6mph – 3 sets, 10 mins warm up and cool down.

Friday
Physical Therapy:  Physio at City Sports.  Acupuncture (IMS) and electrical stimulation session.

Saturday
Zone 1 workout on the treadmill.  2 hours @ 7.8mph – HR average 163

Sunday
A few lazy laps of Circuit 8 on the mountain bike – just for fun.

Notes
1. Poison – 3 x Granville Island Winter ale, glass or two of red.
2. Treadmill – felt like a bit of a lab rat, but wanted to get all key workouts in this week with a minimum of added stress to my knee.  Felt pretty strong on all workouts and eventually found my happy place on Saturday morning after an hour of boredom thanks to the Australian open.
3. Acupuncture in my quad hurts, but distracts from knee pain, so I guess ill call that a success.  Had good response to this weeks physical therapy and will probably take the same approach to training this week to help in the healing process.  Foam rolling and stretching need to take as high as an importance as all the other stuff.
4. Had a solid meeting with Mike at Peak performance to discuss recent lab results.  Looks like I can make some significant improvement over the year if I can get healthy and strong – always fun to discuss the science behind training.
5.  I love riding my bike and working on basic skills on the technical Nth Shore trails.  Wasn’t really that into it on Sunday as I didn’t want to push the quad and knee too much in an unpredictable environment, but always have fun out on the bikes with McG.

aye aye aye captain.

I’ve decided to have a go at keeping a somewhat accurate log of my Miwok training.

At first I was just going to throw the distance/time of my long runs into my outlook calendar, but after thinking about it more, there really is a whole lot more involved with my preparation than simply just building mileage for my first 100k run.

I have a pretty busy schedule with a mix of run specific workouts, strength training, active recovery and all important rest.  Each week I’ll throw a recap with some highlights up onto the blog, specific workouts, learning’s, aches and pains, and notes on what is working and what isn’t.

This week in training…

Monday
Strength training:  21-15-9 reps of 40lb dumbbell squat press and burpees for time: 11:13
Motivation: Trans Rockies info night at NSA

Tuesday
AM: Boxing class
PM: Zone 3 workout on treadmill.  15 minute warm up then 3 sets of 3 minutes @8.4(low) 3 minutes @8.9(high)

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
AM: Boxing class
PM: LGRR track workout – 10X400 with 300m hard 100m recovery

Friday
Strength training:  200 pushups in 9:08, standing dumbbell military press 40lbs 5 sets of 10.

Saturday
Rest

Sunday
Long run 2 hours 15 minutes.

Notes

1. Poison – 6 x stubbies of Rickards White, 1 x shot absinthe, 1 x shot tequila
2. Body – right knee tendinitis a bit niggly at the beginning of long run Sunday, then periodically through out specifically on downhills.  Need to be more proactive in treatment, with yoga and massage and proper post workout stretching.  Will avoid squats until it starts to feel better.
3. Fuel – Long run fuel of 1 bottle Accelerade fruit punch flavour, 3 x Accelerade chocolate gels.
4. Overall – a good training week with all key workouts complete.  Couldn’t plan a Saturday morning run due to work commitments which allowed me to play a bit with friends on Friday night, finding the perfect balance for the week.