7/15/24 Mon- AM: Bike 1.5 hrs, 2300′ gain
Bike with Ben down to the first river spot at Big Trees State Park and back. Legs, specifically quads, felt worked on that last climb out from the river which is steady and long. Not surprising as I’ve 3 hardish running efforts over these past 3 days. On the way back, Ben and I talked about reaching our potential in our respective interests, his being climbing and mine in running. We talk about how the line gets muddled between reaching one’s potential and external comparisons. Like most people, my initial reaction after performance is to compare myself to the field around me, rather than comparing myself to previous performance. Ben points out that since I haven’t been in the sport THAT long (first trail race 2.5 years ago), you’re somewhat forced to compare yourself to others. Once you’ve got a few races under your belt, you can start building data to see how your performance is trending.
7/16/24 Tue- AM: Run 3:14 hrs, 3,400′ gain
Bear Trap Basin to Mt. Reba Loop, bringing me back to my first real summer of training which was the summer of 2022, 2 years ago up. That summer, I’d go on these insanely long and slow runs, logging 15 hours a week of “running” but going legit 15 min/mi pace.
This run itself required more problem solving than usual. To start off with, when I went to take out my Leki poles I realize that a glove has somehow fallen off and is missing. Next, 12 miles into my run, I get to the spot where I stashed a 40 oz Yeti of water….. only to find that it’s missing. I’m frustrated at first but do a pretty good job of letting things go. It’s such a huge waste of energy to stew on all the negative things about that situation- who would really steal such a thing, it’s going to be a lot of money to replace that, this is so unfair and I should just quit my route early, etc etc. Rather, I try to bring my attention to the positives which is that it’s a cloudy day and I still have enough water to get me to the next water source.
7/17/24 Wed- AM Run: 53 min, 180′ gain
I’m meeting up with my buddy John at Pinecrest today so I do a flat run out at Lyons Dam before meeting up with him. Aerobically on the run I feel about as fit as I’ve ever felt- I run the 7 miles at 7:30 min/mi avg pace putting out only steady effort and a HR of 142. However, my right IT band bugs me on the second half of the run, creating a pinching feeling on my knee. I’m pretty sure it’s stemming from yesterday’s big effort. It seems that these runs that over 3 hours, 3,000+ of gain tend to aggravate the IT Band and that bleeds into the next day. It’s a little frustrating as I feel the need to practice big days of gain and time for Run Rabbit Run 100 in 6 weeks.
7/19/24 Fri- AM Run, 1800′ gain
Top of the World Lollipop on the Arnold Rim Trail with Menso. The only other time I’ve run with Menso was at San Joaquin 50k, which was 7 months ago. Him and I ran the first 22 miles of that race mostly within sight of each other, only to have him drop as he finished 1st place to my 2nd place. I remember during that race if I just stuck the course then eventually he’d crack and I could grab the W, but it wasn’t in the cards. On this run, we reminisce a bit about the race but spend a lot of time talking about how different activities translate to running. Menso was a professional biker and relied on a lot of that fitness to build a base, and then a month or two before the race started to tack on higher running mileage. The conversation is cut a little short as Menso is hacking up a lung and not looking good, and we walk in the last mile or so.
7/20/24 Sat- AM: Swim 1:30, 3,800 yards
Another good session in the pool. After not swimming for 6 months, I had a few rough sessions before starting to feel okay in the pool again. This session is with the Brett Harte Master’s Swim Team and it’s so nice to have a good coach in Jeff Johanson and other people to swim with. I get roased by Kevin who shares a lane with me and laps me on our 2 x 800 yard sets. He’s only slightly faster than me on the 4 x 50 yard anaerobic sprints, which traditionally was more my jam when swimming on my high school team.
I’m driving to Tahoe tonight to support my girlfriend Allie in her first 50k tomorrow…. tired in the afternoon as I start the drive, despite taking a 20 minute nap. I always underestimate how hard these swim sessions are….. I think somehow “cross-training” implies in my mind an easier session than running. However, near 4,000 yards and 1.5 hours of swimming is no joke.
Final Weekly Stats:
Run: 6.5hrs, 5.5′ gain
Bike: 1.5 hrs, 2.3′ gain
Swim: 1.5 hrs, 3,800 yards
Weights: 2x sessions
