I guess my "season" as some may call it has been officially over since the Wild Hare 50K two weeks ago, even though I don't really agree with "running season". I feel every season is good for running!
With the end of the year coming I've tapered the volume back to around 40 miles a week with no real focus. Each day I just wake up and run what I feel like running, on whatever terrain I want, whether that be roads or trails.
If you look at my schedule you'll see I do have a few races on the way. On New Years weekend I'm running the New Years Double Marathon. New Years Eve I'll run a marathon (pacing my friend Brian to a sub 3:30 whether he wants to or not), then New Years Day another marathon, hopefully under four hours.
These marathons are purely training runs for the Rocky Racoon 100 that's either Feb 4th or 5th. The plan for rocky is to AT LEAST go sub 24, and hopefully keep it under 22 hours. I'd say an exceptional day would be sub 21, and a perfect day would be sub 20. At some point in my ultra running career, I'd like to break 20 in a hundred, and I'm sure lucky to have a course like Rocky in my backyard to do so.
Since RR100 is such an early year 100, I'm going to keep the training as minimal as possible and try to prevent any burnout at all. I'll hover around 50 miles a week in building up to the New Years weekend marathons, then log two big weeks, before a two week taper into Rocky.
Part of those two big weeks after new years will be the Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon. This is a race I've been eyeing since I first heard about it. To say I'm excited to run this would be a HUGE understatement! It's supposed to be on one of the most rugged and difficult trails in Arkansas. I can only hope this is true.
A friend and I have been trading ideas about getting some good training in on the Ouachita Trail up in Oklahoma/Arkansas, but due to time restraints next week, we're only gonna have one day of running, so we're gonna head up to Big Fork and run the Athens Big Fork Trail. I figure this will be a good chance to preview the trail and get me ready for the marathon. We're gonna drive up Saturday and camp out, which is always a blast! If you're interested in tagging along shoot me an email and I'll share the details :)
I've also registered for the Leona Divide 50 near L.A. on April 28th. I'm excited to give this one a go, and cross California off my 50 states list. (should be number 12 or 13)
Unfortunately the weather in the Dallas area has turned to complete crap in the past week. We're looking at highs around 48-52 all week with lows around 29-30. Thank goodness there's no chance of rain. Yesterday it was in the 40s and raining so I hopped on the treadmill for the first time since our honeymoon, when we were in the middle of the ocean. All I can say is, if you were trying to torture me, the fastest way to get me to talk would be to stick me on a treadmill at an 7:30 pace. Death by treadmill... how horrible.
A friend put the "crappy" Texas weather in perspective when he said, "Hardrock doesn't have many triple digit weather days". I guess if I ever plan on running HR, I better suck it up and learn to run in the cold windy weather. Cause lord knows it's gonna be cold and windy at the top of Handies.
Lastly, congrats to everyone that got into Hardrock for 2012 and to everyone who raced The North Face 50 this weekend. What an incredible field they have every year. Some crazy times out there for sure.
I leave you with an old favorite of mine. Neon Sky by Vector Lovers. As usual, it would be a good idea to listen to it with headphones, or you won't be able to fully appreciate :) I'm still working on my "Tough Mudder" and "Hot Yoga" post... be ready. It's gonna be great.
-Jacob
Great year, Jacob! You've definitely got a sub-20 in you. All about nutrition. :)
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to worry with cold and wind at HR, just need to get used to running out in the open, exposed terrain in lightning with nowhere to hide. :)