Jan 2018 Training: Drinking the Koop Kool-aid

For Nathan's birthday last October, he knew to expect that one of his presents was Jason Koop's book, Training Essentials for Ultrarunning. He may not have expected that I would finish the book before he did. This left me in a dangerous situation: I was more excited about training for my next goal race (IMTUF 100) than racing the upcoming one. Fortunately, I pulled it together and had a great race at the Blood Rock 100.

It has been seven years since I truly felt well prepared for a race, with a several year struggle to pregnancy and clinical responsibilities both to blame. After Nathan and I exhausted our affordable options for becoming parents for the second time early in the year, I was ready to move forward and hopeful to break my streak of barely adequate ultramarathon training. I embarked on the FIRST program which I had successfully used for marathon training in college, hoping the high intensity, low mileage plan would fit into my schedule better. Within a week, I had pulled a hamstring. Fast running was not something I could jump back into. Ultimately, I made it to the race with preparation I knew could bring me to the finish line, but didn't permit any loftier goals.

Once I was confident I had fully recovered from my race, I did a couple weeks easy base mileage and then started training based on Koop's philosophies laid out in his book. He recommends starting by optimizing your VO2max with interval training, something I have been scared off since pulling my hamstring. The part I found unique was that he recommends uphill intervals, which means fewer injuries AND better climbing fitness. Work outs are time based, not distance based, but the sample schedule for the interval phase provided in his book was still a bit higher mileage than I was ready to start with, so I adjusted the times downward a bit, with one exception: I'm still planning to build long runs to prepare for the OPSF 50k at the end of March. Here's what my first 2 weeks of this training have looked like:



Yep, that's FIVE interval workouts in two weeks. The first one was a bit of a bust in which I overestimated by own abilities. But then mid last week when I tried the same workout at a more conservative pace, it felt so easy I actually switched treadmills to make sure the incline was functioning well on my machine. I'm amazed at how quickly I am reaping the benefits of the training (I guess I really needed it) and I'll try not to go crazy during the five day recovery period I have coming up next week.

Kool-aid ingested; bring on February!

-Jordan

Blood Rock 100: Snow Covered Hills

This weekend was the Blood Rock 100 mile (and 50 mile) race in Oak Mountain State Park, Alabama, my 2017 goal race. I would say I trained adequately, but not well, running the 50k distance three times since the end of September and working up to 2600 feet on the stairclimber. What I had planned to be my longest training run had to be cut short at 4 hours. Those 4 hours were miserable, as I was having a hard time coping with the cold with temperatures in high 20s. I was almost grateful a new injury forced me to stop and then take a few days off: Achilles tendonitis. I had never struggled with this before and wondered if it could be related to my Inov8s. I tried running in my new pair with the same uncomfortable pressure on my Achilles when climbing, but decided to go ahead and switch to this pair since it likely had better traction.

Since this was the first year for the 100 (Blood Rock 50 was run last year), it was difficult to predict a finishing time. The course was going to be challenging and cut-off time was 35 hours, so I chose under 30 hours as a goal. I created a pace chart by looking at the elevation profile, and estimated a time of 28:40. However, this was assuming everything went perfectly, which I knew was unlikely. 30 hours seemed a reasonable goal.

As I was driving to Alabama, snow was accumulating in Pelham and particularly on the tops of the mountains I would be climbing. The forecast low for Saturday night was 22 (I’m not sure what it actually got down to). I found myself very anxious about all of this, particularly driving to the race in the morning with wet roads turning to ice overnight.

I needn’t have worried. The roads were fine, and the trails were beautiful. The park was closed but the race was allowed to proceed, so we were the only ones getting to enjoy the snow covered trails. I brought everything Nathan and I could think of to keep warm and never struggled with being cold.

                 

The course is made of 2 50 mile loops. The race starts with a little bit of road and some gentle, flatter trails for a few miles before the tough section begins. There is a series of climbs which are very steep, and everything I wanted to use to bolster myself (rocks, trees) was covered in snow. I had been hoping we would time reaching King’s Chair, an overlook spot, with sunrise (race started at 5 AM), and that is exactly what happened. A fellow runner (Alan/Allen?) kindly took my picture.

It was at this early portion of the race that I diagnosed the problem with my shoes: they were too small. I had a pair of road shoes in the car but they would never make it up these steep, slick climbs. So, I would have to run 100 miles in shoes that were too small.             

The first aid station (other than a jug of water perched on a railing) wasn't until 11.8 miles in. It was advertised as a "minimal" aid station, but let me tell you what the volunteer fed me: a lemon risotto pancake. By far, the best thing I ate all day.

Soon after leaving the aid station, I was told by another volunteer/onlooker that I was the first woman for the 100 mile. Oh brother, it was too early to think about that!

From this first aid station, the course varies between some easier sections and sections with 1-2 significant climbs. Despite the small field (38 were signed up for the 100 and another 20 something for the 50), I found I had company for the majority of the first lap, which was a pleasant surprise. A sign had been moved on one section, causing me to mistakenly omit a short portion of trail, so I made plans to repeat this portion on my second lap. A nasty climb on a powerlines section was heralded by a pop-up aid station from residents of the nearby neighborhood, who probably enjoyed seeing us struggle up the steep grade on a soggy trail from snow that had started to melt and nothing to hang on to. The final section of the race was much quicker and easier that I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised to arrive ahead of schedule in under 13 hours. I ended up being the first woman to finish 50 miles (though was about a 1/3 mile short on my distance at that point).

I was planning to try to take the tough section with multiple climbs easy to save my legs for later, but it was impossible to get up some of the climbs without shooting my heart rate up. This section took me a whole extra hour on the second loop. Now that only the 100 mile racers were left, I was receiving lots of congratulations and encouragement for being the first female. Apparently I had a 5 mile lead on 2nd place as of ~75 miles, which threatened to make me complacent. I did an out and back on the section I had missed, actually doing it three times instead of 2 on the lap. I also got turned around trying to figure out how to repeat the section I had missed and climbed an extra big hill by mistake. So, I more than made up for my omission in the first lap.

It seemed that even if I walked it in, I would likely still win the race, which wasn't helping my motivation to keep moving. My legs were pretty cooked and I had slowed considerably, even though I was still able to maintain a 10 minutes running, 1 minute walking pattern on easy trails. I was on the penultimate section when I realized that if I came into the aid station at 27:30, I could reasonably hope to finish under 30 hours. I was in and out of the aid station quickly and set off for the last 8 mile section. There's a good bit of elevation change initially, so it's hard to make good time. Then, when the trails leveled off, I was disturbed to find my brain didn't seem to be working properly. This is melodramatic, I know, but I couldn't seem to make the connection to tell my legs to run even though I wanted to. I was also hallucinating profusely and couldn't look down the trail because every time I did, I saw a sign that wasn't there. I think I will blame sleep deprivation. I fought to run short portions and accepted that I would probably finish around 30:30. Somehow, I found myself at a sign (a real sign) that said "Cabins," which is where the finish line was, at about 29:53. Could I really be that close? I ran a little faster than I had been and indeed, crossed the finish line in 29:57.

I got some cool swag for finishing and for winning the women's race:

But my feet suffered dearly from wearing too small shoes all day. In addition to multiple blisters, check out my toenails:

Overall, the race was really well done, especially for being a first year event, and the volunteers were so helpful (for this crewless runner) and enthusiastic. The running group based in Birmingham is definitely a close knit group with a family feel.

Now after a few days of work, it's off to Sweden for recovery and time with family. Then training for IMTUF 100 can begin!

Thanks for reading.

-Jordan

Stone Steps 50K: The Sweet Spot

The Stone Steps 50K is respected as the toughest and most competitive ultramarathon in the Cincinnati region. The race is held in the Mt Airy Forest, my favorite place to train. I ran this race today as part of my training for the Blood Rock 100, and so had a couple recent 30 mile runs under my belt. Because I know the trails well, I was reasonably confident that I could run 6:20-6:30 for an overall time. The race is made of four 5.3 mile loops, each featuring the Stone Steps and Gummi Bear Hill climbs, and three 3.3 mile loops. The trails in Mt Airy Forest are challenging, so I planned to run the longer loops in 1:05 each and the shorter loops in about 40 minutes.

It was chilly day, in the high 30s at the start. The sun never appeared, so it didn't warm up. There was some mud on the trails, but not enough to dramatically affect your pace. Basically, it was as close to perfect running conditions as you could get.

I had taken the day before totally off running, and felt great on the first loop, coming through the main aid station in an hour. Quicker than planned, but I was mostly letting the trail do the work for me by cutting loose on the downhills and moving steadily on the uphills. Heading out on the first short loop, which is a lollipop, I nearly collided with the first place female, more than 2 miles ahead of me. It actually made me feel relieved: No point stressing about trying to win this thing. I just hoped she wouldn't lap me. I finished the first short loop at 1:37, then the next longer loop around 2:40. At this point I thought, "Wow, I'm still at 6 hour pace. I hope I don't blow up."

After another 8.6 miles, I was leaving on a short loop at 4:17, but definitely feeling more tired. I told myself that if I came back through the aid station before 5 hours, I would have to give a good effort to break 6 hours (something I hadn't done in a 50k since my first ultra 8 years ago). I came through in 4:55 and heard Geoff Peterson telling another man (Marcus) to get moving so he could break 6 hours. Within 10 steps of the aid station we had made a pact to shoot for this goal together. I set the pace and he distracted us by telling me his ultrarunning life story (I don't think I would have had the breath to do the same).

Whew, those Stone Steps were tough the 4th time. Luckily, there were still downhills so gravity could move me forward quickly. Marcus fell behind 3 miles into the loop, leaving me to navigate the obstacles (specifically lots of unleashed dogs) of the last 2 miles alone. I hadn't seen another woman since the first mile, but I came close enough to high five the second place female (Randi) as I started up Gummi Bear hill in the last mile. She was friendly and talkative, but I really could only huff and puff. I knew I was going to be cutting it VERY close to break 6 hours since it was all uphill from here. I let Randi go ahead and despite the very gentle grade of the incline that followed Gummi Bear Hill, I still had to allow myself two 10 second walking breaks, one when I was within sight of the finish. BUT, I finished in 5:59:44 for 3rd female (14th overall). 4th was right behind me (who knew?)

I am super pleased with this race because I often run too conservatively in races and feel I cheat myself from discovering what I am capable of. Once I tried to go out hard (Broken Toe 50K last year), and while I DNF'ed for a different reason, I would have slowed considerably if I had continued. Here, I ran close to even splits and it took everything I had to finish in the time I did. It was a "Sweet Spot" of effort.

There were a couple more positives from this race: 1) It was my first long run in the cold for awhile, with some lessons to keep in mind for Blood work: specifically that Honey Stinger waffles get hard in the cold and it is really hard to keep yourself warm after a hard effort. 2) Between participants, volunteers, and spectators, most of my Cincinnati/Dayton ultrarunning family was at the race today, making the race even more special.

Next up is Blood Rock!

-Jordan