Training for Skyrunning [formerly Elbrus Race]: March 2015

Friday, March 27, 2015

Vertical K (Kilometer) Training Goals

The Vertical K or Vertical Kilometer, is a standard Skyrunning event. Basically you ascend about one kilometer, or 3,281' on as steep and rugged a route as the race organizers can come up with. Most that I've seen listed, at ski resorts, cover a distance of about 5k, or 3.1 miles. In essence, the Qualifier for Elbrus Race is a Vertical K, ascending 3,570' in approximately 2.5 miles. In fact, as I've been told, the Fox Elbrus Race, typically held in May, uses the route of the Qualifier as their sanctioned Vertical K.

Kilian Jornet, one of the best in the world at the Vertical K

Since the Vertical K so closely emulates the Qualifier, it's an excellent training goal. In the Big Sky, MT Run The Rut race of 2014, results ranged from Kilian's win at 46:12.79, to the last place finisher at 2:55:07.56 for the men, and 1:02:13.51 to 2:27:18.57 for the women. I created a training goals spreadsheet for the Incline Treadmill, shooting for completing a Vertical K (3,281') in 40:00, 60:00 80:00 and 120:00 minutes. All but the first and last columns show target Speeds for the Inclination in the far left column. The far right column then is the total miles to achieve the Vertical K. Since most runs are in the range of a 5k, or 3.1 miles, an Average Inclination around 20-24% would be a good target training range.

Update: Did a test run at 24% on the Incline Treadmill ARTICLE HERE

Vertical K Incline Treadmill Training Goals

	60 minutes	40 minutes	80 minutes	120 minutes	Total Distance
Incline %	3,281	3,281	3,281	3,281	3,281
9	6.90	9.21	5.18	3.45	6.90
9.5	6.54	8.72	4.91	3.27	6.54
10	6.21	8.28	4.66	3.11	6.21
10.5	5.92	7.89	4.44	2.96	5.92
11	5.65	7.53	4.24	2.82	5.65
11.5	5.40	7.20	4.05	2.70	5.40
12	5.18	6.90	3.88	2.59	5.18
12.5	4.97	6.63	3.73	2.49	4.97
13	4.78	6.37	3.58	2.39	4.78
13.5	4.60	6.14	3.45	2.30	4.60
14	4.44	5.92	3.33	2.22	4.44
14.5	4.29	5.71	3.21	2.14	4.29
15	4.14	5.52	3.11	2.07	4.14
15.5	4.01	5.34	3.01	2.00	4.01
16	3.88	5.18	2.91	1.94	3.88
16.5	3.77	5.02	2.82	1.88	3.77
17	3.66	4.87	2.74	1.83	3.66
17.5	3.55	4.73	2.66	1.78	3.55
18	3.45	4.60	2.59	1.73	3.45
18.5	3.36	4.48	2.52	1.68	3.36
19	3.27	4.36	2.45	1.64	3.27
19.5	3.19	4.25	2.39	1.59	3.19
20	3.11	4.14	2.33	1.55	3.11
20.5	3.03	4.04	2.27	1.52	3.03
21	2.96	3.95	2.22	1.48	2.96
21.5	2.89	3.85	2.17	1.45	2.89
22	2.82	3.77	2.12	1.41	2.82
22.5	2.76	3.68	2.07	1.38	2.76
23	2.70	3.60	2.03	1.35	2.70
23.5	2.64	3.53	1.98	1.32	2.64
24	2.59	3.45	1.94	1.29	2.59
24.5	2.54	3.38	1.90	1.27	2.54
25	2.49	3.31	1.86	1.24	2.49
25.5	2.44	3.25	1.83	1.22	2.44
26	2.39	3.19	1.79	1.19	2.39
26.5	2.34	3.13	1.76	1.17	2.34
27	2.30	3.07	1.73	1.15	2.30
27.5	2.26	3.01	1.69	1.13	2.26
28	2.22	2.96	1.66	1.11	2.22
28.5	2.18	2.91	1.64	1.09	2.18
29	2.14	2.86	1.61	1.07	2.14
29.5	2.11	2.81	1.58	1.05	2.11
30	2.07	2.76	1.55	1.04	2.07
30.5	2.04	2.72	1.53	1.02	2.04
31	2.00	2.67	1.50	1.00	2.00
31.5	1.97	2.63	1.48	0.99	1.97
32	1.94	2.59	1.46	0.97	1.94
32.5	1.91	2.55	1.43	0.96	1.91
33	1.88	2.51	1.41	0.94	1.88
33.5	1.85	2.47	1.39	0.93	1.85
34	1.83	2.44	1.37	0.91	1.83
34.5	1.80	2.40	1.35	0.90	1.80
35	1.78	2.37	1.33	0.89	1.78
35.5	1.75	2.33	1.31	0.88	1.75
36	1.73	2.30	1.29	0.86	1.73
36.5	1.70	2.27	1.28	0.85	1.70
37	1.68	2.24	1.26	0.84	1.68
37.5	1.66	2.21	1.24	0.83	1.66
38	1.64	2.18	1.23	0.82	1.64
38.5	1.61	2.15	1.21	0.81	1.61
39	1.59	2.12	1.19	0.80	1.59
39.5	1.57	2.10	1.18	0.79	1.57
40	1.55	2.07	1.17	0.78	1.55

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Multiple PR's on Quandary, Colorado Fourteener

I've been blowing away all my previous best efforts (PR and PB) on Quandary in the past couple of weeks. That's on the Winter Route, which is somewhat different from the Summer Route.

Here are some screenshots from Strava:

Quandary Ascents on Winter Route

Quandary Descents on Winter Route

That puts me just about 2:00 out from 2nd place overall out of 13 for the ascent. That's really encouraging as I make up my mind toward Elbrus Race 2015. Am I going or not?

It's pretty tough to get that many PR's in such a short time. Going all-out once or twice a week for a few weeks on end can really be draining and have difficult recovery issues. I'll post more about the recovery aspects in an upcoming article, but first, here are some of my photos from the past few weeks on Quandary: