Saint George City Half Marathon Qualifier - Month Prior

The last few weeks before the race on January 16, 2016 were pretty rough. Obligations for work, hold-overs from family Christmas and New Years, a part-time job gone awry and rain/snow/sleet every other day got in the way of my last few weeks of training.

Running the Murdock Canal Rec Path, from a park near the Cedar Hills Community Center and UTA Commuter Parking

I ran a miserable half at an 11:32 pace with really sore feet four weeks prior, see Strava capture above. I needed to hit 11:00 in order to qualify for the Pikes Ascent. I learned a few things about myself, but was nervous about implementing them in the next month and still having time to taper near the end.

Weekly outdoor running mileage, 6 weeks to St. George Half Marathon

Then the snot hit the fan, so to speak.

The last few weeks saw my decreasing daily mileage from 6+ down to 2+. Even at that though I was trying really hard to make them quality miles and try to overcome the hills. On the rec path I followed for my most recent long runs there were a few hundred feet of rolling gain and those uphills really demoralized me at that speed.

In trail running, without an exact number for a pace goal, the uphills kind of worked themselves out in the big scheme of things. I discovered that on the road, shooting for that 11:00 pace, there wasn't enough time to catch up on the way down. If my pace uphill fell to 12:00 for three minutes, I'd have to run at 10:00 for six minutes to catch up. It spooked me a bit.

Quite a bit of elevation change at the St. George City Half Marathon

Course map from the St. George City Half Marathon Website.

Watching the weather for St. George, I was also a bit spooked. Here, at 5,000' above sea level, at 35F I was wearing a base layer, a thin jacket, and Wind Stopper tights. What would it be like at 2,500'? 

The course map showed no aid stations, and I had been training for food and water about every half hour. Would I have to take my own wearing my Ultimate Directions Scott Jurek pack?

The last week before the race

I finally got a map with the aid stations from the organizers in the Whova App they were using. I took the photos and map points and converted them to a Google Earth POI map for my wife to meet me at the aid stations with a drop bag filled with emergency items, food, drink, shoe changes, and clothing changes.

With that in mind I decided to go light, without the pack I usually wear in training. I was nervous about my shoes. My fastest 10 miles were in a pair of Altra Repetition. Most of my treadmill training lately has been in Altra Instinct 3.0. My good friend, ultra runner Jarom Thurston recommended the Altra Paradigm highly. Unfortunately, with all the mess going on in my non-running life right now I wouldn't be able to get a pair in time to break in and verify they would work.

My Brooks tights had two very well placed, properly sized side pockets that I could use to carry my phone, a jell, and a bag of Jelly Belly Energy Beans. I would pick up jells to replace the ones I consumed either at the aid stations or when I hooked up with my family.

FFKR Road Bike Training Camp in Saint George UT

My 15 year old son would be attending a road bike training camp with his FFKR racing team that same weekend, and on Thursday they announced the daily hours. He'd have to be at the meeting point at 1:00 PM, and since I had to finish prior to 11:25 AM to qualify, he would be able to go along to help at the aid stations if I needed him.

I packed up my bags on Thursday, since we were leaving right after work on Friday. I was really nervous about my lack of training the last two weeks.

Pikes Peak Ascent Registration Details Posted

Pikes Peak Ascent: Aug 20th 7:00AM

For 2016, runners will be assigned to a starting wave based on their qualification time.

There are three ways to qualify for the Pikes Peak Ascent:

Peak Rookies

Anybody who has not run either the Pikes Peak Ascent or Pikes Peak Marathon in the past 3 years (2013+) is considered a Peak Rookie for registration purposes.

To qualify, you must have completed a half-marathon in under 2:25:00 or a marathon in under 5:45:00.

Any full or half marathon run in the past 2 years (Jan 1st, 2014+) may be used. Longer races, splits from longer races, triathlons, ultras, etc, will not be considered. You can use either your "Gun" or "Chip" time.

11.4 miles long/slow run Saturday Dec. 5th at the crack of dawn

Registration opens March 12th at Noon MST

There you have it. Finally the details for the registration  for the 2016 Pikes Peak Ascent. I've been wanting to do this for quite a while now, but training for it and Elbrus Race in the same year has been difficult up to now. I was qualified for it up to 2014, having a good enough result in the Steamboat Springs Half Marathon in 2012. I'm planning on qualifying in January 2016 at the St. George Half Marathon. If that fails I have a backup plan in the Dogtown Half Marathon in southern Utah in February. Remember, results in the half have to be publicly available at the organizer's website. That cuts out a lot of the mom and pop fun runs, even some reasonable small local charity runs.

St. George Half Marathon

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The St. George Half Marathon is January 16, 2015.

I'm preparing for a road half as a qualifier for the Pike Ascent so I have a time deadline to beat. Right now that's 2:25:00 which isn't all that fast, and I have done it previously, just not within the last two years.

Treadmill Pace Run

It's really odd to be training for a road half in the winter in Utah. I've been doing quite a bit of treadmill and road work. I'll need to maintain a 10:40 pace average while moving, to allow a few minutes here and there at aid stations and to allow a cushion for the Pike Marathon organization, which has a tendency to slide that qualifying time around to suit the most recent wave of DNF's.

I've done a 10 mile run at pace, 10:34 in this shot from Strava. It's mostly downhill, but is a proof of concept about 3 months out. One consideration is that at my height and weight and age, it's quite a bit of pounding on the old joints to run this far on pavement. Another is that I've had to endure a few injuries over the past few years since my year of big running in 2011. Since then I've had to slow down and take it quite a bit easier.

Running on the rec path. Training for my Half.

Now I need to reverse that trend and move for more speed more smoothly more consistently. At least to qualify for this one. Then I need to get back on the trails and work on my vertical. You have to adjust your training for your most immediate goals. For now, it's a faster half marathon.

Hill Repeats On the Bonneville Shoreline Trail in Utah County

Short Video on Facebook:

Hill Repeats
Getting some hill repeats in on the mountain outside American Fork UT. The Bonneville Shoreline trail on the benches above the Utah Lake valley. Training for Skyrunning event October 2 near Flagstaff, AZ. Stay in the loop and learn about training for such an adventure.
Posted by Seven Summits Body on Thursday, September 24, 2015

I did about a mile to warm up, then at the base of a short but steep hill on the dirt road I did some hill repeats.

• Pick a hill to run up. 
• Go up as fast as you can. 
• Walk down. 
• Repeat.

Hill Repeats sound simple, right?

My hill today was pretty short, about 80' of elevation gain in a little over a hundred yards. I was able to get in just under 8:00 pace running up it. I did 10 laps of the hill, walking gently down. I also train running down, but that would be another article.

I've got another hill near me that is about 200' high over a little less than a half mile and I normally do only 5 or 6 repeats on that one. It just depends on your goals and your training programming. Mix it up a bit and see what works for your own circumstances.

Trail Running in the Snow

This week on Wednesday I did 2 miles, on Thursday I did 4 miles, and the plan was to do at least 6 today, Friday, 11 October. Tonight is our G+ Hangouts-on-Air for #ELBRUSRACECHAT, that we posted pretty heavily on our FACEBOOK PAGE. We have a slew of good questions to answer, and hope to have the YouTube recording and transcripts up pretty quickly after it's done.

Yesterday for Summit County Colorado there was a "Winter Storm Warning" with as much as 20" of snow predicted. At least at the lower elevations, below 11,000' there wasn't all that much snow. Maybe 4". I decided to go out for my run this morning after Angie left for her skating lesson with Todd. I felt like Mr. Pearl Izumi, with a PI windpro hoodie, windpro tights, and Trail N2 shoes.

The lower section of Keystone Gulch Road was pretty bare, with snow only in the shadows. Some of this was quite sloppy muddy wet, and I did some sliding around. About 2 miles up it was covered entirely with snow. There were puddles of muddy slush hidden under the snow surface. The maintenance trucks for Keystone Resort left icy tracks of packed snow. Overall it was a ton of fun. At 3 miles I decided I was good for one more uphill mile, so I went up to 4 miles.

Here's a little Instagram Video I made in Vine showing the surface I was running in, and the surrounding snow-covered trees.

One of my goals today was to work hard on keeping a consistent smooth even pace, up and down. These Strava Stats show that especially on the way uphill I was pretty smooth at 15:00 pacing.

On the way down the snow felt great underfoot and I just cut loose, relatively. I did a couple of pretty fast mile splits, then for the 7th mile I took a little walking break to hydrate and catch my breath. Then I picked the pace back up for the final mile.

Running in the snow is great training for Elbrus Race. It's what you'll be running on in Russia. Eight miles is a good training distance, since the Classic Race is a little over 9 miles round trip. Four miles up and down with about 1000' of elevation gain and loss is good. Training at 9,300' and up is great.

I'm pretty stoked about how fast I did this in slippery wet and cold conditions. Of course, now I have to dry out my shoes ...

Trail Running Training at 3,000 Meters in Colorado

One of my favorite things to do is trail running. I especially love to run at high altitude. Summit County Colorado is perfect with several long trails and gravel or jeep roads over 3,000 meters in elevation.

Snow and Ice on the Gravel Road

Hard work at high elevation can help to make the acclimatization process go much faster, without the days of hanging out at 10,000' camp required by those who live and train at sea level. I attribute our success on Orizaba last March to our training on the Colorado Fourteeners the whole winter previous.

I'm enjoying this transitional season as Fall progresses into Winter with falling leaves, colder temps, and the slow buildup of ice and snow on the roads and trails. I'll have to start wearing spikes before too long. I'm looking forward to it.

-- Charles

The Dog Sprained My Ankle

I had a run-in with a loose, unleashed dog a couple days ago in metro Seattle Washington. I was there for a few things, primarily to get the Russian Visa taken care of. That's a whole different story. I was going to do a short trail run in the hills, but the trailhead was way overparked. I decided to just park about 2 miles away and maybe run to the trailhead on the rec paths. Here those paths zig and zag on the sidwalks.

 Passing a parked car a dog ran from the street and homed in on my legs. It spun around my feet and planted itself firmly between my legs and down I went. I rolled my left ankle really badly. Bad enough I couldn't stand. The owner asked if he could help. It was obvious he wasn't a surgeon. It was obvious he had no resources. I declined his offer and said I'd just crawl home. He shrugged and left.

Two days later it's pretty stiff and sore. It gives me a little trouble sleeping. But I'm hoping that I can start work on the Stairmaster Stepmill when I return to Utah in a couple days. In the meantime, it's tough eating for healing while not gaining weight and not training.

Post by Seven Summits Body.