Zwift Run Foot Pod - Opening Video

Just posted this on Facebook at my Seven Summits Body Group as a live video. Opening the ZWIFT Run Pod for Zwift RUN. I have tried the Zwift Cycling and totally loved it. Tons of fun.

Open the envelope, open the box, pull out the pod, check the quick instructions, insert the battery, and the rest later when I try to connect to Zwift Run.

---

---

Now I will soon try Zwift Run in the next couple of days to see what it's all about. Here are a couple pics from the unboxing:

Here are a couple of pics from Zwift Cycling:

US Skyrunning 2017 Schedule

The schedule for US Skyrunning has been announced. Here are the VK races coming up. These are my primary interest. I'll share them with you here.

VERTICAL K:

1. CALIFORNIA: Tahoe VK – Lake Tahoe – June 16

2. NEW YORK: Whiteface VK – Wilmington – July 8

3. COLORADO: Audi Power of 4 VK – Aspen Snowmass – August 5

4. MONTANA: Lone Peak VK – Big Sky – September 1 (SWS)

5. ARIZONA: Flagstaff Sky Race VK – Flagstaff – October 7

[LINK] to more info

Training:

So what am I recommending for training?

Right now I'm doing decline treadmill 5K's with a target less than 30:00. Over the next few weeks I'll be evolving into alternating with 25% treadmill 5K's with a target of less than 72:00. That will be tough, I'm sure.

Additionally I'm cross-training with Cycle Commuting, with a general target of about 80 miles per week, with the occasional off-road MTB ride, maybe 15-30 miles total. If the weather isn't cooperating, or just for some power endurance, I'm doing trainer work, trying to get in at least 16 miles in 60:00. That's tough because we have a Kinetic Trainer, so there isn't an "easy" setting.

What's just around the bend? Hang on, come back soon, and I'll share how I'm going to mix this into sport specific training for a VK.

---

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

Too Much Treadmill!

As you probably remember, I've been healing from an injury so I'm working on the treadmill to help my knees get back in shape for my outside running and mountaineering goals.

I have been outside a few times.

Trail Running in foot deep powder snow at -1F - STORY HERE
Quandary in a Snow Storm - STORY HERE
Ice Climbing Solo - STORY HERE

But I have been on the treadmill a lot. I wear my SUUNTO Ambit 2S and keep track of my stats, and use my Incline Treadmill Calculator (HERE) and record my training logs. Here's a sample for you:

Monday 10th
ITM:
Time: 15:54
Distance: 1.001
Incline: 1.5%
Elevation Gain: 79.28'
Average MPH: 3.777
Average Pace: 15:53
Vertical/Hour: 299'
Vertical/Minute: 4.99'
VAM: 91.2

ITM:
Time: 32:18
Distance: 2.202
Incline: 3%
Elevation Gain: 348.80'
Average MPH: 4.09
Average Pace: 14:40
Vertical/Hour: 648'
Vertical/Minute: 10.8'
VAM: 197.5

Tuesday 11th
Ice Climbing:
3.0 mi Distance
24:14 Moving Time
589 ft
(going too slow to register in Strava)

Wednesday 12th
Outside:
Gulch
5.1mi
1:19:58 Moving Time
15:35/mi Pace
114 Tough Suffer Score
Elevation 619 ft
Calories 863
Elapsed Time 1:27:13

Thursday 13th
ITM:
Time: 63:09
Distance: 5.017
Incline: 1%
Elevation Gain: 264.90'
Average MPH: 4.767
Average Pace: 12:35
Vertical/Hour: 252'
Vertical/Minute: 4.19'
VAM: 76.7

That's a good mix I think for a normal winter. So far this week.

Here is a gallery of my treadmill shots. When my brain is fuzzy from riding it at 90% HR for an hour or half hour or fifteen minutes or whatever, it's a whole lot easier to just take a quick pic of the display. BTW: The vertical feet estimator gets less accurate as you raise the incline. In case you compare the stats in the pics with the above. Also some of these include multiple sessions in a day at different speeds and incline.

Now, mostly I'm showing you all of this so you can form an opinion one way or another. Can you do 25 miles a week primarily inside? Can you do it 50/50? What works for you? Here we have a ton of snow and weather and cold to deal with. Sometimes it's just too dangerous to run outside. Also I find that it messes with my ankles and hips and knees to be on invisible unstable terrain when I'm in soft snow. Even firm snow is tough on the stabilizer muscles now and then. I also tend to slow down over the winter and forcing myself to go faster on the treadmill is a great way to maintain fitness through the year.

That being said I should mention that the treadmill stats include anywhere from about 5 to 15 minutes of slower walking as I warm up, and sometimes a few minutes of cooling down. In 60 minutes of training, going 2.0-3.0 mph for 10 minutes is a major impact on the average speed. Do the math and you'll see.

I'm kidding in the title. You do get tired of the treadmill (dreadmill) and then go outside. Plan it for your own needs and don't stick to one thing only unless you know why.

Register to the right for emails with updates and training tips you might otherwise miss. Thanks!

Treadmill Training for Vertical

Right now I'm healing from a knee injury. I set a PR on a 1.3 mile downhill run, about 1,300' of downhill vertical. It's a -19% average, according to Strava. At one point I was doing an 8:00 pace. I normally don't go downhill that fast, but was in a group of 18-20 year olds, and this old man wanted to keep up with the kids. Alas...

I took a few weeks off and then started running outside, but since the trails here tend to go up out, and down back, it was really beating up my knees and they weren't going to heal. So now it's the treadmill for me.

Trail running along a cliff face in Summit County Colorado

Since I have some running specific goals regarding mileage, I had to up the speed considerably from my usual incline treadmill training, which is more specific to vertical goals

Enough about me, here's how it works.

When you up the inclination of your treadmill it changes your speed quite a bit, depending on how far up you go. Running at 2% or 4% or 6% are quite a bit different from one another. When you're walking that isn't a very broad range, but for running it makes a big difference in speed.

In "Summit Success: Training for Hiking, Mountaineering, and Peak Bagging" CLICK HERE there are charts for training at up to 15% for a standard treadmill and even more for a special incline treadmill. They're meant for averaging around 2.0 MPH at 15% to as low as 1.0 MPH at 24%. If you're wanting to go at 4.0 MPH or 5.0 MPH or more, you'll need to drop the incline quite a bit when you first start.

Here's an example of the training goal charts adjusted for 4.0%:

Week	Target Weekly Vertical Ft	Weekly Miles at 4%	Incline Miles Per Session (x4)	Incline Minutes/Session @ 5.0 MPH
5	1,130	5.349	1.337	16
6	1,255	5.943	1.486	18
7	1,395	6.604	1.651	20
8	1,550	7.338	1.834	22
9	1,722	8.153	2.038	24
10	1,913	9.059	2.265	27
11	2,126	10.065	2.516	30
12	2,362	11.184	2.796	34
13	2,624	12.426	3.107	37
14	2,916	13.807	3.452	41
15	3,240	15.341	3.835	46
16	3,600	17.045	4.261	51

Notice that over the course of the 12 weeks represented here you work your way up to 3,600' of vertical per week. That's pretty good for being inside.

The first four weeks are missing in this spreadsheet because it was adapted from the book, and the first four weeks are meant to get you off the couch and up to that first 5 mile week.

If you'd like to see spreadsheets, register (upper right) for the newsletter and I'll send some your way for other common running inclinations, and vertical per week goals.

Updated Incline Treadmill VAM Training Targets

When I updated all of the statistics for the current course records as of Elbrus Race 2013 it revealed a need to update the incline treadmill training targets.

% Incline/VAM	200	400	600	800	1000	1200
3	4.14	8.28	12.43	16.57	20.71	24.85
6	2.07	4.14	6.21	8.28	10.36	12.43
9	1.38	2.76	4.14	5.52	6.90	8.28
12	1.04	2.07	3.11	4.14	5.18	6.21
15	0.83	1.66	2.49	3.31	4.14	4.97
18	0.69	1.38	2.07	2.76	3.45	4.14
21	0.59	1.18	1.78	2.37	2.96	3.55
24	0.52	1.04	1.55	2.07	2.59	3.11
27	0.46	0.92	1.38	1.84	2.30	2.76
30	0.41	0.83	1.24	1.66	2.07	2.49
33	0.38	0.75	1.13	1.51	1.88	2.26
36	0.35	0.69	1.04	1.38	1.73	2.07
39	0.32	0.64	0.96	1.27	1.59	1.91
40	0.31	0.62	0.93	1.24	1.55	1.86
Top 10 Classic/Extreme
Record Qualifier/Extreme
Finish Qualifier/Extreme
Finish Classic
Record Classic
Top 10 Qualifier
Women's Record Classic
Women's Record Qualifier = 900
Women's Record Extreme = 650
< 4000 M Overcompensation Training

As you can see, I've included color coded columns for easier reading. I added in a 1200 VAM overcompensation training column. I added in more specific targets for the following categories:

• Cutoff (finish)
• Top 10
• Course Record
• Women's

I've been considering this spreadsheet before every one of my treadmill workouts so I have some motivation to attempt to stay inside one of these categories for training sessions where possible. No, at 1% I will not be going 30+MPH.

Training Considerations:

We'll skip the Extreme in this section. If you're training for the Extreme I'll trust that you can figure out from this next section how to adjust these numbers for your own training. To squeeze it into the Phase 2 training from a previous article, at least once a week you should, at minimum:

• Finish a Qualifier
• Finish a Classic
• Simulate the Downhill Sections

Finish a Qualifier:

Incline Treadmill: Set your treadmill to 24-36% and cruise at 600 VAM for 3 miles.

Standard Treadmill: Set your treadmill to 15% (or max) and cruise at 600 VAM for 3 miles.

In general, a VAM is a VAM and going 1.3 MPH at one angle and 2.6 MPH at another should have some carry-over benefit, though it's not as sport-specific. You should be able to plug your data into the Incline Treadmill Calculator and get more than 2.8 miles and more than 3500' of vertical. These are your targets for a Qualifier simulation.

Downhill: set your treadmill to 1% and cruise at 4-6 MPH for 3 miles. If you want you can do this on the same day or another day, though on the same day it would simulate the same type of load as on the event day. Vertical is irrelevant. If by some chance you have access to a decline treadmill then set it to -6% and cruise at 4-ish MPH (I think that's the max speed at -6%) - adjust accordingly for your own treadmill capacity, but don't set it to -1% and 8.0 MPH or something else tempting and enticing.

Duration: On the incline treadmill this will be about 2 hours for the uphill section. On a standard treadmill this will be about 80 minutes. The downhill section should take 30-45 minutes. If you do this all together in one day it will take up to 3 hours for the whole workout. If you are also doing running training, like for a half or full marathon, this will take the place of one 5-8 mile, or 3 hour day.

Finish a Classic:

Incline Treadmill: Set your treadmill to 24-36% and cruise at 400 VAM for 5 miles.

Standard Treadmill: Set your treadmill to 15% (or max) and cruise at 400 VAM for 5 miles.

In general, a VAM is a VAM and going 1.3 MPH at one angle and 2.6 MPH at another should have some carry-over benefit, though it's not as sport-specific. You'll want to see Incline Treadmill Calculator stats of more than 4.8 miles and more than 6500' of vertical. Adjust your speeds and inclines to make it work for you.

Downhill: Set your treadmill to 1% and cruise at 4-6 MPH for 5 miles. If you want you can do this on the same day or another day, though on the same day it would simulate the same type of load as on the event day. Again, if you have a decline treadmill available set it to -4% and 4-ish MPH and cruise gently for your 5 miles. Don't worry about vertical when you do this. 

Duration: On the incline treadmill this will take about 5 hours uphill. On a standard treadmill it will take about 3 hours. For the downhill it will take 50-80 minutes. If you do it all on the same day it will be a total of anywhere from 4 to 6.5 hours. If you're also doing running training, this should replace your long run day, just for the time investment, if nothing else. You should have about the same physical/cardio load as running at your endurance or long pace.

Warnings:

Be warned that training downhill running can be tough on your joints and soft tissues of your feet. Go slow, use whatever cushioning you need, and if you have to, work your way into it at about .5% decline at a time until you're comfortable.

When going uphill that steeply and that quickly  you'll be tempted to grab onto the treadmill and hang on for the ride. When you are first training like this it's better to just get in the vertical and miles and slowly work your way into Hands-Free Mode. Ultimately you want to not be hanging on. Otherwise you'll be surprised at how weak and slow you feel when you're suddenly out on the mountain without a handrail. Trekking poles will take up some of the load, but there will be intermittent times between placing them when you have no support. Don't get used to hanging on.