Sunday, December 30, 2012

Looking Over 2012/ Goals for 2013


I really cannot say enough about this year in my running.  It has been by far the best year of running for me in my short running career.  Although the year did have some lows, nothing really was that bad as I had hardly any injury issues.  I didn't race much, not that I ever do, but I made almost every WNC Trailrunner fun run this year (PRing on most of them), joined up with some other local groups, and ran some races I would have never ran before (the 5k).  I feel really proud of my numbers as well.  I ended up running more miles in one year than ever before and definitely more vertical feet than ever before. Below I will detail out the highlights and the numbers for the year.

Most Satisfying Run
This year's Roan Adventure Marathon is still without a doubt my most memorable and most successful run.  After having quite possibly run my worst run ever out on this course in 2011,  I came back this year and busted out a sub 6 hour RAM finish.  This run means a lot to me as it was the run that drew me into joining the Pisgah Nation a few years ago.  This area is still my favorite section of trail to run and it is absolutely gorgeous.
Roan Highlands

Most Disappointing Run
This would have to be a tie between my first attempt at running Pitchell, which I DNFed and the second running of the Linville Gorge Madness Marathon, where I ripped my brand new shoe, then slammed my leg into a tree, and finally pulled out 13 miles later.

Ripped shoe at Linville Madness


Biggest Surprise
Of the two races I actually paid for this year, they were both 5k's.  I had never ran an official 5k before since I started running.  I PRed on my second despite being sick and took home a 3rd place Age group award.  Crazy, but I am still pretty slow at the 5k (20:11 PR).  I will definitely be trying to get into the teens this coming year.
Medals

Favorite Place You Ran
This one is tough, but I absolutely loved running in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco.  The grass covered ridges reminded me of the Roan Highlands and running on the side of cliffs that plunged straight down into Pacific Ocean 800 ft below was astonishing.  I have ran and explored so many places this year it is hard to single just one out though and not mention some other great places which include:  Handies Peak, Mt. Massive, and La Luz just to name a few.

Coastal Trail (Marin Headlands)

Coldest Run
Although we had a mild winter this year, one day in February we had a harsh cold snap and Mad A, Ryan Carlson, and I ran the High Top/ High Windy Loop.  Temperatures at the top were most likely near 0 degrees, but the windchill might have been near -10.  That coupled with near blizzard conditions on the summit made this one quite memorable.


Hottest Run
While on our road trip, Hannah and I did a run in Kings Canyon National Park.  We started around 9 am and it was already about 90 degrees.  It just got hotter while we climbed up to an overlook.  I wasn't expecting that after just running in 60 degree temps the day before only a couple hundred miles away in the Marin Headlands.
Looks familiar, huh?


Favorite Pics I Took This Year


Big Sur Sunset
Rocking on Rock Jock
Tire swing......not gay
Big Sur
Coming off the backside of Mt Massive


The Numbers

Miles = 2,116.6 miles
Hours = 387 hours
Vert = 356,560'
Marathon/ultras run = 7
12+ mile runs = 53

Weekly Averages

Miles - 40.7
Hours - 7.4 hours
Vert - 6,857'


Running Goals for 2013

  1. Try to average 8 hours a week of running throughout the year, this goal seems reasonable and I almost got it this year, but the low weeks of summer staved off the goal. 
  2. Run at least 2400 miles in the next year.
  3. Run my first 50 miler
  4. Finish Pitchell
  5. Run a sub 7 hour finish at the Uwharrie Mountain Run.
  6. Run a sub 20 min 5k.
  7. Stay healthy (generic I know)
  8. PR in the 50k (should be easy)
  9. PR in the marathon (should be easy)
  10. Make it out to as many WNC Trailrunner fun runs as possible.

Uwharrie Training Week 3

Mon - 68min/ 7.5m/ 500' - Watershed Trails - Favorite loop of Reedy Fork and Lauren Bluff Trails.  Did this one with Stephen back home from the Air Force.  I felt pretty crappy due to ALTAR a couple days prior.

Tues - 29min/ 3.8m/ 300' - Ardmore - Wasn't sure if I was going to get out or not, but I finally made the decision to at least get a short run around the neighborhood in Winston.

Wed - 41min/ 5.2m/ 400' - Owl's Roost Trail - Cold and wet run on an old favorite with Stephen.  Started off casual, but went tempo for the last 3 just to stay a bit warmer.  Bumped into Charlie Engle near the end of the run.  Cool dude.

Thurs - 80min/ 8.5m/ 700' - Piedmont Environmental Center - Never even knew this place existed until Matt told me about it about a month back.  Finally checked it out and was pleasantly surprised.  The Deep River trail was excellent and this place is only 20 minutes from my parents place which is nice.

Fri - 70min/ 9m/ 400' - Northeast Park - Visited another old favorite for a steady state run.  It was strange running through what was once a clear cut 5 years ago and know is becoming a healthy pine forest.  Pretty neat to see the change happening.

Sat - 2hr35min/ 15.5m/ 1000' - Lakeside 25k course - Great lollipop loop out at on the Watershed trails in Greensboro.  I felt really tired today and then decided to take no water or food on this outing.  This made for a long second half of the run.  Oh well.

Sun - 47min/ 5.5m/ 400' - Fisher Farm - Back home and did a shake out run on the standard loop at Fisher.  Felt a lot better than yesterday but still decided to call it a bit short instead of pushing for some arbitrary number to round out the weeks mileage.

Total =

Time - 8hrs10min
Miles - 55
Vert - 3,550'

After last weeks beatdown at ALTAR, I decided to take advantage of being back home for Christmas and stay on the flats.  My knees were having issues during push off on steep climbs so I think the lower vert total is fine.  I had some really solid runs this week were I felt really strong (Wed and Fri), but most of the other days I felt really tired and beat up.  Hopefully a day off will revive me and get me back on the right track.  What a great year of running it has been.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Uwharrie Training Week 2

Mon - 0hr - off

Tues - 1hr/ 6.5m/ 1000' - Latta - Today I did a hill workout on the hill trail, a .2 mile 75 ft climb.  I did 10 repeats after a 1.5 mile warm-up and finish the day with a 1 mile cool-down.  Each repeat was around 80 seconds with the fastest at 77 and slowest at 81.  Felt good about the workout.

Wed - 52min/ 5.7m/ 300' - Lake Norman State Park - easy run on the Hawk Loop.  Felt horrible.

Thurs - 45min/ 5.5m/ 500' - Dam Pasture Trails - easy run with Mad A around WWC.  Felt a bit weak due to a lack of breakfast.

Fri - 55min/ 7m/ 300' - WWC - another easy run with Mad A on the trails at WWC.  Tried out my new MT 1010 (Minimus Amp) and really liked the feel.  I think I got a half size too big, but with some lacing tweaks they feel pretty good.  Looking forward to taking them out on ALTAR tomorrow.

Sat - 8hrs32min/ 30.1m/ 9000' - ALTAR - What a phenomenal day.  It got a bit lonesome at points, but the views were spectacular and I ran really well the entire day all the way till the final descent from Cold Mountain to Camp Daniel Boone.  I bonked hard at this point and couldn't even manage to run the majority of this downhill.  Overall though, I was satisfied and improved on my time by 30 minutes from last year.  Up high there was a solid two inches of powder and most of the trail was covered in ice which made the going slow, but wow the views from Black Balsam and Tennant Mtn were spectacular.  Great way to end the year for the Pisgah Nation!

Sun - off

Totals =

Time - 12hrs4min
Miles - 53.6
Vert - 11,100'

Feeling really good about this second week in the training phase although I am feeling Saturday's run even today on Tuesday as I am writing this.  The plan keeps calling for some more this week with the volume spread a bit more evenly across the week this time.  Hopefully I can recover quickly from ALTAR and will be ready to go back to full speed on Wednesday this week.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Uwharrie Training Week 1

Over the next 8 weeks, I'll be documenting my training for the Uwharrie 40 in hopes to have information in the future to see what works and doesn't work on my personal quest for a sub-7 hour finish of this race.  I believe that once I achieve said goal, I will be done with this race forever (but maybe not).  I've created my own training plan, so hopefully it works to reach my goal.  If not revisions will be needed.  First week in review detailed below:

Mon - 0hr - off

Tues - 7.5 miles/ 57 min/ 1000' - Hickory City Park - Tempo run on the mountain bike trail and greenway.

Wed - 7.2 miles/ 68 min/ 1600' - Crowders - Easy mountain run on backside, crowders, rocktop, and tower trails.

Thurs - 7.6 miles/ 65 min/ 300' - Davidson - Easy run with DART group on the Rocky Mountain Greenway.  Nice to finally meet up with this group for a run.

Fri - 5.2 miles/ 44 min/ 800' - Latta - Easy run.

Sat - 17 miles/ 2hrs55min/ 4500' - Crowders - Joined up with the Gaston County Trail runners and ran the Run to the Border route.  I tried to run comfortably hard the entire run to mimic Uwharrie pace and ran harder on the way back.  I felt great about this run and am ready to do it again at least once more before Uwharrie and try to lower the time a bit as well.

Sun -  off

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Hick City Park Splits

This page is dedicated to my own goal of setting new PR's and tracking my progress on my approx. 7.5 mile loop on the MTB trails of Hickory City Park!  Approx. vert 1000'

12/11/12 -  Total: 57:28 splits below
1st Bowl - 12:50 (12:50)
Twist/Turn - 6:14 (19:04)
2nd Bowl - 7:47 (26:52)
Lake - 9:56 (36:48)
Cove - 9:16 (46:05)
Greenway - 11:23 (57:28)

1/02/13 - Total: 57:38 splits below
1st Bowl - 12:38
Twist/Turn - 6:33 (19:11)
2nd Bowl - 8:26 (27:37)
Lake - 10:03 (37:41)
Cove - 9:08 (46:50)
Greenway - 10:48 (57:38)