Bighorn Training Log: Weeks 17 and 16 to Go

Training Thru an Epic Winter
 
Well, winter weather, trail conditions, and the need to get in training hikes ahead of the Whitney climb (3/22-25) kind of dictated the schedule for these two weeks.  One of the three hikes was unplanned, as Garth and I headed to Palisades for a snowshoe run that turned into a postholing hike. And then a bit of an adventure as I solo'ed up/down some difficult slopes using running snowshoes to frontpoint along the poles I fortunately had in the trunk of the car! (It’s been one of those winters!).
 
 
Solo Bear Mountain training hike
In the second week, I thought I was tapering ever so slightly for Febapple 50K, which I had signed up for last-minute.  But conditions were likely to be sloppy with rains and warmer temps on top of lots of massed snow, plus Garth and Lesley were no-go’s.  So I made the right call day before, which was to go out to Tammany that Saturday instead for a training hike.  Time running out for Whitney, and not much quality running was going to happen at Febapple.


 
Palisades snowshoe hike--Peanut Falls along the Hudson

Overall, it was a “take it as it comes” situation.  Fewer runs and less mileage than I would like, but a chance for some great winter hiking.  I was happy to still in get in some quality running stuff, with the 17 miler and solo speedwork both weeks.   In equivalent time on feet terms, I’m certainly getting in what I would if I did only the goal mileage on trails in decently runnable conditions.
 
 
Mt. Tammany training hike (Delaware Water Gap, NJ)
I felt pretty good overall, and the days completely off or with only strength were key as the demands on the body have been great.  It is a little frustrating not being able get in quality time on the trails with our current winter, but what’s a guy gonna do?  Making the best of it and hopefully won’t be worse for the wear come April and beyond!  Tentatively, I may do Greenbelt 50K that second weekend of May, which would “replace” Febapple and keep the “Bighorn as my 50th ultra” dream alive!  (Right now I still sit at 45.)
 
 
A foot of snow-plus on Bear Mountain



Bears repeating--breaking in new backcountry snowshoes
 
Bundled up at finish by Bear Mountain Inn-temps in teens to 20s
 
The beta: 

Feb. 10-16

Est. running miles:  40 miles

Runs = 4    Hikes = 2

Time on feet:  9.84 hours (running) + 6:50 (hiking)

Relentless book mileage target:  54 (with 20/10 B2B)

Long run:  17 road miles, with 15 of them at about 8:50 pace (slowed way down for last two miles with developing left hamstring issue, then walked back from park to protect leg)

Speedwork (improvised with no quorum for Mike’s class):  2 X mile plus 2 X half (times around 7:30ish pace)

Hikes:  One @ Bear Mountain on backcountry snowshoes for about 3:30 with about 42 pounds in pack, up/down the AT most of way up (about 800-1000’ of up and then of down), lots of technical issues with snowshoe bindings and stoppage time, awkward descent on snow-covered stairs.  Other @ Palisades near State Line, running snowshoes with post-holing first half with Garth, then grabbed poles and headed toward Peanut Falls, all in a foot or so of snow with few tracks to follow and all very off-camber deep snow footing

 

Garth debuting running snowshoes on snow way too deep and untrammeled


Poles helped with the second half, but these snowshoes no match for this snow (apologies for technical glitches on photo repeats)
 

The woods near State Line Lookout, NJ/NY border

Feb. 17-23

Total Runs:  4

Running mileage:  25.5

Relentless target:  40 (14/6 B2B, a stepdown week)

Time on feet:  running = 4:25+ hiking = 6:45  total = 11:10

Long run:  none

Speedwork:  6 repeats of Great Hill from 102 transverse (about .3 to .33 mile each)

Whitney training hike #4 (de facto #5):  6:45 with 3,600’ up and 3,600’ down in three repeats of Mt. Tammany (Lesley and Jeff doing repeats on trail same time); carrying 50 pounds; mountaineering boots with Microspikes, poles, and about 10 inches of slushy snow

Strength:  upper/core X 2 and legs X 1 (?)

No yoga, some stretching

Winter still casting its long shadow on a 40s day at Tammany

View ain't half bad (frozen Delaware River from top of Tammany)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sedona Canyons 125 Race Report: Trail Redemption

Image
This was a race to warm a grizzled ultra vet’s heart! Outstanding company of friends and newfound fellow trail travelers. Amazing deserts, canyons, and mountains in a point to point journey. All sorts of cool flora and fauna.  Generous cutoffs without constant time pressure. Challenging but fair. Superb race organization and generally very good markings.  Weather that was predictably sunny and dry but not unbearably hot, and got a bit cooler as we moved higher on days 2 and 3. And 125 proved to be an unusual but pretty cool distance. So it all came together for a  great race experience, the stress meter running reasonably low though there were moments. All this was good for a return to a 100 mile finish line I hadn’t experienced in 8 long years. Finally that lucky 7th 100–damn it felt good!  Day before checking out a water station we'd pass the next day The particulars are that I finished in 62:11:17, 124nd out of 197 starters and 144 finishers. I was 12th out of 16 ...
Read more

Enlightened New Forms of Masochism: The Looped Mountain Climb Repeat (aka "Mt. Tammany 10 Race Report")

Ok, I know memory fades, and this was back on March 31st, but I'm just now getting a moment.  Some background's in order first.  I've done the Delaware Water Gap fat ass 50K two of the last three falls.  Love the course.  It goes up and over Mt. Tammany twice, one time in each direction, during the Jersey segment of that two-state event (where you cross a busy highway bridge on the pedestrian ramp spanning the very scenic Gap).  The two co-organizers of that event, Alex and Dennis, let us know at last November's event they were doing this unusually structured event in March:  climb up, over, down, back around the base, and then repeat Mt. Tammany....for 10 loops, in 10 hours, covering 1,000' each of vertical in each climb (actually 1,200), but they liked the symmetry of all the "ones" and "zeros," hence the "Tammany 10."   Never be a guinea pig for a new ultra and some R.D.'s dystopian fantasy of a cool course?Wrong, this was fun!  ...
Read more

High Desert and Snowy Peaks: Old Pueblo 50 Mile Race Report

Overall Impressions Old Pueblo is a beautiful, well-organized 51-mile trail run through the high country of the Santa Rita mountains, about an hour southeast of Tucson. It features more dirt roads than is to my trail purist's liking. But fortunately these are mostly pretty remote forest service roads, with little or no vehicle travel. Some well graded and smooth, but occasionally pretty rugged. So you still get that "away from it all, out there" feeling, as you go back and forth from public land to private ranch land, crossing more cattle guards than I carry to count! Plus there are three distinct sections of the beautiful Arizona Trail single track. These tend to be the sections with the most forest cover in what is mostly a pretty exposed course. You have that "I can see for miles and miles" feeling at many different points in the race, contrasting sharply with that "closed in, don't know what's around the next curve in the trail" from our ea...
Read more