STRAVA Summary

Monday, March 11, 2013

Beyond the Green Jewel

Now that Green Jewel is done and over with I can start concentrating on training for the Midwest Grand Slam. The Green Jewel went well, a good weekend with good friends even if it never stopped snowing all weekend.
Regardless of the snow I wore shorts anyway and was glad I did as the temperature wasn’t too cold. The Green Jewel is a gage of where my training is each year and although I still did well I felt that I struggled in the second half. A lot more walking than I would have liked, but from what I heard afterwards most runners were 10 to 20 minutes behind their normal times. So maybe I went out to fast or maybe it was the footing. I felt very comfortable through the first 20k, which I can probably attribute to the Isagenix E-shot that I took prior to the race. It made the first 20k feel really smooth. I was on course for a PB for the half, but knew that it would not continue in the second half, where it gets hillier.
I did run the big hill this year instead of walking it as I have in the past. I got to the marathon distance at 4 hours, so I don’t think that I was pushing it too hard.
Either way I finished in 4 hours 46 minutes, about 15 minutes slower than last year and 2 minutes quicker than 2011.
The rest of the crew all did well and were very happy to finish. 7 runners and 4 crew members left an lasting impression on some of the locals, glad to see a “large” international contingent taking part.

Now that I have a had a week to recover I feel it is time to step it up a gear and get the training started for the MWGS and more specifically the Kettle Moraine 100, first race on the agenda.
Last week’s recovery was not quite that, what with a nice trail run on Tuesday and then a tempo run on Wednesday I also ran fairly hard on Friday. No long run on Saturday and 29k on Sunday at a quicker than normal long run would be.

The plan is to work on the long runs as time on feet as opposed to distance and work on my endurance. I need to be feeling better longer in to a run than I have been.
Nutrition is another item of concern, but with Joan’s help with Isagenix I am working on rectifying this.
So the Crossfit experiment is over as I won’t have time for it and although I liked the whole idea of Crossfit and the way it works, it doesn’t work into my plans right now. It may again in the future when I have more spare time and I’m not training for a race(s).
For now it will be running trails on Tuesday, regular runs on Wednesday and Friday, which maybe the equivalent of speed work, long runs on Saturday and Sunday. Thursdays maybe trail runs too, but I might also try experimenting with other workouts on Mondays and Thursdays as cross training.
For my long runs I also have to work on pacing, running too fast with others doesn’t work and so it will be either by myself on Saturdays or with Joan for part of the run. Sunday’s, I will just have to play it by ear. This past Sunday’s run was quicker than I would have liked, but I still think there is a place for quicker long runs too, once in a while.
Next on the Agenda is the Harry Rosen 8k run in Toronto, yes I said 8k. It’s Joan’s benchmark race for the year every year and lets her know how she is doing. It should be interesting this year with next to no training for most of the last 6 months. I’m sure she will do well though as she is a tough competitor.

The schedule for the year is now:

March 2 – Green Jewel 50k – Done – 4:46

April 6th – Harry Rosen 8k

April 27th – O24 24 trail race

June 1st – Kettle Moraine 100

June 15th - Mohican 100

June 29th - Pacing at Western States 100

July 27th – Burning River 100

September 6th – Hallucination 100

With possibly more to come.