Zion 100

12 Days till race day 

 Recovery after Antelope Island 50 mile (2 weeks ago) has gone really well. I was doing a good amount of driving to and from ( Missoula,MT -> Davis,UT -> Carson City, NV -> Missoula,MT) which made recovering take a bit longer.

Photo by: Matt Gunn (Zion 100 race director) 

After the race I hung out for a little to have a few home brews made by Jim Skaggs the (RD of Antelope Island Buffalo Run) and waited for my head-lamp and jacket to be returned from The Ranch aid station. My gear finally arrived and  after munchin' on way too many cookies and drinking way too much hot chocolate it was now time to hit the road and start heading west to Carson City,NV. I had about 3 hours until it would get dark so I figured I could make it to Wells,  NV (well shit!) and sleep in Olie (my green Subaru). This would set me up for a 5-1/2 hr drive on Sunday to make it into CC by noon. 

I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30am with an empty stomach and crampy legs. I tried to look out the window to see if my MTB was still there but I couldn't see out the window. The windows were completely frosted over.  I started up Olie and turned the heat to full blast while I chugged some water and stretched the legs. Now it was McDonald's time ( two egg sandwiches and hash brown) and 5-1/2 hours on the road. 

I arrived in Carson City by noon and was so happy to be done driving (for now) and just lay out in the hot Nevada sun. The trip to CC was supposed to be a business trip but I needed to loosen up the legs a little and what better than to go for a mountain bike ride up Ash Canyon. The sun was in full force and the flowers were blooming everywhere. The legs were sore but it felt amazing to breath some fresh air and get some blood flowing to the legs. The trip to CC was short and before you knew it I was back in the car and headed north for Montana. This trip to CC got me really excited for my new home there and the chance to explore some new landscapes. 

MTBing up Ash Canyon Carson City, Nevada

Spring is here 

I've been back in the bubble of Missoula and the last week of training has been nice. The legs came around nicely after Antelope Island and I was able to get some decent days in this past week. I have mixed running in with mountain biking which has been a nice mix. Now its time to start cutting back and resting up before 

Zion (I guess you call this tapering). 

We should just run back 

Ryon Reich's broken derailleur while riding Deer Creek Sneak

Tapering 

I'd like to say that I have the whole tapering thing dialed in but I don't. This is the one part of training that I think most people undermined. Everyone picks there races, they train for them week in week out and then race day is only a week away and you cram, just like before a college exam. Maybe you start to worry that you didn't do a certain workout and you squeeze one last hill session in. If you look back at all your training leading up to a race, all the hard hours, the runs in nasty weather, early morning workouts and all the accumulated fatigue that you have inflicted on yourself and you don't rest properly, whats the point? Why would someone want to feel crummy during a race that they have worked so hard towards having a great performance? 

It all comes down to believing in all your efforts and knowing that you have done the work because when race day comes this is your day to celebrate all your hard work and to look back on your journey that got you to where you are. 

UM Triathlon training trip to Zion (2011)  with Myke Hermsmeyer  and  Chris Cordingley 

I learned after Antelope Island Buffalo Run that proper rest going into an Ultra-Marathon is a must. I took 9 days off 3 weeks out and my legs felt great! I owe this to the ample amount of rest that I had before the race. Granted the rest came because I was sick and at the same time had a tooth infection and got my wisdom teeth extracted on top of this a reactions to my antibiotics that left me sweating buckets at night and  a throbbing head during the day. I would like to think that if I wasn't sick and didn't have surgery that I would have rested up properly before Antelope. Ummmmm... part of me thinks that I would have kept running and gone in fatigued.So don't go kidding yourself before your next Ultra-Marathon and actually rest! 

So with 12 days out from the Zion 100 its time to kick up the feet and relax.

Cheers!

 It's racing season! 

Week Ending 4-7-13 

4-1-13

Mon:  Pengelly Ridge - Right calf was really tight at the start of this run. Started to loosen up though as I went on.Took this one up the slant back to the tree line then up Pengelly Ridge across to the top of Sentinel and down the ridge home. Legs a little sore on this one. Breathing felt good. 

TOT- 11.5miles 1hr45'

4-2-13

Tue: Slant - Took this one up the slant back to the tree-line and back across Sentinel home. Legs a little flat. Took it EZ. TOT-10miles 1hr22' 

Core/Pull-ups- 12' 

4-3-13

Wed: Flat- Easy running on Waterworks. TOT- 9miles 1hr16' 

4-4-13

Thur: Sentinel + North Hills- Slant back to the tree-line across the fire Rd. down the "M". From there I went across Waterworks on the game trail and down Randolph back home O street. Legs feeling much better. 

TOT- 12.5miles 1hr44' 

Core- 10' 

Ride- Fun ride up the rattlesnake a little ways. Legs a little sore but felt good to spin them out. 

TOT- 1hr15' 

4-5-13

Fri: Flat- Easy run around campus and down the Kim E a ways after the MTB ride. 

TOT-6miles 44' 

Ride- Met Myke Hermsmeyer, Ryon Reich, Daniel Zielaski and  Cory Kaufman at Treasure State Donuts for some pre-ride fuel. Took this ride around Sentienl via Deer Creek sneak. Ryon unfortunately had a stick jam into his rear wheel which broke his derailleur. Great ride with great company. TOT- 2hr

4-6-13

Sat: Slant Trail- Ran back to the tree-line again up the slant. Took the MTB trails on the way down. Ran right into a rain storm which was kind of refreshing even though I couldn't feel my hands. TOT- 8.5miles 1hr15' 

PM run- Easy run around Osprey Stadium trying out the Pearl Izumi N1 trail shoe. Don't know weather to go with these or the New Balance 110's. Right now I'm leaning towards the 110's. TOT- 3.3miles 25' 

Core- 10' 

4-7-13

Sun: North Hills with Hanners- Decided we would run up Cherry Gulch from the house but decided to take a game trail on the hill to the right of Cherry. Nice climb with a different view of the lower rattlesnake.TOT 9miles 1hr18' 

Core/pull-ups-30' 

Totals: 

Running miles: 70 miles 

MTB: 3+hours 

Core: 1hour 

Total time: 14hrs