Return of Mr. January

Friends have joked that I'm Mr. January; that I start training in November, do great workouts in January, have a good race in early April and am toast by May. The past week makes that seem like history repeats itself. Adam asked me once how much hill training I thought was necessary for a 100 miler with 20000 feet of climb (that would be Superior) and I didn't know - obviously I think it takes a lot, since that's my goal and these are what I do 8 months prior:



Recent Training

(1/21. 30 in 4:50)

1/22. 12.5 in 92, with 5 in 33:50. Indoors at the Metrodome. Ran a couple of miles with Kurt Decker, whose big race this year will be Leadville. Shortly after he left to pick up the kids from Sonya, so she could take her turn running, I hit the wall - HARD. Unplanned speedwork the day after a 30 miler will do that. There was a gorgeous sun dog on the way to the dome, with prismatic columns and I thought there'd be a million photos of it, as it was visible on everyone's rush hour commute. If you've never seen one,http://www.starrynightphotos.com/planet_earth/sun_dog_halos.htm has a nice pic.

1/23. 0. Needed a day off.
1/24. 5 in 41.5. Stomach pain (something I ate) cut this short.
1/25. 8 in 68.5. Slept badly (yesterday's bad food working it's way out).
1/26. 20 in 2:56. HR av=132, pk=145.
Ran the Mounds hill 9 times. Startled a deer, which startled me because it was the largest I've ever seen (if it weren't in the city, I'd say it was an elk!). There was a temperature inversion, causing the lower section of the hill to smell like drains, which it should, as the Phalen Creek drains into the Mississippi there - oddly, it also smells like some cheeses from Normandy and it made me hungry, when others would be nauseated. Had a little tightness in left hamstring toward the end, developed a large blister on one toe, bruised a toenail. Otherwise, felt pretty good. Was going to watch the half-marathon, which was nearby, but didn't.

1/27. 16 in 2:37. HR av=131 pk=144
16 times up the Ohio Street hill (1/2 mile, exactly, going up and more than 200 feet climb). Last time up was grueling and I couldn't talk myself into finishing the workout, but was starving and the Jerabek bakery was near. Turns out the bakery closed; it was making money, but the time constraints were a problem. There were a lot of Winter Carnival Treasure Hunt people out there, but not as many as in my backyard [One of the early clues suggested "Sophia," a one block road a hundred feet from home] and one guy biking up that monster of a hill. After the ice on the path melted, the underlying cement was hard to tolerate. Had some twinges in left hip (overtraining!) and the dry air made my heart monitor tear into my skin.

The long hill was the tougher to run, even though it's not as steep and was the first one. The biggest problem is keeping the heart rate UP on the downhill, not DOWN on the uphill. If I were to run Leadville, I think I'd train on the Afton Coulee hill (4 miles uphill. That's right. 4 miles.) as Leadville has very long hills, but much on the road.