The days are getting shorter but the training days are getting longer….
Happy to report that training has been going very well. Ultraman looms at just 53 days off, and although I feel quite fit and legions beyond where I was last year at this time, there is a mountain of work to go. Intense work.
I just finished a relatively light week of training (21 hours — light for me!), but it culminated in a very tough weekend.
FRIDAY: Swim workout followed by 3hrs of riding with 2.5x up Latigo at threshold pace / 80 cadence. For those not familiar, Latigo is a legendary Malibu climb — a very tough 2,000 ft. ascent. I busted my butt on these repeats clocking my PR for the climb on #2. On the first attempt I was not yet fully warmed up and went 40 mins+. But on #2 I clocked 39mins+, by far my best attempt, with the caveat that it has been a very long time since I let one rip up this nasty grade.
SATURDAY: 8hrs on the bike with 13,000 ft of climbing. Left the house in the freezing cold pre-dawn (wasn’t it 110 degrees just a week ago?), climbing Piuma and Saddle Peak and plummeted Tuna Cyn down to PCH where I re-conned with my training buddies. I was planning on alot of flats after my hard Friday climbing, but got talked into joining them, which involved taking on Latigo (again!) and Piuma (again!) before heading off on my own again to climb Mulholland Hwy. When I got home I was as fried as I have ever been from training. I could barely move. It was all I could do to get some recovery nutrition in the belly before a nap, interrupted by a brief period of wakefullness to eat dinner and hang with the family before getting back in bed. I didn’t plan to be this tired and am a bit knawed by guilt, as I was simply too tired to be a good and present dad for my kids. As I lay in bed I wondered how the heck I was going to be able to get 4 hours of hard running in the next day. And I was counting the weeks until Ultraman would be over so I could resume some normalcy with the family. My wife and kids have been so enormously supportive, and I have devoted all of my very limited free time to them, but it has not been enough. I have missed too many soccer games and fun kid activities and I will be happy when things normalize and I can make up lost time with my wife and children.
SUNDAY: Slept like a rock and woke up actually feeling not bad. Decided the first of my two 2hr runs today would be on my favorite trail — Dirt Mulholland — which is the non-paved portion of Mulholland Drive which runs from the foot of Topanga Cyn in the Valley all the way to the 405 FWY. It begins with 30 minutes of solid ascending before rollers to the Nike Missile Tower. I generally run this loop in about 1:48-1:50. I began gingerly thinking this would be survival. But after about 15 minutes of warming up, I suddenly felt great. I picked it up and continued to build all the way to the end and ended the run at 1:44 — a good 4-5 min PR. Wow. Didn’t expect that. What a pleasant surprise. I felt great — like I actually know what I’m doing! Then I thought — uh oh. I overdid it. I am supposed to put in another 2hr run this evening at a FASTER pace than the am. Whoops. And for the record, I hate pm runs. I don’t know about anyone else, but if I don’t get it in in the morning, it is very tough for me to train at night. Not to mention we hosted a birthday party for my nephew that afternoon, so no nap. So I had to check the brain at the door and just get out and get it done. For this run I hit rolling pavement with the first hour giving me too much ascending. But the air was cool and the moon was full as I ran in the dark and managed (after a very rough 15 minute warmup) to get it done. And done right. Faster than the morning run. By alot. Wow. My legs were toast and could barely move when I got home, but was very happy to get this in the bag. I honestly didn’t think I could do it. And I know I couldn’t have without great recovery nutrition throughout the day. And a testament to my overall fitness and progress – that I can bounce back after hard sessions and hit it hard again. Nice. Good confidence booster.
But no rest for the weary. This week may be a bit short on hours again (21) but it involves 90 miles of running – basically a 2hr45min run every other day this week. Should be interesting!
All for now…Off to the pool.
PLANT-STRONG!
Rich
