Sunday, April 29, 2012

...but so is Lola

I changed gears this year for Ice Age and decided to try and air one out at the Bear Trax 20k.  I seldom race, so I figured since it was on trails I run on it would be a great tune-up.  It is a challenging course with plenty of hills and was supremely marked by Robert. 

I just charged out and was surprised I had settled into 3rd place by the 1st kilometer.  I just kept pushing and after about 7-8k didn't see anyone behind me.  Perhaps I should have kept better track because suddenly at 18k a guy who I have finished within 1-2 spots over 10 years was on me.  I kept clost to 19k, but Ted Shue was way too much for me over the last 1k putting 17 seconds on me.  Man did he look good doing it.  I finished 4th in 1:24:03 and was happy with that.  My goal was to go under 1:25.

I'll just hobby jog around the next two weeks and see what the 50 mile has in store.  I'm glad I did it because I learned a few things. 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Chucka...Chucka...Chucka Knox

The time has come for me to dare myself to taper for Ice Age.  There is a tendency on my part to want to squeeze a bit more in.  I am starting to believe tapering for a 50 mile can be a bit different than tapering for a marathon.  Seems to me one has done a few 4-6 hour runs and the process may take longer.  I rarely ran more than 3 hours in marathon training.  I usually choose to emphasize on pace work and hard medium long runs for marathons.  The general thought was to run 75%, 50%, and 25% of average mileage the final three weeks.

The logs have revealed something entirely different.  There is credible evidence I may do better with much less than this.  One example is 2009 when I ran a 7:20 at Ice Age.  It was more like 50%, 50%, and 17%.  I am under the impression if I do too much 3 weeks out then a full taper may not occur.  Age is a part of it as well.

I say age, because as I watch runners 10-20 years younger than me they simply do recover quicker.  Like some, I tend to believe the rule does not apply to me.  I have confirmed this thought is wrong and I will need to make alterations.  There are days when I feel solid and other days it is drudgery.  Since there isn't much I can change 3 weeks out from Ice Age, the one thing I can do is rest properly.  I thought about getting in a solid effort of 60 miles next week, but I think I'll be in the 40s.