Training in Virginia

Great Falls

Sun, April 19: Today was an awesome trail run in River Bend & Great Falls state parks just north of McLean, VA. Who’d a thought that something so awesome as these parks exist in this extreme urban area. Miles and miles of single track through beautiful woods with singing birds, abundant wild life, and sections of steep hills; it was spiritual! At the end of 23 miles I was feeling so much energy and joy from this run I didn’t want to stop. However, the reality of risking overtraining and the fact I was out of water made me decide to end the adventure. It was truly an awesome run!

SeePictures

Sat, April 18: Started the day with indoor cycling at the McLean Racket & Health Club. 1 ½ hours of sub threshold intervals on one of those stationary bikes with the big fat saddle. Man those saddles are uncomfortable. After the bike workout, ran in River Bend & Great Falls on the recommendation from a colleague at work. Had planned on doing an easy 5 mile recovery run, but the trails were so awesome I couldn’t stop exploring. I finally called it at 7 miles. I am definitely coming back tomorrow for more exploring!

Fri, April 17: Got up early before work and ran through the neighborhoods near the hotel. Nice rolling hills with some pretty impressive houses. The streets are lighted enough to be like daylight and there’s no traffic this early in the morning. This whole area is old wood forest and the houses are built without taking down all the trees. As the sun comes up the birds are incredible. Its like a concert put on by nature. What a way to start the day! 1.4 hrs and 9.5 miles.

Thurs, April 16: Easy five mile recovery run before work through the neighborhood near the hotel. Legs were feeling pretty beat up from running so much pavement yesterday. Just took it easy and even though it was raining, still enjoyed the magic of night turning to day. After work went to the gym for a full body strength workout as well as a 1 hour spin session. Our spinning class included some eight very tough 2 minute Vo2 max intervals. I had a couple minor problems in that I’m still not used to those big fat saddles and when we were going really hard, I pulled my foot out of the pedal a couple times. Good workout though considering I’m here without a bike.

Wed, April 15: Got up at four AM to run a paved trail (W & OD) not too far from the hotel. It’s a pretty nice trail and I just ran a steady pace in the dark for a little over six miles before turning around. What was really cool about this run is the sounds of nature all around. The trail travels through marsh areas, old forests, golf courses, residential areas. Throughout the run there seemed to be massive amounts of birds singing, crickets chirping and other sounds of nature. It was like running in a concert. I felt great the entire run, but a little beat up from the pavement at the end.

Tues, April 14: Went to the gym and participated in a spinning class or as the instructor called it, indoor cycling training. The instructor is a cyclist and doesn’t teach spinning. The bikes are the spinning type bikes with the strap on pedals (that keep coming un-tightened) and BIG FAT SADDLES. Those saddles are intimidating! We had a good workout though, with a thorough warm-up then a series of sub threshold intervals. Actually the perfect type of training for me right now, under the circumstances.

Mon: April 13: Flew to Washington/Dulles then drove to the hotel. Found a gym (The McLean Racket & Health) club less then two minutes walking distance from the hotel. The hotel has a membership so guests can use it for free. Excellent! Went over and did a full body strength workout, focusing on core. Also picked up a copy of their spinning schedule. Gonna make this work!

Total for Week:

Bike: 3.6 hrs, 52 miles

Run: 8.8 hrs, 57 miles

Highs & Lows

This was the kind of week that will test one’s patience and resolve. A week with ups and downs, highs and disappointments. The week started off very well. Monday was a complete recovery day as I was wasted from last week. Tuesday, I didn’t run in the morning and had a great ride at the Tuesday ProCycling "ride until you puke". I felt great, was able to go at very high intensity and hold my own with the fast guys. Big difference when you don’t do a hard run before the ride. This had me pretty psyched for DawnTillDusk on Saturday. The rest of the week, I pretty much took it easy. An easy six mile run on Wednesday morning followed by an easy ride home from work in the afternoon.

Thursday, an easy ride to work with a half dozen hard sprints just to wake up what little fast twitch muscles I have and that was it for the week. I felt rested and ready for Saturday. Then just as I was getting ready to leave work, I learned that I will be travelling all over the country for a month starting Monday. Instead of going home, I spent the rest of the night coordinating and making travel arrangements. Because of the amount of travel involved I won’t be able to take my bike. 4 ½ weeks of no riding. I’ll also miss a couple of races. I was bummed.

Friday, drove 500+ miles to Gallup, NM for DawnTillDusk. I felt good and was excited about the first race of the season. I really wanted to give it my all since I won’t be riding for a while. Got up Saturday morning and there is a steady downpour of snow and rain. Been raining steady since midnight. The race site was a mud pit. Only four wheel drive vehicles could even get to the venue. At the pre-race meeting we were informed that the race will be delayed and a decision will be made at 10 if it will be cancelled. Shortly after, the sun came out and there was hope. At 10 we were informed that the course is un-ridable and even un-walkable in many sections. They will check conditions again and possibly have a Noon til 7 race. Then it started snowing hard. Big wet flakes. Race cancelled.

Waiting on Race Decision

The excitement for the day was queueing up to climb up the mud bog hill to leave the venue. Each vehicle waited for the one in front to clear the hill before he/she would try. Any non-four wheel drives that came down the night before were not leaving until Sunday at the earliest. So we mudded our way out and drove 500+ miles back home where it was dry and warm.

Waiting for Turn up the "Mud Bog"

Sunday, woke up and it’s snowing big heavy wet flakes. Looks like the New Mexico storm hit Colorado. Had to do something so I got on the trainer. I decided that since I couldn’t ride 12 hours outside, I would ride 6 hours inside. Warmed up for about 15 minutes, then put on the Spinervals "Hardcore 100" training DVD, and blasted the stereo. The "Hardcore 100" DVD is a workout with 5 ½ hours of progressively harder intervals. Starts out fairly easy, increases to moderate intensity, and the last hour is very intense. I felt great and finished very strong. Oh if only I could have raced yesterday!

6 Hours & 116 Miles on the Trainer

So now I’ve got to radically alter my training. I leave tomorrow for DC. Over the next month I will be in San Diego, Irving, TX and back to DC. I think I will be restricted to running, but if I can swing it, maybe I can find a gym and possibly get into a spinning class now and then. This certainly is a set back, but somehow, I’ll work it out.

Sun: Bike – 6 hrs, 116 miles
Thurs: Bike – 1.3 hrs, 19.5 miles
Wed: Run - .9 hrs, 6.2 miles, Bike – 1.7 hrs, 19.5 miles
Tues: Bike (MTB) – 1.8 hrs, 15.6 miles, Core Strength - .8 hrs

A Rough Week

This was a pretty rough week. The weather was cold and windy all week and on every group ride I got spanked. I’m sure the running has a lot to do with that. I sure am starting to feel old riding with all these young fast guys. Next week is the first big test. The DawnTillDusk Mountain Bike Race in Gallup, NM. Total for week:

Run: 8 hrs, 50 miles
Bike: 12 hrs, 142 miles

The Old Guy with ProCycling Studs (Click to enlarge)

Sunday: After dealing with the wind and trying to keep up with the young guys yesterday I was completely exhausted. I crawled to bed around 8:30 and slept until 8:00. Woke up feeling pretty good. The sun was shining, but it was still windy and cold. I decided to run and not really plan where. Make it up as I go along. Headed for Ute Valley, ran a loop, then over to the middle school where Roswitha was running laps on the track. Ran a couple of miles with her then headed back to Ute Valley. I was feeling really good today and even though there was a stiff cold wind, it didn’t bother me. I was enjoying the run and so was Max. We ran several long loops and after 18 miles started heading toward home. Max is incredible. We had just covered 20 miles and once we got to within a mile of the house, he started sprinting through all his "known rabbit hideouts" like we had just started! When we got home he absolutely had to go clear the back yard of any rabbits or squirrels.
Run: 3.6 hrs, 21 miles 2,260’ climbing

Max, My best Running Buddy

Saturday: Saturday was a tough day. I could hear the wind howling from my bed. Got up to see light snow blowing sideways, not good. Went for a 5 mile run with Max and the wind was ridicules. Strong, frigid and miserable. I also felt tired. Got home, ate and headed for the team ride. It was about an hour ride to where we met and I had a tail wind so even though I was tired, it felt like I was flying. Because of the weather, we had a rather small turn out; six. With the exception of me they were all young fast guys and at least two of them, Doug & Kalan, pro.

Doug Ryden

We had a good ride in Cheyenne Canyon, although I was getting dropped a lot and when I did hang on I was struggling. Going home was rough. Against an even stronger & colder headwind. I got caught by a side wind and was actually blown off the bike path. Shortly after that I came upon the always-comical group of Hash House Harriers. They were spread out all over the woods looking for beer. I’m sure when they found it, it was cold! Ducked into Ute Valley to get some more single-track riding and escape the wind. Once I got home I was exhausted both mentally & physically. For the first time this year, I felt like I was my age.

Run: .8 hrs, 5 miles
Bike: 4.8 hrs, 42 miles, 4,140’ climbing

Friday: An easy relaxing ride to work. Left around 5:30. Weather was beautiful, clear and in the 30s. Again, the mountains looked pristine as the early morning sunrise reflected their snowcaps. Makes you feel great to be alive! In the evening got an unexpected ride. As I headed for my truck after work, I realized I forgot my keys. Not planning on riding home, I stuffed my morning riding clothes in my backpack. Pulled them out and they were soaked. Yuk! Rode home in wet smelly clothes in a pretty stiff head wind. Luckily it wasn’t super cold.
Bike: 3.1 hrs, 39 miles

Thursday: Got up at 4:30 and went on 12 mile run with Max in fresh snow from snowstorm last night. Absolutely beautiful! Nothing like running in fresh snow on mountain trails early in the morning. Treading the first footprints and being dark, sometimes I had a hard time following the trail. As in the past I just relied on Max and let him show me the way. Every now and then we came upon Coyote tracks so I made sure I Max was always in sight. At about 4 miles we came upon very fresh, what I believe to be, mountain lion tracks. Yikes! From that point I made Max run at my side. I certainly don’t want Max becoming mountain lion breakfast. As the sun rose, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be out here running. The scene was simply amazing. What a way to start the day.

In the evening, rode home from work at a good tempo. Lengthened the route so I could get two 30 minute tempo sections without having to stop for traffic lights or stop signs. The route home from work is pretty good for tempo riding as home is a few hundred feet higher than the office. It was a great ride, and it is obvious that taking it easy yesterday was the right thing to do. I feel totally recharged!
Run: 1.7 hrs, 12 miles
Bike: 1.6 hrs, 22 miles

Wednesday: Felt really tired today. I had planned on riding to and from work but just couldn’t drag my tired but out of bed early enough to ride, so I drove. My plan for riding home was squelched when another snowstorm hit right about time to go. I was still feeling pretty run down and decided to listen to my body. I went home and rode 1 hour on the trainer focusing on relaxing and hi rpm spinning. This helped work some of the stiffness out of my legs and hopefully will give me a nice rest to get recharged.
Bike: 1 hour, ? miles

Cranking up the Intensity

Got up nice and early this morning for a good 12 ½ mile run. It wasn’t quite as early as in San Diego, (5 instead of 4) so that was nice. It was cold though. I estimated it to be in the mid teens. My water bottle was frozen after an hour. The trails were pretty clear of snow so the footing was good. Started out with a 2 1/2 mile warm-up then 6 miles at tempo in 45:51. Finished up with an easy four miles that was starting to feel kind of tough toward the end. Most people don’t know this, but this is an excellent way to start the morning. Much better than coffee!

Although it was an excellent workout this morning, I felt it the rest of the day. I was pretty stiff at work, and had to get up and walk around several time to work the kinks out. The stiffness wasn’t gone when we started our Tuesday night ProCycling climb until you puke ride. I was in trouble right from the beginning. Even as we approached the first climb I was having trouble hanging on. Like last week, I was dropped like I wasn’t even there. This time it was by guys I have out climbed in the past. Ouch. I started feeling better at the steepest part of the climb and my legs sort of woke up after that. The second and steepest climb I was able to at least hang on, dangling at the back while everyone else was attacking and counter attacking each other. And to think I almost turned around and went home after the first climb.

Run: 1.7 hrs, 12.5 miles/w 6 mile tempo in 45:51
Bike: 1.5 hrs, 20.6 miles

Time to Get Vertical

An epic day in the saddle! Got the gang together and we proceeded to get some serious vertical today. Awesome! We have a road ride which can take on several variations we call "Tour de Hills". It’s a very cool ride because there is almost no traffic, never leaves town, and comprises serious climbing. Today, 70 miles and 8,180 feet. The weather was perfect and our group a blast, and just another day in paradise!

The Tribe Gathers

Kara Climbing to the Zoo

Dan & the "Gouge Man" Climbing Cheyenne Canyon

Climbing Gold Camp

Bike 6.0 hrs, 70 miles, 8,180’ climing
Week Total:
Run: 7.4 hrs, 46.1 miles
Bike: 12.6 hrs, 151 miles

More Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/larry.dewitt/TourDeHills#

Running in Winter Paradise

CRUD Stampede Headin for the Trailhead

Another incredible day training for Leadman. It seems like I use that word a lot, maybe I should find another one. On the other hand, I can’t help it. It is just so awesome to be privileged, blessed, whatever you want to call it to be able to train for something like this. At 51 years old I’m still going out and doing the same things I loved to do in High School; running and riding my bike! And as I’ve said before, Colorado Springs is an absolutely perfect place to train. There is no shortage of studs in Colorado Springs either. Tuesday I’m riding with Norm Alvis and Matt Simmons and at the CRUD runs, guys like Paul DeWitt (no relation), Anton Krupicka, & Rick Hessek are regulars. Paul is former Leadville 100 Trail Run course record holder, Anton 2 time winner of the same race, and Rick finishes in the top 5 of every race he enters. Not to mention Paul and Anton have numerous course records all over the country. And these guys don’t mind running/riding with regular old guys like me!

The Saturday CRUD run started in Manitou Springs with a seven mile climb to the Palmer Trail Head.

Regrouping about half way up the Initial Climb

Once on Palmer Trail we broke trail through fresh snow, which was quite a bit of work, but just adds to the adventure! Palmer Trail was primarily descending until we came to the Section 16 Trail Head, then we started climbing again. My legs did not want to cooperate after running downhill for 30 minutes or so. I pushed through it and after a while they started coming back. We ran the rolling Intemann Trail back to Manitou for a total 18.6 miles. We hit altitudes of 8700 feet with an average altitude of 7500 feet. Just under 3,000 feet of climbing. I love going out an playing in the mountains! Re-grouping before Heading Down Palmer Trail

Run: 3.3 hrs, 18.6 miles
More Pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/larry.dewitt/CRUDRunPalmerIntemannTrailMarch09?feat=email#

More Pics from Steve Bremner:

http://picasaweb.google.com/swbremner/20090328CrystalParkCRUDRun?feat=email#

Winter Ain't Over Yet!

Temps were in the mid 80s when I left San Diego last week. Contrast that to mid teens in blizzard conditions today. The Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. Today’s workouts were pretty rough considering I haven’t seen winter this year.

In the morning, a 3.2 hour MTB ride with two tempo efforts, the first 30 min, the second 50 min. Temps were in the mid 20s so I was pretty frozen when finished. Especially hands and feet. In the afternoon the weather turned for the worse and we were hit with a full-on blizzard. The wind was blowing so hard it was snowing sideways. The interstate closed down, as well as half the city.

I assumed no one would show for the CRUD Thursday evening run, (what was I thinking, this is Team CRUD) so I went out on my own. (Turns out two brave souls did turn out for the CRUD run).

My wife wouldn’t let me take Max because she thought the weather was too extreme. She knew better to talk me out of it, although she made an obligatory attempt, and I proceeded with a speech about the Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation and she let it go. I think she mentioned something about the Leadman requires extreme morons or something as I headed out the door.

After 3+ hours in the cold this morning, I wasn’t too excited about going out again. But the Leadman is an extreme… I repeated several times. The wind was ridicules and the snow stung. Luckily the first half of the run was against the wind so it was at my back the second half. At one point the wind was blowing so hard I was running in place. I started laughing out loud. After that I started to question my sanity too! I have to admit I was enjoying it. The trail was a mix of snow drifts and bare ice due to the wind. Exactly what Yaktrax is made for. I don’t know who invented those things, but they work great. They are like tire chains for shoes.

Yaktrax

When I turned around I was surprised to see my tracks were all ready covered. The longer into the run the deeper the snow was getting, and many times I had to walk. I didn’t like walking because the sweat would start freezing, so I forced myself to run through the drifts.

In retrospect, this was excellent training for Leadman. In any of the five races there is a very good possibility of snow, rain, hail, heat or all four within the same race. This is almost a guarantee during the 100 mile run. The run starts at 4:30 am in temps right around freezing, may get very warm in the day, with afternoon/evening thunderstorms all but guaranteed. These thunderstorms are hail storms on the passes. At night it can get very cold, even down to freezing. Combine that with possible rain, snow or hail and today was just a small taste of what Leadville could be. The Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation.

Thurs:
Run: 1.7 hrs, 10.5 miles
Bike: 3.2 hrs, 30 min & 50 min tempo, 45 miles

Wed:
Run: 45 min, 5 miles easy
Bike: Technical MTB , 2.1 hrs, 16 miles

Ouch!

Today was a good run/bike day but I got severely spanked on the bike. Started the morning with a 12 mile run in which I ran 5 miles at tempo. I ran the first two miles easy to warm up then 5 miles in 37:58, and 5 miles at an aerobic pace to finish. Felt pretty good throughout the run.

The ProCycling Team ride was a different story. The weather was turning cold and it looked and felt like it was getting ready to snow. Only two others showed up; Matt Simmons (Pro Mountain Biker) and Norm Alvis (Former Pro Road Racer, former Pro National Champion, former US hour record holder). Ouch! Needless to say as Matt and Norm were cruising and talking this old guy was just trying to hang on. When we hit the first climb they dropped me like I wasn’t even there. We regrouped at the top and headed for the second climb. Norm went home and Matt took it easy on me. He waited about 150 meters or so before he dropped me. I almost kept him in sight to the top, but not quite. This was one of those rides when your going so hard you want to puke but still can’t keep up. Ouch again. Welcome Home!

Run: 1.6 hrs, 12 miles
Bike: 1.3 hrs, 20 miles, 2000’ climbing

See Matt's Blog for more: http://twowheeledworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/7th-wonder.html

Riding with an Long Time Friend

An absolute fantastic ride today! Today, was 4 ½ hours of technical mountain biking in Ute and Palmer Parks with my good friend, Sharon Larson. Sharon is a former pro mountain biker and really fun to ride with. Sharon & I have been riding together for almost as long as I’ve been riding mountain bikes. We have had many adventures together, including a race across Costa Rica, Leadville 100 both bike & run, 24 hours of Moab, 24 hours of Old Pueblo, Tour de Gila, serveral epic rides in Moab, and the list goes on. She is one of the better technical riders I know, and today everything just seemed to flow. An incredibly fun ride on some trails I haven’t ridden in quite a while. Some how I felt really good today, despite the long run yesterday. I would have like to stretched it out another couple hours but still have those 3 months worth of chores to catch up on.

Bike: 4.5 hrs, 42 miles, 3000’ climbing

Week Total:
Bike: 12.9 hrs, 130 miles
Run: 5.6 hrs, 30.6 miles

Getting into the Long Runs

Now that I’m home and hopefully going back to a civilized work schedule, its time to start focusing on a real training schedule to get ready for Leadman. Up to this point all I’ve been doing is a lot of running and riding with no real plan or purpose other than having fun. Maybe that’s the way training should be, who knows? I need to focus more on running though. I believe that's my weak area, and running 100 miles in the Rocky Mountains is no picnic. The mountain bike races, I know I can finish. It’s the run that has me worried. Time to get serious!

Today Max and I ran a hilly 19 miles. Average elevation > 7,000 feet with total climb, 3,980'. We started off with a steep climb that had me walking right off the bat. I felt terrible the first few climbs and had to walk much of them. This was the case for pretty much all the climbs up Ute Trail. That trail amazes me because it seems it is uphill no matter which direction you run it. After about an hour, somewhere in Waldo Canyon, I started feeling better, and just continued to feel better the rest of the run. Ran a loop around Wald Canyon, then up Longs Ranch. Longs Ranch is very steep in places and I had to walk those sections. Ran about 1 ½ miles up Longs Ranch and realized I needed to get home as I have three months worth of chores to catch up on, so I turned around (really!). Of course anyone that knows Longs Ranch knows it gets REALLY steep at about 1 ½ miles. But really it was the chores. Finished feeling very strong in Manitou via Ute Trail.

Run: 4 hrs, 19 miles