Monday, April 21, 2008

Finally An Event To Train For


This weekend I dropped my application in the mail and am now official entered in something this year. It's one of the most difficult races on the ultra calendar. While short, for an ultra, it's the most difficult course profile there is--last year it had over 24,000' of elevation change in just under 30 miles. Here's my race report.

Wasatch Speedgoat 50k

This should be an interesting experiment. Last year I'd been doing a lot of running--well, run, hike, long mountain adventures anyway. This year I've done almost none. Not a single "run". Quite a few dog hikes. Not one long day in the mountains. I have almost exactly three months to train.

My training will start slow. Like I stated earlier in this program I don't always heed my own advice. Here's an old post from a runner doing Power 90. I tell him to stop running for a while. He reluctantly does and his times improve when he starts again. As for me, my legs are feeling good and I don't want to slow this progress. So I'm going to resist the temptation to start pounding right away and ease into this slowly so this will also serve as a "Running and P90X" example.

I'm easing into the diet too (I always eat okay, btw). When are we getting those beers?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

you're one sick bashtud! good luck!

marc

Steve Edwards said...

It's not that hard, especially for a climber. You should sign up. Of course, not that hard was last year when I was actually getting out. This year is absurd. I can't believe how lucky I feel that I've finished enough work today to get in my one hour workout in the garage. Things are startin' to happen...

Reedster said...

I don't know the last time I have been more consistent exercising than Steve. It's probably never happened. All that moving and renting shit must really be a pain. I can't wait until it's my turn.

I just upped my weights and did Chest and Back with some ARX. The chest and back went pretty good although in the later sets I sometimes can't do any pull-ups or chin-ups without assistance. My numbers were pretty good on everything though when compared with the first week. I might have to go buy more weights soon, and I should probably just get some of those fancy all-in-one sets like Steve has. ARX still kills, but I did ever so slightly better there too. Now I just have to see how Plyo feels after a couple weeks without it. Can't wait for tomorrow.

~R

Steve Edwards said...

A man much wiser than myself once said, "sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear, well, he eats you."

Anonymous said...

i like your style, dude.

Anonymous said...

Guys, I am an ultramarathoner in Colorado. And I have just started P90X (for the second time) but am really committed to stick with it this time, workouts and eating schedule. The first time I didn't stop my workouts and did become very tired, not just physically but also trying to fit everything into each day (plus working). So, this time I decided to stop running and devote all my time and energy to P90X. I will be fitting in running a couple of times a week just because running is what I've done all my life. But you really think P90X and tapering for awhile will actually help my performance in the future? I'm really scared about not running as much. Can you give me some insight? thanks. barb

Steve Edwards said...

Hi Barb,

Follow along because I'm going to write more about this. In a word, yes, it will help you over the long haul. Short term it won't. You'll get slower before you get faster. But that's how all sports training works. Do you have any races this year?

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve. I decided to take this summer off from racing, so I can concentrate on getting stronger and more flexible. I'm no different than most ultra runners, why take up time stretching if we can be out on the trails. Right? that is why I decided to really take advantage of this non-race summer to do P90X literally to the extreme and not worry about preparing for upcoming races. So, I am excited to learn from you on this topic. Thanks. barb