I felt incredibly good this morning so I went out for 30:00 and jogged super easy and walked the steep ups and downs. My legs feel really good, no soreness or tightness anywhere. Kind of disappointed in that to be honest. When I look back on Saturday I don't consider it a "race", more of just a run. I had so much left in me, which is a good thing for sure for my first 50 miles. The mental break through (of sorts) I had on Saturday hasn't gone away and I still feel the shift in my thinking. It's nice that at 38 years old I can still find such a new and unexplored place in my brain and my spirit to explore and learn.
I looked at my training logs leading up to Saturday (not counting race week) and I averaged 48.9 miles per week for the 10 weeks before the race. That is interesting to me with my "more is better" mentality and something to consider when I start training for Leadville. I'm still not sure what approach I'll take, I still have to get in to the race! So I am getting ahead of myself. The entry information for Leadville seems odd to me. Race fees "TBD" and they'll "start accepting applications" on January 2nd. And "the field will be limited". That's all they are providing. I would expect something similar for a first time race. Which leads me to believe I still need work on relaxing and going with the flow a bit more... but I digest. The lower weekly volume definitely let me run and then absorb long runs more effectively which is a huge key to running ultras (from what I understand). For Leadville I'll probably not deviate much from marathon training that has worked for me in the past, I'll tweak the longest runs by quite a bit for sure though.
And just to clarify, the "but I digest" quote is from Family Guy.
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Wow, I thought your mileage was a lot higher. That gives me hope (yet at the same time makes me feel worthless). :)
You know there are some guys who have transitioned from college cross country, to elite marathoning, to ultra running quite well while still keeping their weekly mileage down. Paul Dewitt comes to mind. I think he does around 50 mpw or less.
He owns a few CRs on (trail) marathons, and a few CRs on ultras too. He's done under a 14:30:00 100 miler before. And, he's won Leadville twice.
Brett- What (I think) my race VS mileage shows is that a strong endurance base lets this happen. I have quite a few years of good mileage under me and every year I focus on mileage and base. I also spent a fair amount of time training to run a fast marathon, which may be useful? It also shows the value of racing rested and healthy.
I've looked at Mr Dewitt's training and he is certainly able to exploit low mileage and high intensity. I doubt I will try to run gigantic 'Krupicka' weeks or Dewitt weeks... I am leaning more towards Carpenter's plan of consistent 14 hour weeks. The only thing I will do for sure though is exploit my own durability with frequent very long runs which I think my body can handle. I also see value in experiencing fatigue and mental break down from running very long... being wasted with 3 hours still to go. We'll see though, I still have tons to learn between now and March. I do want to do a 100k maybe in January in Texas as the next step.
Did that average include the week you totally took off, though? What is the average for weeks not including that week?
It would be 55 miles with the rest week omitted. But I would definitely count the 0 week. Still, 55 miles is very low for me.
Hey Lucho,
Great race again! Out of curiosity, What was your avg volume leading up to about one month before Chicago (when you were putting up huge volume before you decided not to do it) and was 55 mile avg include your taper. If you take out the taper, what was your avg for those 8-9 weeks (excluding the 0 week)?
Thanks and congrats.
Ironboom- Good questions. I just checked and before Chicago I had a 10 week block averaging 91 miles per week. Then I cut it down to ~60-70 to focus on hard long runs.
I didn't taper for the 50. I was already doing lower mileage and feeling good. The week of the race I ran very little so the 55 mile average doesn't include the week of the 50.
Thanks!
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