Monday, July 11, 2011

Monday run

If you want to be humbled and frightened at the same time... read this race report.

My legs as my Honda Accord sees them.

I walked out my front door straight in to this kid. 10 (possibly 11) points and his identical twin brother was across the street. I've taken pics of these guys before. Nice to see them back.


7.75 miles with 1520ft of gain in 54:54 (7:05 pace). Average HR 154. This was an aerobic threshold effort run. I did my (very) regular 2.6 mile climb up to 9200ft altitude in 19:28 (7:29 pace) which is one of the top 4 fastest times I've done on this climb. My legs don't feel great coming off a fairly solid week on the bike but I was able to just muscle the climb today, no finesse. Time to rest now with 4 days until the Silver Rush 50s.

 I'm feeling pretty nervous about the bike, probably because I'm feeling very fit. And this will be my first mountain bike race ever. The fitter you are the more pressure there is. This is also why I feel no nerves when I think of the run. My goals are to simply get near the front of each race and actually race with the intent of placing well. A top 5 on the bike and a top 5 on the run would be satisfying. Sub 5:00 bike/ sub 8:00 run. I think the run goal is going to be quite difficult.

9 comments:

GZ said...

"Supposedly" ... the run course is "only" 45 miles. That ought to help with the sub 8. But then again, it is the day after a 50 mile bike. That and the fact that is all above 10k feet.

Lucho said...

... and I've only been running 1-2 times per week. Bring it!

mtnrunner2 said...

You're definitely living up to the "Joghard" nick.

I can barely hit 150 at all let alone average it. I suppose the body must get used to that type of sustained effort. Mine wants to hurl.

Hope the races go great this weekend.

Lucho said...

Mtrunner- It has more to do with the top end. I ran the last .6 miles today at a very "hard" effort and hit HR 181 at the end and wasn't maxed out. Last year before Leadville I was doing this same run and hitting in the 190's. And running slower than I did today :)
Lactate threshold and Vo2 max HR's are partly what determines the lower ranges (but not exclusively). My lactate threshold HR right now is just over 170, so theoretically (not that I would want to try)I should be able to sustain a HR of 170 for close to an hour. That puts the difficulty of this run in perspective... an average HR of 154 means this was not a hard run. The only effort I put in was the last .6 miles of the climb. For Silver Rush I wouldn't be surprised if I averaged 154 for the 50 miles...

Ya, the races will go great! The only man I want to beat is the man I was yesterday... that shouldn't hard.

trudginalong said...

Sub 8 for you is "easily" within reach. No doubt in my mind you can go well under that.

Lucho said...

Patrick- Ya, on paper I think so but there are some unknowns. Thinking out loud as much for myself as you...
Historically I suck at 50 miles. Outside of my first one where I ran 6:38 (?)I've wilted at them. 100% because of a poor outlook though and I've completely changed that which is why I ran OK at Leadville. My legs are also going to be fairly fatigued from the bike. 4-5 hours of HARD riding is going to take a toll and will be a factor. Part of the key will be to not get depleted on the bike, if I do then the run is not going to go well. I think too if I have a horrible bike then the run will be horrible also. If I happen to win the bike though... then watch out.
I think it could very easily go either way.

trudginalong said...

Re the honda pic: squat much?

Lucho said...

That's why I took the pic... they do NOT look like that for real.

David said...

I'd buy that chick a drink.

Both the one with the legs, and the deer. I grew up on a farm.