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MRT: Belnap HS to the west end of Trail Bridge + Minutes back with CA

August 28, 2015 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: HOTish (80-85) --> <70F by the end. A little humid

Comments:
Last long workout for MRT, with CA. Worked til 1:30, then left by 3ish to drive up river. Both of us were tired, but this was partially by design: be a bit tired, AND have all weekend (and an extra day, pre-MRT) to recover.

The standard out and back is the finish at the Ranger Station, but this time, to get farther up river, we started at Belnap Hot Springs, a private little hotel that pumps natural hot springs into a concrete swimming pool along the McKenzie. I figured we could check that out after the run, if interested.

I've done this "Minutes" workout here before, and I loved it. The nuts and bolts:

1-2-3-4-5-6-6-5-4-3-2-1 for hard intervals. Equal rest on the way up, then "n-1" rest on the way down.

The idea is to practice intermittently running FAST on this challenging, techincal trail. The toughest part of this race is the neuromuscular challenge of keeping up the pace, amidst the little uphill grunts, rocky and rooty tread and slaloming singletrack. It takes practice, and this workout is perfect for that.

Ran EASY 100 minutes out, at CA's MAF pace. I've been sick of asthma, so I took 3 hits from my inhalar, but that only proved to jack my HR. So I was a surprising 120 average or so to the west end of Trail Bridge reservoir, but still a couple (big, rolling) miles from the AS.

I carried one 20oz amphipod bottle, drained that x1, filled it at a creek a mile from the turnaround, then filled it again on the return, then one more time - straight out of the river - midway back. So I had close to 80oz of water (probably more like 65-70), which was plenty, even in the heat.

Some outbound splits:

Belnap to Buck Bridge: 1.6mi, 22:05, AHR 114
Buck to Deer Creek: 3.2, 36:24, 123
Deer Creek to TB turnaround: 4.0, 50:56, 120

We hit the road at exactly 100 minutes on my watch, stopped to pee and regroup, then got after it. I suspected I'd be a lot faster than CA, and I was. But I was worried about her recent bee stings, so after the first interval or two, I'd backtrack til she was in sight to be sure she was OK. That turned out to be a benefit for us both!

FORM FOCUS: Initally the main foci were:

- strong foot push-off
- pawback "Flick & pull"
- tall, forward, arched

But THEN, about a couple intervals in, when the lateral foot soreness - and achilles - was worsening, I realized I'm *LATERALLY STRIKING AGAIN*. GFD. So then I added whole (e.g. inside) of the foot to the list:

- strong WHOLE (INSIDE) foot push-off
- pawback "Flick & pull"
- tall, forward, arched

and,

- no swivz, strong but compact arms

This workout was AWESOME, and (especially when I go the "footwork" right), I felt fantastic! I just CRUSHED the uphills with the "pelvis open" technique and fared pretty well on the downs and weaving. Even with the long 6-minute intervals, it wasn't so long that it was horribly taxing. Did not pay any attention to HR. I simply tried to keep breathing "sustainable", allowing for intermittent hard efforts on ups, recovering on downs.

(Took x2 gels: about 10-15min in, then again at 40-50min in)

About midway through, after passing Deer Creek, something interesting happened: CA started keeping up! It was weird: she'd stick with me for a long time, then when I stopped, she'd be in sight after only a few seconds of jogging! WOAH!

Of course, that motivated me, so I ran even harder, but she stuck in there! Shit, that's the most impressive she's run since that WTC training run!

We finished really close together, and almost EXACTLY at Belnap! And, almost exactly at 180 minutes. And just as sunlight was waning.

GREAT WORKOUT for us both! Short shuffle on the pavement driveway into Belnap, and we then jumped straight into frigid McKenzie!!

Some data:

Min, HR, distance, approx pace
-----------------------------
1, 133, 0.09, 11min (steep up)
2, 159, 0.26, 7:30, (+23, -23)
3, 158, 0.41, 7:18, (0, -85)
4, 165, 0.57, 6:54, (+39, -43)
5, 167, 0.69, 7:57, (+30, -52)
6, 170, 0.72, 8:23, (+62, -39)
6, 171, 0.80, 7:31, (+10, -33)
5, 169, 0.70, 7:10, (0, -52)
4, 172, 0.55, 7:16, (0, -33)
3, 176, 0.43, 7:01, (+20, -23)
2, 172, 0.28, 7:06, (+10, -10)
1, 169, 0.14, 7:36, (+10, 0)

I'm not trusting of these distances and paces. CA's garmin was nearly a MILE ahead of mine *on the outbound* before her battery died. So anything low-7s is pretty damn good!

Fitness is slowly, gradually, sneakily building. :-)

PM: stopped for snacks at the market in Rainbow, then home for a beer at T&G, then some leftovers at home. And now a weekend, free!!

(wore the Orange N1 trail)