No excuses left...

Since my last post, I carefully looked over what options were available to me and decided to jump in and test some newer uncharted waters. So now I'm officially registered for the only 100 miler in Oregon, Hundred in the Hood - put on by the very awesome Olga.

Since it's my first 100 miler and the course is the first time a 100 miler has been put on in Oregon, the pairing will make for an interesting situation.

I checked over the course from the description on the website and following the Pacific Crest Trail that it will be following. There are some premo advantages to running this over Cascade Crest as my first 100 miler.

1.) It's one month further out than Cascade Crest, so it'll give me more time to train.
2.) The elevation gain and loss is about 10,000 feet for the entire 100 miles. Cascade Crest is double that (over 20,000 feet). The White River 50 has about 17,000 feet of elevation changes and I managed to get out of that alive.

The first half, which is the PCT 50 mile ultra has about 5000 feet of overall elevation gain with most of it being in the first 25 miles to Timberline. I'll have to work on improving on my hill climbing more, but I think it's more doable.

The second half that goes south on the PCT, I had to gmap-pedometer the trail as best as I could. However, the elevation profile looks like you go up one hill for about 1000 feet in six miles, then drop down for about 3 miles back to the previous elevation, then rise again for another 2000 feet for 6 miles, drop about 500 feet for 4 miles, go back up 500 feet for 3 miles, then drop down 500 feet until you hit the turnaround at the Olallie Meadows Campgrounds. I think some Mt Si repeats, a few of sessions at Tiger for a 12 Summits, 3 Summits, or a Seattle Favorite Loop might do me good for this. I don't expect intense climbs, but enough to make things interesting.

3.) The cost is a bit less. $150 versus paying almost $200. However, I'll be using that up with gas for the drive and camping out, so it's kind of a wash.
4.) Running on the Pacific Crest Trail. I've been wanting to do that for some time. Even though it's in Oregon, the PCT spirit stretches across the entire Pacific portion of the USA. Totally kick ass. :-)
5.) More drop bags for me to have access to along the course. I was going to be crewless for Cascade Crest and there are only 4 drop bag points there. This race will have 6 points, but you have a few extra times to access them along the course since it's an out-and-back. That will help make up for not having a crew.
6.) Lots of fellow Maniacs will be there as well, although a great deal of them will obviously be finished well before I am. However, since it's an out-and-back in both directions, I'll see them at the start, coming back from Timberline (the 25 mile turnaround), and coming back from Olallie Meadows (the 75 mile turnaround).

So the cash has been laid down - no refunds, no excuses. I've gotta train smart and well.

Now onto other things...

Since my last post, not too many things are different.

CrossFit workouts done:

Wednesday - 30# DB Push Press (18,15,12)
Friday - Swapped the squats with some Turkish Get-ups (33# DB x 6 each side)
Monday - 33# DB Dead Lifts (15,12,9)
Tuesday (today) - 500 meter row x 2 (1:51 & 1:54)

Runs done:

Wednesday - ~3 mi run at a steady state, keeping HR below 150 bpm.



Saturday - ~13 mi run along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail from Tanner Road going past Rattlesnake Lake. I did my best to maintain my HR around 149 bpm going up, but going down I let gravity take over and said screw it for the HRM. My HR ranged anywhere from 150 bpm to 175 bpm, with my pace bouncing from 10 minutes per mile to 8 minutes per mile. It felt freakin' awesome and I didn't feel winded at all letting gravity take over. I think that I have a high tolerance for running at my Lactate Threshold, which may explain why my perceived exertion is odd.





I have a feeling that I'm going to HR train for about half the time, allowing more time to actually ENJOY the running moments like I did on Saturday.