Hitting the reset button - Oregon 100 Training, Week 1

Well, I can't say this is a genuine reset, but definately a rebuild. My main focus is on the Oregon 100 (aka Hundred in the Hood) as my A-priority race in late September. At the moment, I'm rebuilding my base after a bout of being ill with some kind of flu bug that really messed me up. I'm still HR training, but found some defects that I think I've remedied, so hopefully things will get even better as the weeks progress. Anyway, here's the first week of training I've done...


March 3rd - 2 Miles on the treadmill, first mile as a warm-up. You can tell I was trying to get back into the swing of things and not very well.






March 4th - 4 Miles easy, outdoor run. This was the start of when I figured that something was up with my Suunto T6. Rainy day run, but I felt really good.







March 5th - Ran 6+ miles with the group. Had about a 20 minute head start to finish with them in the end. I thought I was doing okay until after I got the HR data. More indication that something was up.








March 7th - First long run day. 14 miles of hell. My body was cooperating at first, but the HRM wasn't after about 6 miles in, giving seriously erratic readings. I eventually went old school, running about every quarter-mile and checking my pulse on my neck to stay within my HR zone. This was also the longest run I had done in a VERY long time. I realized that you need to run long frequently to be able to maintain your form and endurance level. This includes teaching your muscles to retain glycogen more efficiently while burning fat and teaching your endocrine system to not rebel against your own body.

The 7th was also the day where I had to effectively "break" my Suunto T6 in order to get the battery out of the back. Whomever designed this thing was on crack. I used a Dremel to wear down the plastic slot and fashioned a hole that would fit a regular flathead screwdriver and was able to open it easily without breaking the rubber O-ring seal. After replacing the battery, I filled the newly created screwdriver hole and slot area with glue from my glue gun and smoothed out the area. It is still retaining its water-proof design and now I can replace the batteries quickly without any headaches.




March 8th - My legs and body were really tired from the previous day, but I knew I had to do something to get those 8 miles in. Time on your feet is extremely important, so I opted to take the dog out for an 8 mile walk. This was the only time where my HR stayed in the fat-burning aerobic zone this week. But I'm glad I did that purposeful walking. My HRM didn't go crazy and I was very efficient in my walking, even with the dog. This is a good thing during the 100 miler since EVERYONE WALKS, but those that walk with purpose versus just doing the death march have a better chance of finishing.


Total miles this week (including the miles from the calibration of my device on Monday at the track): ~36 miles! (Right now, I'm REALLY enjoying my rest day today!)

Next week's projected mileage: ~42 miles. The weekend back-to-back long runs are going to be on the Mt Si Ultra course from Tanner Rd to Rattlesnake Lake and Cedar Falls (16 miles on Saturday) and then from Rattlesnake Lake to Cedar Falls (8 miles on Sunday). These two runs will essentially replicate the "hardest" parts of the Mt Si Ultra course. The last time I trained on the course like this a year ago, I had stopped at Rattlesnake Lake. This was a bad move since I could have sucked it up and kept going instead of dropping out @ Rattlesnake since I had it in my head that the final 4-5 miles to the turnaround aid-station was too far for me to do. Doing these two runs should psych me up a bit more. Familiarity can make things easier on the mind and in these events, it is more mind over body.