Successful vert hunt!

I found it. My trip to Church Stretton this week was a success. The out and back route I made has MORE vert per mile than Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc! It’s about 6 miles with 2500 feet of vert per out and back. Lots of steep pole hiking and obviously steep descents. As the race gets nearer this is as specific as I can get which is perfect! The photos don’t do the hills justice.

Looking up Caer Caradoc 

Looking down Caradoc, The Lawley in the distance 

Downside is that it’s about an hour drive. So when the time comes I’ll need to see if it’s cool for me to leave before the kids are off to school which I’d guess won’t be a problem. So I’m psyched! The route goes up and over Caer Caradoc and then up The Lawley. Two giants hills outside of Church Stretton. I’ve ran then before as they are part of the Stretton Skyline fell race I ran around 9 years ago. There’s another two hills  next to Caradoc called Hope Bowdler and the Ragleth that can be added in as well for variety. 

One cool thing is next to where I park there’s a “contactless cafe!” A shed with a espresso  machine and a refrigerator carousel vending machine in it. All contactless. Super rad. There’s even dairy free ice cream! 

Yesterday I was scouring the internet looking for training ideas for crazy huge mountain races like UTMB and came across the Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colorado. An old school classic mountain ultra that is even more difficult to get into than Western States or UTMB. Well guess what race is a qualifier? UTMB! So if all goes well in August fingers will be crossed as I throw my name in the hat for that! I just can’t stop! 

 

The days slowly are getting closer to UTMB. I’m still unsure of the training but today am exploring an option to see if I can find some vertical. Photos from last weeks long run out the Worcestershire Way.

As soon as the kids are off to school I’ll drive about an hour to Church Stretton. The area has some solid hills and is home to a bunch of fell races. Fell racing is a very British running event where you basically run up a hill or fell and run back down. There is no route, you navigate to a checkpoint, then move on to the next. There is no obligation to follow a trail so many times the most direct route is taken, up and down.  I’ve found a couple loops that have the same, and more, vert per mile to UTMB. Perfect for training, however I’ll need to get in what I can in a four hour window in order to be home in time to get the kids from school. I’m excited and anxious at the same time. I don’t want to be late or get lost, but this could be the answer. 

Wrapping my head around proper training took a couple positive steps this past week. My muscular endurance (ME) strength routine has begun to give benefit, or at least I’ve found the appropriate weight, as I was fairly sore after it! I’ve gone through this cycle of box step ups and split jump squats a few times before so needed to adjust, but it took a few weeks. 

The unnecessary style on the Worcestershire Way, this should have a fence around it!

I had been doing a weekly speed session; 400m repeats, mile repeats, and last week a 200m medium hill rep session (think Mulberry’s from Stillwater cross country). All appropriate for road racing 5km and 10km distances, not for a monster ultramarathon. Yesterday I reverted back to the standard super steep and short hill rep I normally do, much more appropriate for UTMB. The idea is to engage fast twitch muscles going all out. If done right your legs should burn before your lung do, before the rep is over. I’ve always struggled with this session, it was easy because my body was well adapted to using it’s aerobic system, my legs never tired. However, I think the road speed work flipped the switch for me and I finally feel like I’ve stressed my body within the anaerobic system, recruiting the fast twitch muscle. The legs finally burned and today I’m sure I’m doing it right for the appropriate adapts. Very very happy about this!

River Teme along the Worcestershire Way, still unreal there’s no canoes out! 

 

I had an interview the other day at work with Running Insight about the MotionMetrix 3D system we use at work. Running Insight is the US running industry magazine. The guy from Chicago I spoke with was very interested in it and seemed amazed we charged for it, granted it’s not for selling shoes, and our knowledge is worth it so of course it’s not free! I was surprised he’d not heard of it! MotionMetrix is a computer software that scans your running efficiency and economy via infrared cameras and spits out a load of info pertaining to your technique and posture. Ground reaction forces, joint angles, work against gravity, joint loading, ….. the list goes on. We are one of five stores in the UK that have it and only one of 2 or 3 that use it to help people run better. It’s normally used in a medical setting I believe. Why so few? It’s very expensive software and you need the knowledge to interpret and prescribe drills to make changes. It’s not really retail it’s coaching. I’ve mentioned it before on here. It was rad speaking with him and cool I’ll likely be in the magazine! I don’t doubt my interest in this stuff but sometimes wonder where it will go, this really enforced that I’m following a solid path. I seem to get the impression that this is cutting edge for a running store. Maybe it is? I don’t know, all I do know is I really enjoy it.  

MotionMetrix data screen, I’m not doing too bad! Still trying to get rid of that over stride though! 

The mornings are bright early and running, and life I guess, seems to be going well for now. It’s so much easier to do a 4am run when the birds are chirping and the sun is rising. Absolutely love it! Best part of the day! I don’t do too many really early workouts but I do enjoy them. 

Training in general seems to be going well. The major change I’ve made is more speed work. 400m repeats, mile repeats, etc. at 10km race pace have been hard but fun. They are definitely impacting my fitness as well. I’ve always avoided these workouts for fear of injury and I never was racing short distances. However they increase your economy at slower speeds so pretty much mandatory. Yes, they are hard, but this is the sexy running that makes you feel like a bad ass. They also have a quick response to your fitness where as slow running and building a base is a long slow process. Within  5 weeks or so these runs will need to change to more race specific work which obviously means hills. 

Bluebells

St. Leonard’s Church

Hills. My one worry about UTMB. I’m easily hitting my distance goals for training but the vert is extremely difficult. It’s not super important now but will be within 8-10 weeks of the race. I’ll NEED to get bigger vert in to be properly prepared. My strength routine will help once I dial it in, I’m still adding weight each week to find the sweet spot, but actual running up and down a lot is what is really needed. I’ve got some ideas though so will work with what I’ve got.

Hedgehog

We’ve booked a place to stay in Argentiere France just up the road from Chamonix. A good spot for the family to relax but close enough for convenient access to Chamonix, it’s also on the course I believe. Now just need to sort out passports and flights. We’re in the process of getting a new passport for my son. We really can’t get flights before we get it back. On a positive note flights to Geneva don’t ever really change price and are readily available. One other logistical thing is I need mountain rescue insurance. Looks to be some easy options through the British Mountaineering Council and also the International Trail Running Association so just need to commit to it so it’s done.

Bluebells

White flowers are wild garlic

 

We’re off to Scotland in a few weeks to visit family so I’m hoping to tie in with some local runners there for a long run,  maybe two, fingers crossed. I’ve been lurking in a Facebook group and also follow a Scottish guy who is similar in ability to me so could be fun to not only run with someone but somewhere new, and hopefully with lots of vert!

Still volunteering at the Junior ParkRun. I’m the guy with the annoying cowbell breaking the peaceful silence of an early Sunday morning at the Wyre Forest!

In my second life as a martial artist all gradings have been moved to June. So, I’ll have an escrima grading during the week and on the weekend I’ll have my second degree Jeet Kune Do grading which will be a big deal. I feel fairly prepared at this time for both with obviously some time to get better until then. Meeting up once a week with my friend to train has made a big difference in training.