Rugged Individualist. Certified USA Triathlon Coach & NASM Personal Trainer, Men's Self Improvement Coach. President of Go Farther Sports. National Ranked Triathlete & 100 Mile Grand Slam Ultrarunner, only the fourth New Yorker to finish four of the oldest and most prestigious 100 mile ultramarathons in the U.S. in only 10 weeks.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Thoughts - February 19 - Massanutten Toughness

The cold winds replace the warmer temperatures last night, with some lightning and thunder in the mix.

I guess Mother Nature is still reminding us that it is still February.

After a wild and snowy December and January, people were ready to put their heavy coats away for the season and declare spring. Heck, even the groundhogs were anxious to end winter too.

I didn't declare winter over yet. I had my winter running clothes at the ready all along. With temps nosediving back into the 20's tonight, it looks like they will be seeing some action this week.

This morning, I was cheering and helping out a little with the Febapple 50k race. I met an extraordinary woman, EC, who had some inside information on the upcoming Massanutten 100 race.

She did this race last year. First, she told me what everyone else told me. The race is much tougher than Vermont.

But then she gave me some good inside information on the course itself. The last 30 miles of the course is so technical that it dwarfs the Vermont course in terms of difficulty.

Dang, she got me worried. A LOT.

With just cause. This is coming from a woman that excels in these races. So I take her advice with a lot more weight than a casual ultramarathoner telling me these things.

My training has been improving a lot over the course of a month, but I feel that I can do a bit more. Especially in the weight category.

My weight has been trending a bit lower, but I think I need to accelerate that trend to make sure I'm race ready in May. In my opinion, I think that would be the highest priority and the best way to improve my performance in this race.

I'm about 190 pounds now. I did lose about 10 pounds in the last 2 months, which is OK. What if I were to make my goal 170 pounds by the time I toe the line at Massanutten?

I figure, with a lot less weight to carry over 100 miles, I should be able to handle the mileage a lot better than at 190, right?

It looks like I have a secondary goal folks. 170 pounds at Massanutten. My Paleo diet will be ramped up even more. :-)

Tomorrow is the Cherry Tree 10 Miler in Prospect Park. Wish me luck.

1 comment:

  1. With the new start, the climbs are in different spots. Check out the elevation. In the first thirty and next thirty miles, 3 climbs. Last 40? 6 climbs. Check out people's splits from Habron Gap to Camp Roo-Visitor'c Center- and see how long it was taking people.
    I just ran (last weekend) Visitor'c Center up to Bird's Knob back to Picnic Area. Tough now, think about being Mile 77 in the race and doing it.
    MMT def harder than Vermont-but isn't that why we are doing it? :)

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