My first week of this training cycle didn’t go completely to plan but a successful finish to the week with a good 30k at Reveille Peak Ranch.
| Sept 1-7 | Plan | Actual | Notes |
| Monday | SS@TCS | 1+ hr SS@TCS | WU, 3x 30 body squats, 20 push-ups, 10 jump pull-ups, 10-8-6-4-2 AHAP unbroken deadlift + clean, 10 sled sprints, + ?? I think there was more. |
| Tuesday | 1hr run. | 1hr 20m | Pretty steady, easy run, rolling hills at St Eds and Forest Ridge. |
| Wednesday | 1hr recovery run. | — | Work conflict. Boo. |
| Thursday | 1hr 30m run. | 1h 30m | Riverplace. Plantar gave me a bit of trouble. |
| Friday | Rest | ||
| Saturday | Capt Karl’s Reveille Ranch 30k. | *see below | |
| Sunday | 1hr | — | I meant to go out but never made it…. |
Saturday night I headed out Reveille Ranch to run the 30k race. I have only be running a couple times weeks since Devil’s Backbone 8 weeks ago and with the longest being a couple of 10-12 miles but I wanted to start accruing points for the Texas Trail Championship series for the team standings so with limited opportunities left in the year, I figured I could manage through. Luckily there was a massive thunderstorm right before the race started that brought relief in cooler temperatures and provided an sprinkle throughout the evening.
After the excitement and runner congestion of the first couple miles, I quickly found myself alone for a couple miles until I came upon Mike Randall. Mike lives in Boulder but is from Austin so I tend to run across him once or twice a year during a race as we always seem to be roughly the same pace. We settled into a easy pace and chatted for a while. He is coming back from a ruptured achilles suffered about a year ago so just before the fence aid station, I left him with some friends of his and took off.
I was running with a watch so I didn’t know know my time or place but felt pretty good heading out on the second loop. After a half of mile where I ran with Nicole Studer before she took the 60k split, I pretty much was alone again to enjoy the rocks and lightening in the distance. I caught my first person of the second loop at the Creek Aid Station and through the switch backs thought I see someone else ahead (or perhaps someone was chasing me). This lead me to push the pace harder resulting in the double whammy of twisting both my ankles on the rain slick rocks and overheating a bit. Throttled back and re-grouped. I knew the 1.25 miles from the last aid station to the finish was a slight downhill and smooth so if I could get to there in one piece, I’d be able to run it in hard. It played out just like that and I caught another 2 people in that last section to finish 11th overall at 3:15. Surprised and pleased to have run pretty much even splits (1:36 & 1:39) for the 2 loops as I am never close to an even split runner. I felt pretty great after the run and wasn’t sore the next day. I suspect it would have been a different story if it was the usual 100 degree temperatures at the start, but it felt great to start off this training cycle with such an enjoyable run.
Monday — Strictly Strenght @ Travis County Strength. Week 4 of the squat cycle, gonna suck so good.
Tuesday — 1hr 30m. Tejas Trails.
Wednesday — Strictly Strenght @ Travis County Strength.
Thursday — 1hr 30m. Tejas Trails.
Friday — 1hr 30m, easy / recovery. Rumors of a “cold” front for this day so must take advantage.
Saturday — 4+hr, long run.
Sunday — 2hr, easy.