Weekly Update June 7-13: You'll know it when you get there

Good Old War - Weak Man
I've been a big fan of these guys for years, and after seeing them live this past week, I was reinspired. The song is fitting about now.

There's a bit of debate about who's gonna do what at WS this year due to the fact that some elites are logging some very high 200+ mile weeks and others just cracking 100. Reportedly, Kilian Jornet logged (at least) 435 miles and 131,000 feet of vertical climbing in 9 days. Meanwhile, Geoff and Hal enjoyed a high weeks of 115 and 120 miles respectively. Believe me, I know from experienc, there is a significant difference in 100 to 150 let alone 200 (which I haven't logged yet). Though the differences are significant and ever present, the theories are actually very similar: a good runner knows when his training is going well.

There's numbers: weekly mileage, splits up familar peaks, and confidence building long runs between 30 and 60 that make runners believe in themselves. However at the end of the day, they're just numbers, and as ultra runners eventually come to accept them, nothing seems too far (or too hot) anymore. As an engineer who's wrapped up in concrete numbers and values a lot, it's kind of coool to be able to train hard enough and shift the feeling of the number 100 or 135 from a painful, fearful feeling to a confident, strong feeling. Yet, when we look beyond the numbers, we see we're just looking for that awesome feeling we get when we know deep down in our bones that we're running better than ever.

And that's kinda where I am with another shorter week (still three-digit albeit). I know I could've squeezed in more mileage, but I also know I am hitting workouts and feelings of fatigue that will translate well in July. I finish some runs just crawling along, and others like a perfect machine executing every task perfectly from start to finish. That feeling of strength and complete exhaustion from day to day makes it perfectly acceptable for Geoff to feel fitter than ever just like Tony, without having to run the same number of miles.

Mon: 6 easy
Tues: 30.5 brentwood-west la 50k tempo a few spots
Wed: 7 easy roads
Thurs: 7 strong with coyotes, 14 in the evening roads
Fri: 10 airport, el segundo loop
Sat: 10 easy roads
Sun: 17 up Tuna, Saddle Peak, easy with KD

Total 101

I spent a bit more time in the flat on the pavement, and it wasn't easy on the joints that are much more comfortable with a the variety of ascending/descending/twisting/turning I enjoy on trails. I took more short rest days, and that wasn't easy as well since my calves and quads were still ready to rock. I knew I needed to toughen up joints a bit from the aching in my ankles last week, and the slow flat stuff helped with a little lower mileage as I feel like the joints aren't going to expload anymore, but I'm still pretty tired at the end of a few long runs. I hate pavement (especially long flat sections) but it's just another non-negotiable part of Badwater that I have to get ready for. I'll go for another big week, and then start the taper at WS when we'll getting a little more speedy and shorter runs in.