Let me just go ahead and tell you this is a bad idea, especially when you are racing all three ultras to the best of your ability and training. I highly do not recommend running three ultras in three weeks.
Following a serious streak of great training post Brazil 135, I signed up to run 2 - 50K on back to back weekends. I love Nueces and Prickly Pear 50K races and of course they are back to back, but I figured they would just be like a long training run that needed to be done anyway. The Monday before Nueces, March 1st, I got roped into the Georgia Death Race in the southern Appalachians of north Georgia by a friend of mine. The race was billed as super tough and was over 100K, but hey, I fell for it.
Nueces went really well! I ran a 4:29 and placed second over all with no ill effects and even managed not to get to drunk after the race! The following weekend was Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio. This race went fairly well. I placed 6th or 7th over all with a 4:21. This race is 3 10.33 mile loops. After loop 2, my legs died and I could not hold the pace. I dropped 10 minutes between loop 2 and loop 3. Additionally I started getting a bit of hitch in my get-along. Little problem in my left glute. Not bad. The weather was decent for both races. Not very hot and not too wet. We did get some rain at Prickly Pear, but nothing to write home to your mamma about.
The Georgia Death Race was pretty tough. We flew into Atlanta Friday morning and drove up to Blairsville. Let me say, I am not a fan of the Appalachians. I personally do not find the mountains to be beautiful in the late winter. All the trees look dead. The first 28 miles were up and down steep climbs because there are no switch backs. I thought I was a good climber and have been working hard on incline treadmill work, but above 25% grade I start losing efficiency. The last 40 miles were all fire roads, paved roads, etc.. and pretty flat. The high light was having 3 beers between mile 52 and 58. I bummed 2 beers off some passersby and one from the mile 58 aid station. Ended up placing 10th overall and 9th male with a time of 15:02:xx. It would have been nice if the RD had started the race on time.
I am now thoroughly exhausted and have not actually done any serious training in 3 weeks, just the racing. Last week, the week following the Georgia Death Race, I did not do much at all until Thursday. I ended up with 17 miles for the week. Quads took quite a bit of time to recover. This week I'm "tapering" for the Texas Independence Relay SOLO event. We'll see how it goes.
If the TIR SOLO goes well, then I expect to get back to some serious training by April 15th. With one week of nothing and one week of incremental work. Do yourself a favor, if you want to train and do well. Don't run 3 ultras in 3 weeks. It's stupid.
Following a serious streak of great training post Brazil 135, I signed up to run 2 - 50K on back to back weekends. I love Nueces and Prickly Pear 50K races and of course they are back to back, but I figured they would just be like a long training run that needed to be done anyway. The Monday before Nueces, March 1st, I got roped into the Georgia Death Race in the southern Appalachians of north Georgia by a friend of mine. The race was billed as super tough and was over 100K, but hey, I fell for it.
Nueces went really well! I ran a 4:29 and placed second over all with no ill effects and even managed not to get to drunk after the race! The following weekend was Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio. This race went fairly well. I placed 6th or 7th over all with a 4:21. This race is 3 10.33 mile loops. After loop 2, my legs died and I could not hold the pace. I dropped 10 minutes between loop 2 and loop 3. Additionally I started getting a bit of hitch in my get-along. Little problem in my left glute. Not bad. The weather was decent for both races. Not very hot and not too wet. We did get some rain at Prickly Pear, but nothing to write home to your mamma about.
The Georgia Death Race was pretty tough. We flew into Atlanta Friday morning and drove up to Blairsville. Let me say, I am not a fan of the Appalachians. I personally do not find the mountains to be beautiful in the late winter. All the trees look dead. The first 28 miles were up and down steep climbs because there are no switch backs. I thought I was a good climber and have been working hard on incline treadmill work, but above 25% grade I start losing efficiency. The last 40 miles were all fire roads, paved roads, etc.. and pretty flat. The high light was having 3 beers between mile 52 and 58. I bummed 2 beers off some passersby and one from the mile 58 aid station. Ended up placing 10th overall and 9th male with a time of 15:02:xx. It would have been nice if the RD had started the race on time.
I am now thoroughly exhausted and have not actually done any serious training in 3 weeks, just the racing. Last week, the week following the Georgia Death Race, I did not do much at all until Thursday. I ended up with 17 miles for the week. Quads took quite a bit of time to recover. This week I'm "tapering" for the Texas Independence Relay SOLO event. We'll see how it goes.
If the TIR SOLO goes well, then I expect to get back to some serious training by April 15th. With one week of nothing and one week of incremental work. Do yourself a favor, if you want to train and do well. Don't run 3 ultras in 3 weeks. It's stupid.
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2 comments:
how delayed was the start at GDR?
It was 15 minutes delayed maybe up to 20 minutes.
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