Training for the Mount Mitchell Challenge ... again

The Mount Mitchell Challenge (MMC) is a popular ultramarathon that takes place in the dead of winter each year near Asheville, NC. The basic challenge is to run from the little town of Black Mountain to the top of Mt Mitchell (highest point in North America east of the Missippi River), and then run back down. This entails a 20 mile continuous ascent of ~4000’, mostly on trails, followed by 20 miles of continuous, thigh-shattering descending. I recently spent 5 months training hard for the 2016 event.

The 2016 MMC was cancelled owing to safety concerns at the top of the mountain. I had fun racing the shorter distance (Black Mountain Marathon), but I’m hoping to get a chance to return and complete the full 40-mile Challenge. I don’t know what, if any special consideration will be given in the lottery for the 2017 event, but I’m planning the next year as if I’m going to run it. If I don’t get a spot, I might go ahead and run the course on my own on a different day.

Square one: March 2016

So, based on my Black Mountain Marathon performance, how shall I plan the next year of running to ensure a fast and satisfying Mount Mitchell experience? Simple, but not easy:

A)   Increase my ability to handle brutal descents, both trail and road.

B)   Increase my ability to run uphill aggressively, but sustainably.

C)   Look into traction devices for dealing with ice.

It’s a long time before the 2017 MMC and there are some other things I want to do in 2016. In this post I’m going to map out a set of tentative goals and comment on how they either complement or conflict. In April, I will begin posting a more specific training plan and kick off a series of commentaries and reports on my running adventures.

Flirting with the road

On 3 April, I am running the Knoxville Marathon. I haven’t done a road race since the 2013 Knoxville Marathon, and I’m curious to see how my Mt Mitchell preparations will translate. Two weeks after the Black Mtn trail marathon, I did a 22 mile long run as part of a 70-mile week. Then I tapered pretty severely with 48 and 39 mile weeks … although a work trip to southern California made it essentially imperative that I hit some iconic trails: Mt Baldy with over 5000’ of climbing (and equal amount of descending) in 15 mile loop, and several days hammering sections of the Santa Monica Backbone Trail. I came off that week pretty sore and out of touch with road running. My last week of tapering will include about 12 miles total, easy running with the dogs. I’ll post something about the race in early April.

I am also considering a road mile. I haven’t run a mile for time since high school gym class. I’m in my early forties and a decent long-distance runner. I wonder if I can crack a 5 minute mile … so I’m putting the Hal Canfield Memorial Milefest on my calendar (3 Sep 2016).

These road running larks are far removed from the 2017 Mt Mitchell Challenge, so I consider them potentially beneficial opportunities to test and train my speed without detracting from focused training on trails in late 2016, early 2017. Besides, there is a solid amount of road running to contend with on both ends of the MMC.

The only other race that really matters to me

I’m sort of in love with the Cumberland Trail 50K. It’s tough, with 7000’+ elevation gain, mostly technical single track, and some dicey sections of unmaintained and poorly marked trail. This early October event will be the target of my next six months of training. I will then have 21 weeks to zero in on Mt Mitchell. Training for these two mountain/trail events is complementary. More problematic is the interloping road milefest more-or-less one month prior to the Cumberland Trail race. I will definitely do some specific preparation for the mile, but I won’t let it detract from my Cumberland Trail training. I’m intending to incorporate track intervals in my ultra training anyways, so prepping for the mile will simply have to fit in to that picture. More specifics coming next month.

Trail adventure plans for 2016

As I build my long runs in preparation for the Cumberland Trail and Mt Mitchell, I will be working in a handful of specific trail adventures in the spirit of Human Powered Adventure.

John Muir Trail FKTTN: The most difficult thing I am considering is a ~50 mile traverse of the Big South Fork National RecreationArea on the John Muir Trail (yes, we have a John Muir Trail in Tennessee!). If I do it, it will be unsupported (i.e., I plan to carry all the gear I need and refill my water supply from springs along the way. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine pulling it off as a true Human Powered Adventure: It is too long and too far away. I will need to be dropped off at one end and picked up at the other.

At over 50 miles, this run is too long to be considered a good training run for races of 40 miles and less. Quite possibly, it will leave me wrecked and needing extra recovery. If I were totally lazer-focused on 2016/2017 race performance, I would not consider doing it. I want to do it for three reasons: (1) Big South Fork is awesome, (2) the John Muir Trail in CA is so famous, I just can’t resist striking a feeble blow for TN, and (3) I have a longer term desire to experience longer runs.

Roan Highlands Traverse: The second most challenging adventure is a 20 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail (plus a couple of out-and-backs to tap each of the three 6000’+ summits of Roan) that traverses Roan Mountain (or the Roan Highlands). This is a stunningly beautiful section of trail, but I expect the cumulative elevation gain to be well over 5000’. This, too would be too much to take as fully Human Powered. At least at this point, I’m intending to do it point to point with cars and/or crew at each end.

Human Powered Ascent of Clingman’s Dome: At 6,644’ above sea level, Clingman’s Dome is the highest point in TN and the highest point crossed by the Appalachian Trail. If one is willing to run a 25-30 mile round trip (with a ~4000’ climb and equal descent), Clingman can be reached from trail heads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that are within road cycling distance of Knoxville (~40 miles each way).

Human Powered Ascent of Mt LeConte: At 6,594’ Le Conte is the highest peak fully within the State of TN (Clingman is on the NC border) and with a 5,301’ difference in elevation from its base, it is one of the most prominent mountains in Appalachia. My intention would be to cycle from Knoxville to Gatlinburg and run the full 5,301’ (roughly 10 miles each way).

Human Powered Ascent of Thunderhead: Thunderhead tops out at just under 5,500’, so lacks the panache of a 6K summit. But with a total cumulative elevation gain over 7,000’ the “Thunderhead Mountain Marathon” is challenging loop. The run would start and end at Tremont in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, climb to the AT via Greenbier Ridge, traverse a very rugged and fun section of the AT, and descend via Bote Mountain. Tremont is bikeable from Knoxville (still ~40 miles each way), so a true HPA is my intention.

 More interesting posts to come. Gotta go get ready for the marathon ...

2016 Mt Mitchell Challenge Race Report

27 Feb, 2016

The Mount Mitchell Challenge, the focus of my training for about 5 months, was a mixed bag. First, I had a great time and a solid race performance. I congratulate the organizers and the little town of Black Mountain on an iconic mountain race.

The problem was that, for the first time ever, the Mount Mitchell Challenge was cancelled. Owing to ice and snow (and possibly tighter safety policies than in the past – I’m not certain about this), Mount Mitchell State Park and/or the National Park Service would not allow access to the course above the Blue Ridge Parkway. Therefore, all participants simply ran the Black Mountain Marathon (~26.2 miles), which follows the Mount Mitchell Challenge course up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, then turns around there at about 5340 feet above sea level.

Despite having to accommodate arthroscopic knee surgery on 24 Dec, 2015, my training was solid and I came to Black Mountain feeling great. I was less prepared than I wanted to be for the descent, but possibly better prepared for climbing owing to substantial time on an inclined treadmill during my knee recovery. I had a final long run of about 30 miles in the Smokies about three weeks before race day, then I tapered and rested patiently.

I arrived in Black Mountain mid afternoon the day before the race. I drove the paved part of the race course from downtown to the Rainbow Trailhead in Montreat. There, the trail was dry and pleasant, though dusted with very small amount of snow in the shady and out-of-way bits. I also drove to the spot where the descent emerges from the trail at the top of Appalachian Way and hiked up the steep fire road for a few minutes to ponder my choice of shoes and have a little reality check on the steepness of this section of the course. One of the volunteers (local search and rescue) was there and he said there was about 10 inches of fresh powder above the Parkway, about 3 inches for a few miles below the Parkway, and not a huge amount of solid ice to contend with … although it would get well below freezing that night.

At the 7pm briefing that night, the announcement was made that we not be going to the summit. I was disappointed, for sure, but resolved to give the marathon a solid effort. I looked up last year’s results, and guessed that I could complete it in 3:30 to 4:00 and possibly be among the top 5 masters (over 40).

I slept well at my friends’ house after a tasty, easy to digest meal of gingery chicken breast, white rice, and stir-fried broccoli. I figured since I was only running 26.2 instead of 40, I could have two Greybeard IPAs from the local Pisgah Brewing Co. Yummy.

Breakfast was two Larabars, one fried egg, and one cup of coffee with cream (and a pint or two of water). I topped off with a few squares of dark chocolate about 15 min before the start.

After taping my nipples and smearing a generous amount of coconut oil on my taint, I also coated my exposed skin (face and calves) with coconut oil for a little protection from the cold (~30F at the start). This worked really well, try it!

The Race

The first ~3 miles was consistent but very slight incline on paved roads through town to Montreat College. Local elite, Morgan Elliot (eventual winner and course record setter) took off at a blazing pace. I ran with pack of about 15 solid runners averaging about 7-8 minute miles. The first steep section is the last ~1/2 mile of pavement before the Rainbow Trail. I passed a few people who were taking that conservatively. I think I do better running somewhat consistently rather than power-hiking; others preferred to yo-yo between power-hiking and running faster on the easier inclines.

The next ~5 miles was mostly gradual ascent, easy to moderately technical, no ice or mud to speak of. I averaged just under 9 minutes/mile and moved up into the top ten or so. It was cold enough that I was drinking very little and felt no need to refill my water bottle at any aid stations. I just chugged along, enjoying the trail.

The section between 8 and 10 miles had several icy bits that slowed me down as I carefully avoided slipping. I was passed by a tall guy wearing Yak Tracks (or something similar), and was definitely impressed by his ability to charge across ice. Something to put on my birthday wish list.

After about 10 miles the trail was covered in an inch or two of powder, making much better footing. I was able to increase my pace and make it to the Parkway (~13.5 miles) in just under two hours. In the last mile or so, I started seeing the leaders descending. Morgan Elliot was gleefully bounding through the snow several minutes in front of second place finisher Gabe McGowan (Tucson, Az).

I took a shot of Coca Cola and exchanged pleasantries with the volunteers at the Parkway aid station (the view was awesome!). I was in 7^th position and hoped I could move up by one or two on the technical descent (I was trying not to think ahead to the last few miles of pounding downhill on pavement). As I took off down the mountain, I saw that several strong-looking runners were not far behind me.

I am really proud of my descent. My pace hovered just above 7 min/mile for most of it. I bounded down snowy rocks and across muddy seeps. I kept my cadence high and a grin on my face, exchanging many encouraging words with the people still coming up the trail. I had one, very gentle fall on a broad frozen stream. No damage except to a mocha-flavored energy gel in my back pocket … there is an embarrassing stain on my white undershorts!

I managed to re-pass the guy who had motored past me on the icy part of the climb. Could I find the top 5? No. In fact I was passed by a different runner within the last ¼ mile of trail. This guy was descending like a beast! Apparently his feet and quads did not hurt as much as mine!

As expected, I really struggled on the steeply descending pavement of Appalachian Way. My quads screemed. My toes were mashed against front of my shoes. Coming through town was nicer and the spectators gave me a little boost. Still, 3+ miles of pavement was definitely not what my tired feet wanted to see. There were a couple of very slight uphills that slowed me down a lot in the final two miles. They were probably no more than 10 meters in length and a few feet of climbing, but at this stage of the race, switching those climbing muscles back on was a tall order. I did not have much of a finishing kick coming around Lake Tomahawk to the finish line, but no one was threatening my 7^th place finish, and the 6^th place guy was already kicking back eating chili. My official time was 3:28:24 (2^nd masters!). Strava says I climbed and descended about 3600 feet.

Thanks, again, to Race Director Jay Curwen, the other organizers, and other participants for making this a fun and challenging day in the mountains!

Black Mountain Marathon elevation profile (from Strava): Look at that final descent!
The blue line is my pace (I forgot to turn off my watch for a few minutes after the finish).

Final technical notes

• I wore Altra Superior 2.0 shoes, and was totally happy with the comfort and traction.
• Swiftwick trail socks were just about perfect – my feet were not too cold and did not remain soggy after splashing across streams.
• I consumed two packages of Clif Bloks (at roughly 15 min intervals) and two caffeinated gels (one at about mile 9 and the second at about mile 18)
• I consumed less than 500mL of water, draining my bottle only after crossing the finish line.
• I stopped to pee once at about mile 9.
• I felt that steep (rather than technical) descending was my biggest challenge and performance limiter.

Final thoughts

The Black Mountain Marathon was great fun, though I would prefer less pavement. I did not get a chance to accomplish my goal of the Mount Mitchell Challenge, so I will probably try to come back in 2017. I hope the race organizers will give the disappointed 2016 Challengers preference in the entrance lottery...

Dealing with a @#$% injury while training for the Mt Mitchell Challenge

 In my first post of this series, I mentioned having surgery for torn cartilage in my right knee. I did not say that I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Many years ago I injured both knees (not running), and in min-November I pushed the left one over the edge. I put it in an awkward position while caving and experienced a rather sharp and sudden pain in the right rear quadrant (of my left knee) – pretty much exactly the same as my previous right knee meniscus tear, but not as bad.

After that, my mobility was seriously compromised. I could run uphill, but walking downstairs was a delicate operation. Any movement that involved flexing my left knee past about 45 degrees hurt. Walking fast on flat ground hurt unless I carefully shortened my stride and stepped delicately … like an old man walking across broken glass on bare feet.

This might have been the end of my Mt Mitchell ambitions this year, but I did not give up entirely. While slowly working my way through the tedium of referrals, MRI’s, and diagnosis, I essentially shifted all my training to an inclined treadmill or stair machine.

The orthopaedist finally confirmed the medial meniscus tear and was able to schedule me for arthroscopic surgery on 24 Dec 2015. That’s right: X-mas eve, but the alternative was to wait until sometime in January. This way I figured I would have time to assess my recovery before the 15 Jan bail-out date for the Mt Mitchell Challenge.

Long story short: It is 19 January, I have not withdrawn from the race, and I am back to training like a beast (a middle-aged beast with a delicate knee, but still …). Here are the key ingredients to my recovery so far:

1    1) Heed the medical advice: If it hurts, don’t do it.

2    2) Conversely, if it doesn’t hurt, go for it! After surgeries like this, the key priorities are to regain strength and mobility as fast as possible. They don’t encourage patients to sit around and become stiff and atrophied. For me, this meant spending a lot of time on a treadmill ranging from 5% to 25% slope. I have logged a lot of elevation gain!

      3) Be a good physical therapy patient. I have been diligent with a few simple strengthening and mobility exercises to recover symmetry between my left and right sides. Officially, athletes are usually released to “return to sport” when the affected side has 90-95% of the function of the unaffected side. “Function” includes isometric strength and various single-legged stepping, balancing, and hopping tests. “Return to sport” usually means basketball, soccer, etc. For me it means bombing down technical trails. Athletes are encouraged to return to normal running as soon as they can do it pain free. That’s where I am right now: steep downhills are still a bit uncomfortable, but I’m pretty close on single-leg agility.

Basically, this injury has been a serious set-back with respect to downhill performance, but I have been able to continue training hard for the uphill half of the Mt Mitchell Challenge. In the last several weeks, I have run fewer miles than planned, but more elevation gain than planned. I am now trying to push my long runs back up to where I think they should be at this stage in my plan. There is a 28 miler on my calendar this week, but I’ll probably aim for 24 and see how I feel. My top priority is to be able to complete a couple of challenging downhill sessions before mid-February. We’ll see!

Recalibrating intensity and reconciling a 10-day training cycle with a 7-days-a-week life

 By 24 days into my Mt Mitchell Challenge training I was beat up. I pushed through a speed session despite the fact that I was still sore from running and weight training earlier in the week. Later, I cut a long run short because my muscles were so fatigued I couldn’t keep my form. Every morning my feet felt like someone had beaten them with a nightstick. And I got grumpy at my dogs during an easy run. To me, that’s a huge red flag.

Overreaching is part of training, but too much is dangerous. My training plan might be too aggressive for my life, age, and fitness. Right now, I am going to try fix two major problems and see how it goes from there. These two problems are (1) trying to overlay my 10-day training plan onto a busy schedule arranged on a 7-day week has become a source of distraction and anxiety, and (2) I am almost certainly running my “easy runs” too hard.

Squaring the 10 day training cycle with my 7 day life:

The problems with the 10-day cycle are unpredictability and impracticality. Unpredictability, in the sense of not being able to easily remember what kind of session is coming up next, creates distraction and anxiety. Not that I was totally freaking out, but I definitely felt like I was wasting energy and time trying to keep track of a schedule that is not consistent week-to-week. Moreover, the schedule was impractical in the sense that I simply cannot access a track any day of the week, I simply cannot get away for a long run any day of the week, and there are days when it is virtually impossible to get to the weight room. I need to have specific workouts fall on specific days of the 7-day week.

I placed my full 10-day cycle training plan onto a calendar and summarized it on a weekly basis in terms of the number of long runs, hill sessions, speed sessions, easy runs, and rest days. As it turns out, there were almost always 2 easy and 2 rest days per week. Weeks varied in the composition of long runs, hills, and speed. Then I simply set some rules (based on my personal and professional time constraints) and rearranged sessions within each week. The result is below.

The main thing that had to give was back to back long runs. Instead, I have scheduled my long runs the day after a hill or speed session. This still satisfies the principle of running long on tired legs.

Final note/disclaimer: This is my training plan. I am not a coach. I am not an exercise scientist. I am certainly not a lawyer. I do not recommend this training plan for anyone. Chances are, if you try to follow it, you will get hurt, you will fail to reach your performance goals, and might even die. Moreover, any good coach would tell you that all training plans are merely aspirational guidelines and should not be followed slavishly. Good healthy athletes should pay attention to their bodies, their doctors, and real coaches when planning and modifying any particular activity.

Interval workouts are listed as repetitions x (intense distance + recovery distance). For example, 4x(200+1400) means go hard for 200 meters, run steady for 1400 meters, and repeat a total of four times. Warming up and jogging home from the track adds up to 5 miles per session.

Trying to run easy enough

Speaking of tired legs, being sore on a morning that I planned to run intense track intervals (and after a full rest day) probably means I shouldn’t have done that interval session. My mileage is not insane at this point, and two well-spaced rest days per week should be adequate. So, I have two (not mutually exclusive) hypotheses to explain my soreness and exhaustion. First, I am probably running too fast on easy and long run days. According to the research, most runners make this mistake, and I see no reason why I should be different. Second, my strength training is probably too intense and too inconsistent. I’ll make a few comments on that in a later post. Here, I describe my strategy for re-calibrating my easy runs.

Several authorities have promoted the idea that runners should be spending 80% or more of their training time at “low intensity” (e.g., Lydiard, Maffetone, Fitzgerald, and others). In addition, research seems to show that recreational athletes (like me) spend way too much time running too fast, even if they think they are “going easy”. In contrast, successful elite runners seem to run very easy 80% of the time and very intense (focused, purposeful workouts) about 20% of the time. Elite athletes spend little or no time in the middle “moderate intensity” zone that seems to have the least training benefit.

My focused and purposeful intense workouts are my interval sessions and hill sessions. According to my plan, these occupy 30 to 90 minutes of my weekly training time. That means all of my scheduled easy and long runs need to count toward my 80% low intensity. But what is low intensity? Different authorities and coaches use different rules of thumb, based on various physiological variables like heartrate, VO2max, metabolic efficiency and ventilatory threshold. I don’t have any of those data for myself, but a decent statistical estimate (from this runnersconnect article) is that 55% to 75% of 5K pace corresponds to this “easy” level of intensity where injury risk is low and training effects on the aerobic system are maximized. The problem is, the pace data probably come from controlled studies of runners on flat ground or treadmills. My “easy” runs regularly include over 1,000 feet of ascending and descending, so I need to be able to modify my effort by feel to stay in the zone.

Therefore, I have taken a week (5 runs) to calibrate my ability to run at “low intensity”. First, I estimated my ideal flat ground easy pace based on a roughly 18 minute 5K. I think I could do a little better, but 6 min/mile leads to nice round numbers: 6 min/mile = 10mph. 75% of 10mph is 7.5mph = 8 min/mile. My goal was to teach myself what 8min/mile feels like on relatively flat terrain, so I could try to avoid going above that level of perceived effort on my regular hilly runs.

I have found (I think) that I can gauge (and control) my effort by my breathing pattern. After settling into roughly the right pace at my habitual stride rate (180 – 190 steps/min), I experimented with various breathing patterns (see Coates for an in-depth treatment of breathing while running, No Meat Athlete for a different spin). For me, a 4-3 pattern feels about right at my easy pace (that means 4 steps per inhalation and 3 steps per exhalation). When I speed up to 7:30 min/mile or faster, I automatically shift to 3-2, and when I slow down past 9:00 min/mile I feel like I’m breathing way too hard for the effort.

I do believe that the 4-3 breathing pattern corresponds well with “conversational pace”. Jeff Gaudette at runnersconnect.com suggests that a 3-3 pattern corresponds to “easy pace”. I am following Coates in using an odd pattern to ensure that my exhale is not always starting on one foot (a pattern that seems to contribute to imbalances and injury risk). So, if not 3-3, do I slow it down to 4-3 or speed it up to 3-2? I have been at 3-2 for most of my intended “easy” runs in the past, so slowing down to 4-3 seems like the right move. This line of reasoning supports my conclusion from my experiments with pace and breathing.

My assignment is to learn to slow down on hills so that I maintain that 4-3 breathing pattern (at ~180 - 190 steps per minute), and avoid feeling beaten up and sore. I already feel better after one week of pulling back on intensity while maintaining my planned mileage.

Managing intensity while descending is much trickier business. For now, I will try to be conservative and plan to make descending a major training focus in January.

A Training Plan That Targets Elevation Gain

(Training for the Mt Mitchell Challenge: post 2)

As my second 10-day cycle draws to a close, I realize that there is one key component of my training plan that I kept quiet about in my first post about training for the Mt Mitchell Challenge:

 Climbing

Most training plans are organized around one of two quantities: mileage or time. I searched and searched, but failed to find a plan that prescribes workouts in terms of elevation gained. So I made one up.

The only theory I had to go on was the 10% rule: the conventional wisdom that one should not increase their endurance training by more than 10% per week. This is not a universally accepted rule, but it's basically all I've got as a starting point. I used three other considerations to try to plan out elevation goals for each training session.

    1)   Where do I start? In training for the CumberlandTrail 50K, I had logged 8,000-10,000 feet of climbing per week several times.

    2)   Where do I want to end up? For the Mt Mitchell Challenge, the task is to climb almost 5,000 feet over 20 miles with nary a level step, much less a downhill section. So, I want to build up to 20 miles of steady climbing at 5% grade (0.05 x 20 miles x 5,280 feet/mile = 5,280 feet of climbing).

    3)   My just for fun personal goal of a solid time for the Virtual K, which is my treadmill challenge based on the Vertical K, a mountain running event in which competitors climb 1000m over no more than 5k of horizontal distance (i.e., minimum of 20% grade). The Virtual K challenge is simple: How fast can you climb 1000m on a treadmill? I have challenged MikeWardian to post a record time.

So I have a starting point, a performance goal in terms of the race I am training for, something to structure high-intensity workouts around, and the 10% rule for progression. Below is my training plan with explicit climbing targets for each session.

Disclaimer: I am not an experienced mountain runner or coach. I do not recommend this plan. I do not know if it is healthy or effective. Stay tuned, and I will try to let you know how I feel and how I perform.

10-day training cycle with the following pattern 

(see upcoming post for squaring the 10-day cycle with a 7-days/week life)

    1.     Long run progressing from 10 miles to peak of 30 about one month before the race.

** Run up to 20 miles on a treadmill set at 5% incline OR do a trail run with about the same cumulative elevation gain (0.05 x M miles x 5,280 feet/mile = 264 x M feet)

    2.     Long run (back to back) progressing from 6 to 10 miles

** 1584 to 2640 feet on a treadmill set at 5% incline OR trail run with about the same elevation gain.

NOTE: I am trying to pace these long runs close to my goal average pace for the climbing leg of the Mt Mitchell Challenge. This has to be a sustainable aerobic pace, so my training pace and goal might have to be adjusted as I get a better sense of my ability.

    3.     Easy + Strength: ~ 5 mi easy with my dogs in the am, Squat Workout in the pm

** My daily dog run includes between 750 and 1000 feet of elevation gain (cumulative), depending on the route.

    4.    Rest

    5.     Hills: ~5 mi easy with dogs in the am, Hill Session in the pm

** Keep the easy AM run down to about 350 feet.

** The first 8 hill sessions progress from 1,000 to 3,281 (1,000m) feet as fast as possible on a treadmill. These are supposed to be steady, strong efforts as if I was training for the MountMarathon race.

** Subsequent hill sessions add in an emphasis on descending technical trails. My goal will be to achieve 3,000+ feet of cumulative gain on steep trails and/or stairs (real stairs, going up and down) within about 5-8 miles of horizontal distance. These are supposed to be high-intensity interval sessions.

    6.     Easy + Strength: ~ 5 mi easy, Shoulder Workout

** 750 to 1,000 feet

    7.    Rest

    8.     Speed: ~ 5 mi easy, 800m Repeats

** minimize elevation gain on speed days!

    9.     Easy + Strength: ~ 5 mi easy, Deadlift Workout

** 750 to 1,000 feet

   10. Rest