I always see fellow runner’s blogs with lists of races they are going to participate in for that year. Many of these dedicated runner’s have races lined up almost every weekend from early spring to late fall. I am inspired by these lists and I am excited for the time in my life when it makes more sense to participate more in these events, mainly for camaraderie but also to put my training to the test.
I decided that though I don’t compete in these events at the moment I can still put together a list of runs I am planning to do in the near future. My events so far are all unorganized and as far as the enrolment goes I am the only one registered. The date for each event is TBD and the entry fee is whatever it costs for me to get to the trail head. Aid stations are whatever I can carry while running, and running partners are hard to scrounge up for these types of events so most likely will each be solo.
So here goes my list. It is long so I will try to post in phases over the next while showing a spot or two per post.
Location:
Elevation = 13,528’
Prominence = 6,348’
Distance = 28.8 miles
This is
Location: Deep Creek Range Western
Elevation = 12,087
Prominence = 5,229’
Distance = 13 miles
I have been interested in this monster monolith south of Wendover for some time now. There are several reasons this mountain is so high on my must run list. It is a very remote mountain seeing only a limited number of ascents each year. It is an ultra prominence peak. I like the runs that start in desert and end up in higher alpine elevations. It is a nice way to get to experience a large variety of climates, terrain, and scenery in a short few miles. This is a run of extremes, from extreme elevation differences to extreme temperature differences. This run would require a certain amount of preparation and some support in the event of an injury, dehydration, snake bite etc. You would need a couple of back-up plans just in case.
These are just two peaks that I am very interested in running and look forward to the time when I can tackle them. This week saw some weak mileage and not as many summits as I would have liked but I was walking the edge between injured and over-trained so I listened to reason and ran about every other day in anticipation of Spring Break which starts tomorrow. I hope to get some great runs in, including a long one in the Gowland Tod range tomorrow. I hope I have a strong injury free week.
3 comments:
I would be willing to try to keep pace with you when the time comes to tackle these monsters. It sounds like fun and if I can get my blasted knee figured out I should be good to go. It looks like your list is pretty demanding, however, with the amount of training you are doing and will be able to do in the next couple of years it sounds like in the very near future you may be able to tackle some of these monsters. If I can get a running and keep it up without any problems and you are down and looking for someone who is willing to attempt these giants give me a buzz and I will make a sorry attempt to keep pace with you.
Well I wrote you a LONG response and it didn't post which sucks because it took forever to write but I will try again but it might not be as good.
I would like nothing more than to run one of these monsters with you in May. I know we can figure your knee out soon and you can have a good couple of months of training (mid-march to mid May) before I show up.
So we need to figure out a way to get you running without getting injured. Well know that your advice is coming from someone with a lower leg injury as I write this but lets see what we can do to heal both of us and get us running better.
My gut feel is your running injury is related to your biomechanics and not just some mysterious ailment. Without ever seeing your running form I can predict that with your long legs and competitive nature you probably really stretch your stride out.
This does two things, first it causes you to heel strike (your heel hits first and then your toes), second it makes your foot plants too far in front of your center of mass or too far in front of your body. Heel striking is like straightening your leg and then hitting the bottom of your foot with a sledge hammer thousands of times it just punishes your legs. Also stretching your foot plant too far in front of your body puts a ton of strain on your joints and tweaks the old knee.
It would first be best if you could run on a softer surface than roads. I think trails or fire break roads would be a lot easier on your joints (once the snow is gone of course).
Second you should try taking smaller steps and fore foot strike. This is where you land on the balls of your foot. Bend your knees and let your legs work like a giant shock absorber. So you are basically taking faster and smaller steps and landing on the balls of your feet with bent knees. I have been working on this and it is brutally difficult to unteach yourself of 30 years of doing something the wrong way i.e. heel-striking, I have a long road ahead to improve my running stride.
Next you should run up steep trails like Malan's basin or Indian trail (when the snow melts of course)as much as possible. This serves several functions but most importantly forces you to run on your toes and take small steps, otherwise you just fall on your back. So as soon as these trails are free of snow I would start running up them and focus on small easy shock absorbing steps.
I know you are not a big reader but I just read a great book called "Born To Run" and it is awesome and entertaining and I highly recommend it who knows you might like it. In the book one of the main people gives some advice on how he finally stopped having running injuries and I think it is sound advice so I will paraphrase it.
Continued from previous response... First you should run EASY. He says if nothing else if you run easy every time run you at least have that. He says if it looks like you can take two steps between rocks take three this will force you to shorten your stride and pick up your cadence.
Next he says you should run LIGHT. This means taking the shock with your legs and barely stepping down on your toes instead of Franken-footing allover the place like some sasquatch or paraplegic moose like me.
He then says you should run SMOOTH. Try to smoothly run with the terrain and trail instead of fighting it. Try to make each step and foot plant as smooth and fluid as possible. He says if you do these three things then you will be FAST!
I am trying these techniques and they are difficult to do and I have to focus the whole run. I hope that one day I won't even realize that I'm doing these things they will just come naturally. I can then exercise my lower leg demons and be free from injury.
I would love to hit Ben Lomond with you and then move over to Fransis or Olympus and one day years from now do a run starting in Smith and Morehouse kind of by long lake and run all the way to Flaming Gorge with just the two of us or anyone else who can hang. 210 miles across the backbone of the Uintas! It is a beautiful thing and my ultimate goal. I know we can both get there if we just practice, stay consistent, and most importantly have fun and not treat it like something we have to do but a privilege and something we were both born to do! Lets fix your knee and get running together!
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