Um, I don’t really have one. It’s not that I don’t really want one. I do. And it’s not that I don’t know how to create one. I do. It’s that this race is only 7 weeks after Eastern States. What can I possibly do in 7 weeks? I don’t have time for a full blown training plan, which is what I normally do (i.e. slowly build up mileage/long runs then taper). And 7 weeks is far too long to sit on my couch drinking beer.
My initial thoughts were to spend a month recovering, then do one or 2 long runs. I’m hoping that what I’ve done this summer when combined with ES100 is enough to get me to the finish line at Cloudsplitter. It may even be more difficult than my last race (25k vert vs. 20k), which has me more than little concerned as it’s not like I aced that test. Passed, yes, but not aced. I will not have time though to recover and then increase my fitness between now and October 1st. The best I can do is get healthy and then maintain what I’ve already established. Two weeks into my recovery and I’m almost back to 100%. My right leg is still a little on the tight side, but it’s not painful and my morning runs have slowly gotten quicker with the same level of effort. Two more weeks of light/easy/short running and then I should be ready for 1 weekend with a 5-7 hour run. I’ll then chase this the following weekend with 2 hours running/2hours hiking. And then I’ll be taking 2 weeks easy heading into my race.
I just got my new trekking poles in the mail today. The biggest part of my training this cycle will be getting out on the trails and using them a bit. I won’t be able to get much practice with them before Cloudsplitter, but hopefully it’ll be enough to keep me from stabbing myself with them during the race. Or even worse, tripping up someone else as they fly by me.
Do you think this will be enough to get me buckle #4?