In the summer of 2007, I was hoping to recover from a disappointing DNF at the Western States 100 (June 23rd) in time to compete successfully at the World Cup 100K (September 8th). To gauge my progress, I tested myself with an interval workout of 2 x 3200m (with a 600m jog in between) every couple of weeks or so. My times were as follows:
* July 14: 10:22/10:41.
* July 17: 10:14/10:23. (In my running log, I called this performance “slightly less catastrophic” than the previous one.)
* August 7: 10:18 [quit workout after first interval went poorly].
* August 18: 10:15/10:19.
* September 2: 10:10/10:10.
Since I had run as fast as 9:58/9:57 the previous summer, I was none too thrilled that it took me until my taper to get down to 10:10/10:10. Nonetheless, my World Cup 100K race went well. For me, then, 10:10/10:10 may be a benchmark suggesting acceptable fitness for racing 100K.
With all of that in mind, I headed to the Franklin High School track last Saturday to test the extent to which my legs have recovered from the Rocky Raccoon 100. I guess they’re recovering pretty well because I ran 10:13/10:13. I was so satisfied with this workout that I immediately registered for the Mad City 100K on April 10th. Hey, why not — I still have a few weeks to train for it!
Mad City will, in some ways, be the least wacky of the three spring events to which I have committed so far. On March 21st, I’ll be doing the Big Climb, a 69-floor ascent of the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle, with the PATH to Victory team. And on May 30th I will be at Ski to Sea, handling the running leg (8 miles, straight down the side of Mount Baker) for the Bagelry team.
My Track Record 
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