This is a test
February 24, 2010In 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 
Glad you're recovering well, Doogie.Re: Ski to Sea, I hope the side of Mt. Baker is easier to run than, say, Pine Cobble. (For non-Eph blog readers, Pine Cobble is a mountain on which Greg infamously faceplanted during a training run in college. This incident may be the origin of his preference for less technical trails. While I managed to stay upright on Pine Cobble, the concentration required to do so left me mentally exhausted for the rest of the day…)
Jem: The Mt. Baker descent is on the road, so I should be fine. I don't specifically remember my Pine Cobble face-plant because I think I tripped during EVERY trail run we did, except one, when I was a freshman.
Greg,What's the 10k course like for the Mad City 100k. Does it have hills? Is it windy?Great job at Rocky Raccon, amazing.
I saw your blog about mad city 100k from 2007. I should have searched. take care
Greg,good to read you're doing well! Looks like you have your spring planned out better than I have.I haven't 100% decided on a single race this spring, but I'm leaning towards Mercer Island 1/2 next weekend.Haven't done any indicator workout either, though my 6 mile "tempo" run at 5:20 pace today went well. The quotation marks because I ran the miles in about 2:58 – 2:22 splits, so more a fartlek than a tempo run.Go kill the Columbia Tower race!
G, can't wait to hear about Mad City. If I didn't have to coach in Illinois, I'd head north to watch you…wait, this is an ultra, perhaps I have time to coach a track meet and then make it to your race. Best–L