Distance: 33.5 miles
Time: 5:28
Pace: 9:54
Elevation Gain: 4140ft – although getting ready for a race that is 25,000+ ft of elevation gain…
Drink: 80 oz in bladder – water 1x GU Roctane Drink. 1 solid drink at water fountain = 110oz (cooler temps today – fog until noon)
Food: Nature Valley Granola bar & ClifBar. 1 pack Chomps, , Clif Oatmeal squeeze, Justins Hazelnut Almond Butter Packet = 900 cals (plus some in Roctane drink)
Breakfast: 5 eggs, 3 cups of chard, spinach & kale mix, sprouted wheat bagel with butter. 18oz of water, 12oz of coffee
Podcasts: The WSJ What’s News, TrailRunner Podcast, TED Radio Hour, Freakonomics Radio
AudioBook: Extreme Ownership: Leadership Lessons from a Navy Seal. Chapter 1-3

Observations: I got sick after the last long run 12 days ago. I knew something was wrong given my exhaustion from that 50k. I ended up not training for 3 days – although the first day I did an easy indoor cycling class that I teach. The following 2 days I was wrecked: head cold, and the completely congested lungs. After 60 hrs of rest I was able to fight through an easy hour run while hacking quite nicely. But this also kept me off my legs for 3 days, and it forced me to truly rest, sleep and recover. Last week was ‘supposed to be a recovery week, but due to the sickness and a weekend completely off, and gradually built into the week and ran 25 miles on Thursday. I felt 85% healthy but also felt way better than the previous long run. Heading out today I felt good, and things stayed quite connected until mile 22/23. I hope to get to a point where I can run the first 30 in my event while connected, relaxed and not really focused yet: just fueling and hydrating for the hard miles ahead. The bladder worked a little better for drinking than bottles, but am surprised I drank less. I assume that running with a bottle keeps my drinking more than a tube coming out of my pack. Calories were fine as well, although if I were to run longer – I need to eat more in the last hour. As we all know – when we are close to being done, we look forward to eating real food at home. I paid attention to stoppage time today: took a break every 10 miles to get some real food and drink in me. Check in with the world, and head into the next 10 miles with fuel, focus and hydration…

Goal of workout: Since I ran 25 on Thursday, and then a bit over the weekend, the goal is now to start compressing the time of 100 miles in a certain amount of days. Look like I am currently on pace for 7-8 days. That is plenty for early June. Later this month I will compress this to 6-ish days. While that is not a lot of mileage in the UltraRunning community, I still have July and August to go and I still maintain a solid 12-14,000 yds of swimming per week and a fair amount of cycling. The goal today was twofold: 1) feel better than the last 50k – 2) improve how I run the 50k. I know what I want to feel like at certain parts of the day. I like the ability to wake up, eat, answer some emails, run 30+ miles, come home, eat, and answer some more emails/work etc. It is not the same as cycling – 5.5 hrs is a solid day – but does not leave the legs pounded like 5.5 hours of running.

What I learned today: More fats and more fats. I need to start my morning with slightly less carbs and a bit more fats. Mainly since these runs are so low HR, its all fat burning (60-70%!) – so while carbs are surely needed (this 1600 calories in glycogen deplete as well despite the low HR/aerobic effort) – I need to start bringing some healthier fats with me (real food: avocado on bread, nut butter packets etc.). Continue to up the drink. 20oz of fluid per hour worked today, but if temps were higher it would have been a nono…Learned about the first DQ at Western States – despite him finishing first…and it was an interesting perspective since I am friends with the guy who ended up the winner that year (2006).

Commentary: Best long run so far in this build. I have a nagging ankle issue – I rolled/ripped/did something weird back on Thanksgiving of last year – and despite a solid marathon build up for Boston, it now is tightening up at 20ish miles. Will need to monitor closely. Stoppage time was 30 min today – but that too is part of Ultra training. Chill out….

Next long run? Next week I might look for 40, but let’s see how the body is feeling. No rush. Maybe an overnight in Tahoe next week in order to get some altitude in.