Spring Catch-Up: Pre-Cruel Jewel

VT Ultra team

Promise Land Recap: Started with cramping calves, ran up Apple Orchard. Made it from Sunset Fields to the finish in 32 minutes.  Felt like I could keep going for a while at the finish; good tune-up for Cruel Jewel. I also squeaked into the top 10 for the first time at a Horton race, pretty excited about that. I passed 9 people in the last 5 miles.

We had 5 in the top 15!!

I peaked with a 92 mile training week, 104 miles on a 7-day span. Nearly what I did for Grindstone, but I did this one earlier.  Everything this Spring has been MUCH faster than I was running last autumn though, so I know I'm fit right now.   Also in March, I did 3 ultras in 15 days as a training experiment that ended really well, and gave me a lot of confidence in slogging.

One new thing this year is, thanks to my Suunto Ambit, I'm tracking my climb.  January through April, I climbed 35,050 feet, 42,950 feet, 45,000 feet, and 60,100 feet.  Pretty awesome progression, and plenty of gain I think for Cruel Jewel's (likely padded) 30,000 feet of climb.  Max week was ~25,000 feet of climb as well, back in February just for fun.

This past weekend, I headed up to Ohio with Rudy and Wyatt of VT Ultra. They were running 50s For Yo Momma, a 50 mile (Rudy) and 50k (Wyatt) done on a 5.2 mile loop course.  Rain for days prior caused it to be a sloppy mess after only a couple laps.  Rudy still pulled out a WIN in a solid time and Wyatt pulled off 3rd place on a less than stellar day.  I paced Rudy is last two laps, got covered in mud, and realized a little bit of information.  The week before Grindstone I paced Rudy to his first win at the Uber Rock 50k. A week later I ran a great Grindstone for my first 100.  Great confidence boost for Cruel Jewel!

Lots of mud for 10 miles

Fun gang

Virginia Tech Graduation is this weekend. I'll be down in Georgia racing the Cruel Jewel 100 with my friend and mentor Eric Grossman rather than walking.  During the ceremony, I'll have been traipsing through the woods for 70-80 miles already, likely hallucinating, falling apart at the seems, and loving every minute of it.  That will be my graduation; the woods are my school.

.Cruel Jewel Profile

I've worked my ass off; now it's time to play.