Vicarious Vlogging: A Rock Repeat Above The Clouds

I'm always talking about my Rock Repeats. Today I took you with me while I did one in the snow and ice on a beautiful winter day in Fort Collins. I wrapped up the week with a quick trip up and down, plus a few little extra spurs on some side trails to get a few extra miles.

It looked dismal this morning when I left the house, all overcast and foggy. But once I got up to about 6000 feet, it was clear blue sky.

Watch the video to enjoy this awesome winter day and get a few ultra training tips and insights!

BIG, BAD & SUPERHOT!

Badwater runners, CREW and anyone else planning on being in Death Valley this summer for the Badwater Ultramarathon, if you haven't started your heat training by now, that should be a BIG priority.

Don't wait any longer. The race is only 2 months away and this year is shaping up to be a hot one...

Last year in May and June I went down to Arizona to do some heat training in the desert and the temperature was only into the 90s in May and barely cracked 100 in June. This year, it's already been 112 in Death Valley, and it's only mid-May.

I'm not only referring to the runners here, I'm talking about the equally important CREW. Runners need to be diligent about heat training, but they usually do their homework. It's the crews who have often been less prepared for the conditions.

A Hot Year

In 2003 I crewed and paced for my friend Ken Eielson. That was the year it was 133 degrees. I also crewed for Josh Miller in 2002, when it was was 127 degrees. I remember how intense the heat was, and yes, there really is a difference between 115, 120, and 130. Those two years I was living in the Arizona desert and one of the things I did to prepare myself was a 30 mile run on a 117 degree day in Phoenix, where I stayed overdressed most of the day.

I didn't have access to a sauna back then, but I'd park my car in the driveway, roll the windows up tight, and sit there baking for up to an hour with a magazine, a good supply of ice water and electrolyte replacement. My neighbors thought I was nuts, and it was uncomfortable, but I paced Ken the whole way from Furnace Creek to Stovepipe Wells that year and I had no problems with the heat.

Sauna training, overdressing and running in the heat, cranking up the heater in your car, attaching a hose to your clothes dryer and a hot suit and running on a treadmill, or whatever contraptions you use to prepare for the heat, make sure you're doing plenty of it.

Crew Preparation

I can't emphasize enough to runners that they insist their crews be prepared for the heat. Crews are the ones who tend to be less heat-trained, even if they are endurance athletes themselves.

Being in a hot car and staying busy tending to the runners needs makes it easy to neglect your own needs as a crew member- staying hydrated, cooling down, getting out of the sun, eating enough, getting enough electrolyte replacement.

Crews, you have to be on top of things in the extreme heat for your runner's sake. To function well under such intense conditions you are going to have to take of yourselves. Not only do you need a plan for the runner, but you need an equally important crew plan. You won't be running the A/C in your vehicles, so you'll be exposed, too. Inside a vehicle is hotter than outdoor air.

If it's your first time, if you can get out there to experience that kind of heat before the race, along with any or all of your crew, it would be a good reality check. Everyone on the crew should be doing some kind of heat training. Especialy if they aren't normally exposed to hot conditions. Even people who live in warm climates can easily be overpowered by the intensity of a 130 degree day.

If a crew member is new to intense heat and hasn't experienced anything like Badwater conditions, it's a good idea that they check with their own physician before jumping into a heat training program or just showing up in Death Valley in mid-July. If you have some undetected medical condition, it could become a serious, even life-threatening problem out there. I can't emphasize this enough. Don't assume that being a healthy, active person, or even a well-conditioned runner, under normal conditions, qualifies you to physically tolerate 130 degree heat.

Crew Supplies

Crew supplies include sunscreen, hats, clothing to protect them from the sun like those Sun Precautions suits, ice bandanas, towels for covering up hot vinyl like steering wheels, seats, and other items that heat up in the vehicle, towels for placing over the body with ice and ice water, enough ice for the crew to use for themselves, enough electrolyte replacement, water, and drinks for crew members, cotton gloves for touching hot metal on the outside of the vehicle, shadescreens for the windshield when the vehicle is parked for a period of time.

You'll need sunscreen, hand wipes and ways to keep the sunscreen from getting into the runner's drinks and drinkable ice, be careful keeping any food that could spoil. I advise avoiding thing that spoil altogether- certain fruits such as melons, anything with mayonnaise in it, anything with a short shelf life or that needs constant refrigeration under normal coonditions. At least one person on each crew or crew shift should be taking extra care of the crew, making sure everyone is getting adequate fluids and breaks from the heat.

Be Prepared for The Worst: A Backup Plan

You need a backup plan in case something happens. What if Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, or Panamint Springs run out of ice? Where will you go? Lone Pine, Beatty, Pahrump? A backup plan includes a cooler large enough and enough extra ice that in an emergency, everything could be dumped out and the person can be cooled down in it. Have an emergency plan of what to do if someone does get sick. Plan for the worst, and keep the evil spirits away!

Knowledge is Power

For information on heat illness and how to prevent it, the Badwater website has great information. Check out all of those articles on heat training. Read every single one.

Everyone is going to suffer some degree of heat discomfort out there. The key is to stay on top of it, get ahead of it before it becomes serious heat illness, and know when your body is starting to heat up. It's time to cool down before you get uncomfortable, don't wait until you feel really bad. See my post on "Lessons Learned" about my cooldown breaks.

Stay Away From Me!

I'm looking forward to being on the medical team again this year and as much as I love seeing the runners and their crews at Badwater, I'd rather pass you on the road seeing you moving forward, smiling, or giving a thumbs-up. Other than that, I don't want to see you until the post-race party.

With just two months to go, it's enough time that you can adequately prepare for the heat. But don't wait any longer. Even if you follow a formal training plan such as Art Webb's excellent sauna training program that lasts 4 weeks leading up to the race, some extra preparation is a smart idea this year.

Be safe, and make your Death Valley experience a successful and enjoyable one.

photo credits: Nathan Nitzky

How I Trained for my 2011 Badwater Double

This is a re-post of a page I kept on my blog in 2011. I took it down a few months ago but decided to re-post it. I think it would be helpful to anyone looking to finish the Badwater race.

As you read it, keep in mind I was training for a double crossing, not just the race. As a result I did a lot more long consecutive (back-to-back-to-back) days than would be necessary for just the race itself. And my strategy in the race was to take care of my feet and hydration, and get enough rest so that I had something left over to do another 135 miles afterward, so I didn't push myself anywhere near my limit in the race.

If you're training for the race only, you'd want to add a bit more intensity and perhaps not so many long days. My goal was to finish in under the 48 hour time cutoff. So this would be a good guideline for someone who is a first-timer, and solely interested in finishing. If you're a speedster, there are lots of other places to look for guidelines on training.

Feel free to comment, or write me at sherunnoftatgmaildotcom if you have questions. I can't put a lot of time into answering specific training questions and I DO NOT coach, so please do not ask me to give you specific advice on your training routine. I will try to answer your general questions about Badwater as time permits.

2011 Badwater Training Notes

People ask me how I train for the races I do. They think I do mega-miles, which is not true at all. When I'm approaching a big race, I do a lot of miles on some weeks, but I don't sustain a high mileage routine week after week, all year. I probably do a lot less than many ultrarunners who are running shorter races.

I consider myself an athlete, not an addict, which means I respect my body and treat it well, as I ask a lot of it, so I do not overdo it. I'll be 48 years old this year, I have been running for 28 years, and I hope to be running into the future for at least another 28 years.

Keep in mind that at Badwater I am not going for any records or places. I am not running this race in competition with others, I am only trying to do the best I can so essentially I am competing with myself.

I won't put my entire training log in here but I will put the basics in, as the weeks go by.

When training for Badwater, you have to be ready to do the race distance before you even put your application in.

By the time you get notification that you're accepted into the race, you have less than 5 months until race day. So if you're not already seriously fit, you're going to be in trouble.

Fortunately the Badwater application process takes that into account. If you haven't done the equivalent of at least a couple or three serious (100 mile+) ultras in the year leading up to your application for the race, you won't get in.

A Little History

Let's backtrack for a bit: I ran Badwater for the first time in 2008. After that I took it pretty easy for over a year. I needed a break from training so hard, plus I had other things going on in my life, like a miserably stressful job, that made it hard for me to train well and consistently. So I basically took 2009 off from doing ultras. I ran a few 50K-ish runs and kept a base of 30-40 miles a week all year just for fitness, but that's all.

In 2010 I began to train again, with running Badwater in 2011 in mind. I changed jobs, which helped more than anything. I knew I was going to have to do a few long runs. I planned for 3 races: the Keys 100, the Lean Horse Hundred, and Across the Years 48 hour. I ran a few other short races (Old Pueblo 50 and Leadville Marathon) but that was it.

Racing can often set you back, if you work really hard, you will need a break from training. I try not to race too many long ultras each year, which keeps my training more consistent. My goal for the year was to set a PR at Across the Years, I wanted to go over 150 miles.

I unexpectedly set a PR at the Keys. I had no idea I was going to feel so good in the heat and humidity. I ran Lean Horse as a training run for Across the Years, in a relaxed 28 hours. And then I did get a PR at ATY, with 151.3 miles, even though I feel like if the weather had been warmer, I would have done better.

January 2011
After ATY, I took a couple of weeks off completely. I did not exercise except for a few very short walks with the dogs, ike a mile or two, and not even every day. Two weeks after ATY I began riding the bike on the trainer indoors. I rode two hours a day for about a week, then I was sidelined with a cold for a week, so I cut back to an hour a day.

February
In February I began running easy, short runs. I also resumed my three times a week weightlifting and core strength exercises on the exercise ball, and five days a week situps. The longest run I did in the month of February was 11 miles. My total mileage for each week went from 30 to 50 miles the week before Florida. I went to Florida the last week of February and ran the LOST 118. I DNFed at 114 only because a bout of diarrhea had caused electrolyte problems, causing me to cramp and slow down. So I ended up with a 114 mile training run, in a 125 mile week.

I took an easy week after LOST and ran a total of 7 miles, including a 4 mile run at Horsetooth on the big hill 6 days after the race, where I felt great!

March
I was tired for a few weeks after LOST. I kept my mileage low, wanting to make a full recovery. I started my Rock Repeat workouts, which are multiple repeats running a trail up and down Horsetooth Rock, minus the rock part. Each week I added another repeat and each week my legs got sore. I tried running fast for an hour on Wednesday nights with a group of faster runners, which is always difficult for me, but I managed to keep up. I call it my speedwork.

Three weeks later I did a 90 mile week. After that I was toast. I could feel that I wasn't quite ready to bump the mileage up consistently, so I took a 30 mile week afterward.

April
My strategy in March must have paid off because the next week I did 107 miles and felt good, like I could have done more.

I followed that with an 85 mile week, then a 101 mile week. For three weeks in a row I increased the mileage I did on consecutive days. 70 in 3 days, then 80 in three days, then 96 in 3 days. Still feeling good, I decided to force a rest week.

The 96 miles in 3 days consisted of an easy 20 mile run with a lot of walking, a 50 mile run in 10:12 in stiff wind and a lot of running, then a 26 mile day with 6600 feet of vertical gain and the same of descent, which was six Horsetooth Rock Repeats.

The rest week felt great. I did 17 miles throughout the week and that was all! I got caught up on life, organized a presentation I'm giving twice on May 5th, and did a lot of Badwater planning, a necessity. I also took several long naps each afternoon when I wasn't at work. Two of those naps lasted 3 hours each! I guess I needed it! I kept up the weight training and sauna time during my rest week, too. As of the end of May I'd be hitting the sauna three days a week.

May
I followed my rest week with a solid 120 mile week. Two runs of 30 and 34 miles where I felt strong, a 22 miler on Horsetooth Centennial Drive, a few shorter days, then a short three-Rock Repeat run to wrap up the week. I can feel how much stronger I am with sustaining a running pace and being able to pick up the pace when I want to, even at the end of the run.

After that I had a busy week between work and other things so I cut back drastically on my miles, did only one long run up at Carter Lake and Pinewood Reservoir climbing the hill that is like the Portal Road. The following week I went to Arizona hoping for heat training. The temperature only reached 91 but I did get some solid miles in. Got a 122 mile week with 3 back to back days. Followed that by a total rest week, because I was so tired from the drive on top of everything else, and had an extra work day, taking me up to Memorial Day weekend, when I worked Saturday and Sunday.

June
The week starting with Memorial Day I ran the Houska Houska 5K at a steady pace, and did 3 long runs of 32, 34, and 40 miles, for a total of 126 miles for the week and nearly 10,000 feet of vertical gain and descent. I also increased my sauna time to a full hour each day, and the sauna is 175 degrees these days. I have to get out and take a couple of 2 minute breaks, but I go back in until I have spent a total of one hour in there.

The following week was a rest week, except I did one 40 mile run of nearly 10 Rock Repeats, until I ran out of daylight, giving me 10,350 feet of vertical gain and descent. I continued in the sauna, an hour every day I wasn't working.

I followed that with a week in Arizona where I ran only a little over 50 miles for the week but did a 16 miler and a 34 miler in 103 degree temperatures, which felt relatively cool.

The week after Arizona, I worked three days, and took it as a rest week, only got about 20 miles in. I was back in the sauna, hard core.

I aggravated the tendinitis in my right leg with the 10 Rock Repeats training run, but the road miles in Arizona didn't bother it. After Arizona I backed off a little earlier than I planned, but I still ran 40-50 miles a week each week until the full week before Badwater. A week of careful stretching and icing seemed to do the trick.

July/Taper
The last full week of June and the week at the end of June/beginning of July, I did a couple of hill workouts on Centennial Drive, just 10 and 20 miles each and a Rock Repeat session of just three repeats. The tendon was fine. The full week before Badwater I ran only 3 miles a day for four days with the Buffaloes.

I did my last run on July 7th, 4 days before the race. Four miles easy.

Badwater 2011 finishing time: 45:30

For a recap of the return trip of my Badwater double, see the July 2011 posts in the archives.

photo credit: Nathan Nitzky