Transitioning

From hot, runnable structure to high, beautiful freedom

It’s no secret that I love mountains. I’ve found success recently at more runnable races, but what really gets me excited is training in high places, on more technical terrain, with lots of up and down. Sometimes training for races like Western States feels like a chore. Beginning my next training block for the Long Trail World Championships in Spain feels like a treat.

Since November of last year, I’ve experimented with a new, very structured, training style. I’ve mentioned this many times here before, but I’ve been coached by Jack Kuenzle from Evoke Endurance. Jack’s put countless hours of hard work into developing great programs for me for Transgrancanaria and Western States. This type of training has been working for me and my race results have proven that. It’s also a somewhat draining way to live, both mentally and physically. Jack would be the first to tell you that we’re very different people. It’s not that we couldn’t have adapted my training to be more fun, there were just some things we didn’t see eye to eye on, and that’s ok. I really appreciate all that he’s done for me, and I think we’ve both learned a lot from our time together. I’m going to be trying something different going forward, either on my own or with the help of a different set of experts, and the current plan is to find a healthy middle ground between structured training and my old, more fun ways.

Jack and I struggling under the weight of the WSER cougar.

I’ve taken the past two weeks almost entirely off. There have been some mountain bike rides, hikes, and small jogs scattered in there, but one of my main learnings from Western States last year was that I needed to give myself more time to fully reset and recover after a hard 100 mile push. Now, I’m starting to feel normal again. I’m starting to get excited about longer days outside, and I’m itching to be in the alpine.

Converting Western States fitness into Worlds fitness is a big change. From what I’ve seen, the Worlds course is extremely technical. It’s half the distance of Western States, but with more elevation gain and much tougher terrain. At Western, heat adaptation and running economy is rewarded. For Worlds, footwork skills and hiking power may be more important. I’ve made the mistake of not taking Worlds training seriously enough once before, and I’m not going to let that happen again. But I also need to remember why I’m doing this in the first place and find a more sustainable balance for the rest of the year.

Craving some hands-on-granite miles in the Cottonwoods.

I’ve got about a month left here in the Wasatch before heading out to Europe with Morgan and Marshall. We’re planning to be in Chamonix for a couple weeks, then move around a bit and get in some good steep training in the Alps, and end up in the Pyrenees to scout out the World Champs course about two weeks before that race at the end of September. It will be our first truly extended stay in Europe, and definitely our first significant time away from home with a baby. We’re very excited to dive in and take advantage of many weeks in amazing places when I (for once) don’t have to be tapering for a race the entire time we’re there.