Time to Go Back to Orca's - Orca's Island 100 Training Recap
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| Me at Orca's Island 50 last May |
Current Weight: 175 lbs
Total Miles Last Week: 52
Long Run This Past Weekend: 12 mile Campground Hill Workout at Afton State Park (Tapering)
Last April, fresh off the heels of running my second trail 100 mile at Zion National Park in Utah, I came across a 50 mile race on Orca's Island set for May 13th, 2017. On a whim, I signed up for the race, booked my flight, and set off on what would be a great mini adventure that would deepen my love for the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and running there. I was lucky enough to get back up to the PNW with my best running buddy, Jeremy Eckert, in September, exploring the trails of Bellingham, WA, and Vancouver, BC. In one week, I'll be back on my favorite running turf, Orca's Island, making it my third trip to the PNW in the last 10 months.
Situated within eyeshot of Victoria and Vancouver Island, Canada, Orca's boasts the highest elevation in the San Juan Islands with Mount Constitution, rising up 2,398ft above the water. Also on the island is Mt Pickett, a 1,750ft baby mountain that along with Mt. Constitution form the majority of Moran State Park. Moran is a PNW runners paradise, with countless miles of single track trails; weaving through mountain lakes, up some of the steepest and longest climbs you'll find in the trail running world (Nik Hollan even said the Powerline climb on Constitution is worse than the infamous Rat Jaw Climb at Barkley), and with some of the most awesome views of the Puget Sound you can find. The 100 mile race boasts 26,000 ft of elevation gain over the four 25 mile loops.
In training for this race, I've flipped my old 100 mile training strategies on their head and completely listened to my gut when it came to my training. Instead of working up to double digit weeks in the 90-110 mile range, I backed way off my mileage, trusting that the solid base I've built in years prior is still with me. Instead of pounding out big 50k-40 mile long runs in training, I kept my running to no more than 3.5 hrs, instead substituting long 8-12 hour hikes to build that "all-day" endurance, while not taxing the body with unnecessary pounding. Most of my long runs were focused on mimicking course conditions, rather than just pounding out miles. I gained an average of 6000 ft on my first of my two long training days each week (long being only an average of about 3 hours, many of which were done on the incline trainer at Performance Running Gym in St. Louis Park, MN). My tracking of weekly miles was loose and flexible. Instead of strict miles, I tracked time on feet, aiming for a target range of 8-9 hours from December until now, with one peak week of 13 hours. There were days where I would make an honest assessment that my body needed a break, and I would just speed hike rather than run. The number one goal during this training block was to listen to my body, keep within the limits that my day to day life and my overall stress load allowed for, and focus on the nutritional component of properly training my body for a long endurance event. A few key runs in the last couple weeks have instilled a shot of confidence that my training has worked. I feel ready to have the best race of my life.
My Goals for Orca's Island 100:
My A Goal: Sub 22 hours
My B Goal: Sub 24 hours
My C Goal: Finish with a smile.
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