Sunday, April 4, 2010

Weekly Summary: March 29-April 4

03-29-2010
Mon-AM: 14 miles (2:06) Green Mt., up Front down Greenman, 2800'
         Up in an easy effort 35:45.  Pretty soft, punchy trail conditions.
         Finished up with 2.5 miles barefoot at Kitt Fields.
        PM: 13 miles (2:02) Green Mt. up Front down Gregory, 2800'
        Terrible conditions (slushy, soft, super-punchy) made it almost
        impossible to run up high in the deep snow.  Rounded out the
        run with 2 miles barefoot at Kitt.  Awesome warm night.
.

03-30-2010
Tue-AM: 15 miles (2:17) Green Mt., Ranger-Greenman, 2800'
       Slowness and tiredness exacerbated by still soft/punchy
       snow on Ranger.  Need more sleep. 1mi barefoot at Kitt.

       PM: 7 miles (1:00) Mesa-Skunk Creek, 1000'
       Finished up with a mile of barefoot at Kitt. Hot out.

03-31-2010
Wed-AM: 15 miles (2:10) Green Mt., Ranger-Greenman, 2800'
         PM: 8 miles (1:02) Creek Path+2mi barefoot

04-01-2010
Thu-AM: 15 miles (2:10) Green Mt., Ranger-Greenman, 2800'
       1.5 miles barefoot at Kitt at the end. 38:35 climb.
       PM: 10 miles (1:08) Creek Path+Kitt
       15x1min hard/easy barefoot at Kitt.  72-75sec 400m pace on
       all of them and felt relaxed.  Felt good to go fast for once.


04-02-2010
Fri-AM: 13 miles (2:00) Green Mt., Ranger-Greenman, 2800'
      100th summit of Green Mt for the year.  Very relaxed 39:45.

04-03-2010
Sat-AM: 32 miles (5:05) 4 x Green Mt., 10,000' vertical
       37:20, 37:05, 36:50, 36:45 up the back and down the front.
       Finished up with 2.5 miles barefoot at Kitt.


04-04-2010
Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:10) Green Mt., 3000'
       Ran up the frontside and then down Bear Canyon and back
       on Mesa.  33:16 for the climb, which surprised me because
       I was never pressing.  Massive stomach issues on the downhill.
      PM: 13 miles (2:00) Green Mt., 2800'
      Up Skunk and Bear Canyon, down Ranger-Gregory.  Ran up to
      Bear Canyon with Jocelyn. Had really bad stomach problems
      once I got back down to town that precluded tacking on any
      barefoot running; also bonked badly on the downhill after being

      stuck in the library all day and not eating anything.

Total
-Miles: 170
-Hours: 25h 10min
-Vertical: 33,600'
2010 Summits (Day 94)
-Green: 106
-Bear: 2
---------------------------------------------------------
Another good week.  It was nice to get in that little speed session Thursday; I'll probably continue to hit something like that once a week heading into Miwok, if the legs are feeling it.  I was extremely pleased with the long run on Saturday.  It went much better than I ever could've imagined, and even more importantly I was able to follow it up with another pretty big day--trying to transition into back-to-back long runs without damaging the knee.

Here are a few photos from this evening's run with Jocelyn--it's really fun to get out on the trails with her instead of always going solo.  Once she gets the time to really focus the training for a month or so this summer, she could make an impact on a couple of mountain races.  Experience running technical trails joined with 17:22 5K speed could be a potent combo.

(Headed up Skunk Canyon.)

(Kaibab-like water-bars on the ~1000' climb up to the Mesa Trail.)

(Traversing over toward Bear Canyon--and Bear Peak--on the Mesa.)

(Mouth of Bear Canyon.)

(Looking back east: sun setting on the backside of a flatiron.)

(The south-facing Green-Bear connector trail gets steep at times.)

(#106)

21 comments:

Michael Alfred said...

Bummer, missed you. I was in town Thursday-this afternoon and did Green Mountain on Friday and Saturday afternoons, first time up Saddle/Amphitheater and second time up your traditional Ranger/Greenman route. I kept looking behind expecting you to come flying up the hill. Awesome trails. I can see why you love it. Now I just need to get used to slippery snow.

Anonymous said...

You are amazing. No more words needed :)

I love your blog.

Barry Bliss said...

Anton, I live in NYC and am a singer/songwriter and a guy that goes out and runs.
I have been enjoying your blog.
I just came out with a new cdr and would like to send you a free copy but I am not sure how to do that.
Do you have a PO Box?

PS If you ever have to be in NYC for a conference or something head straight to Inwood Park if you'd like to run where there are trees and maybe even a muskrat.
I'd be glad to take you on a course.

Anonymous said...

Big mile's as allway's, great picture's!

Nicola Gildersleeve said...

Anton,

You have mentioned your stomach problems before. What do you think is going on?

I too suffer some upset stomach distress going downhills which seems to relieve itself once I begin on the flats or head uphill again. It's a crazy phenomenon. Perhaps, my body just let's go on the downs or maybe it's just the jostling nature of descending.

I was having a hard time digesting GU's for a while. After I had 5 it meant an instantaneous trip to the bush's. A Doctor I know suggested drinking more water to digest the sugars and that seemed to help a lot. It's more water than I am used to because I am not a heavy sweater but his theory has proven me wrong.

Great writing, good luck at Miwok!

Anonymous said...

Nice photos and a great way to finish up such a productive week (out on the trails with your girl).

The weather seems like it wants to start clearing in Marin and hopefully provide good conditions for Miwok. I'm excited to see you rip through that beautiful course.

Michael Owen said...

Looks like the snow is finally melting there in Boulder. I should of waited to take my trip out west during the summer. Time for some real running!

Collin said...

Tony, can't wait to see what happens in Miwok when you race Zach Gingerich. The guy is on a tear and recently ran 13:23 at Umstead 100. If you don't know his history well, he tends to go out a little hard, so you can keep that in mind if he goes out at death pace. Got any predictions about the race?

Unknown said...

Not trying to create controversy here and I am a huge Gingerich fan, but Tony is a mountain runner. Huge difference then running on the flats of North Carolina. I can't speak for Tony, and know he respects his competitors, but this race is his to lose. If he is healthy going in. At least my fake money is on him.

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crunningman said...

Heads up! As recent as April 1st, Gingerich signed up to run the McNaughton Park Trail 100M(04/10).

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Anonymous said...

can't-resist-prediction-talk....help me...

Ok, you guys both have valid points but, as usual, Miwok has a deep field. Guys I think could show well are local Nathan Yanko and Chikara Omine. I can see Anton, Hal (not sure what level he's at right now), and Zach as podium. Being in the race, I indulged in hand writing a list of men/women I think will/could do well (i.e. finish and be relaxing well before I finish) and, of course, the list is quite long.
Overall favorites in my little mind:
Men: Anton
Women: Kami, Anita, Krissy

Anton said...

I am certainly aware of Zach Gingerich, and while 13:23 is smoking fast (no matter the surface--even the bridle carriage paths of Umstead), real hills do make a difference and Zach seems to be a little untested on those, with the KM100 maybe being the "hilliest" race he's done since his drastic improvement over the past year?

(If you look up Zach's results, he was really in the ultra trenches for a couple years...19hrs at RR100, 25+ hrs at LT100, nearly 28hrs at HURT...before making a huge leap forward starting at Chicago Lakefront, Ice Age, Kettle Moraine, and Badwater a year ago.) Miwok, with its low altitude, is a perfect place for him to find out how the ups and downs treat him now that he's a transformed runner.

As for predictions...I think it's bad karma to do that publicly for races I'm entered in. But, significant actors on the men's side will at the least be: Mike Wardian, Hal (dude has to be in the best early-season shape he's been in for a few years now), Chikara (if he's entered), Gary Robbins, Redpath, Gingerich, Yanko, etc., etc.

But, you can't start going too deep with the men, because I can see there being at least 3 women who could go sub-9:15--Anita, Kami, Krissy, and Devon. LOTS of solid dudes are going to get chicked.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely, I could see Devon crack 9 on good trails. Her jfk run was awesome. Good luck AK, see you briefly at the start.

Anonymous said...

Wardian's beating the hell out of himself at Mar De Sables, so I sort of omitted him from the front pack.

Scott said...

Hi Anton -

I've really enjoyed reading your blog - you are a very talented writer. good luck @ Miwok!

What are the conditions like in Bear Canyon right now - particularly the first mile above the mesa trail?

garobbins said...

Thanks for the mention on Miwok! Looks to me like you & Wardian shooting for CR at the front, Hal as 3rd, and a large pack of us from there, at least in terms of pre race rambling, come race day it's anyones guess!

Very impressive build towards Miwok, as always of course! See ya soon,
GR

Aaron said...

What an amazing place to have as your home turf! I can almost smell the pines and life in those mountains.

Thanks for this blog, it's really inspiring and I will be clinging to it in the coming months as I prepare for my first ultra here in the UK.

Best wishes

Aaron