Transrockies Training

Credit: Kevin Arnold

January 9th marks the beginning of our Transrockies training. Two weeks into it, I've managed to miss two training days already and have decided that blogging about it will help me take seriously the training plan and thus sticking to it better.

I've never had a training plan before, but the Transrockies is a different animal, or monster. It's a six-day staged race that "runs from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek, through the heart of the White River and San Isabel National Forests" in Colorado. This August, we'll need to be ready to run 120 miles with nearly 25,000 feet of elevation gain at altitudes over 12,500 ft.

Here's the breakdown of each stage:
Stage 1: Buena Vista to Railroad Bridge - 20.9 miles, 2,550 feet elevation gain
Stage 2: Vicksburg to Twin Lakes - 13.3 miles, 3,250 feet elevation gain
Stage 3: Leadville to Nova Guides at Camp Hale - 24.2 miles, 2,800 feet elevation gain
Stage 4: Nova Guides at Camp Hale to Red Cliff - 14.1 miles, 2,900 feet elevation gain
Stage 5: Red Cliff to Vail - 23.6 miles, 4,200 feet elevation gain
Stage 6: Vail to Beaver Creek - 23.4 miles, 5,100 feet elevation gain

For the most part, the plan calls for four days of running each week, with a mix of easy run, tempo, fartlek, hills, and long run. It almost looks too easy for this strenuous run. For this coming week, I'm to do a 50-minute easy run, a hill-repeats workout, and a long run. I should also mention that the plan is time-based, rather than distance-based.

Aside from training, the next best thing for me to do is to resist excessive race sign-ups. With so many great races, it's not always easy and I tend to forget easily. This post is also supposed to help me with that.

Finally, this post is also a reminder of my commitment. I am committed to train, to not put my health in jeopardy, and committed to my training partner/teammate. All of a sudden, this is so much more than just running. Thankfully, I seem to be more excited for the next couple months leading up to the race than the race itself.