An Athlete's Diary - Early Season Endurance Training

Superior 50k and Ouray 100 Training

Happy Easter!

I eat a lot.

As I sat down to write this post a phrase came to me and I’ll share it with you here.  

Do the thing that is right in front of you.

For the first time in a long time, maybe ever in my 14 year ultra-marathon running career, have I been this disciplined in my training.  If you're interested in hearing more about it, I'll tell my story here.

It started late January with Jamie Blumentritt at Physical Therapy on the Run.  Then, around the first of March I started working with Aaron Boike at Performance Running Gym and that's where I'm at now.  

I went to Jamie first because I had an injury on my right knee.  I'm not exactly sure what it was but I finally figured it out after a week or so and had the chiropractor pop my dislocated knee back in place.  Then, it took a day or two for the ligaments and tendons to settle down before I was able to get some trigger point work done and feel as good as new.  Jamie is a Physical Therapist and she had me doing two workouts most days with Thursdays off.  I did lots of band and core exercises, some of which I still use now.  When I was working with Jamie I was doing a fair amount of climbing outside which I enjoyed.  We had a pretty mild winter here in Minnesota and the weather was comfortable much of the time.  The goal was to get back to running and establish a good foundation when I transitioned over to working with Aaron.  

Aaron Boike was on the podcast recently talking about his Ouray 100 finish back in 2021.  He's the only guy I know that has both coached a runner to finish and finished the Ouray 100 himself.  Check out the episode HERE.

John will be one of my pacers at Ouray. We had some trail time recently and I look forward to his no nonsense approach out there.

I love running in the snow! The more adverse conditions I get to experience now, the better. Nothing I do now can replicate the altitude but I can grow mentally stronger and get better at rolling with the punches. Ouray will be a grind.

Training has been going well.  I need to do more strength training as I know it will be very beneficial for climbing at Superior and Ouray.  Once I put those programs together I’ll share them here.  If you want to become a run coaching client, we’ll put together programs that fit just right for your upcoming race.  
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Right now I’m spending between seven and eight hours per week on the run side of training.  As I mentioned before, I haven’t been doing much strength training.  That is about to change and will add an additional hour and twenty minutes or so per week focused on strength training.  I’m not sure exactly where that will fit but I’ll create one workout and do it twice per week with progression.

I’ve been listening to lots of podcasts lately and The Huberman Lab has been a favorite of mine.  The most recent episode I listened to is with Dr. Cal Newport about focus and productivity. 

​I also just listened to a good one with Dr. Daniel Amen on Rich Roll’s podcast.
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I love talking about this stuff so if you see me, let me know what you’re up to and how I can contribute to your growth. 

I've never used poles before but they have become an extension of me when I'm out there on the trail. From what I've heard there won't be but a few minutes where I won't need them at Ouray.

If you’re interested in supporting my trip to Ouray financially, I'll be missing three weeks of work, buying gear, lodging, etc, please reach out to me.  I’d love to have you come in alongside and help make this crazy adventure a reality!
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Do the thing that is right in front of you.

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