Quadrock 50 Miler
My A-goal for 2023 is to complete another 50-miler. I have my sights set on an early season race, the Quadrock 50 miler on May 6th. This is not an easy course, with 22,000ft of total elevation change (gain and descent) over 50 miles comprised of a mix of 90% single track and 10% double track, the cutoff off is 14 hours. This amounts to a average gain of 1100ft every 5 miles and a minimum required average pace 16:48min/mile. This may seem slow, but technical and steep mountain terrain always gets you.
I chose this race as it local and it would serve as my litmus test for my ultimate 2023 goal, a little backyard adventure comprised of a round trip trail run to Pikes Peak summit from my front door, roughly 46 miles and 20,000ft total elevation change of self-supported goodness. it will be a fun project to baseline my intrinsic drive, problem solving skills, and ability to embrace the suck.
Schriever Half Marathon
My build officially started with the 17th annual Schriever half marathon on 14 Oct 2022. This was my first 13.1 and longest run since the knee surgery almost 15 months ago. Though far removed from my 2019 PR of 1:29:05, I could not be happier with the result. This run served as the first of several milestones on the road of attempting the Quadrock 50 miler in May of 2023.
As always, there is room for growth. I gauge how well I do in any physical activity not by how much weight I can push, how fast I can run, or how hard I can hammer down on the bike, but by how capable I am to do the exact same workout (productively) the next day. Fair to say I would not have been able to run another 13.1 the following day. While this will come with time and steadily more training volume, I am always looking to refine and improve my recovery strategy.
I felt comfortable the whole way through in averaging the 10:05mi/min pace, and almost exactly evenly split the 13.2 mile distance (reaching the 6.6 mile marker at 1:06:11 into the race). Though the entire race was on a fire-road width trail, the conditions were certainly favorable for a fast pace, only 1060ft of total gain and descent, no technical sections, and a high temperature of 61F during the race portion. No pictures of the course as it was on a military installation.
My biggest focus in this road back to my first 50miler is how well my left leg is conditioned after the surgery. I pay close attention to my comfort and discomfort levels so that I can push my boundaries in a methodical way. This will take time but my hope is that it will reduce the chance of re-injury.
Training Plan
I will be following a slightly modified version of the following training plan (which officially kicks off on 02 January) provided by the group that organizes the race. In conjunction, I will focus on strength training and mobility work 5 days a week, as well as cross-train mainly through mountain biking.
