S2S Training: Week 10 of 14

Week 10 Training Theme: Early Taper / Volume Drop (Max 1 hr runs)

6.2 mi Hill Repeats
~5–6 mi (60 min)

Friday 4 mi Easy

Saturday 1 hr Trail Run (~6 mi)

Sunday 1 hr Trail Run or Long Hike

~22–26 mi weekly goal

So this plan was made thinking I didn't have any freedom during the weekend, but it turns out I have Saturday open so I'm going to go for some bigger miles/vert than the plan calls for. 

Monday

3.25 mi @ 11:09/mi pup run

Didn't necessarily need the miles but had to take advantage of some slightly cooler temps and get some pup miles.

Tuesday

6.55 mi @ 9:20/mi

Got in some early loops around the neighborhood because of a crazy upcoming workday. Had not done a really early run from the new house yet but it was an adventure and was super happy to get it done. Was HUMID as all get out though...

Wednesday

5.2 mi 60 minute singletrack

OMG FALL WEATHER!!! Took the pup out during D's practice time and oh what a glorious run we had! The gray windy cool weather all day just set the perfect mood for an evening in the woods.

saw a snek fren

Thursday

40 min work gym

Fiddle farting around in the gym, but I'm sore (the next day) so... I guess it did something.

Friday

2.2 mi @ 12:30/mi

Wanted to attempt a 4 mile run with Ivy but she only could stand for 2 today. I think I wore the poor gal out, even with cooler temps!

2.6 @ 8:55/mi

Finished up the rest of Friday's easy miles on my own at lunch.

Saturday

11 mi trail run w/ 3,900ft elevation

Big morning at Table Rock State Park!

First off, this gloriousness

Goal was to hit the 2 big peaks in a Y-shaped path, and that's exactly what we did! First, ascending Table Rock trail to its end with a beautiful overlook to Stool Mountain. Could not get over how clear it was!

Someone's pants??

Then back along the Ridge Trail to connect over to Pinnacle Mountain. Did a run/walk/fartlek sort of run to break up the uphill death marching and it worked really well!

Felt super strong the entire way, so much different than the last time running here. The weather gets a lot of credit for that!

1.3 mi glow kayak

Paddling under the full moon! Not a lot of distance covered but certainly a fun event.

Sunday

4.5 mi @ 11:09/mi

Recovery run on the SRT fueled by a Waffle House All-Star breakfast. 😂

Week Summary/Review

35 miles run - more than goal!

🟨6.2 mi Hill Repeats - mileage and repeats yes, hilly - not so much

✅Wednesday ~5–6 mi (60 min) singletrack - yesssss

✅Friday 4 mi Easy - good enough

Saturday 1 hr Trail Run (~6 mi)

Sunday 1 hr Trail Run or Long Hike

✅Weekend long miles - soooo happy with this run!

S2S Training: Week 9 of 14

6 weeks to go... scary how quickly it's coming up!

Plan:

• Tuesday 6.2 mi Tempo Climbs
• Wed (Singletrack Z2) 50-60 mins
• Fri 4mi easy road
• Big Saturday Vert Block (16mi / 3,500+)

Monday

3.72mi @ 10:18/mi

Recovery run at the New Groove Run Club 3rd Anniversary! The fun idea was "run with a random object" where we all got to pick something out of a bucket of random things... I ended up with a rubber alligator puppet 😂 Great evening catching up with this crew!

Tuesday

6.3 mi @ 9:18/mi

Hilly midday run for 10k Tuesday... 750ft elevation in 6.3 miles. Somehow ended up doing a progression run?? Unintentional but actually felt pretty good in the overcast and breezy weather. Maybe all these crazy hills and trails are actually working!

Wednesday

Rest day

Switched up rest and singletrack days because... reasons. 

Thursday

40 min strength tranining

Work gym time at lunch - still figuring out how to work more of this into my weekly routine. Seems I'm stuck at about 1x per week. Sigh.

4.84 mi easy singletrack - 60 mins

Headed out to Croft after work and had a lovely golden hour out and back on the Palmetto trail section that runs through part of the park. Still pretty warm out but that golden light before sunset gives hints of fall coming!

Friday

BMW 2-Miler Race = 2.03 mi @ 7:21/mi 

Raced the BMW 2-Miler and while the speed was not where it has been in past years (not surprising) it felt good to race. The part that didn't feel good was how stinking hot it was! Ugh... we'd had a couple of cool-ish mornings this week and it gave me hope. Not today!

Saturday

6.1 mi trail with 1,400ft elevation

Took Ivy out to Jones Gap for a little trail run fun in the woods, and boy she did so great! We first went up the extremely steep and difficult Rainbow Falls trail. I was afraid she wasn't going to go much farther than that, but once we started heading downhill (after a nice splash in the cool waterfall) she perked right back up! We headed up to Jones Gap Falls as well, had another little swim, then back to the car. Super proud of how she did on this run!

7.7 mi with 1,400 ft elevation

Part two of the day's runs (sans pup) I headed to Paris Mountain. It was hot, it was afternoon, my body was willing(ish) but the brain did. not. want. to run more. I had a pity party, ate some snacks, and finally perked up for the second hour of running. With about 30 minutes to go, the rumbles in the distance turned into an absolute downpour but somehow still shining sun?? It was ridiculous but splashing through the huge puddles made the whole run worthwhile. 

Drenched!

Double complete rainbows over Paris Mtn during a post-run grocery trip!

Sunday

mostly rest... yardwork

Week Recap

✅ Tuesday 6.2 mi Tempo Climbs - calling this one done

✅ Wed (Singletrack Z2) 50-60 mins - yes but on Thursday

✅ Fri 4mi easy road - calling this one green with the race push

🟨 Big Saturday Vert Block (16mi / 3,500+) - really wasn't far off on this one but it wasn't exactly as prescribed either, so giving it a yellow.

About 32 miles for the week.

Feeling pretty strong although the struggles at Paris Mtn had me worried/in my head a lot and questioning my training. Overall though and in hindsight I think I'm on track.

S2S Training: Week 8 of 14

On Tuesday, I did a bit of a plan re-write with my Coach Gemini... fed it my past 7 weeks of runs and told it my availability for the rest of the training calendar. 

You have roughly 6 weeks until race day on Saturday, October 24. Given the massive vertical profile (8,000 ft in 31 miles is ~258 ft/mi), the primary focus for the remaining peak weeks must be vertical gain, time on feet, and back-to-back fatigue management rather than raw flat speed.

Since you've already completed a 25-mile/6-hour effort and an 18-mile day with nearly 5,000 ft of climbing, your base is strong. The goal now is to hit one final key peak training block over the next 3 weeks before entering a proper 3-week taper.

Peak Phase & Taper Breakdown

• Block 1: Peak Building (Weeks Sept 7 – Sept 21)

  • Shift Tuesday speedwork to sustained hill intervals or threshold climbs (e.g., 4x6 min uphill efforts or steep grade repeats) to build trail climbing strength.

  • Focus on high elevation gain on weekend long runs, leveraging back-to-back runs to simulate late-race fatigue without the extra recovery cost of a single massive day.

• Block 2: Taper Phase (Weeks Sept 28 – Oct 19)

  • Gradual volume reduction while keeping intensity brief to stay sharp.

...so let's see how that goes!

Monday

2 mi beach walk

Last vacation day, long walk on the beach - perfect!

Tuesday

6.36 mi XC trail

Lunch run at the office on the XC trails. No, it's not the hill work the plan called for but I needed to ease back into the week.

Wednesday

3.2 mi easy pup run

Oh the glorious morning temperatures are here! Took the opportunity for some easy pup miles.

4.9 mi singletrack

Solid hour at Your Mom's House during kiddo bike practice. This was excellent, legs felt good!

Thursday

rest day

An actual whole rest day... ok I did walk the dog a few times, but man... trying to rest when I'm supposed to!

Friday

4.04 mi @ 9:59/mi

As prescribed, easy 4 miles on flat road. Good shakeout for tomorrow's planned big adventure.

'Merica shorts for 9/11 🫡🦅

Cheers to Fr8 Fridays!

Saturday

18.27 mi with 6,000 ft elevation

Trail run adventure to the MAX!! I mapped out this route thinking "it's Jones Gap, it has to be easier than Pisgah..." 

hahahahah NOPE

This route was so incredibly tough, I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Started at the Raven Cliff Overlook parking lot just past Caesars Head - it was crazy foggy all around. Packed tons of snacks and 2.5L of water with me. First section was Ravel Cliff Falls Trail to Gum Gap Trail. This was pretty runnable overall and the suspension bridge was a nice first milestone... unfortunately only 3.5 miles into the whole adventure!

Next section (miles 3.5-5.7) was the Naturaland Trust (pink) trail, past Dismal, all the way down to where it meets the trail from the Asbury Hills Methodist retreat center. Sadly the cable bridge is gone :( and there's a ton of rerouted trail along the pink trail... Helene damage makes it unrecognizable from when I've done it in years past.  The Cathedral Rock is still there, though, and just as impressive as ever!

At that point, the rain started and got pretty steady for most of the rest of the day and the steep climbing began (over 1,000ft in less than 1.5 miles!). At about mile 7.5 was where the trail joined Pinnacle Pass Trail, crossed Hwy 276, and continued on a steady descent on wide double-track road (gravel road-ish, but no car would pass there) dropping 1,300ft til mile 10.3 then climbing back up that same drop til it met the Rim of the Gap Trail at mile 13.9.

The remaining miles to about 16ish were so insane you could hardly call it hiking much less running. Climbing up and through rocks, ladders, and waterfalls over and over - SO much fun but incredibly challenging. Not to mention the continuing rainfall!

Bald rock overlook somewhere... can't even remember where!

Waterfall gazing

Through the rocks!

Finally had some more runnable sections towards the end which were kind of nice, but I was definitely ready to be done by then. Over 8 hours out on trail and Garmin says I was only moving for about 5.5 but I think that's because some sections were SO SLOW with the climbing and scrambling that it didn't register as movement. 

What an adventure but whew!

Sunday

3.9 mi recovery trail + 2.4 mi SUP at Croft

Morning in croft, not quite early enough for Croft@Dawn, but good enough to get in some recovery miles on the legs (yes, they actually felt much better afterwards!) and a nice paddle on Lake Craig all motivated with the promise of a pool party in the afternoon. 

Week Summary

🟨Tuesday Hills - not hills, did offroad

✅Wednesday singletrack (60 min) - yes

✅Friday Easy 4 - yes

✅Long Run 20 mi w/ 4,500+ - traded a couple miles short for way exceeding the elevation (6,000+), I'm calling this good enough

🟨Recovery Sunday 6 mi - a little short on miles but did an hour, so this is almost green

40 miles for the week makes me pretty happy! This week and the week coming up should be the PEAK mileage weeks. Will hover in the high 30s/40 mile range then taper in October.