On Saturday, my buddy Bryan and I met at Daley Ranch, where he took me on a hilly 12-mile loop. We had a solid run and then ate some quality Mexican food in Escondido before I went home. 
After I washed my car, did laundry and fell asleep reading a book in my backyard, I ate some pizza leftovers and geared up for a night run with my friend Meg at Mission Trails. Meg, a local ultra-runner and super-cool mother of three, is running the SD100 next weekend. She needed to dial in one last long night run before her taper, so we ran around the perimeter of the park twice and then added a few more to make it an even 20 miles. It was 10:30 p.m. when we finished, and I was still wired from my day of running 32 miles, so I met up with friends for a hot tub and beers to finish off the day.
Sleeping in on Sunday provided the rest I needed before I met up with my buddy Nick for an easy 10-mile trail run at Los Penasquitos Canyon to put the finishing touch on my 70-mile training week. The run was fun except for running through a swarm of bees! No stings reported, but that was definitely an unexpected first and hopefully a last!
This week I planned on logging another 70 miles for training and finishing with the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on Sunday, but my hip hurts so I need to play it safe and step my mileage back a notch. I’m going to introduce more of this hip and girdle exercise routine called the myrtle routine I learned about from reading James Walsh’s blog:
I’ve been using my data from last year’s SD100 as the guide for my Vermont 100 training and so far I’m hitting similar distances at a quicker pace. This is a good sign that I’m on the right track, but I’m getting into the heavy build phase now so its time to study the race logistics and get seriously dialed!
My ultra running buddy Eric Lee, who I paced at the end of the 2008 Angeles Crest 100, recently connected me with his friend Pete, who ran the 2008 Vermont 100. Pete and I exchanged a couple emails and his advice was beyond helpful so I asked his permission to re-post his advice here in my blog to share with you all. Thanks Pete!
{quote}Hi Toby,
The map won't help you much. Once you get going you won't have any
idea where you are and there are so many small hills you won't know up
from down.
The best race info I found is from this report and GPS:
http://www.noones-saloone.com/RaceReports/Vermont-2007.html
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3436845
The route is extremely well marked and easy to follow and the event is
big enough that you'll see plenty of people and horses along the way.
The horses add plenty of bonus trail markers for you too - just watch
your step:-)
Aid station support is excellent. After the first 15 miles that have
a couple un-manned water drops, they have full aid stations almost
every 3 miles.
The 4am start is brutal. I barely slept at all the night before.
Unless you camp out right at the start, you probably will need to get
up and drive at least 20 minutes to the start. There really aren't
any hotels right in the vicinity.
The humidity was the biggest challenge. 10 min before our start, we
had a thunderstorm so we headed out into dripping thick fog. I almost
threw up 30 minutes in. Early morning and at night, prepare to be wet
and it can be pretty cool. Make sure you have waterproof drop bags if
you have clothes or shoes stashed along the way. Even without rain,
the humidity generates heavy dew and will soak everything you have.
One thing that really helped me was keeping my water bottle mixed with
ice and really keeping up with hydration. I also carried a cloth to
wrap up a bundle of ice which I either tied around my neck or just
held and mopped my head, ears, and back of my neck as I went along.
I changed from a regular t-shirt to a tank top at about mile 20. I
was a lot more comfortable with less fabric. Other than 2 sock
changes, I didn't change any other clothing but probably would have
enjoyed fresh shorts and shirts along the way. The one thing I wish I
had prepared for was more body glide at each stop. With the humidity
combined with melting ice on my head, I was pretty drenched all day.
Wet shorts rubbing on your legs is pretty uncomfortable and there were
a few miles I really wish I had a solid coat of body glide to help
prevent chafing. But I managed to finish with all my skin intact.
One thing that I did right that really helped was having multiple fuel
options ready to pick up at each drop bag. It's hard to get down
calories in the humidity and more than a few times I got sick of what
I was using. Fortunately I had backup plans and just switched to
something else that worked and kept going. With aid stations so close
together, it was easy to dump a drink mix and start with something
else or fresh water without going too long without something.
The last couple miles of the course are pretty cruel. They wind you
around in the woods near the finish and you'll think you're there
about 4 times before you eventually just pop out of the woods into the
field under the finish banner.
And I'm not sure what kind of hills you train on but Vermont is a lot
different than Colorado. Here we have big climbs and its easy to plan
your pace and you know when you are the top. In Vermont, most hills
are only a few hundred feet and there are a lot of them. My quads were
completely trashed by mile 70. So for training, I'd recommend a lot
of hill repeats and probably some strength work. You'll need to be
careful to pace yourself on the VT course since it's easy to run a lot
of hills that you should walk.{quote}
This advice is priceless and has already helped me visualize what I need to really focus on in training to be ready for on race day. It sounds like the VT100 is a tricky course and might actually be more difficult than the SD100. The description says 18,000 feet of total gain and 18,000 feet of loss where as SD100 had 12,300 of gain. I’ll also be running in humidity for the first time, so simulating race conditions in training with more hills and heat training is crucial. Check out the VT100 elevation profile compared to the SD100:
!VT100_Elevation_Profile.JPG!
!2008SD100.jpg!
I increased my mileage by 60% last week by re-introducing two days of run-commuting per week into my training schedule. This is the perfect way for me to get those extra “hilly” miles in during this build phase before peak training in mid-June.
Here are some photos from a hot, hilly training session last weekend at Daley Ranch in Escondido. 
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
I stopped by *The Pacific Crest Trail 50* on Saturday at *Cuyamaca State Park* for some heat (85+ degrees) and elevation training. I averaged a 12-minute mile pace for 25 miles and decided to call it a day without much kick left in my legs from last weekend’s hard effort. There was no need to throw off my training, so I didn’t think twice about taking my first DNF (Did Not Finish) nor do I regret my decision. Here’s the data:
!pct50.jpg!
Later that night I hosted a super-fun BBQ at my place for 20+ friends and got to sleep in on Sunday for the first time in a month! After catching up on much needed rest, I blew through 10 miles in *Penasquitos Canyon* at an 8:08 pace and then went out to dinner with my aunts who were in town.
Starting this week, I am introducing *run-commuting* to my schedule for the next month and a half so I can build up my weekly miles. My commute is 7 hilly miles in each direction. I’m shooting to run-commute two days a week, which means 28 extra miles per week!
Tonight I’m meeting a small group of folks to run and film the Mission Trails Eco Run 10K course before Sunday’s race, where I will be course marking, racing and then running home from the race ;)
Here are a few shots I took last Thursday at the beautiful La Jolla Cove:
Make it a great week everyone!
Another big training weekend is in the books, and I’m stoked to be fully recovered from the VMO strain that slowed me down two weeks ago. My VT100 training is on track and the results from my races last weekend are a sign that I’m doing something right… :)
On Saturday, I raced the Black Mountain 7K Summit Run, the second race in the Sun Strides San Diego Trail Run Series. The course was 4 miles -- 2 to the top, 2 back down. I lead the race for the first mile with a split of 8:15 and got to the top in 18 minutes and change. My finishing time was 28:31, which means I got to the bottom of the mountain in 10 minutes (a 5 min/mile pace) that was good enough for 5th place overall and 1st in my age group!
Because of my hard effort on Saturday, my legs were nice and fatigued to start the [OC Marathon|http://www.active.com/page/Event_Details.htm?event_id=1584964] at 6:30am on Sunday where I ran the following splits:
1 7:52
2 7:39
3 7:28
4 7:48
5 7:51
6 7:47
7 7:44
8 7:45
9 7:53
10 8:06
11 7:50
12 8:06
13 7:44
13.1 0:49
1:42-ish split
14 8:06
15 7:56
16 8:08
17 8:05
18 8:06
19 8:08
20 8:19
21 8:02
22 8:13
23 8:12
24 8:10
25 7:45
26 7:17
1:46-ish split
Finish Time: 3:28:55 (PR)
Pace: 7:59
Overall: 78 out of 1337
Men: 66 out of 783
M 25-29: 6 out of 92
Since I approached the race as a training run with no expectations, I was able to relax and run by feel. Although my splits seemed “fast” for a training run, I was comfortable and decided that I would simply slow down when my legs got tired. They never did, so I picked up my pace at the end and was able to finish super strong!
The new marathon course was beautiful, fast and fun so I recommend trying to fit it--or the half marathon--into your race schedule for next season. Stay tuned for my full race review in the next month with more details about the course.
I went to nearby Laguna Beach after the race, waded out into the cold ocean water and spent the rest of the day off my feet relaxing on the beach. My legs are already good to go but my immune system feels heavily taxed. I’ve been here before and trust the process, so I know it’s simply a matter of time before I adapt to the fatigue, recover quicker and continue to get stronger. 
