Nueces Training

I'm back in the swing of training after Yankee Springs 50k. I took the week after Yankee easy (54 miles) so I didn't carry over any fatigue for Nueces training. I'm shooting for about 450 miles over five weeks, six runs per week with Sunday off. I've never ran higher mileage during to winter but I have great footwear, Montrail Mountain Masocist, for snow conditions. As of now I have no aches or pains and am really looking forward to racing in Texas March 2nd. I ran 80 miles last week and didn't feel to taxed. Life constrains my mileage more than the will or ability to run more. This week is mostly single digit temps. but I'm still excited to increase the miles. I'm not going to do much speed work in this cycle but throw in as much hill work as I can handle. 

1-14/1-20

M- 24 miles 7:28/mi pace

T-  6.6 10/mi pace with friends on hilly trail at night

W- 20.2 7:29/mi pace to work

Th-5.2 7:35/mi pace home from work

F-  16 7:14/mi pace

Sat-8 7:14/mi pace

Sun- Rest

Total- 80mi

Yankee Springs Race Recap

Yesterday I ran the 50k at Yankee Springs Winter Challenge. It was in the low 20's at the race start and 1"-2" of pack snow(some ice) on the trail. The course was a double 25k loop with steadily rolling hills but no  big climbs. I went out at an reserved pace with Jonathan(met at race) we held at a 7:17 pace for the first 8 miles then I picked up the pace. I felt good and steadily gained a lead. At the 14 mile mark my GPS beeped and I glanced at my split. After another half mile I noticed I didn't see any foot prints from the 10k runners, which worried me. I decided to run just a bit further before turning around. Once I hit 15 miles I reached a road and knew I was lost, I quickly back tracked. I was averaging a 7:10 pace at this point and lost for 2 miles. I just tried to hold my pace and move back up in placing. I found out I was in 5th place and quickly passed into 4th. I was told at an aid station that first was 6-7 minutes up and 2nd was about 3 minutes. I was  20 miles in at this point and kept pushing. I passed into 3rd place around 22 miles. At about the 24 mile mark(for me) was the next aid station, I was still about 3 minutes back from 2nd. I hit my Marathon mark at 3:11 and shut down the effort. I knew there wasn't enough time to catch 2nd and I had 3rd in the bag. I ended up 9 minutes behind first place. If I hadn't gotten lost the win was mine, live and learn. My legs feel fine today and tomorrow I start training for the USATF 50 mile National Championship in Texas March 2nd.  I have a great base going and I'm going to train harder than ever for this race. Nick the Montrail rep was cool enough to give me a pair of Bajada's for this race. They felt great and they are a company I'm very interested in apply for a sponsorship through. Keep training and racing hard and I'll be a sponsored runner by the end of 2013.