Having a great race at Mount Washington last week was a huge confidence builder. Running well on trails is one thing, but to do well in a mountain race you need to have a pair of mountain legs. So heading into the U.S. Mountain Running championships on Sunday, I was confident that I had a chance at another U.S. Masters title.
With nearly three months of base building mileage in the bank, I was able to squeak out my first U.S. Mountain Running title in a very close race to the end with Todd Callaghan of Beverly, Mass. Todd has bested me in most of the mountain races I’ve entered in the past five years and I knew going in, that he was the man to beat. We ran together almost the entire race and switched the lead frequently. It wasn’t until the final quarter mile that I was able to open up a small gap on him and take the win.
With this Masters victory, my total now stands at six U.S. titles in the past twelve months. It’s a great feeling to be getting these results, but this is no time to rest on my laurels. It’s base building time again. The plan is to get my mileage into the high 90’s to low 100’s for the next few weeks and reintroduce Tabata leg strength and upright rowing machine. These two activities powered me to a great result at the Empire State Building in February. Yo pain, yo gain!
- Total Training Time – 14:05:43
- Total Running Time – 13:45:43
- Total Running Miles – 84.0
- Total Elevation Gain – 9,953 ft
Monday June 20th – 01:22:28
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 10 miles, 1:22:28
Tuesday June 21st – 03:27:36
- Trails – Bennington, VT – 8.34 miles, 1:31:33
- Trails – Bennington, VT – 6.5 miles, 1:09:52
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 3.3 miles, 26:10
- Upright Rower – 20:00
Wednesday June 22nd – 01:33:43
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 10.5 miles, 1:33:43
Thursday June 23rd – 01:38:32
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 9.5 miles, 1:18:02
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 2.5 miles, 20:30
Friday June 24th – 01:04:53
- Roads – Bennington, VT – 8.1 miles, 1:04:53
Saturday June 25th – 01:03:46
- Trails – North Conway, NH – 5.25 miles, 1:03:46
Sunday June 26th – 03:54:33
- Race Warmup – 1 mile, 11:52
- U.S. Mountain Running Championships – 6.87 miles, 49:12
- Race Warmdown – 2.42 miles, 40:32
- Trails – North Conway, NH – 6.53 miles, 1:36:54
- Roads – Stowe, VT – 3.2 miles, 36:03
Weekly, Monthly and Yearly training totals can be found at http://runningraw.com/training.html
