Loopy Tuesday: The Dragon Run

One of my favorite informal speed sessions is to run hills. I am fortunate that there are no shortage of them in my neck of the woods. Last night I arrived home, hooked up Lil' to the leash and we headed out onto The Dragon Trail for a hard trail session.

Along the Dragon Trail in Sugar Grove

The Dragon Run
The plan was to run 60 minutes total, or about 3 loops at about 20 minutes each. That is the basic layout for the Dragon workout, with the key being how to run those hills. I wanted some race simulation, moving quick and relaxed over technical and demanding terrain. I used the first 10 minutes to settle into a reasonable 60 minute pace- and then began running the hills hard; the steeper the hill, the harder I ran with the aim of going anaerobic and boosting power potential. On the backside I would just coast and recover. Loop one was completed in 19:26.

Lily had had enough with the heat so I dropped her in her doggie pool and turned back out for loop #2. I was warm now, had my trail legs under me and was slightly more aggressive generally with my approach. Though I still took my downhill recovery very casually. There is a time for aggressive downhill running, this isn't it- I want to tax the physiology and leave the eccentric work for later in the process. You can't shoot all your bullets everyday. Loop two passed in 18:40, so a bit faster but really just a smooth transition.

Loop 3 I made the decision to head on down to the lower portion of the trail network and so descended toward the Watauga River for 12 minutes of smooth, open striding on the gravel road and single track. This section is much less technical and so I had a nice opportunity to flow downhill and elongate my gait. I took a few minutes at the river to soak in the waning daylight, the swollen river and the abundance of life that has erupted in the High Country (already).

The 'Tale of the Dragon'
Knowing Lynnea and Sylas were probably wondering where I was at (ended up at the river for about 20 minutes...) I turned my toes toward home and the direct assault on the 600m of 25% incline I have dubbed the "Tale of the Dragon".

This hill will make you and break you depending on your fitness ability on a given day- this hill tells the tale of your current state of being as a runner. Motorized vehicles groan at its existence, knobby tires wince at is slick surface and doubt the existence of friction.  I know that when I can bounce up this beast without much notice of the effort... then I am ready for just about anything- when I can attack it from bottom to top and then ask  for more then a PR is in sight! Last night, I saw I have opportunity to regain some fitness and I felt the twinge of excitement to go after it :)

So the saga continues, with the Chattooga 50k in my sights I continue depositing steps, heartbeats, beads of sweat, gel packs, Nuun tablets and cultivating a most important ingredient, Desire.

Happy Running!

The BIG Snow- A high Country Day to Remember!

This was the kind of storm that really delivered. Talk of 10-20 inches sounds exciting and it is... but is also creates doubts. A big storm around here is 4-6 inches. The snow started Friday and kept dumping through the night and into Sunday morning. By the time it was all tallied we had over two feet of the fluffy powder on our porch.

Friday night I took Lil' our youngest husky out for an hour of gentle hill climbing on the abandoned back roads. Saturday was full of snowshoeing... I guess I logged about two hours out in the woods between our house and the river, some with Lynnea, Lily and Goliath (Aster on the DL with turf toe) and some by myself, trudging along briskly (Bear Grylls style) in lieu of a run that day. I feel you need to take advantage of these sorts of days, it is not as if I was eating bon-bons like Stuart Smalley I just wasn't running... "and that's okay".

Sunday I laced up again for a quick (but searing) 6 miles including the big climb up to check on the in-laws home on the hill. This 1/2 mile+ long hill is comprised of two 20% grades with a short, very short, flat section near midway. I used this area to STOP and breath for a minute in the falling snow and solitude of the countryside over looking the TN state line near Hwy 321. It was quite nice.

I finished the climb and then prepared to accept my reward. 5 full minutes of downhill bliss!!! Running down a powder-filled descent in the high-country, I silently "flew" with such ease and softness trying to be in the moment as possible.

These are the experiences you can close your eyes and recall for years to come!!

Monday I was stuck at the house. Seems the Honda would not make the trip down the driveway without me first clearing the way. No run, but I did get in 2 1/2 hours of shovelling; moving nearly 6000 cubic feet of snow. As I made the attempt with the Civic I was painfully close to being home free; just the last few feet to reach the pavement of the county maintained road when I was suddenly stopped on a large pile of compacted white stuff... damn.

Back to the house for the shovel... within 30 minutes I had the car out, the area cleared and I was joyriding the streets of Bethel, NC in all its winter splendor!! Happy Winter Solstice runners!!

Friday Night Hills

Lacking leg speed is a bit frustrating. The heart rate is steady, the strength is there... but when you hit the gas, there is nothing to draw upon. It's just like driving my 1998 Honda Civic up a big hill, with a line of traffic behind me. I want the little lady to move a little quicker, but there is just nothing there... so what to do.

There is likely not much hope for the car. She is efficient (40mph highway) and that is great. But I am a human, and within certain limits there is room for adaptation. With this in mind, I set out on Friday evening for a number of hill repeats to gain a little power and ultimately efficiency in my running mechanics.

The run began with 15 minutes of puttering, gradually increasing heart rate until I was ready to begin the "work". I used "The Dragon Trail", which you may never have heard of because it is at my house but trust me, this is the place to run hill repeats. I set off up the ~600m gradual grade on crushed gravel and grass through a wooded area and emerge into a field of Fraser Fir. This marks the top of the hill... and the right turn brings me into the woods and onto Dragon Trail Proper.

This is a good recovery area, a few switch backs downhill. After 2 minutes the trail flattens and allows for 2 x 100m strides through green, moss-laden, fern full land... The path then turns twisty and technical again. Here you can again recover for a couple of minutes. The trail then dumps out to my front yard (literally) where stride(s) can be done before beginning the next hill repeat.

Basically, the workout went this way.

Hill, recover, stride x2, recover, stride x1... for an hour or about 8 loops...

The hill repeats were done slowly, with high knee lifts to emphasize power; raising the center of mass. The strides were smooth and flowing with the focus on speed without effort... using micro-movements... snappy, with a good lift in the girdle.

The workout was surprisingly effective at accomplishing good turnover and draining my energy over 60 minutes. I slept very well when all was said and done.

The next morning I went out for an easy 8. Splits were from 7:05 to 6:50 on the way out. I returned at 6:55s and then a 6:20 to finish up... feeling effortless on the 2nd 1/2 once I allowed the body to carry its momentum and stop fighting the motion with stress. Faster not harder.