Jan. 5

Fifth week of the volume build and legs are feeling solid. Another week of easy pace, decent volume and whatever vert I can find. Easy 8.01 to start. 525ft of gain.

Jan. 6

Not living near the mountains isn’t ideal for a mountain ultra so it’s the treadmill for me. 4.01mi warmup (282ft) to the gym then 4.01mi on the dreadmill at 6mph & 8.5% grade which nets 1787’. 2.09mi (174ft) home to get 10 for the day.

Weekly totals:

  • 18.12mi
  • 2,768ft

Jan. 7

New watch is finally here! Garmin Fenix 7X Pro. The Coros was great but the last few months the GPS has only been consistent in its inconsistency. That’s the one feature that must work. 12.01mi & 642ft.

Weekly totals:

  • 30.13mi
  • 3,410ft

Jan. 8

Back to the treadmill. 4.02mi (310ft) w/u. 4.01 more on the treadmill at 6mph & 8.5% again for 1,791’. 1.58 home (149ft) for about 9.61mi on the day.

Weekly totals:

  • 39.73mi
  • 5,660ft

Jan. 9

11.01mi and 542ft. Need to get to lifting twice a week, but for now once a week is at least something. Simple and quick - RDLs, squats & lunges all with kettlebells.

Weekly totals:

  • 50.74mi
  • 6,202ft

Jan. 10

Saturday. One week from back-to-back 50km in Fort Valley. Long run today instead of Sunday. Needed the extra sleep so stayed close to home. Put on the super shoes to minimize the impact to legs. 16.02mi and 1,038ft.

Weekly totals:

  • 66.76mi
  • 7,240ft

Jan. 11

Forgot the super shoes put you on your toes a bit more so the calves are a little sore today. Also the kettlebell strength work seemed to hit slightly different muscles so some DOMs there too. Overall feeling good though. Super easy 8.23mi and 463ft of gain to cap the week.

Weekly totals:

  • 74.99mi
  • 7,703ft of gain
  • 10 hours 20min of running

Weekly recap

Started the base phase for the Massanutten 100 five weeks ago. Originally planned this as a down week, but once I signed up for the first MMT training run & Waterfall 50km next weekend (Jan 17/18) that changed the plan. I wanted the week leading into that back-to-back effort to be easier and making this a down week would have meant either two down weeks or a big week of volume before a massive weekend.

Really happy with how well the legs have responded to five straight weeks of good base volume. The first 3 were a bit rough with some plantar issues on the left foot and some mild tendonitis in the knees but the last two have been felt good and those issues have mellowed out.

Excited and nervous for next weekend. My biggest back-to-back days have been around 18/20 each day and not in the mountains so 63 miles & 12,500 feet of gain will be a challenge. Plan is to not to deload entirely but cut daily volume by about 30%, so around 35mi by Friday.

Tomorrow will test out the new Terignota vest which seems really great.