The Work Is Done - Week 15 Training for Grindstone 100
TRAINING BLOCK COMPLETE
We are now 11 days out from Grindstone 100 at the time of writing this. We started our taper on Friday this past week. We peaked at at 83.7 miles in the 7 days prior to starting the taper.
Add another 25 miles on the bike and a 5 mile hike in those seven days. Around 10,000ft of elevation gain and a total of almost 20hrs of work including time in the gym. (Upper body and core included)
I feel good about the last 4 weeks of training but I’m not sure how I feel about this training block as a whole. With the injury it definitely wasn’t what envisioned or wanted, but I do feel there was some benefit from cycling that I wouldn’t have gotten had I not been injured.
BENEFITS OF CYCLING TRAINING FOR AN ULTRA
For one, I do believe the bike is a great tool to help with climbing and power. I feel stronger on climbs now which I attribute to my time on the bike.
Additionally, I was able to train for muscular endurance because I often found that if I kept it in high gear my legs would burn out before my cardiovascular system. This would allow me to train my legs to keep pushing even though they were fatigued.
Lastly, cycling was a good way to practice fueling. I was able to practice getting anywhere from 100-120g of carb per hour. When cycling you don’t have as much sloshing in the gut so you’re able to tolerate more fuel intake.
FEELING READY
Overall I’m happy with the build and where I am physically. I feel stronger, my endurance is equal to or better than where it was at the end of my marathon block this spring.
I’ve been consistent in the gym and feeling strong. My fueling plan has been worked on and optimized. I’ve gut trained to be able to take in more fuel. My foot is finally completely pain free on my runs. Mentally I feel prepared.
I know this will be extremely hard. The hardest physical thing I’ve ever done. And I’ll have to choose to keep going when that pain gets tough. But at the end of the day I’ve done what I can and I’m proud of staying consistent even with an injury.
WEEK 15s TRAINING
Monday: 8.05mi run, 5.09mi biked.
Tuesday: 7.02mi run, 8.91mi biked.
Wednesday: 15mi run.
Thursday: 15mi run.
Friday: 3mi run.
Saturday: 6.87mi run.
Sunday: 6.62mi run.
Total: 61.56mi run, 14mi biked.
