20 Tough Miles

The bird says it all.

Today was a 10 mile big hill run/ride back-to-back combo workout. Due to RacerX's schedule, we agreed to meet at Golden Eagle trailhead at 8:30. Because of the timing, this meant a reverse of my usual run first, ride second routine.

I felt about 95%, having shaken off what ever was trying to get me on Friday. Sunday was a great day for both the run and the ride with temps already in the mid-high 40's when we met and the promise of high 60's for the day to come.

Racer X and I took off at our usual fast clip up the first 900 feet of the climb on a 10.3 loop that includes 3 1-2 mile steep climbs for a total elevation gain of about 2200' . This is a fairly tough 10 miles but a really good training route.

Key for long workouts is pacing. The trick in endurance running and riding is to stay within your aerobic workout range and avoid too many or too long foreays into muscle-burning, energy sapping anarobic ranges. For me this means keeping my heart rate within a 140-159 bpm target range. If I can do that then I can go a long way.

Normally when I start my run first, I've burnt off some energy which moderates my riding pace. RacerX and I tend to push each other both of us being typical Type A athletes. Thus our climbs tended to be at a higher level than targetted. We were clearly pushing ourselves as I checked a few climbs at 165-172bpm. Now, my max heart rate is about 185 so I can hit these ranges ok, but too many times and right before a long 10 mile run wasn't too smart.

Back at the trailhead, Racer X took off and I transitioned to the run. The first mile my running gate felt weird and I was clearly unaccustomed to ride first, run second routines. The climb up to the ridge on this part of the trail is impossible to make running without going into the 160's. Pride keeps me from walking this heavily travelled section even knowing that pacing for aerobic levels may require it. By the time I hit the top and the mile of relative flat trail, I knew that I was going to be burning some muscle and not fat. By mile 5 when the next big uphill began, I was regularly going beyond my aerobic heart rate range top-end but pushed on nonetheless.

10 mile runs are tough. Not because of distance, but because they are right between pace shifts. For runs shorter than 10 miles, I can sustain a much faster pace and higher heart rate. Beyond 10 miles, the pace has to be reduced or you'll quickly wind up burning muscles out faster than you can feed energy in. But 10 miles is in that just-in-between stage.

I finished off the 10.3 mile run somewhat uncomfortable. I had pushed too hard early on and worked myself a little too hard, but lesson (re)learned. My ride was good but I ate up too much reserve for the run. The run wasn't bad; it just could have been better.

Next Sunday is a 15 mile big hill run.

Today's run/ride: 10.3 mile ride; 1:16. 10.3 mile run; 1:47