NicoleI have five weeks to go to the Crested Butte Ultra 55k, so it’s now or never for some quality training. Rudy and I headed out for our long run of the week. I had a few goals for today’s training run.
- Get in around 20 miles on a course that has climbing at a similar grade (~9%) to one we will see in CB.
- Practice nutrition and hydration strategies.
The course
The closer to the race we are, the more specific we want to be, so I chose a 10.3 mile out and back that is the ‘High Drive Challenge’ race course. It starts in Bear Creek Park to the top of High Drive and back, and has about 2000 feet of elevation gain. The grade of High Drive is similar to the longer climbs in CB based on the gpx file on the race site. Rather than finding a longer loop, we did this route twice so we could return to the car as if it were an aid station. And a plus there were clean port-o-potties in the parking lot!
In addition to finding similar grades, I know I will be hiking a lot in that race, so I practiced hiking on High Drive and the steeper hills in Bear Creek Park. There is also a good chunk of runnable terrain, so the mix of running and walking is likely a good simulation of race day.
Fueling
Regarding nutrition, In shorter races it’s easier to make mistakes. In a 7-9 hour event, little mistakes become big ones, so long training days are the best way to test out fueling strategies. My plan was ~200 calories per hour with some extra snacks at our mid-run aid station for food, and about 500mL of fluid per hour.
How it went – Lap 1
I still have a little tightness in my calves and hamstrings from the Pikes Peak Ascent, but otherwise I felt pretty good. The hike up High Drive was steady and smooth. While running down is fun when you don’t have to come back up, we kept the pace relaxed the first time down. We were back at the car in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. As a reference the last time we did this route on a training run, we did it in about 2:02. When I raced it in 2019, I did it in about 1:49.
“Aid Station”
It was nice to get this refuel break at the car. We had cheez-its, potato chips, bananas, as well as water and scratch for refills. I ate half a peanut butter & honey sandwich, half a banana, and a few potato chips. I refilled a bottle of scratch, checked my other fluid levels, made a pit stop and we went off for lap #2!
How it went – Lap 2
The air temperature was a bit warmer, but the skies were still overcast. My energy levels were still good, and we kept the same strategy. Walk the steeper stuff but run the moderate sections at an easy pace. We were a tad slower hiking up high drive the second time, and my hamstring gave me a few warnings, so I eased up on the pace just a bit and remembered to take endurolytes. Overall pacing was pretty good! We made it to the top of high drive just a minute or two slower than the first time. Then it was just a cruise back down hoping that my hip didn’t tighten up too much. It did a little, but we were able to keep a nice strong pace for the final downhill section in Bear Creek. I was surprised to feel that good.
Final thoughts
Overall, this was a successful training run. I had energy at the end which means my fueling was good. I drank about 2L, which was to plan. My legs were sore at the end, which I totally expected. Solid training day in the books!
Nicole
