Mt. Tammany 10! Race Report and HR100 training
4/8/19
On 3/23/19 I ran the Mt Tammany 10! Race in Delaware Water Gap, NJ. It is a low key classic ass whoopin. It’s a 3.8 mile loop that goes up about 1.3 mile and 1,200 ft, about 1/2m of flat, then about 2 miles down and 1,200 ft decent. You do the loop 10 times. The course has a wide variety of ice, snow, mud, and moss. One thing is consistent though, the boulders. The entire loop is very very technical which makes for a lot of effort and very slow miles. You have a loose cutoff of 10 hours to start your final loop which before the race i never thought about it. I expected to finish the race in 8 - 8 1/2 hours. I started my final loop at 9:20 clock time only 40 minutes ahead of cut off. Oops.
After loop one with fresh legs, i looked down at my watch and it took me 55 minutes. At that point, i knew it was going to be a very long day and breaking 10 hours wasn’t going to happen. My body was off all day. Only a couple hours in, I was fatigued and my stomach was very swollen and painful. I slowed it down and the final 25 miles were slow and steady. I finished the race in about 10 1/2 hours and I enjoyed it overall. I love that type of format and it was a great training run for hardrock. I needed a good wake up call that i need to get my butt in gear.
The weeks prior i had been battling some sinus crap so i went into the race a little tired and off. The next day I felt horrible and ended up with he flu. I’ve never had the flu in my life but writing this 2 weeks later, I finally feel normal again. I don’t think i had the flu during the race but my immune system was definitely compromised and let the flu creep in the days after the race. With my body aching from being sick plus the soreness of 12,000 ft of downhill, i was the most sore i’ve ever been.
Fast forward two weeks to today. This marks the beginning of my actual Hardrock training. I don’t schedule out very specific training since life typically gets in the way. Instead I have some guidelines that I will follow.
1. Get leaner. I have about 15 pounds to lose to get to my ideal race weight.
2. 3 major long runs. At the end of April, May, and June I will get in about a 30-35 miler with about 10-12k feet of gain for a solid training run.
3. Weekly mileage will be between 50-90 for the next 3 months with a solid long run each week.
If i follow those three rules, then I will be ready. I have a solid base and i have mapped out some good routes with plenty of climbs / descents. It is finally spring time here and I am looking forward to spending a lot of time outdoors. I have been reading up on the course and trying to memorize some of the troublesome parts. I may write another post about a month out from the race to document how my main training block went. No more just going through the motions. Time to focus and get serious.
2013 H.U.R.T. 100
Monday, April 8, 2019
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Hardrock 100 thoughts
1/31/19 - Hardrock 100 Thoughts
I have a new motivation that I haven’t had in years. A new fire. I haven’t written a blog post in almost 5 years. I never lost the love of trail running or mountains but I lost some of the passion. This past month has brought back old memories. Memories of not being able to sleep because of excitement of an upcoming race. Memories of actually looking at a race website over and over and reading every race report i can find.
Rewind to 2008. Discovered Hardrock. Blown away by it but intrigued.
2009 - decided i wanted to get into trail running and ultras.
2010 - did my first 100 and decided i wanted to do more and start qualifying for Hardrock
2011 - got into the HURT 100 and qualified for my first time.
2012 through 2017 - put my name in every year without getting chosen
December 1, 2018
For the past several years the first Saturday of every December consisted of a run with friends and watching the hardrock lottery somewhere. This year I had a feeling. A feeling strong enough that my wife and I talked about Hardrock for months prior as if I had already gotten in. We even booked a room in Silverton for the race before the lottery even happened. That morning we ran 5 miles together then I continued on for about an additional 20 miles to end at a brewery to watch the lottery. The first 20 names (half) were chosen and mine was not one of them. It started to feel like every other year that I would go to plan B. Then number 21 of the lottery read Brian Hopton-Jones. I put my head down on the table and half laughed half cried half breathed a sigh of relief that we had something major to look forward to. I was in dire need in life and running for something like this to happen.
December 2, 2018
I woke up and my eyes opened up wide and I thought holy shit this is real. I’m officially signed up and training for Hardrock. It could not have come at a better time. The past year has been rough. Adjusting to Pennsylvania life, starting a new career, and dealing with PF for the first time.
I have been getting a solid base so far. I live about an hour from about 12 trailheads on the AT so i’ve mapped out some good training spots. I do not feel like I’m at a disadvantage at all living at sea level. I have always said its the effort and training you do, not what you have available. I have several different spots that have multiple 800-1000 foot climbs. My long runs will be more repeats and out and back spurs on the these climbs. My game plan is to train the downhill muscles more then anything. I feel like those are very particular muscles that during a mountain race, they are the first things to go. I know it is inevitable at Hardrock but my goal is to delay the shot quads as long as possible. I also have an incline trainer treadmill. It goes up to 40% which is great hill training. I have been doing solid workouts during the week with good climbing and speed work that I would otherwise not be able to accomplish on the roads.
As of now my training is separated to two blocks. Now to March 23rd and then April til the race. March 23rd is a 40 mile race called the Mount Tammany 10!. It is 10 repeats up and down a mountain at the PA / NJ border with nearly 12,000 ft climb and descent. I will take a short 1-2 week break then my main training block will start. I will focus more on workouts, hill repeats, and quality climbing/descents then total mileage. The plan is to be all around stronger then I ever have been. This is my shot at Hardrock and I don’t want it to go to waste...
I have a new motivation that I haven’t had in years. A new fire. I haven’t written a blog post in almost 5 years. I never lost the love of trail running or mountains but I lost some of the passion. This past month has brought back old memories. Memories of not being able to sleep because of excitement of an upcoming race. Memories of actually looking at a race website over and over and reading every race report i can find.
Rewind to 2008. Discovered Hardrock. Blown away by it but intrigued.
2009 - decided i wanted to get into trail running and ultras.
2010 - did my first 100 and decided i wanted to do more and start qualifying for Hardrock
2011 - got into the HURT 100 and qualified for my first time.
2012 through 2017 - put my name in every year without getting chosen
December 1, 2018
For the past several years the first Saturday of every December consisted of a run with friends and watching the hardrock lottery somewhere. This year I had a feeling. A feeling strong enough that my wife and I talked about Hardrock for months prior as if I had already gotten in. We even booked a room in Silverton for the race before the lottery even happened. That morning we ran 5 miles together then I continued on for about an additional 20 miles to end at a brewery to watch the lottery. The first 20 names (half) were chosen and mine was not one of them. It started to feel like every other year that I would go to plan B. Then number 21 of the lottery read Brian Hopton-Jones. I put my head down on the table and half laughed half cried half breathed a sigh of relief that we had something major to look forward to. I was in dire need in life and running for something like this to happen.
December 2, 2018
I woke up and my eyes opened up wide and I thought holy shit this is real. I’m officially signed up and training for Hardrock. It could not have come at a better time. The past year has been rough. Adjusting to Pennsylvania life, starting a new career, and dealing with PF for the first time.
I have been getting a solid base so far. I live about an hour from about 12 trailheads on the AT so i’ve mapped out some good training spots. I do not feel like I’m at a disadvantage at all living at sea level. I have always said its the effort and training you do, not what you have available. I have several different spots that have multiple 800-1000 foot climbs. My long runs will be more repeats and out and back spurs on the these climbs. My game plan is to train the downhill muscles more then anything. I feel like those are very particular muscles that during a mountain race, they are the first things to go. I know it is inevitable at Hardrock but my goal is to delay the shot quads as long as possible. I also have an incline trainer treadmill. It goes up to 40% which is great hill training. I have been doing solid workouts during the week with good climbing and speed work that I would otherwise not be able to accomplish on the roads.
As of now my training is separated to two blocks. Now to March 23rd and then April til the race. March 23rd is a 40 mile race called the Mount Tammany 10!. It is 10 repeats up and down a mountain at the PA / NJ border with nearly 12,000 ft climb and descent. I will take a short 1-2 week break then my main training block will start. I will focus more on workouts, hill repeats, and quality climbing/descents then total mileage. The plan is to be all around stronger then I ever have been. This is my shot at Hardrock and I don’t want it to go to waste...
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