I don't know how many of you have heard of Brian Powell of irunfar? probably quite a few... anyway I was just on his site (www.irunfar.com) following all the post Western States interviews and results, and got to reading about Brian's training schedule for the race (the link to the article and schedule is below). Anyway Brian finished Western States 100 in sub 20 hrs!! (19:24) on just 40 miles average per week of training, and only 7 runs longer than 20 miles!! He placed 31st out of 310 finishers. That's quite something in my book. Of course the guy has hug talent, undoubtedly, but as he states himself you don't have to log massive weekly mileage to do well, and be ready for a hundy!!
So what does this all mean? Well I guess what it means is that I do have a chance, despite my limited time, to train well for North Downs Way 100, get in some solid but not exceptionally high mileage, get in the long run at the weekend, and perhaps one or two more evening runs when the kids are in bed, do myself proud and absolutely smash it!! haha I think I'm finding some fire in my belly! Its time to get focused, and stop using the 'family life' excuse as a reason why I can't train and get in the runs that I know I can and should. Do I want this? You bet I do... So out with the excuses and in with a new schedule that will set me on a path towards NDW100 in good shape and ready to take on the challenge...
Link to Brian Powells WS training - My 2011 Western States 100 training.
Nice one, Stu.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of William Sichel? Only one of the greatest ultra runners of all time. He doesn't run high mileage in training either - most of his focus is on conditioning. You should check him out.
Can't wait to see how you get on ;-)
His book "Relentless Forward Progress" is also a goodie! Glad you found your motivation, look forward to your tales from the trails.
ReplyDelete