On June 23rd I found out I had a torn meniscus in my right knee - surgery also later revealed significant tissue damage due to Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Surgery was July 12th. On July 23rd after being cleared to exercise - I started carefully using a stationary bike, then an elliptical. Did those for a while - with the purpose of trying to build some general fitness, all the while not trying to have my knee hurt any more than it did.
On August 4th I got on a treadmill and walked / jogged / shuffled a mile - taking 16:45 to do so. The next day I did another mile, in 13:45. With 2 weeks to go before race day I had 2 miles of training completed.
At this stage, my race goal was simply to beat the cut off time of 6 1/2 hours.
Sunday, Aug 7th my (12 yr old) son and I drove to the Summit of Pikes Peak and managed carefully to go down the Barr Trail 3 miles to the A-Frame Shelter. It took us just over an hour, purposefully being careful on the knee. The trip up took us 70 minutes. After that, my race goal moved to 6 hours.
On Tuesday (Aug 9) I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at max (10%) incline, increasing speed as I went - was okay - giving me confidence. Thursday came around and I decided to get back on Barr Trail. This time from the race start line and go up the W's, maybe even further.
I posted about that run and was deliberately vague. I was out for 4 hours but didn't write how far up the trail I went. Time to come clean. I went all the way up to Barr Camp - took me 2 hours and 5 minutes. I rested there for a good chunk of time and then came back down for the 4 hour round trip - total distance: 10 1/4 miles.
I realize it is silly to do this - but that put me on track for about a 4 hour Ascent. (I did in my post say that I was on track for less than 5 hours). Was that my new goal? Honestly - no. 4 hours would be ridiculous, however - 5 hours was the new goal.
Next 2 days no running, still using the bike and eliptical. Sunday, Aug 14th I did another building block run - 10 miles, on rolling roads and managed to maintain a 9 min mile average.
Monday - drove up to the Summit again - went down 3 miles, then back up 3 miles, the return trip up in 60 minutes flat. The top mile is definitely the hardest, I struggled for sure.
The legs are tired, in fact I decided yesterday that I should not run anymore till race day. I did 45 minutes on the Eliptical this morning, will ride a few miles on the bike tomorrow, then nothing this Friday. So, a brief recap - total (running) training miles 37 1/4.
That leads me to Saturday, race day and my goals.
Honestly, I will be disappointed if I don't beat 5 hours. Probably be a little miffed if I can't beat 4 1/2 hours. I would like to think that 4:21 is doable - that being the average time.
Here is where I go nuts...... I give myself a chance of actually doing the thing in 4 hours.
I have broken the race into 4 sections. I am going to be yelling at myself going up the W's to not push it, even positioning myself at the start line to be slowed by the crowds. If I take that as easy as possible it may give me a chance after No Name Creek to run and pick up the pace.
So, my second section of the race will be No Name to Barr Camp - the so called "flat section". If I can - I expect to run 2/3rds to 3/4's of that. If I get to Barr Camp in 2 hours - depending on how I feel, I will know if I can attempt to beat 4 hours total.
The next section is a mystery to me: I've never been from Barr Camp to A-Frame. From what I have read and heard - it ain't pretty. I'll make sure at Barr Camp to fuel up and try to gut it out.
A-Frame to the Summit..... I don't expect this to be done in an hour like I did 2 days ago - but I do hope to be able to run in spots - even if they are little spots. The 16 golden stairs may kill me, but if I can keep moving through them and make it to the top - I will be very happy.
Next post will be my race report on Saturday night.
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