219 days until the 2012 Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run...
These two individuals, Ken Chlouber and Merilee O'Neal/Mappin, are responsible for thousands of runners running thousands of miles in some of the toughest conditions you can imagine for a race. Ken worked for the Climax Molybdenum mine when it shut down in 1982, throwing most of the town out of work. He decided to increase tourism in Leadville by creating the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run. While Ken was the mastermind behind it all and is the public relations guy, Merilee is the loveable motherly figure behind it all, working behind the scenes and managing many of the details that are necessary to pull this off. She's also the one who gives you a great big hug when you cross the finish line at 100 miles - it's pretty awesome! After 27 years, Ken and Merilee sold the race to LifeTime Fitness in 2011. I have to admit, my heart sank when I heard this news because I love what they created and was fearful that the some of the special parts of the race might change. On the other hand, Ken and Merilee deserve a break from all their hard work and it may have been a good opportunity for them to benefit from all their effort. LifeTime Fitness is a progressive organization that is on the cutting edge of race technology and racing events so hopefully they will be able to make further improvements to the race (although it's quite awesome the way it's been running). LifeTime Fitness was really smart in keeping Ken and Merilee on in their same roles on race days so it still seems like old times in many respects. It will be a sad day when Ken and Merilee are no longer a part of the race but I know that day will come sometime.
One thing that really bummed me out was the change in race logos. The old logo....
has been replaced by the new one...
Obviously I don't like it but nobody consulted me on the decision so we pick up and move on.
Awesome, awesome workout today with Rick Fountain. Inspired by Christian Robbins' 1 hr workout on the treadmill at 10 mph, we decided to see if we could make an improvement over last week's 45 minute treadmill workout. We came up far short of what Christian does and I'm not sure that we will reach his level but I believe we will get closer over time.
1/2 mile warmup
60 minutes on treadmill
0 - 30 minutes - 7.9 mph
1 minute rest
31 - 60 minutes - 8.2 mph
Depending on your level of fitness this may not sound too difficult. Given my current level of fitness I found it to be quite challenging. I believe the hardest part occurred during the 10 - 30 minute time frame when I began feeling tired but had so much longer to go, and knowing that the last 30 minutes are at a level higher than the first 30 minutes. Sort of strange to tell you that the last 5 minutes were easy - they weren't actually - but mentally I felt so strong since we had 55 minutes in the books already.
The improvements over last week were significant...
1. we ran 15 minutes longer
2. we ran the last 30 minutes at 8.2, .2 higher than the 8.0 we did the previous week
3. we increased the speed for the 2nd half of the workout
We did step backwards in a couple of areas
1. we ran the first 30 minutes at 7.9 instead of 8.0
2. we took a 1 minute rest at 30 minutes
I do believe the tradeoffs were tilted toward a harder workout this week.
The feeling afterward was a great sense of accomplishment and feeling very proud that we had set a tough goal, fought through when it was tough, and knocked it out. This is exactly the type of attitude and experience that will carry us through Leadville when we hit our low points.
Until next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
These two individuals, Ken Chlouber and Merilee O'Neal/Mappin, are responsible for thousands of runners running thousands of miles in some of the toughest conditions you can imagine for a race. Ken worked for the Climax Molybdenum mine when it shut down in 1982, throwing most of the town out of work. He decided to increase tourism in Leadville by creating the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run. While Ken was the mastermind behind it all and is the public relations guy, Merilee is the loveable motherly figure behind it all, working behind the scenes and managing many of the details that are necessary to pull this off. She's also the one who gives you a great big hug when you cross the finish line at 100 miles - it's pretty awesome! After 27 years, Ken and Merilee sold the race to LifeTime Fitness in 2011. I have to admit, my heart sank when I heard this news because I love what they created and was fearful that the some of the special parts of the race might change. On the other hand, Ken and Merilee deserve a break from all their hard work and it may have been a good opportunity for them to benefit from all their effort. LifeTime Fitness is a progressive organization that is on the cutting edge of race technology and racing events so hopefully they will be able to make further improvements to the race (although it's quite awesome the way it's been running). LifeTime Fitness was really smart in keeping Ken and Merilee on in their same roles on race days so it still seems like old times in many respects. It will be a sad day when Ken and Merilee are no longer a part of the race but I know that day will come sometime.
One thing that really bummed me out was the change in race logos. The old logo....
Awesome, awesome workout today with Rick Fountain. Inspired by Christian Robbins' 1 hr workout on the treadmill at 10 mph, we decided to see if we could make an improvement over last week's 45 minute treadmill workout. We came up far short of what Christian does and I'm not sure that we will reach his level but I believe we will get closer over time.
1/2 mile warmup
60 minutes on treadmill
0 - 30 minutes - 7.9 mph
1 minute rest
31 - 60 minutes - 8.2 mph
Depending on your level of fitness this may not sound too difficult. Given my current level of fitness I found it to be quite challenging. I believe the hardest part occurred during the 10 - 30 minute time frame when I began feeling tired but had so much longer to go, and knowing that the last 30 minutes are at a level higher than the first 30 minutes. Sort of strange to tell you that the last 5 minutes were easy - they weren't actually - but mentally I felt so strong since we had 55 minutes in the books already.
The improvements over last week were significant...
1. we ran 15 minutes longer
2. we ran the last 30 minutes at 8.2, .2 higher than the 8.0 we did the previous week
3. we increased the speed for the 2nd half of the workout
We did step backwards in a couple of areas
1. we ran the first 30 minutes at 7.9 instead of 8.0
2. we took a 1 minute rest at 30 minutes
I do believe the tradeoffs were tilted toward a harder workout this week.
The feeling afterward was a great sense of accomplishment and feeling very proud that we had set a tough goal, fought through when it was tough, and knocked it out. This is exactly the type of attitude and experience that will carry us through Leadville when we hit our low points.
Until next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
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