This may be my favorite training period of the year. Putting in back-to-back 18 to 20 hour weeks with the workouts all staying in a level 1 and 2 intensity, using many different modalities and spending hour after hour in the Methow spring landscape. Most of the last few weeks I've been training solo - Erik is currently in Park City at the National Training Group for the country's top juniors and U-23s, and Torin is happily continuing his on-snow volume training down in Bend. Not that their absences have left me with a dearth of training partners; Alison (Hanks; massage therapist, ultra-runner and girlfriend) is a great companion for long runs and post-workout climbing (good recovery!).
On Tuesday Alison and I took a trudge up Lucky Jim, the local 2000ft gain-in-30 minutes hill that we've been using for our uphill ski striding weighted workouts. Fortunately in the spring there is a runoff creek coming down from Lucky Jim which offers an apt opportunity for me to fill my water jugs before taking off up the hill.
Filling H20 jugs in the creek before starting up the trail
As summer arrives it's a huge benefit to be carrying water up the hill, because the sun strikes the slope directly on the trail - hot!
Filling H20 jugs in the creek before starting up the trail
As summer arrives it's a huge benefit to be carrying water up the hill, because the sun strikes the slope directly on the trail - hot!
