Training Log Archive: hughmac4

Crowded but gorgeous day in the woods. Bailed to the road for a few for some peace & quiet. :)

GVRAT 269 this AM (351.4 / 621.371mi / 55.4%)

Soo humid! Got a few sluggish miles in.

GVRAT 201 this AM (345.2 / 621.371mi / 54.4%)

Trails! So good!

GVRAT 186 this AM (335 / 621.371mi / 52.8%)

A couple of Swat Laps and some Field Laps. Felt good! Perfect day.

GVRAT 178 this AM (324.7 / 621.371mi)

Some easy miles to see how I feel. Felt okay ... very sluggish at first, still sluggish at the end, but nothing extreme. Lovely day!

GVRAT 163rd this AM

Broken Ladder Challenge 2020

How the BLC Works
On April 20th, 2020, run 1 mile. 'Document' the run via screenshot of a fitness app, posted to Algonquin Ultras Facebook page. Each day thereafter, run an additional mile, and post the screenshot. If you can't do the run that day, you are out of the race.

Notes
79 brave, bored souls toed the line, and posted their run on day 1.

As the days progressed, drops were fairly steady, see the spreadsheet.

I had the stretch goal of making 23 days, to 'catch me up' on my yearly 2020 goal of 2020 miles. However, the gentle increase in mileage, and the fact that we were closing in on 10-remaining at that point, kept me in it for another few days.

I ended up making it to the final 4, and am incredibly happy with that! The talent at the start was pretty awesome. Two of us dropped on day 28, so I ended up tied for 3rd overall, and 3rd place male.

I learned a lot about myself and my body with this challenge. Logistical bare-bones skills were honed to razor-sharpness. I put 380 miles on my legs, went through gallons and gallons of Fellrnr's Go Juice without rejecting it (amazing!), a tube of P-jelly, a whole lot of talc, and pretty much exhausted a brand new pair of shoes. Luckily I bought 2 pairs, because I love how they performed ... not a foot issue for the entire race, other than general beat-uppedness. I explored every nook and cranny of the town where I live, and a lot of the surrounding towns, too. I chatted with friends and neighbors, some whom I haven't seen in years! I ate, and ate, and ate.

Frankly, all of the required eating is what did me in. If there had been a quality buffet available 24 x 7, I would have lasted longer, but it's hard to do anything more than yet-another-peanut-butter sandwich at 10PM before bed when you know you won't sleep without another 300 calories in you, but you're tired as heck.

Thanks so much to Trent Swanson, the Race Dictator for the Algonquin Ultras, and a good friend, for dreaming up and putting on this whacky cure to the Pandemic Blues. He also let me be part of the race crew, doing some of the number crunching, which was super fun!

Thanks to my sister Ann (anniemac) and my Dad (hughmac3) for checking in on me, encouraging me, rooting for me every day. Even sharing some miles, which was priceless!! Ann even made a sweet video on the last day, which was such a wonderful capstone to the race for me.

Thanks the most to Juliet, who does it all (except the occasional Dad Waffle) around our house, affording me the time, and encouraging me when I was down, to keep on pushing myself in this challenge, and in life. I love you!

C • video 2