Background: I have never once claimed to make good decisions, and my spring race schedule is no exception! For some reason (the reason is that I wanted to see my friends and I can’t say no to things), I will be running the Gorge Waterfalls 100km on April 12th, the New Balance Indoor Marathon Relay …
Category: Training
Western States Training: an Overview
So. Western States. Only the biggest race I've ever trained for, and perhaps one of, if not THE most important race I might ever do. No pressure, right? Back in the end of 2020, I applied for a coaching scholarship from Chaski, and was lucky enough to be picked as one of the winners to …
Requiem for Western
History: If you’ve never heard of Western States before, congrats! You probably don’t run ultramarathons, didn’t grow up in Northern California, or you just don’t pay an excessive amount of attention to more “niche” running events. If you HAVE heard of Western States, and especially if you’ve spent the past few years running qualifiers and …
Javelina Jundred Training Block Three and Four: Steady State + Race Specific
So, I went into these training blocks feeling a little discouraged. My workouts had been going well, but my long runs were terrible. I kept having trouble after around the 2 hour mark, and kept cutting my planned long runs short by a few miles every week. I hadn't done a long run over 18 …
Continue reading Javelina Jundred Training Block Three and Four: Steady State + Race Specific
Javelina Jundred Training Block Two: Tempo
So I've made it through the first block (VO2 Max) fairly intact. My original plan was to do a recovery week of around 40-45 miles, then straight into 3 weeks of tempo workouts at around 60 miles per week, followed by another recovery week. And of course, none of this went according to plan. I …
Javelina Jundred Training Block One: VO2 Max
I'm following an adapted Ultrarunning Magazine 100 mile training plan for my Javelina buildup. There are four "blocks": VO2 Max, Tempo, Steady State, and Race Specific, in that order. The idea is to start with the least specific (VO2 Max... you're not likely going to be hitting VO2 Max paces during a 100 miler!) and …
Continue reading Javelina Jundred Training Block One: VO2 Max
Palmer Lake Training: April 1st – 7th
Monday was a rest day. I felt very antsy after my second "bad" running weekend, but I knew forcing myself to take it easy would let my body heal. Tuesday and Wednesday were both spent on the bike at Planet Fitness. I cycled 15 miles each day and focused on getting my HR up into …
Palmer Lake Training: March 25th – 31st
Monday was a rest day. My back and left leg were still feeling painful and stiff after my bad weekend of running, so I welcomed the extra rest day. Tuesday was my first attempt at running since my "injury". I ran 6 miles easy in the morning, and another 4.5 in the afternoon after work. …
Palmer Lake Training: March 18th – 24th
Monday was a rest day. This is pretty much a constant, so nothing exciting to report. Tuesday was my tempo workout for the week. I decided to try a Koop-style tempo, which meant doing tempo intervals with a 2:1 work:rest ratio. I did 4 repeats of 10 minutes at tempo, 5 minutes easy. I was …
Palmer Lake Training: March 11th – 17th
Monday was a rest day. I ended up mildly regretting taking my normal rest day on Monday and not saving it for later in the week. If I had been checking the weather, I likely would have been able to anticipate the bomb cyclone/blizzard that hit on Wednesday and I could have used my rest …
Clare Runs Sometimes 