Chris Wristen

The hardest training for the Meet Your Maker 50 is done, but the most important piece is two weeks away.

The roughly 25-mile stretch from Winfield to Hope Pass where I’ll be pacing Sherrie Klover at the Leadville 100 is critical not only because it’ll be my longest – and final long – training run before the MYM50, but also because of the psychological edge that I need it to provide.

I’ve made it through serious training largely unscathed, other than the occasional cranky knees and a nasty case of plantar fasciitis in the right heel, but the effects of the humidity have felt much more harsh on my system than in previous years.

This summer has been considerably more mild and comfortable than in 2011 and 2012 when most days included 90+-percent humidity and 100+-degree temperatures and my system got used to it. My body has really suffered each time the humidity has spiked this summer and it hasn’t adapted like it did in the past. I’ve had good days like last Saturday when the temperature was in the upper 50s, the humidity was low, and 22 miles came easy. I’ve had far more days like Saturday where any distance from 5 to 23.5 miles left me sapped of strength, energy and enthusiasm.

I take confidence in the fact that I had great runs at Pikes Peak in 2011 and Leadville Silver Rush in 2012 in the humidity-free elevation after grinding through the Midwest humidity all summer, but I also was in a better place mentally for those races than I am right now for the MYM50. I think pacing at LT100 will provide the much-needed psychological boost. I need it to.

It’s four weeks until race day in Whistler, I’m mostly healthy and am in unofficial taper mode, but I need to get my head straight. Leadville is a wonderful and inspiring place, and it need it to work its magic for me once more.

This week’s totals:

Total running miles: 51.5 miles

Total vertical gain: 5,278 feet

Time running: 9 hours, 44 minutes

The home stretch started this week.

It marked the first of four tough training weeks that closes out with pacing duties at the Leadville 100 before two weeks of tapering for the Meet Your Maker 50 in Whistler.

This week marked my biggest mileage week of training. The previous long mileage week was 40, so the 51 miles of running this week finally took my legs beyond the distance they will need to cover in Whistler. While pleased with the distance, I was particularly encouraged by the fact that I finished Saturday’s 22-miler at Clinton Lake with Sherrie and Darin and didn’t feel destroyed. The legs could’ve gone farther if needed, and they definitely had more in them than the 3.5 recovery miles that I logged this morning.

The ability to finish runs of 20-plus miles and feel pretty good was a turning point for me in Silver Rush training last year, so I’m encouraged that I finally had such a run this time.

The coming week will be the biggest mileage week I’ll put in during training with a goal of somewhere around 55 (as long as everything feels healthy). From there, I’ll take a step back with a week in the 30s to make sure my legs are fresh when I head to Leadville to pace for Sherrie. The plan out there is for me to do about 23.5 miles and take her on the return trip over Hope Pass, a climb of about 3,000 feet.

Then, it’ll be time to taper for two weeks and get ready for race day in Sept. 1 in Whistler.

Three weeks of training remain, and I’ll be on the MYM50 course five weeks from right now. Can’t wait!

This week’s totals:

Total miles running: 51 miles

Total feet of vertical gain: 4,785 feet

This right here … this is tempting me immensely.

Tempting me like the delicious goodness of a Peach Nehi Float in Iconium, Mo.

Tempting me like an adventure in the mountains.

Tempting me to find out just how far my legs can take me.

The good folks in Chattanooga, Tenn., who organized the Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race will be putting on a 100-miler next year: the Thunder Rock 100. I had such a good experience at the stage race and during the down time enjoying their wonderful city that I can’t help but consider attempting this race.

Decisions … decisions …

For more information on this race, check out the photo gallery from when they developed the course, as well as this blog.

A largely sleepless weekend followed by higher intensity workouts caught up to me, and a moment of clarity emerged during my Friday evening long run: my body needed a break.

I barely slept last weekend as I moved my long run to Friday night and then drove to Scout Camp and back for my cousin’s Mic-o-Say ceremony, giving me back-to-back nights up past 1 a.m. My body’s not used to that anymore since retiring from the newspaper business 18 months ago; 10 p.m. is typical bedtime these days.

In the days that followed I had two six-mile hill workouts at Wyandotte County Lake Park, each giving me 1,184 feet of vertical gain. I also managed two strength workouts and some high-intensity training before logging 15.5 miles Friday night at Shawnee Mission Park.

Midway through Friday’s run, however, it was clear that my system was fatigued and deteriorating quickly. Nothing was painful; no injury concerns or any of that mess; just exhaustion. It made sense since I haven’t given the body a break since Chattanooga.

Final decision: take Saturday and Sunday off completely (except for Sunday softball … if we don’t get rained out). Sleep in a bit each morning; stretch and ice sore spots; scarf down extra green smoothies and fresh fruits; hydrate.

Weekly totals:

Running workouts: 3

Strength workouts: 2

Intensity training: 1

Running miles: 27.5

Vertical gain: 4,053 feet

Looking ahead:

The next two weeks need to be my biggest mileage and time-on-feet weeks, so I’d like to log 50 or more miles and gain 5,000-6,000 feet of vertical each week. Then I’ll have a slight pullback week, followed by closing out training by pacing for Sherrie on Hope Pass at the Leadville 100 before tapering begins.

The stars aligned in April, and within the course of a couple days I had a solution to one of my top concerns while training for my second 50-miler: How could I improve my nutrition to improve both running performance and everyday health?

At first glance, the answer seems simple. Eat better.

But where should I begin? I’d already eliminated frozen pizzas, chips and salsa, and started drinking fruit smoothies for breakfast and eating more salads. But those changes alone weren’t doing enough. I still struggled to recover from longer training runs and felt sluggish during the day.

Then, in April I received a text message from my sister informing me that I’d be receiving an email from Door to Door Organics in Kansas City. She’d gotten me a month-long subscription to the service that brings a box of organic fruits and vegetables to my doorstep every week. She’d gotten the idea from her friend Melissa, a local TV anchor – as well as a runner, and had gotten a subscription for her family, too.

A few days later, I received an email from my friend Katie inviting me to take a month-long sports nutrition course with her that was presented by one of her friends.

What a perfect combination: fresh, natural fruits and vegetables arriving each week on my doorstep, and lessons teaching me exactly how to incorporate them into my training / nutrition routine. The result has been a positive, rewarding – and fun! – experience.

Various vegetables have arrived that I never previously considered buying – What the heck is chard? Oh, it’s kind of like lettuce. That’s easy! – and I’ve had vegetables show up that I’d only bought frozen (broccoli), only to learn that the fresh variety is so much tastier and so easy to cook. Meanwhile, the sports nutrition course taught me about broadening my health horizons, as well as being smarter about what my body wants and needs. I never before bought spirulina, but now it’s a key ingredient in my smoothies. I also have at least one avocado per day in my smoothie, or just as a snack. I’ve learned to sauté a variety of veggies and tinker with seasonings (ginger is a particular favorite).

The end result is that I have more energy on most mornings, and I’ve felt happier and healthier consistently during my training.

I haven’t focused as much on weekly mileage for this year’s 50-miler, opting instead to emphasize vertical gain and nutritional intake while slowly increasing the distance. Maybe the smaller miles will come back to bite me in the end, but time will tell. Regardless, I am confident that the revised daily nutritional approach will get me to the starting line stronger and healthier than I’ve been for any other ultra-distance race. Then, we’ll see what happens on race day.

This week was the hardest week yet in the build-up to the Meet Your Maker 50-Miler, as well as the most beat-up I’ve felt during training. A big reason for that is the result of a greater emphasis being placed on vertical gain.

I moved my hill training to the rugged, rocky, hilly trails of Wyandotte County Lake Park so I can get my legs more prepared for steep climbing. The vertical, combined with the humidity, was a pretty brutal combination. Adding to the soreness was the fact that while leaving work on Friday evening I decided to move my Saturday long run to right then Friday night. I had a busy Saturday planned with a trip down to H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation for my cousin’s Mic-o-Say Warrior Ceremony, so I didn’t want to spend 4-5 hours on the trail and then have four hours in the car roundtrip.

I ran at Shawnee Mission Park until it closed at 11 p.m., and I got in a mixture of everything: single-track in the woods, the rocky dog park loop, and pavement.

I managed about five miles of hiking while down at Bartle on Saturday, and then did an easy shakeout run this morning on the Johnson County Community College campus that my knees didn’t particularly care for.

Totals for the past week:

Running miles: 40

Hiking miles: 5

Cycling miles: 7

Vertical gain: 5,306 feet

Strength training workouts: 3

This week’s agenda:

The plan for this week is to replicate last week’s results as closely as possible. I’ve been building up for a couple weeks, so I think it’d be wise to try to level out and let the body finish adjusting to where I’m at before pushing for additional distance.

Here are a few photos from Koach Karl’s Hardest Half, the 15-mile run through the streets and hills of midtown Kansas City, Missouri, on the Fourth of July. Big thanks to Bobbi Aschwanden Thomas for sharing your photo skills.

The start / finish at Filling Station Coffee.

And we’re off!

Running with Danny at Mile 2.

Running with Rick, Larry, Danny, Erica and Elliot Snickerfritz.

The winner! (not me)

The two girls singing Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” was a nice touch.

Yes, of all of the expected and unexpected details that made Koach Karl’s Hardest Half – a 15-mile pavement run in midtown Kansas City on the Fourth of July – a special event, that took the cake for unexpected moments on a day that I was happy to make my lone pavement running event of the year.

I’d heard great things from Larry Long and Coleen Voeks about how challenging but fun the Hardest Half had been in previous years, so I jumped at the chance to run it when Larry informed me that there were open spots for the 2013 edition.

Coleen was unable to join us due to injury, but I ran the entire way with Larry, Danny Miller, Rick Troeh, Erica Carper and Elliot Snickerfritz.

The premise of the event is that Koach Karl seeks out as many big hills as he can find in the area and compiles them into a race course (it’s an unofficial race, by the way. No entry fee. You agree to take full responsibility for anything that might happen to you – as should be the case with any running event). The course takes you through some scenic parts of town, as well as some less savory locations. Then, Koach Karl prays for triple-digit temperatures in order to make you suffer a bit more. Unlike previous years, it only got into the low 80s this time.

The run was about as challenging as I expected it to be. We got about 1,700 feet of vertical gain, which is good for KC. The pavement made my joints cranky, and a post-run ice bath was necessary for my ankles, toes and knees.

The “Man in the Mirror” serenade came as we neared the top of Madden Mountain on Cambridge at the end of Mile Two. Our group was feeling plenty good at that point as it was early and the heat hadn’t risen.

The most amusing moment came while cruising along Troost and Cleveland when I heard the pop-pop-pop of fireworks being set off. On any other day, the sound would have been troubling – and not likely been caused by fireworks. I’m pretty certain that at one point we were targeted by bottle rockets on Cleveland as I heard the explosions in the tree branches directly overhead when some kids were shooting them off across the street.

The run started and finished at Filling Station Coffee Shop, and it was a relief to make it back. My legs felt good the whole way, but the pavement took its toll and I was happy to finish. Our group of six ran together from start to finish, and we tied for fourth in 3:05. It was a great to spend the Fourth of July sharing some miles with friends.

ADDITIONAL RUNNING

As far as the remainder of the week was concerned, the focus all week was on gaining more vertical. The Meet Your Maker 50-Miler will have about 12,200 feet of gain, and my legs need to be ready.

On Monday, I moved my hill repeats to part of the Red Trail at Shawnee Mission Park where I did a few out-and-backs and gained a little over 1,000 feet of vertical. On Saturday, I headed to Wyandotte County Lake Park and did a few out-and-backs over the Three Sisters at the end of the Winter Psycho course. I gained 1,601 feet during the course of nine miles.

This week’s totals include two strength workouts, three running workouts, 30.5 miles of running and 4,243 feet of vertical gained. Not too shabby!

The goals for the week ahead include elevating the mileage total to 35-40 for the week (including a 5-6-hour time-on-feet run Saturday) and 4,000-5,000 feet of vertical gain.

Pacing duties in Leadville will be wrapped up six weeks from today, and race day in Whistler is eight weeks from today!

A couple guys from Kansas City have been working on a documentary film called “River Ties,” and it’s worth watching if you’re a lover of the water, trails, road trips, compelling characters, or any outdoor activity.

It’s a film about a group of friends who have been meeting up to raft rivers for about 30 years, and it’s about the bonds that bind this group together.

As a trail-runner, I see deep similarities between this group and the friends that I travel to races with. I know runners who do races such as 3 Days of Syllamo, Superior Sawtooth, and the Ozark Trail 100 every year, and their reasons seem to be as much about the family reunion atmosphere as they are about the running.

Here’s the trailer. Please check it out.

There’s also a campaign on indiegogo.com to help the producers fund the final trip to complete the film. If you feel so inclined, the fundraising activities are at this link:

http://igg.me/at/river-ties/x/3731387

Enjoy!

Week One of the build-up to the Meet Your Maker 50 is in the books.

Simple but successful, I managed three quality runs, two days of weight training and an easy spin on the bike. Other than lifting, the intensity level wasn’t high and the overall pounding on the body was limited, making for a quality transition week into training.

Of the 27 running miles this week, the final 16 came Saturday at Shawnee Mission Park. It was a perfect morning to be on the trails with temperatures around 70 and the humidity around 73 percent – not too hot, not too uncomfortable. I ended up running an extra mile because my pace was quicker than expected. My plan called for 15 miles or three hours on my feet, and I got 16 done in 2:59:34. I had a green smoothie for breakfast – which I do most days, but hadn’t tried before a run previously – and I think that played a factor in the faster pace and the body feeling stronger. I’ll have to try that again.

Next week will get tougher thanks to a mid-week race/event – Koach Karl’s Hardest Half – a Fourth of July event that’ll cover approximately 16 miles and every steep, long hill in KC that Koach Karl can find. That’ll be Thursday, so I’ll be winging the rest of the schedule a bit this week. I’d like to bump the weekly mileage up to around 35 depending on how everything feels. The key is slow, steady progress with a focus on staying healthy and getting stronger.

Week One is done, and seven more weeks of hard training remain, closing out with pacing at the Leadville 100 before I get to taper for MYM50.