Running in 2026
I’m in the alps as I write this, fresh off of my first proper 100k. I don’t think RUFA Mt. Sentinel really counts since it was a fixed time race, but it was an important stepping stone. I’m currently living at the Alpiness co-working space in Switzerland, where I’ll be for another few weeks before heading to Corsica. I’m in the midst of the post-race come-down, so doing something creative for myself feels important.
I wanted to write this because running, fitness, training, whatever- feels like a multi-year journey at this point. Lots of things have worked, in ways surprising to me, and other things haven’t. I’m belligerantly self-coached, so wins and observations are just as important as following the process. I wrote one of these last year and I’m a sucker for cyclical writing, so here we are.
What worked (in no particular order)
- Prioritizing consistency and recovery- the most basic thing ever, but volume indicates performance more than anything else. Putting in at least 10 hours every way of aerobic activity has paid off in really surprising ways. I’m healthier, I recover better, my running economy has gotten better, and the snowball effect is massive. The more I run, the more I can run.
- Exposure to different heartrates - knowing what I can hold and for how long. Starting to do threshold workouts at least once a week let me hold a solid 160+ heartrate for ~90 minutes at the Cirque Series Alyeska race. I felt great!
- Overspeed downhills- I had one instance of training for RUFA where I did four Sentinel laps as my long run for the week, and I took each of the descents on the NW Ridge at very fast speeds. I felt absolutely bomb proof once I’d recovered. Noticable strength increases feel rare for me, I kind of just truck along trusting the process.
- Combo workouts - 5x3:00/3:00 uphill, followed by a couple fast mile repeats with a jog-down in between. I really think these worked great, and I got the idea from an older Adam Peterman video. I really felt these at The Minotaur, where the last 5k or so is on the road. I managed to keep just around 8:00/mile pace after 19 miles and 10,000 feet of gain, which feels huge for me. I am not a fast flat runner (something I hope to fix this fall).
- Hydration- if you’re not rehydrating after activities, you are not recovering. Recovering is the most important thing, thats where all the work happens. Put the sodium in. Get the fluids down. You need to feel good the next day for the next run.
- Sleep more - 7.5 hours is not enough. 9 hours is the magic number when volume and intensity are rising.
- Self check-ins - Too many weeks of hard work and not enough recovery is bad. Sometimes just dropping back to a week of long, slow, easy cardio is really nice. You can recover properly without losing any fitness. You might even get faster after one of these.
- Easy days even easier, but longer - Doing an hour of slow, flat road work is super valuable. Let the legs recover from too much vert the day before, and give the heart a real break, but still hand out some stimulus.
- Pre-season strength training - I actually made a long-term plan this year, a full-ass spreadsheet. I sort of used it, but not really. It was more like a broad outline I use to figure out when to taper. Importantly, I planned a two week transition from skimo racing to running. This wasn’t really enough for me, and I ended up with a weird calf injury after a week of flat running in Florida. Strength training really helped rehab this and prep it for long days, so now I know: More strength, better transition period.
What didn’t work
- Sentinel threshold workouts- 30 minutes of 160+ BPM was just too hard to recover from, and I can’t really tell how much good it did. Towards the end of the season I was comfortable holding that, but after a few weeks of those work-outs I was totally fried. It didn’t really pan out at the sentinel hill climb either, which was a disappointment for me. I think uphill speed gains are better made in the sub-3:00 minute category paired with shorter flat speedwork. Not sure yet.
- Trying to lose weight- In my 20s, I could handle enough hard Zone 4 work to just lose weight whenever. Now that I’m running and trying to survive a lot more impact, if I cut too much food out I end up getting close to injury. The warning signs start to show up: Pain in the shins, poor energy, irritability, lack of motivation. Not good. I do want to lose a bit of weight since I’m a solid 10 kilos higher than I need to be, but I would like to do it responsibly. I prioritize the activity above all else, but there are gains to be had here.
- 2x Workouts a week, strength and a long run- I just can’t handle it. I would plan the first workout and strength day on Tuesday, barely survive Wednesday, still not recovery by Thursday, and end up taking Friday off. I backed off the strength since I was sore well into Saturday most weeks, and that seemed to be more sustainable. I will revisit this now that I’m a bit fitter, maybe with lighter weight and shorter workouts.
- Too much fast descending- my knee tendons aren’t what they used to. If I bust out a 10,000 foot week out of nowhere, I will pay for it. I’ve got some rehab exercises for this now, but I would rather be slightly more careful and just have healthy knees. Scale slowly.
- Too many fast, flat days- running fast on the road or the track is pretty fun, but you really have to be careful with how much you do. If I do three days in a row of too much speed, my left Plantar starts to flare up and it takes a very long time to heal. Speed is good, in doses.
- Imbalances - a full season of running has left me with all sorts of weird imbalances. My left calf is weaker in some positions and stronger in others than my right. My right glute gets more work than my left. I’m sure I have a strange gait. This will need to be adressed in the off-season with unilateral strength workouts.
Next-up
This is mostly written up from some notes I took on my phone while sitting in fear waiting for the 100k to start. My next few goals are more personal, which is nice because they aren’t time-bound like a race. I can’t stand having a race looming over me all the time, it’s stressful.
Fast 5k - I’m not even sure what this means for me. I’ve never done sub-20. Sub-18 would be cool. I just want to see what I can do.
A fast mile - My PR is 5:09, I would love to get this under 5:00.
Running around in the desert- Santa Fe in New Mexico looks lovely in the fall. I just want to have some slow, fastpacky trips down there.
One Hundred Sentinel Laps - I’ve done 50 this year. Only 50 more to go.
Fastpacking - Fall in the Bitterroot mountain range is amazing. I think the volunteer trail workers have cleared out a lot of deadfall too, so it would be amazing to get way back in there and camp.
Skimo Prep - I want to give it a serious go this year. Try to get on the podium for the VK in thebig sky skimo cup. It’s a fun sport and the community is amazing.
Lose a little weight, get stronger, fix imbalances - self-care. I’m inspired to tear it up. I am aerobically fitter than I’ve ever been ,but I think 26 year old me could still beat me uphill just due to the ceiling I used to have. I want to get that back.
STORM THE HEAVENS AND CONQUER DEATH.
