Week 7: Burning + River

Purple Gas & Race Plan, Fall Practice Schedule, Weekly Goals

Purple Gas & Burning River Race Plan

I’m sure many of you have come across this song, Purple Gas, recently. Look, it’s such a great song and very obvious how relatable it is to anyone who has grown up on a farm. The ethos of doing hard things, grit and being too stubborn to quit emphasizes what every old farmer tells his grandkids with the hopes that the next generations will aspire for those types of ideals. Doing hard things leads to doing more hard things. The line that gets me is “Can’t get there goes on forever”, that’s how a 100miler feels. I absolutely love it!! Purple Gas explains my mentality to why I do just about anything. Mostly I set a goal, make it to Western States, and then I’m just too stubborn to quit.

I’m not sure that being to stubborn to quit is always a virtue but it will lead you down a path in life. I have to say that I come by it honestly, my dad was too stubborn to quit too. There were times that growing up on a farm drove me crazy. We always had to work no matter what the kind of weather, what season, what time of day or night it was, we just worked. It just goes on forever. I watched my dad work himself to death. When I was finishing college in 2006 my dad had a stroke and I came back to the farm that spring.

When I was a kid I ran everywhere on that farm, when I was tired I would climb up in the cab of the tractor with my dad and fall asleep. I was never really sure that I was going to be a farmer but I was a runner. At the end of 2006 I began training for the Boston Marathon. My Dad would drive me 20 miles into the wind on cold winter days and drop me off to run back to the farm, that way I would have a tail wind. I would get back with frozen outer layers of running gear, then it was time to milk cows. It was hard.

That spring I was substitute teaching at Fairbanks when Larry Morris asked me if I wanted to help coach track, I should have said no, I really didn’t have any spare time to coach while farming, teaching and training but dad told me I should do it. So I did. The spring of 2007 I ran the Boston Marathon and completed my first season as an assistant coach. Then Larry Morris told me the Cross Country job was open…… to stubborn to quit I guess.

The fall of 2007 was my first season coaching the CC team. I also ran the Chicago Marathon that fall. My dad was there, just a flat lander boy limping around the streets with his cane & watching his son race.

This picture hangs in the farm house as a constant reminder to be you, set goals, do hard work, be stubborn, don’t quit and leave those behind you with some inspiration because “can’t get there goes on forever”.

Burning River Race Plan

• Back to Heart Rate. Last year I didn’t worry about HR, 2 years ago I did but I’m not sure I was focused on the correct range. Before I was trying to keep it under 150bpm. This year I really want to stay between 120 - 140bpm. Hopefully that will prevent me from over cooking my engine throughout the race. As the race progresses that is going to be my key indicator for pace and if my pace slows to 11 minute miles or 12 minute miles it will be a calculated effort to maintain that HR range. I believe I can maintain a 10 minute mile pace inside of 120 - 140bpm even with a run/hike strategy.

• Nutrition. Plan 1 & Purple Gas:

  • Plan 1

    • Sunbelt peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars (130 calories, 19g carbs)

    • Welch’s Fruit Snacks mixed fruit flavor (70 calories, 17g carbs),

    • Race Gels. Nothing specific just what ever gels I’ve had left over from years past. (100 calories, 23g carbs)

    • Drip Drop - This is a packet that mixes in a water bottle. (35 calories, 9g Carbs)

    • 2 hand held water bottles, 1 with just water and the other Drip Drop mix.

    • Fueling every 40 - 50 minutes

      • 335 Calories total

      • 68g Carbs total

  • Purple Gas

    • Forage at the aid stations. I figure I already paid for the race I better get some of that back. So aid station food is going to be my Purple Gas. Every 100miler I’ve ran has been different, one year is was all pizza and coffee in the last 40 miles, last year it was Coca-cola at every aid station.

• Patience. The last 2 years I’ve taken the first 20 - 30 miles out fast and focused on getting to the 50 mile mark in less than 10 hours. Last year at the Canal Corridor I was at the half way mark around 8 1/2 hours. This year I’m hoping to be more balanced. I had a great training run over the weekend with Coach Adam, we cruised 20 miles in a 10:20ish per mile pace. Some very quick math, 10 minute miles = 6 miles per hour which projects out to being at 60miles in 10 hours. That’s the goal and still have some running legs left for the back 40 miles.

• Race Goals

  • A = 20:00 hours - Finishing around Mid-Night

    • 60miles in 10hours

  • B = 22:00 hours - Finishing around 2am

  • C = Just Finish & get entered for Western States Again.

Fall Practice Schedule

Check your Remind App this week. Fall Practice Schedule with practice dates and location will be posted.

Pre-Season Practice Days & 1st Day of Official Practice.

Tuesday July 30th - Preseason Practice we will making Tie Die t-shirts.

• Athletes provide the t-shirt, CC Program provides the Tie Die.

Wednesday July 31 - Preseason Practice

Thursday August 1 - 1st Day of Official Practice

Weekly Goals

1. Physicals & Paper work. Make sure you are getting all of this stuff taken care of before August 1st. Let us know if you have question.

2. Get signed in, steps on remind, and start sharing the popcorn fundraiser if you haven’t already!

3. Have fun at the Union County Fair.

4. Last Week before official practice, start mentally preparing for a great CC season.