Photo courtesy of Vacation Races – Bryce Canyon Ultramarathons
On May 18 I will be there, doing that! I am now registered for the Bryce Canyon 50K. I wanted to do the Zion race again, but procrastinated too long and found it had been filled up. This race is a bit more challenging, having 5260 feet of elevation gain as opposed to 3125 feet feet for Zion, but I also have an extra four weeks to prepare.
My training partner Anna will also be running the race. Whereas I am just hoping to be able to run enough of the course (as opposed to walking like I was constrained to in Zion last year) so as not to get myself another DFL*, I think that Anna has what it takes to do quite well. If the race were tomorrow I would be a DNF, but I think that even in her current state of training Anna could not only finish, but do it in a respectable time. If our training goes well she could actually be a strong finisher in four months.
Anna showing no ill effects after running a 2:23 trail half marathon with virtually no training. Not a bad baseline!
As for myself, over the past few days I have once again gotten myself running on the treadmill. My strategy is to start really slow (0.5 mph) and walk uphill (working up to a 15% grade) until I can get my right foot dialed in. That is taking around 10 minutes now.
Once I am walking comfortably I start dialing up the speed. Yesterday I got up to 3 mph after 30 minutes, and when I hit 3.3 mph at 32 minutes I spontaneously broke into a run (insert happy dance here)! I did 3 minutes running 3.5 mph up a 15% grade and then dialed the grade down to 10% and upped my speed to to a blazing 4.0 mph. I was able to run quite comfortably at that speed/grade for another seven minutes. I started to feel some tightness in my left calf and decided to call it a day. My max heart rate was 148 after the 3.5 mph at 15% segment, and it dropped to 142 for that final 7 minutes at a lower grade.
On another front, I have started doing my internship hours for my Pilates certification. I need to do 62 hours each of observation and teaching. I have already accumulated seven hours of observation and four hours of teaching. All of my teaching has been in my home studio, but I also have two studios where I can work.
Elevation Studios in Signal Hill is a dance studio but several years ago they acquired a couple of reformers they haven’t made use of to date. They have also tried a couple of times to start a Mat program but couldn’t find the right teacher. They are open to having me start up a class. As for the reformers, as they are a serious dance academy, and I am getting a Pilates/Dance Conditioning certification, I think they are a untapped resource that can be used in the rehabilitation of dancers recovering from injury.
The other is my other Pilates home, Pilates X Studios in Long Beach. They have a thriving mat program with 17 springwall slots, group reformer classes for up to four, and the perfect mentor in Becky Tyo. Their policy is that students new to reformer have to take a one-on-one orientation course, and my plan is to insert myself as one who would provide that instruction. I would like to start out working one-on-one, then small groups, and finally be ready to step in as a sub. My goal is to finish up by the end of May. Until then, please let me know if you are interested in getting some free Pilates instruction.
Captain Univac 