Trail running with plenty of elevation gain this weekend in preparation for Primal Quest

Written by Cyril Jay-Rayon
Created Date: Thursday, 02 July 2009 10:56

With Primal Quest less than 7 weeks away, I've been feeling the pressure to bring all my skills up to par. My mountain biking fitness and skills are already honed in since I've been focusing mostly on 24 hours mountain biking races in the last few months and pulled off a win in my last race. But, I can't say that much about my running fitness. I've only been running short distances lately since I've been recovering from cracked ribs from a crash at the mtn bike race. I feel like I'm running like an elephant despite my lightweight frame. It's amazing how cycling specific muscles take some time to adapt to running. Still, I feel that I have enough time to bring my running up to par in time for PQ. I just need to stay disciplined and put in the hours. That's why last night after a longer than expected work day, my girlfriend (Sylvie) and I ran for 2 hours at night and got home at midnight. It's not always easy to balance all of life's responsibilities so that's why I use all hours of the day to train, work or take care of personal things. Unless you're lucky and don't have to work, most adventure racers are in the same predicament. I also need to increase my paddling distances in the coming weeks and dust off my map skills. I hate to admit it but I haven't looked at a map since the World Championships in November 2008. Like all skills, if you don't use them, you lose 'em. I'll be exploring with a map in hand from now on.

So, to take advantage of the long weekend and to kick off my long distance trail running sessions, tomorrow I'm running the first 26 miles of the Angeles Crest 100 mile race course with my business partner, Christian Burke of FeedTheMachine and SportMulti, Eric Sullivan (Sully) of team Salomon / Crested Butte who is visiting from Colorado, and Sylvie my regular and fast ultra running partner.

Just when I thought I had a good plan for tomorrow, RVG tells me that he and Rinn ( 2 of my PQ teammates) are running with Glenn along the Pacific Crest Trail (in Washington state) from Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow as well. A mere 72 miles. Man, they are definitely upping the antes! I'll be there in a few more weeks! I love the team's friendly competition to out do one another. They clearly won this time!

To rest my legs, on Saturday I'll do a long paddle followed by a picnic on the beach to celebrate the 4th (you've got to squeeze in some RnR as well). And, on Sunday, I'll do my trademark 125 mile road ride through the Santa Monica Mountains with 3 big climbs and 11,000 ft of climbing. I have to maintain my bike fitness after all!

Word from Tessa is that she is resting after winning Brazil Wild, one of Brazil's premiere Adventure Race. Rest well!

Off to do some work before the fun weekend!