Dino's Epic 2017 Thought Starters
I have been thinking quite a bit about next year now that Lake Placid 2016 is in the rear view mirror... I have a couple things left this year - The Levi Leipheimer Grand Fondo in Santa Rosa in October and a local 1/2 marathon I sponsor in Azusa in November. I may bump that up to a full marathon if I think I can get the volume in.
Looking at the last few years, I think I am going to get off the Ironman hamster wheel and go Epic 2017. The thinking is that I have done five full IMs in the past four years. That means I have had a full on the calendar for 5 years. Many in the house have done A LOT more racing than me, but I am getting a little bored. So in 2017, I want to try some other dumb fitness challenges plus a 70.3 and then likely return to the full in 2018 recharged.
The key races will be the Leadville 100 mountain bike race (gotta get in first) and likely a trail ultra (50 miles). I have planned a couple marathons in the early part of the year as big training days for an April ultra. Plus, I have never run a marathon outside of an Ironman, so it should be interesting.
For Leadville, I need to qualify. For that I am thinking about betting my Lake Placid fitness and doubling down with a MTB block to perform a qualifier in Flagstaff in 3 weeks. The race is called the "Barn Burner 104" and will likely be a sh#t show since I am not gonna be in top shape. If it is a bust, I can always try the Tahoe 100k in July as a final shot at a qualifier for Leadville next August. I don't like that approach because it makes Tahoe a bit do or die, but such is life.... Also, I think qualifying/roll down/ lottery for Leadville is much easier than Kona.
So the theme for next year is do BIG bike and run stuff and see what happens....
Thoughts? Feedback? Advice? Anyone else thinking of a non-traditional season?
Comments
1-Qualify.. not easy, it takes Kona like bike fitness to do it.
2-qualifier lottery - read up on the Leadville website. At each LT100 qualifier, they distribute roughly half of an events slots to outright qualifiers, then they take the other half and anyone who finishes within a time limit can enter the lottery. Generally speaking there is less demand for LV from these events than there is for Kona, EG - it can roll down a bit..
3-Lottery
4-charity entry - there are a few, first descents is a big one. CAF may have slots, I will know when they are available and get it out to the team. There is also an official leadville charity on their site.
5-The leadville camp of Champions (1 of 2 weekends around 7/4) gives you a gtd entry to LT100 for $2000 camp/entry fee. Does not include lodging, etc..
there may be others, but I think that basically covers it!
I am assuming that most people have 2017 planned and sticking in LV is going to be difficult.. to do leadville right, we could get a group together. Hire / recruit a support team to help us. The Support team would be 1-2 Bike Mechanics (like the guy Rich hires for TOC), we'd need a tent at both aid stations (Pipeline & Twin Lakes) with multiple people there to help with our nutrition... This is THE best way to get things done. I am in for '18 if anyone else wants to try and advance plan for that. I would plan on doing another full week or TWO in LV prior to the race.
Training for LV - you've got the master in your neighborhood. This is about three things, the bike, the bike, the bike.
Seriously, it's about climbing, wattage & Body Comp... All three you can improve on. Learn to REALLY diet, PM me and i can tell you what i did to drop 10lbs between Al camp & LP six weeks later. Nothing had a greater impact on my LP performance than my body comp.
climb hills, on your ROAD bike... You have the best training ground in your backyard. I'd be doing days and days of repeats on Chantry.
the ONLY thing I'd do on the MTB is to work on your skills. Particularly, very slow speed, steep climbing. I'd need to look at the course for AZ to see if it is long climbs, or more up & down like Austin... but MTB is about going hard for a shorter amount of time (except LV where you have some long climbs) and then costing down hill aggressively.. (you can work on that too on the MTB)
100 mile run could be too much for me. A 50 miler? Maybe....
Excellent, thought you were doing it in '17.... save me a BR in the rental for '18