Oh My God, What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

I've bitten off a pretty big spring/summer season:

Vancouver Marathon on May 1st

Relay team entry into the Sinister 7 on July 9/10.


I'll be running leg 5 for the relay, which consists of ~30km of trails with 2500" of elevation gain.

I think my endurance will be good after training for the marathon, so I'll most likely take a week off of running then hit some event-specific training up until the relay.

Another option that I'm contemplating is signing up for a 10k trail clinic in March, helping build strength for the marathon while leaving my Sundays open for long runs.

They say there's nothing like racing to get you in shape, no doubt the marathon will get you in great form for your relay. May is going to come up fast.

I hope it doesn't rain on you too much this winter. You don't do treadmill/indoor running do you?

What kind of shoes/gear do you use when running in the rain? I figure I'm going to get totally soaked regardless of what I wear. But chafing is sure unpleasant and seems to happen a lot faster when you're wet.

Skye

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Skye
What kind of shoes/gear do you use when running in the rain? I figure I'm going to get totally soaked regardless of what I wear. But chafing is sure unpleasant and seems to happen a lot faster when you're wet.

Bodyglide is something that becomes a very close friend when it's wet out. Most of my other gear doesn't really change. I might throw on a long sleeve shirt, always synthetic, instead of a short sleeve/singlet, but that depends on the temperature and wind. If it's particularly nasty I'll start my run with gloves on, usually removing them before too long.

Who are you doing the relay with, folks from work?

The Sinister 7 course looks amazing... running through the Rockies is going to be an experience. Haven't been to that area but I'd imagine it's something like Kicking Horse. Plus Fairmont & Radium hot springs are close by :)

Yeah, a couple of friends from work and some friends of one of them. I've read a lot on the race this week, and it seems to be pretty grueling. I have no idea how to train for the altitude in Vancouver.

This article came across my inbox, might be interesting:

Do Altitude Training Masks Work for Endurance Athletes?

The upshot: "The short answer to the question of whether you should invest in an altitude training mask is: No. But, as with so many things in sports science, there’s more to the story because there can be benefits to exercising in a hypoxic environment, they’re just not the ones you normally associate with altitude training."

http://trainright.com/do-altitude-training-masks-work-for-endurance-athletes/

I wonder if there's anything like the High Altitude Training Center (HATC) in Colorado Springs available in Vancouver