The Master Plan

Everyone trains to their own needs, to what makes them feel good. I tend to do a lot of cross training. My running during a week only consist of one long run and two 20 minute runs, but I also teach spinning classes, so I really don't feel the need to run much, I get more than enough cardio. To give you an idea of my long runs, here's what I have planned.

THE LONG RUN PLAN
Date Distance
1-Jul 10 miles
8-Jul 18 miles
15-Jul 12 miles
22-Jul 20 miles
29-Jul 10 miles
5-Aug 25 miles
12-Aug 12 miles
19-Aug 30 miles
26-Aug 10 miles
2-Sep 35 miles
9-Sep 12 miles
16-Sep 40 miles
23-Sep 20 miles
30-Sep 10 miles

As long as I get close to that distance I feel good, some days I may or may not reach the distance, it all depends on how much energy I have and how my week went. As for working out with weights, I do that too. I usually stick with a weight workout for 2-3 weeks, and then I switch it up, just to work other muscles and to not get bored with doing the same over and over. Usually runners lift light weights at high repetitions for endurance, I tend to lift heavy weights at low repetitions, just my preference. I want people to see me and not think I'm a distance runner. I base my workouts on the F.I.T. Principle:

Cardirespiratory Fitness

Frequency - 3-5 days per week

Intensity - 55 - 90% of Maximal heart rate
or an RPE of 12-15 (somewhat hard to hard)

Time - At least 20 consecutive minutes


Muscular Fitness

Frequency - 2-3 days per week

Intensity - 70 to 85% of maximal weight you can lift
or an RPE of 13-16 (somewhat hard to very hard)

Time - 1-3 sets of 8-12 lifts for each set

Why 100 Days?

It all starts with patience and consistency, today is day 100 from my next running challenge. I plan on running the Man Against Horse 50 mile trail run in Prescott, Arizona, on October 6, 2007. ( www.managainsthorse.com ) From now til October 6th, I will be sharing my workouts, philosophies, and thoughts on what it takes to prepare for this run. The method of training that I use is called "Kaizen". Kaizen is a Japanese expression for constant small improvements. In other words, the Japanese see value in a progran that makes a 1% improvement 100 times, resulting in more than a 100% improvement (due to the compounding effect). The American way is to make a one-time change of 100%, so now tell me which do you think has the greater chance for success? I will show you.

Grand Canyon Adventure

Of all the people who visit the Grand Canyon, only 2% visit Havasupai.  

On Thursday May 31, we arrived at  Hualapai Hilltop at 11:30pm, it was a full moon, the canyon looked bright.  We were six hikers; Trish, Brad, and myself were first time Havasupai Hikers, while Rick, Athens, and Adam have been there many times and are experienced when it comes to hiking Havasupai.  We decided to sleep at the hilltop and begin our journey at 3:30am. From the Hilltop to the Village its about 8 miles, along the way we took some pictures. (pictured below left to right, Adam, Trish, & Brad)

At around 7:00 am you must be on a lookout for what they call the mule pack trains, or else your trip could end quickly.

(Will have to Upload video soon)

We arrived at the village around 7:30am, first thing we did was walk into a store and checked out the pricing on food. A box of cereal sells for $7.50, but what caught our attention was Tang, a small container of Tang in powder was $12.00, which immediatly made me say "God Tang". (pictured below is the whole group arriving at the village. Brad, Trish, Adam, Rick, & Athens). 

After checking in at the village we headed to the cafeteria. At the Cafeteria we ate big breakfast burritos, which were good and not greasy at all.  The burritos are priced between $5-$7.  Then off we were to the campgrounds, another 2 miles.  As you head to the campgrounds you see two of the waterfalls, Navajo Falls, and Havasu Falls.  Navajo Falls tumbles 75 feet into a refreshing pool, that is excellent for swimming.  Havasu Falls plunges 100 feet into a pool of blue-green waters, it is one of the most photographed waterfall in the world.  At the campgrounds we set up next to this swinging rope.

After setting up, and jumping into the year-round 70 degree water, we decide to get out and head over to Havasu Falls, about 1/4 mile away from where we were camping. 

Late that afternoon we decide to walk about a mile from campgrounds to see Mooney Falls.  Mooney Falls is roaring thunderous falls that drops about 200 feet. Access is only possible by climbing down a narrow ledge, this was just a sneak peak of what was ahead for us on day 2.  (Picture below is on top of Mooney Falls)

Saturday morning we are up early, our plan is to go to Mooney Falls, from there hike another 4 miles to Beaver Falls, which is a series of cascades at the conflux of beaver and Havasu canyons.  Rick, Athens, & Adam's plan was to make it to the Colorado River, another 4 miles from Beaver Falls.  We started early at 7:00am to beat the heat and to avoid a long wait going down Mooney. 

off we were to Beaver Falls for about 4 miles and along the way we saw, small cascades, a field of grapevines, and lots, and lots of lizards.

About 3.5 miles into the hike, we had to rock climb about 15-20 feet.

After the rock climb, we continued another 10 minutes, all that was needed was to continue the trail heading down and to turn the corner of the canyon and we would have been at Beaver Falls (like 5 more minutes), but we came across a Desert Big Horn Sheep.  At that point we decided to see if it would leave, we waited for about 30 minutes, but it continued to eat, we choose not to disturb the animal. 

So we were on our way back to Mooney Falls, we did not reach Beaver Falls, but we were lucky to see a desert big horn sheep.

Rick, Athens, & Adam did manage to make it to the Colorado River, the furthest they had gone, and in the afternoon we all shared our stories and laughed like we did throughout the trip.  In the afternoon we packed, and Sunday at 1:00 am, Trish, Brad, and I began our hike to the top.  For 10 miles Trish lead the way, and 5 hours later we were on top of the hilltop for our last photos. 

We calculated that in 51 hours we hiked 37 miles, hiking uphill my pack weighed 32 lbs. Hiking downhill it must have weighed 35-40 lbs.  Next time I must pack lighter.  Had Adam not showed us how to adjust our packs, I would be hurting.  Had Rick, Athens, & Adam, not hiked with us I don't think we would have not covered what we covered.  We are definitely going back late July – Mid August, with a larger group, so if you're interested in going contact me at saul@moja2run.com.  There are many options to get to the village, you can ride a helicopter for about $90 one way trip. 

For more info visit http://www.havasupaitribe.com/waterfalls.html