Training for the Lynch Canyon Trail Run 2014

My comeback is a work in progress!

Me, running the 2013 Lynch Canyon Trail Run

I posted an article about a month ago stating that I wanted to gauge my fitness and whether or not I was improving by running the Lynch Canyon Trail Run for the 2nd time. If I beat last years time that would be a pretty strong indicator of improvement and give me confidence as I draw closer to the races I have planned this fall. Normally I seek out races I have never run before so I never really have a chance to compare this years race to last years race. Lynch Canyon is only a month away and I'm getting pumped about the comparison. In 2013 I was in pretty good shape. I wouldn't say top condition but I was logging a fair amount of miles and had set some PR's in the marathon and the 50k a few months earlier so I was certainly not "out of shape". This year is a completely different story.

This year's Lynch Canyon Trail Run will be the key to my success in 2014

 

 If you follow this blog then you know I am focusing in on the Ultra Half Series put on by Brazen Racing this year. Last year I did not run very many races in that series but I did run the Lynch Canyon Trail Run for the first time and it is very similar to the Ultra Half Series, in it's own way. (Click the link to read my race review) I challenged myself to run this race in under 2 1/2 hours last year and accomplished that goal in a big way, 2:16:30!!! I will run this race again this year and I will beat the 2 hour mark which is going to be monumental if I can pull it off. The end result will make me that much better in the Ultra Series and give me the reassurance that my training is on the right track.


The Lynch Canyon course has about 3000' of elevation gain and that (IMHO) makes it an "Ultra" half. Lynch Canyon is not technical single track on rock strewn and root covered trails, quite the opposite. This race is almost entirely on wide track trails cutting through pastoral grasslands with rolling hills for as far as the eyes can see. Sounds lovely doesn't it! It is a beautiful park but don't be fooled by its beauty. If it is a hot day you will need to have a strategy in place for that because this course is 99% exposed. If I were to describe it, I would say this course is the love child of the Contra Loma Regional Parks and the Marin Headlands with a sprinkling of Mt Diablo. Think steep, hot and super runnable with fast downhills. Chris Abess, the race director for this event described it perfectly to me last year when we were talking just before the start of the race, he said "This course is death by a thousand nicks" and that proved to be the perfect description!