Surviving Ultra

Because DFL is still an accomplishment

Category: Uncategorized

  • Max Shred Month 2

    Over the course of the summer I decided to run the AthleanX Max Shred program as a compliment to all of the hiking and other outdoor activities I find myself involved in and have been combining that with use of the Macrofactor app to lean out a bit.  So far, the pair has been a great combination. I’ve managed to shed a few pounds and I’ve noticed work capacity improvements from trying to complete the program at alarm level 4.  More importantly, with the use of the Macrofactor app, I’ve been able to drop weight at a rate that I am able to preserve muscle at and actually think I may have even made some gains from the large number of inverted rows present in the program so far. 

    Month 2 nicely builds on the foundation laid out in month 1, but pushes you harder by adding a second lift to each day’s workout and changing from 3 to 4 strength training workouts.  It’s a nice way to progressively add difficulty to the program.   The hundreds of reps of bodyweight squats and jumping exercises that are programmed each week have also been a great way to enhance muscular endurance in the legs. 

    I’m getting ready to close out month 2 and move onto month 3, which ups the difficulty again, by replacing the bodyweight movements entirely with lifting based circuits.  I really like the way the program has phased in an increased amount of lifting starting from just bodyweight in week 1 and then having the user perform one lift per workout in weeks 2-4.  In weeks 5-8 it progresses to 2 lifts per workout, and finally in weeks 9-12 is composed entirely of lifting in a circuit-based fashion.  For an experienced lifter the bodyweight elements provide a nice break for the joints and tendons while still getting results and for a novice it’s a nice way to gradually ease into lifting.  A great program so far.

  • Rainbow Falls

    While most visitors to Minnewaska Park seem to favor the gravel carriage roads and the major sites like Lake Minnewaska and Awosting Falls, some of the more interesting sites are found on the much less used footpaths that are found throughout the park.  One such footpath I recently explored is the Rainbow Falls footpath, which contains the Rainbow Falls waterfall in the section of the trail found between the Upper and Lower Awosting carriage roads.  The trail was not as clearly marked as it could be in spots, which led to some searches for the next marker at a few points, but was nevertheless a great experience overall. 

    For those that just want to view the waterfall and avoid most of the technical aspects of the footpath it is most easily approached by starting the Rainbow Falls footpath at the point where it intersects with the Upper Awosting carriage road and then taking the same path back to the carriage road. 

  • Macrofactor

    One of the things I encountered over the course of my last two training blocks is that the additional running really upped my appetite and I suspect I was at times over compensating in the calories I was consuming as I gained a few pounds.  While some of that weight was additional muscle mass from the max strength days in both the Tactical Barbell Base Build and the MTI Max Strength + 6 Mile Run programs (my lifts went up a bit in both) not all of it was.  Furthermore, my speed and endurance would probably benefit from a bit of a cut, but in cutting I’d like to ensure that my macros are on point to minimize any muscle loss. 

    In order to achieve this, I decided to give the app Macrofactor a try.  When you first set it up you fill out a questionnaire that it uses to estimate your TDEE and from there you “weigh-in” periodically to track your progress.  Based on your weight changes it learns how your metabolism works and updates your TDEE.  Your learned TDEE is than viewed in the context of a cut, bulk, or maintain goal and the app gives you a breakdown of the macros and calories you should be consuming to meet that goal.  It readjusts these targets every week to account for any changes to your TDEE. I like the way it calculates a trend weight for these calculations that smooths out the noise seen in scale weights from the daily weigh-ins. 

    I’ve been using the app for a couple of weeks now and seems to be working well.  Logging food is less painful than I thought it would be and the act of logging alone I have found extremely informative and beneficial.  Seeing the nutritional breakdown of certain foods has definitely helped to pinpoint some unexpected areas for improvement and I find seeing the numbers makes me more likely to hold myself accountable when I’m pondering that extra cookie. 

    The recommendations on calorie intake seems to be in a sustainable range as well and performance has not suffered when following their recommendations so far. I’ve also managed to drop about a pound (trend weight) in my first two weeks of using the app.  I think this app was a great find and I’m looking forward to using it keep nutrition in line to support my strength and endurance goals. 

  • AthleanX Max Shred

    I’ve been a fan of AthleanX programs for a long time and have successfully run a number of them over the years in conjunction with ultra prep.  I tend to pick programs that have a mix of strength and conditioning training in them and will typically replace the general conditioning workouts with running, rucking, or hiking sessions as they are more sport specific. I’ve also been able to run them in the past with a few two-a-days mixed in here and there and still managed to recover well. 

    As such, I think an AthleanX program will be more suitable for me to run in conjunction with a summer full of exploration.  I still want to prioritize building my aerobic base, but will hold off on running another MTI program until I can give it the attention and focus required to perform well in the workouts and recover well from them.

    The AthleanX program I have chosen to run is Max Shred.  It’s a conditioning centric program that uses circuit training for the strength days mixed with a couple of conditioning workouts each week.  While not everyone benefits from the same exercise techniques to the same extent, circuit training is something that my body traditionally responds really well to. The strength circuits when run with minimal rest also turn out to be quite the cardio workout and will contribute to my aerobic and, probably even more so, anaerobic endurance.  I’m nearing the end of the first month of the program and have seen definite work capacity and endurance improvements.  I’m also finding myself starting to lean out a little more which will also help with my running speed.  Really enjoying the program and looking forward to seeing the further improvements I can make as the difficulty scales up in months 2 and 3. 

  • Minnewaska State Park

    The long summer days provide a great time to explore and run/hike trails that require a bit of travel to get to them. Even with a couple of hours of driving, there is still more than enough daylight hours to get a nice adventure in.  Minnewaska State Park is one such destination I like to frequent.  It’s a park in upstate NY on the Shawangunk mountain range that features three lakes, a plethora of cliffs and ledges with panoramic views, and several waterfalls.  Besides the great natural beauty of the park, it is also an amazing place to train as it features trails of diverse difficulty levels.  The park has an extensive network of carriage roads which are gravel covered manicured trails that are easy to run on, but also contains a variety of more technical trails if roots and rocks are more to your liking.  This park will continue to be a frequent destination for me as I continue to train this summer. 

    The pic attached to this post is from the Upper Awosting trail which connects Lake Minnewaska to Lake Awosting.  Taking the Upper Awosting trail to the lake, circumnavigating the lake with the Lake Awosting trail, and taking the Castle Point trail back is a favorite route of mine.  Although, the Lake Awosting trail is currently closed for the 2025 season as they restore it.

  • MTI Max Effort Strength + 6 Mile Run Finishing Thoughts

    I enjoyed the program and it worked as advertised in that I was able to make a modest improvement to my squat and maintain strength in my other lifts.  For the bench press, the reps were coming easier towards the end of the program and I’m at a point where I can do more reps with the same weight but probably not quite ready to add more weight to the bar yet.  I was also able to make improvements in my run times and my 10K time started to improve by the halfway point in the program.  The chassis integrity days were awesome and I found them a great way to train the core.

    The training was effective, but I admit that I did have to put a focus on proper recovery to perform well in the program and I had to keep my sleep and nutrition on point.  I often like to go hiking on the weekends and using a couple of rest days to hike and not just focus on recovery combined with the need to wake a bit earlier than usual for a few days did have me feeling a bit fatigued toward the end.  While this is not a fault of the program, it is a training consideration in terms of when to run a training block like this as training often has to be balanced with other activities. 

    I see myself using MTI programs again in the future, but given I have an active summer of adventures planned, I may modify my plan to run the MTI Max Effort Strength and Aerobic Capacity plan as a next step and opt for a training regimen that has a bit less intensity in it so I can better pair my training with other physical activities I enjoy without burning out.  Next steps will be laid out soon. 

  • Cross Training in Bad Weather

    I don’t mind running in the rain, the heat, the cold, or other less than optimal conditions outdoors as I enjoy being out in nature much more than thought of hammering away on a human hamster wheel. Nevertheless, there are some days where it is just not a great idea to run outside.  For me the criteria for establishing this is based on the risk of injury rather than comfort.  Is the terrain going to be too slippery from ice, is the visibility going to be so poor that I’m at increased risk of being hit by a car, has an outbreak of forest fires made the air quality too bad, etc? The biggest potential training set back I can think of would be to suffer an injury. 

    Thus, on the days that I’m scheduled to run but find myself having to stay indoors (or just in need of a break from running), the exercises I tend to turn to are as follows:

    1. Stair Climber – I’ve found this a great way to cross train for really steep ultras and is one of my go to cross training activities when preparing for hilly terrain.  An hour on the stair climber once or twice a month can be great prep for hiking up hills.
    2. Rowing – This is my go to when I want an activity that will keep working on my aerobic base, but I find myself in need of a break from the impact of running.  I love the total body nature of the workout and enjoy the core endurance aspects of it which can be beneficial in maintaining good form in the later stages of a race. Sometimes I will also use rowing as a way to add in an extra zone 2 workout for the week without significantly increasing the impact forces my body endures. 

    While I know others swear by cross training with a stationary bike, ellipticals, or other indoor options the stair climber and the rowing machine are the two modalities I find meet the two most important criteria for me of providing a benefit and being tolerable enough to stick with for the entire session.  I might even go as far as saying rowing is something that I find enjoyable.

  • MTI Max Effort Strength + 6 Mile Run Initial Thoughts

    I’m in week 3 of this training plan and enjoying the program. The program is more intense than my previous Tactical Barbell Base Building block, but I have been responding to the training well so far.  I have managed to shave 4 minutes off a very hilly 10K route that I like to run regularly and I have reached a point that I could consider adding another 10 pounds to my squat for some progressive overload if I wanted to.  I’ve been able to maintain my strength in my other lifts without issue, which means the program is delivering on what it promises – maintenance or slight increases of strength with concurrent improvements in 10K run times. 

    One of the features I am really enjoying in the program is the chassis integrity days that target “getting the legs, core, and upper body to work together as one” as I can see those workouts being a huge benefit in longer races and rucks.  I’m looking forward to seeing how these chassis integrity workouts positively impact my performance over time.

    For now, I am holding off on progressing the weights on any lifts until the end this program and the start of the next, so I can keep running the focus, but will up the weights where warranted when I start my next program in a few weeks.

  • Getting Ready for the Next Challenge

    The Spartan Ultra from 2 weeks ago gave me the confidence that I am progressing and improving as an ultramarathoner and that my training is moving me in the right direction, as for the first time I was not struggling to make a cut off.  I suspect, however, part of why I did well was the steepness of the race and the fact that the cutoffs were designed around a course that hiking the majority of it was assumed.  I think I have developed a very high work capacity but that I still need to continue to improve as a runner.  I suspect that I would not have been anywhere near as close to the front of the pack if it had been a race with less elevation gain and more runnable terrain.  To test this, I have registered for a trail marathon in November that features an elevation gain of only around 2.5K feet.  While not flat, this is a course that will be significantly more runnable than my last race and will allow me to test my theory.  When I eventually put a 50 miler on the calendar I want to make sure to pick a course that will play to my particular strengths and weaknesses and so I want to put this to the test. 

    An early November race date gives me roughly six months to train for it and I intend to do so by following a true marathon prep program for the first time, albeit one that maintains an element of strength training.  Given the time I have to prepare for the race, I intend to pursue the following build up in prepping for the event:

    1. Finish the Mountain Tactical Institute (MTI) Max Effort Strength and 6 mile Run program that I’m currently running
    2. Move onto the MTI Max Effort Strength and Aerobic Base program
    3. End with the MTI Meathead Marathon plan which is designed to build more strength focused athletes up towards being able to run marathon distances. 

    If all goes well, I’m hoping be ready to run and not power hike the vast majority of the course. 

  • Recovered and Back At It

    After last Saturday’s Spartan Ultra, I gave myself a full week of recovery and am back to training today.  I made the decision to reset the calendar on the MTI Max Effort Strength + 6 Mile Run program and begin again from day 1, since I had not yet progressed very deep into the program.  While some of the reps in the workout seemed a little harder to me than they would of pre-Ultra, I was able to complete the workout without issue and it felt great to get back to training.  The only minor modification I am making to the program is, for the deadlift portion on the lifting days, I have decided to use a training max and not a true max for the lift calculations to make the lifting days a bit less fatiguing and to allow for better performance on the next days runs.  Overall, I can see this program helping to make further improvements to my running speed and am looking forward to the completing the next 6 weeks.