100 Days. An update on how my preparation is going....
Only 100 days to go !!!
Some updates on how my preparation is going.
Training is going as planned and I'm happy to report I'm injury free (knock on wood). I got for a week some minor right knee pain but nothing which Ibrufen could not fix.
The next 3 months I will focus my training on :
As mentioned in the training section, I'm not sure I have the best backpack. I'm currently training with an Osprey Talon 33L backpack which I choose for the functionality, weight, size,etc.... When running although it does not always sit comfortable. Sometimes it does, sometimes does not. I'm trying to identify what is not working and how to solve but I'm not really successfully so far. So I'm currently investigating alternatives. The difficulty though is that the proof of the pudding is in eating the pudding, e.g. you need to actually do some running with a backpack to know how it feels. As shops do not allow any extensive testing main source of information are reviews on the Internet and some limiting testing in the shop. the models I'm currently investigating are Ultimate Direction Fastpack 35L and the WAA Ultrabag. Both backpacks are build with running in mind and have each their specific positive/negative points.
Another decision to make is which sleeping bag to take along. Limiting weight is key and warmer sleeping bags are "heavy" things. Lightweight sleeping bags exist but come at a price. From a weight perspective I found one sleeping bag at 350gr. But as mentioned it comes at a price. I normally expect to be able sleep sheltered in houses, refuges, B&B,...so normally I would not to need a very warm sleeping bag...and could do with a simple solution (Thermolite Reactor Extreme Liner) which is lightweight and not expensive....except it seems that (mostly in France) sleeping possibilities are sometimes limited to rooms/locations managed by the local council and are not always heated. The sleeping solution in mind will not do in colder environments. So I need to do some further investigation.
A decision I made on the material front is to take along running poles. Initially I decided against running poles but after reading a lot of reviews I decided to use them. As mentioned I will need to do a lot of ascents and descents and I hope using running poles will help to minimise the pressure on my knees. Based upon extensive research (I'm now a senior running pole consultant) I settled for the CARBON ULTRALITE VARIO 4 COMPACT combining a low weight (181 gr / pole) , foldable and capable to change height (one uses a different pole height when descending/ascending ! ).
Other material decisions to make : test water proof running socks see this funny Russian review to get an idea I'm talking about, which underwear, running pants ,......
Another important decision I made was to change the route I will take. Initially I planned to follow in Spain the entire Camino Frances which is the most popular camino in Spain. I decided that for the last 200 km I will take the Camino Invierno (Winter road) .The reason for my decision is that the Camino Frances is getting a little to popular : In 2016 around 277.000 people registered in SDC as Pelgrim. For 2017 an increase of 20 % is expected. The most busy part is the last 100 km from Sarria to SDC : In order to get a certificate a minimum of 100 km of pilgrimage is required. The SDC pilgrim certificate seems in Spain to help when looking for work,....as result a a lot of Spanish people (schools, scouts,...) are doing the SDC pilgrimage but limited to the 100 km. The result is that it is sometimes a challenge to find sleeping accommodation, there is a lot of noise in the albergues at night and more importantly sometimes it is difficult to pass people which is not really helpful when running.
The camino Invierno is not so well know and as result less crowded. Other advantages are that I will pass Las Médulas which is a Unesco World heritage site and that I need to cover less altimeters (the Camino Invierno was the route used in the past to avoid the snowy heights of O Cebreiro on the Camino Frances in the winter).
In one of my next posts I will provide some more information on the Camino Invierno and will update the route section.
A last update is on the tooling / communication side : when subscribed to my blog you receive an email when I post and/or update the blog. One of the addtional features is that you will be notified by mail and will be able to follow me "live" where I'm running though a Garmin livetrack link posted on this blog. The Livetrack link is visible for 24 hours. I will be experimenting the next weeks with Livetrack and would be great to get some feedback.
To close this post some pics I took when running wild and don't forget to subscribe to my blog.
T.
Some updates on how my preparation is going.
Training is going as planned and I'm happy to report I'm injury free (knock on wood). I got for a week some minor right knee pain but nothing which Ibrufen could not fix.
The next 3 months I will focus my training on :
- Continue to build my "distance " - currently I'm running around 120 K / week. I notice it is difficult to increase the distance volume due to time constraints and the fact it is almost winter : It's not always fun to run in the dark / rain.
- Backpack running : from now onwards I'm only running with a backpack in order to get used to the backpack and additional weight. Yesterday I did a 32 km run without to much problems so confident that running with a backpack and the planned weight is doable.Not sure though I have the right backpack (see further).
- Hill running : I will cover a lot of height meters during my trip. So I need to prep for running up and down. As Gent does not have any hills in the vicinity most of my hill running training is done on a treadmill in my fitness. Until know I ran weekly around 15k a hill focused program on the treadmill. From this week onward this will double : Tuesday / Thursday = Hill day !!!. Running on a treadmill has one big advantage : plenty of time for Netflix binge watching.
- Running poles running (see material section).
- Continue core stability training : I'm so core now....but not necessary stable.
As mentioned in the training section, I'm not sure I have the best backpack. I'm currently training with an Osprey Talon 33L backpack which I choose for the functionality, weight, size,etc.... When running although it does not always sit comfortable. Sometimes it does, sometimes does not. I'm trying to identify what is not working and how to solve but I'm not really successfully so far. So I'm currently investigating alternatives. The difficulty though is that the proof of the pudding is in eating the pudding, e.g. you need to actually do some running with a backpack to know how it feels. As shops do not allow any extensive testing main source of information are reviews on the Internet and some limiting testing in the shop. the models I'm currently investigating are Ultimate Direction Fastpack 35L and the WAA Ultrabag. Both backpacks are build with running in mind and have each their specific positive/negative points.
Another decision to make is which sleeping bag to take along. Limiting weight is key and warmer sleeping bags are "heavy" things. Lightweight sleeping bags exist but come at a price. From a weight perspective I found one sleeping bag at 350gr. But as mentioned it comes at a price. I normally expect to be able sleep sheltered in houses, refuges, B&B,...so normally I would not to need a very warm sleeping bag...and could do with a simple solution (Thermolite Reactor Extreme Liner) which is lightweight and not expensive....except it seems that (mostly in France) sleeping possibilities are sometimes limited to rooms/locations managed by the local council and are not always heated. The sleeping solution in mind will not do in colder environments. So I need to do some further investigation.
A decision I made on the material front is to take along running poles. Initially I decided against running poles but after reading a lot of reviews I decided to use them. As mentioned I will need to do a lot of ascents and descents and I hope using running poles will help to minimise the pressure on my knees. Based upon extensive research (I'm now a senior running pole consultant) I settled for the CARBON ULTRALITE VARIO 4 COMPACT combining a low weight (181 gr / pole) , foldable and capable to change height (one uses a different pole height when descending/ascending ! ).
Other material decisions to make : test water proof running socks see this funny Russian review to get an idea I'm talking about, which underwear, running pants ,......
Another important decision I made was to change the route I will take. Initially I planned to follow in Spain the entire Camino Frances which is the most popular camino in Spain. I decided that for the last 200 km I will take the Camino Invierno (Winter road) .The reason for my decision is that the Camino Frances is getting a little to popular : In 2016 around 277.000 people registered in SDC as Pelgrim. For 2017 an increase of 20 % is expected. The most busy part is the last 100 km from Sarria to SDC : In order to get a certificate a minimum of 100 km of pilgrimage is required. The SDC pilgrim certificate seems in Spain to help when looking for work,....as result a a lot of Spanish people (schools, scouts,...) are doing the SDC pilgrimage but limited to the 100 km. The result is that it is sometimes a challenge to find sleeping accommodation, there is a lot of noise in the albergues at night and more importantly sometimes it is difficult to pass people which is not really helpful when running.
The camino Invierno is not so well know and as result less crowded. Other advantages are that I will pass Las Médulas which is a Unesco World heritage site and that I need to cover less altimeters (the Camino Invierno was the route used in the past to avoid the snowy heights of O Cebreiro on the Camino Frances in the winter).
In one of my next posts I will provide some more information on the Camino Invierno and will update the route section.
A last update is on the tooling / communication side : when subscribed to my blog you receive an email when I post and/or update the blog. One of the addtional features is that you will be notified by mail and will be able to follow me "live" where I'm running though a Garmin livetrack link posted on this blog. The Livetrack link is visible for 24 hours. I will be experimenting the next weeks with Livetrack and would be great to get some feedback.
To close this post some pics I took when running wild and don't forget to subscribe to my blog.
T.
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| On the road |
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