Posts Tagged: trails and tarmac coaching

Overview / Geography / Trails

The Idaho Mountain Trail Ultra Festival—better known as “IMTUF 100”—takes place in mid-September just outside of McCall, Idaho. Runners get to enjoy about 22,000 feet of climbing and descending, which range from many miles of smooth cruiser trails, to abrupt 1,000+ feet per mile rocky and loose proper mountain running.

TLDR: Be prepared to climb, sweat,and pack your own nutrition for this minimally supported 50k. The backcountry terrain and expansive views are breathtaking and worth coming back for. At the very least, scroll for amazing race pictures by James Holk. 

This Saturday, February 29th, Trails and Tarmac coaches, Camelia Mayfield and Rachel Drake will be competing in the Olympic Trials Marathon.  Along with 509 other women, they will have the opportunity to qualify for an Olympic Team and represent team USA in Tokyo.

A 2016 Trials qualifier himself, Coach David Laney asked both Camelia and Rachel a few questions about the transition from trail to road and eventually back to trail again.

 

A little background might help. 2018 was pretty much a year off from racing and a significant reduction in training. All the training and racing of the previous 10 years just piled up and it was clear some real rest was in order. So that’s what I did. As the year came to a close I found myself happily fit. I cut an hour off a favorite 26 mile mountain loop, all of the sudden I was running faster on my everyday runs (still at easy effort) and started doing some light workouts. I’d heard great things about Rocky Raccoon 100 and since I really prefer the 100 mile distance I decided it would be a good first race of 2019. 

Wildfire and wildfire smoke seem to be the biggest reason races are cancelled in the Western US right now. Smoke used to roll through the small towns bordering wild lands, now smoke blankets major metropolitan areas for weeks cancelling events from 5k’s to ultramarathons. A cancelled race pales in comparison to the devastation experienced by people and land that suffer directly from these huge fires. It is still a big bummer to have apocalyptic conditions become the norm, and have something you worked hard and trained for, cancelled. This has been a reality for me every summer since 2013 when smoke over took the Rogue Valley for weeks. Events were cancelled and running moved indoors to the dreaded treadmill. This week the North Face Endurance Challenge events, for very good reason, were cancelled, leaving many runners wondering what to do. Zach Miller wisely advises runners on twitter to make lemonade out of lemons! I could not agree more, so lets dive a little deeper into what your options are, and how to make the best out of possible future cancellations.

It’s a Beautiful Day in Chicago

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So many guys had great races in 2015, I’m really honored to be named the 2015 UltraRunner of the Year.

The fact is ultrarunnning isn’t about times, awards, buckles, trail selfies or the newest gear.  For most of us trail running is about overcoming obstacles and working towards the goals we have set for ourselves.

TNF 50 Mile 2015

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As the sun rose to the East and the Pacific broke to the West, I was caught in between running up the ridge dividing these two worlds.

Every year for the last four I have raced The North Face 50 mile in the Marin Headlands, CA. It has become an ultrarunning proving ground for me, and a lot of other guys and gals. The course is somewhat smooth, but consistently hilly making the race tough enough to be considered a solid trail race, at least by American standards. The trend of younger runners trying their hand at the 50 mile distance at TNF was more true in 2015 than ever. It’s the norm for 21-24 year olds to be out in force.

The Trails and Tarmac Story

Trails and Tarmac was an idea born five years ago during our time at Southern Oregon University. As captains of the cross country team our job was to get the best out of ourselves, and our teammates. Our ability to do this culminated with a national cross country title in 2010. Between all the running we actually spent some time in the classroom. For our senior capstone projects we wrote business plans that mirrored our role as runners and leaders. We hoped to one day have the resources and experience to execute those plans. Today we do, and that business is Trails and Tarmac.

After graduating college and escaping the endless cycle of 5k’s and 10k’s every weekend we were let loose. The freedom to run and race whenever, wherever, and as far as we wanted was too much to resist.

Laney:

I immediately packed my car and headed to Michigan to join the Hansons Brooks Olympic Development Project in hopes of nailing a fall marathon. Ryan headed into the alpine, running trails, guiding climbers on Mount Shasta, and winning his first 50 miler. Hearing all about the mountains being explored out west I had to get home. A few weeks after returning to Ashland, Ghelfi with his unbridled enthusiasm talked me into running the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon. The race hosted by Rogue Valley Runners, the  shop where we were both working. That November morning we lined up for our first trail race together.

Ghelfi:

I spent the winter of 2013 backcountry ski guiding in Eastern Oregon, still running, on icy roads after long days in the mountains. I came back to Ashland and that summer flew to the US Mountain Running Championships in New Hampshire with David. There we realized that 12k was pretty short and we both immediately signed up for 100k trail races. David won and set the course record at the Waldo 100k. I spent a month living out of my car, training at altitude in Colorado. It paid off with a 5th place finish at the Sky Running World Final.

With consistent performances under our belts both David and I were signed to the new Nike Trail Team in the winter of 2014. That spring we went a bit overboard. David got 2nd and I got 4th at the Chuckanut 50k. One month later I was 6th at the Lake Sonoma 50 miler one minute behind David in 5th. One more month and we flew, boated, bused and hitched our way to Transvulcania in the Canary Islands of Spain. Excessive racing had taken its toll and we both blew up. But we’d gotten our first taste of big stage European mountain competition. It was a different world.

David ran his first Western States 100 mile that summer, fizzling to 20th place. I was there to crew and pace. It was a learning experience for us both. At the end of that summer I finished my first 100 miler at Run Rabbit Run with lots of highs and lows, 4th place at the end.

Fall is a glorious time in Ashland. David made good use of it in 2014 training for the California International Marathon. There he punched his Olympic Trials Qualifier in 2:17:02! I was on hand to see a lifes’ dream accomplished.

Laney:

Our overzealous attitudes in previous years taught us some great lessons.  While we both raced a good amount in 2015 we prioritized our year and made the Ultra Trail Du Mount Blanc a central focus. After placing 8th at Western States I prepared by living in my car and finding the biggest mountains on the West coast to mimic the UTMB course. Ryan prepared by guiding on Mount Shasta, guiding trail running trips, and training harder and smarter than ever. After two weeks of great preparation in Chamonix we were both ready for battle. At mile 76 Ghelfi was forced out of the race with a knee injury. I went on to place 3rd. The roles could have easily been reversed.

Since college we each spent time working with other runners. I coached cross country at Southern Oregon University and Newport high school. Ryan taught a trail running class for the outdoor adventure leadership department at Southern Oregon University and coached many runners looking to run their first ultra or trail race. We both worked at Rogue Valley Runners and had the opportunity to help runners with more than just footwear.

We are starting this business because we love what we do and we want to share our excitement. Our excitement is not only about times, places, and adventures but about helping you get the best out of yourself now and in the long run.

This summer there were some major successes and major failures, or nicely put, learning experiences.

From these experiences I learned a lot of lessons that made me, and will continue to make me a better runner. I think a couple of them can make you a better runner too. I’ll share a few and hope that they will be applicable for anyone running a mountain ultra distance trail race.