Not Blazing Fast

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Kris has not been feeling too snappy of late. As he put it, ” I’ve been dragging ass all week, aside from Wednesday”. Yesterday he ran Sunapee in 21:33 - 49 second slower than his last trip up the hill. While this is certainly not good news, it’s not terribly alarming given how he was feeling in the lead-up. And unlike his last “bad test” the sensations in this one weren’t too bad. He just couldn’t hurt himself much. It took him almost no time to feel completely recovered at the top of the climb.

To be fair, we have to acknowledge that this test is not as tightly controlled as some people might prefer. Yesterday Kris ran alone, for the first time in quite a few efforts. Most of the tests this summer have been run head to head against Justin, who was in really outstanding running shape until late August when he ran headlong off the proverbial cliff (Justin has always been able to get really fast for a little while, and then crap-out spectacularly until he manages to rebuild). In his last record-breaking run up the mountain Kris and Justin traded leads, and in the end Kris only beat Justin by a small margin. When he ran his previous bad test there were fifteen other runners and a bunch of timers and spectators, and his brother ran away from him. Kris generally prides himself on being able to give a maximal effort without needing external stimulus, but he’s starting to wonder whether that’s really the case.

The plan for this period is for much reduced training volume, and building intensity. The volume reduction should give Kris ample time to recover and rebound from whatever has slowed him down. Neither of us see any reason to adjust the plan as it stands right now. He’s got not symptoms of illness - just general fatigue. He’s sleeping enough and eating enough. He showed signs of life on Wednesday, and he’ll feel good again soon. As of now, he’s planning to join Brayton Osgood for an unofficial (because it’s not sponsored by the Dartmouth Ski Team) Moosilauke test on Sunday, the 23rd. That’ll be the next meaningful test of fitness on the calendar, and there’s plenty of time for Kris to come around to feeling good in the next week.