#irunsimple

Hey guys! So I have a really big favor to ask. It would mean a lot to me if y'all would like my athlete page. My current sponsors and future sponsors determine a lot upon online presence in the community, including a FaceBook athlete page. The link to my page is on my FaceBook.

In the past few months I have had a handful of people contact me and ask why I have not been competing this summer. Well, a lot has changed. This is an update of my training and goals for the rest of the 2015 race season.

After my win at Twisted Ankle I decided to focus on the races I have in the fall, primarily marathon distance and up. I wanted to use the summer as a time to really restart my body and work on getting my leg turnover back. In the process  of this cardiovascular restart, I have Increased mileage to 60-70 miles a week on  an average while keeping a sub 7:30 min pace. Although I have had weeks at these distances in the past, I would only average 8:30-9 min per mile throughout the week. So this whole restart was with hopes to run the distances that I was already running, faster.

Although this was my goal, my whole outlook on training has completely changed in the process. I am taking advantage of my rest days by straight up vegging out on the couch for a few hours and stretching my legs for proper recovery. Not every run I do has to be a full 100% effort (Even if that is how I want to train). I now take training smart very serious due to last years injury taking me out for three and a half months. With no longer being on a vegan diet, and having my base work now behind me, I am feeling amazing and I continue to see progress in my times.

My current block of training has been absolutely stellar! I am averaging 9-10 miles a day throughout the week, and double long runs on the weekends. And I finally have my leg turnover back to where I can execute the desired pace for these workouts comfortably on minimal efforts. So in the evidence of my training results, I have gotten confirmation that I am in better shape now than I was In my past two podium positions of 2015.

So what is next to come for 2015?

August 29th Rock & Root 30k.

October 3rd Rock/creek Stumpjump 50k

November 14th Upchuck 50k December 6th Pine Mountain Trail run 46 miler

So as this summer comes to a close, I feel that training has been a success. I will be moving back to Chattanooga on August 25th! This means I will have  access to the world class lookout mountain trails and elevation in just a couple weeks. I am also going to toy around with doing some lifting before my next ultra. So be on the lookout for updates on that interesting idea.  

Thanks for reading guys! See y'all next time!

                   Mike Conkel

                   Simple Hydration Run Team

  This being my first race of 2015 and coming off of an injury from last December’s lookout 50 miler, I found myself bing very anxious to make up for lost time so after only 4 weeks of running again, I decided to sign up for The Scenic City Half Marathon. However, I went into this race with a very cautious outlook. My one objective was to finish my race injury free. 

  So the night before the race I put all my race gear out that I would need. My Salomon s-lab sense 3 ultra’s and my Simple Hydration race gear & bottle. All that was necessary for a successful mid distance race. 

   Sure enough, the race came faster than I thought. As soon as I knew it, the announcer said into his mic, “3.2.1. GO!”

  Me and two other guys immediately took the lead positions of the race leaving the start/finish like a couple of high school cross-country kids running around the paved circle before sprinting into the trails. The picture above is around the first mile in where I clocked a 5 min mile. And what was even more surprising then that, the two guys that I was previously running with had already bolted away and out of my sight. This left me speechless and slightly mad in 3rd place with 12 miles to go.

  Despite this, the first 3 miles were really fun! It was full of some really fresh/soft, buffed out trails and down hills so it was really a fun run to the first aid-station. I skipped this aid station because I was only running 13 miles. So as I kept running as hard as I could averaging 6:30 per mile on trails trying to catch the leaders. 

  The next thing I knew I was already at the 8 mile aid station with no one in sight in front or in back of me. Of course I skipped this aid station as well because I wanted to try to catch the top 2 guys who bolted away from me in the beginning of the race. So I left aid station 2 cruising along averaging 6:30 per mile.

  At around mile 10 a little bit of elevation started , and I really felt it in my legs because I had been running so hard on the easy portions of the trails. And then it hit me. I said to myself, “Mike, If you can just keep it together for 3 more miles... this could be a podium position for you!” It was at this point that remembered that I haven't trained for this race and that this is just a tune up race for my next ultra. From that point forward, my motive in the race had changed from trying to catch the lead guys to simply maintaining my lead over 4th place, yet staying injury free. So I put on a smile and ran some sweet single track trails.

  In what seemed much less then 2 miles, the camera man that I was passing yelled “Dude! You only have a mile to go! Move you're ass!”. Once I had a moment to process this I was like, “oh yeah maybe I should run faster...” This last mile had to be the best mile of my day! As I flew out of the trails and onto the paved road that we previously ran at the beginning of the race, I looked back to see absolutely no one in sight trying to take my 3rd place spot on the podium. As I ran around the loop I listened to the race announcer yell into the mic, “ Alright! Here comes 3rd place Mike Conkel!”

  I knew I had it in the bag at this point. I knew I was going to achieve more than I thought I would be able to in this race. Time seemed to slow down while I was approaching the finish line. Then I finally crossed. 3rd place over all in the Scenic City Trail Half Marathon with a time of 1:26:35 averaging 6:37 per mile. All I could do at this point was walk around with a huge smile on my face and say, “Well that was so cool”. But the thing that was even more surprising? The two guys who beat me...Bill Martin and Daniel Lepage. They broke the corse record together in a 2 way tie for 1st place with a 1:11:35 averaging 5:28 per mile. Quite ridiculous actually ahaha. However, I got to go on a cool down run  with them and discuss what they thought of the race. So that was fun!

  So recap, I am really happy with the outcome of this race. I simply was not expecting to do so well in the ranks due to not running for the past 3 months. This being said, I feel very confident that my 2015 race season will be successful! Let the real training begin! 

Thanks for reading guys!                                                                                                 

                             Mike Conkel