Quad Rock training weeks one and two
The first two weeks of my Quad Rock training program went by quickly. My running mileage is still low, as I'm emphasizing power and speed, with generous recovery, and biking, treadmill, or elliptical chuggingfor easy aerobic base building. The quality of my running workouts has been good, in a way that doesn't show up in these numbers.
In week one, I did hill sprint sessions on Tuesday and Thursday on a block of Wallenberg Drive with a 3-4% incline. Running up at nearly maximum effort took about 25 seconds. This was not an aerobic workout in any way. I was focused solely on power and turnover.
11 hours, 7 minutes all training
26.4 miles running
1,545 ft D+ running
Week two was complicated by cold and snowy weather. I curtailed my hill sprints and did less dynamic workouts. Wednesday I did a two hour run at Lory State Park in a new pair of HOKA Tecton X 3 shoes. These were fun, and as propulsive as hyped on non-technical stretches of trail. I found them to be just barely stable on technical descents, however. The heel had a tendency to tip over. I'll give them another chance, for sure, but they are not an immediate choice for Quad Rock in May.
12 hours, 41 minutes
21.7 miles running
2.464 ft D+ running
In October 2025, I started daily mobility and core strength sessions based on a post by Joe Uhan. I do a little Vinyasa flow, spinal twisting, some diagonal chops, and then push-ups, crunches or dead bugs, and eccentric heel drops and calf raises. I'm still doing this morning routine about six times a week, which accounts for almost three hours of my weekly training time. I've come from being able to do zero respectable pushups to being able to do sets of ten impeccable pushups. I'm a big person, 90 kilograms, so body weight pushups aren't super easy. It's been fun to make progress on basic strength and fitness.