Women's Trail Running and Yoga Retreat

Photo by Kristen Smith methowvalleyphotography.com

In the four plus years I've lived in the Methow Valley, I've fallen in love with fall. While on the westside, by late September I dreaded each time moisture would fall from the sky, as it felt like the beginning of the long, wet season. In contrast, autumn here brings sunny, warm days and crisp, cool nights. The gold of aspens and larches add a pop to an otherwise green mountain landscape.

This September, we're partnering with Winthrop Mountain Sports to create an incredible weekend. Join me in taking a few days to reset after a full summer and before the busy holidays set in at our Women's Trail Running and Yoga Retreat, September 27-30. Based at Mazama's Freestone Inn, our days will consist of running, practicing yoga, eating yummy food, and relaxing in the beautiful North Cascades (hot tub-yes please!).  In addition to beautiful lodge rooms, the Freestone has various-sized cabins, so bring your friends to play in my favorite beautiful place. 

We'll offer optional talks on running technique, training for an event, injury prevention, and sports nutrition.  Additionally, we will have the opportunity to demo some of the best products for trail running. In the afternoons, rejuvenate tired legs with a massage, take a soak in the hot tub, or simply take a seat in one of the Freestone's comfy chairs to appreciate the view with the company of a new friend or a good book.

Photo by Kristen Smith methowvalleyphotography.com

Register here. Please email Alison at alison.naney(at)gmail.com if you have questions or want to reserve your spot. Bring a friend for a discount! The cost of the weekend is $275, which includes dinner on Thursday, all breakfasts,  lunches Friday and Saturday, and dinner on Friday; all guided trail runs; and all yoga classes. Contact Freestone Inn at 509. 996. 3906 to reserve your accommodations. Want to camp outside, instead? That's also an option; email me for details. Space is limited, so sign up now; hope to see you in the fall!

Shoe fit clinic and SCOTT shoe demo

Finding the right kind of shoe is incredibly important if you're looking to run injury-free (aren't we all?). Join Alison on July 21 at 9am at Goat's Beard Mountain Supplies, our new mountain shop in Mazama, for a free shoe fitting clinic. Learn the difference between different kinds of shoes and what to look for when shopping for new footwear. You'll learn about foot anatomy and mechanics, and how shoe manufacturers take that into consideration when building shoes. While you're there, enter to win a free pair of SCOTT running shoes.

After we talk all things feet and shoes, we'll have SCOTT running shoes available to demo for a group fun run. All levels are welcome-hope to see you there!

Why Use A Coach?

I find it very likely that, if I were to approach a selection of endurance enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest to ask them if they ever considered having a private coach, the majority of them would answer a very humble "no". There is a preconception that coaches are for high school football teams and elite athletes, and that the rest of the athletic population must go it alone. Maybe I'm being overly critical but if this is indeed the case, there are countless hard-working athletes out there who are going in circles with their training, not knowing that there's another way.

A coach doesn't have to be the stereotype you see in sports biopics, the guy holding the stopwatch in one hand and beer in the other as he waits at the top of the sand dune for you to haul your tired ass to the top for the eleventieth time. Granted, some coaches are like that; I think my coach takes a special pleasure in designing workouts that brings me close to vomiting. But that hard-driving coach ethic should take a distant second chair to the most important role a coach can fill: supporter.

My coach Scott testing my blood lactate during a workout

A coach provides a sounding board for the athlete. Just as people seek psychiatrists to talk through their emotional woes, a coach's role may be as basic as listening and offering suggestions for someone's running schedule. I know plenty of athletes who meet in person with their coach maybe three times per month; they can do this because they've established the relationship, the coach knows their strengths and weaknesses and they construct training accordingly. The most important part is communication.

A coach is above all else an objective voice. None of us like to hear our girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse telling us to get our duff off the couch and out the door to run; it's too personal and the relationship gets confused. But a coach can do just that. He/she can also be the one to listen to how you're feeling and offer a suggestion or opinion that is distanced from your personal feelings. This part is crucial to athletic success at any level. Especially for more recreational athletes who feel that the only way they can get fit amidst their busy schedule is to hammer intervals up a hill for thirty minutes three times per week, a coach can sit them down and say, "Hey, that's pretty dumb training. I know this because I've done it/watched others do it/seen how tired it makes you." They see what our blinders keep us from seeing ourselves.

Alison getting monitored during a treadmill test. 

Both Alison and I offer coaching as we ourselves would want it. Much of our coaching style is modeled off our own coach (we both work with the same person), and emphasizes close communication, innovative training that is tailored to the athlete, and careful monitoring of nutrition and health.

Everyone can benefit from a coach. Check out our coaching services pages above for more info on how you can take huge strides forward in your efforts, whether you're a first-time 10km runner, a wave three Birke skier, or a seasoned vet looking to shave minutes off your 50km PR.

Vertical Emphasis

View from the top of Liberty Bowl, North Cascades

In almost every endurance sport (swimming being the most obvious exclusion), a gain in elevation occurs over the course of an event or adventure. In some cases even, ascending in altitude is the sole purpose; hill climbs have become quite popular in running, cross-country skiing and cycling alike. But aside from competition we can learn and benefit a tremendous amount from training with lots of vertical ascent in our schedule.

Incorporating hills into your weekly routine accomplishes several things. First, and perhaps most important, is the strength component. Either as a skier, runner or cyclist, you're pushing uphill with powerful big mover muscles that aren't otherwise being loaded in a similar fashion on gentler terrain. For running, there's an explosive component. Even ultra-marathon distance runners will appreciate the benefit of Type-IIA (fast-twitch aerobic) muscle fibers, which assist in the power generation needed to spring off each step, against gravity, up a trail. As a Nordic ski racer, uphills not only the strength akin to running, but also a strength in stability and core to drive the gliding leg against gravity and then to plant the foot and set the wax.


Over the past few years my coach Scott has incorporated some innovative uphill training ideas into my own schedule. Most notable amongst these are weighted uphill ski walks or hiking. The principle is simple enough: find a steep climb and load a pack with 5-10% of body weight with water. The additional load will exert a greater stress on your working muscles without over-taxing the aerobic system. This means that you will feel a strong fatigue in your legs long before your breathing passes an aerobic threshold (nose-breathing). The bonus in carrying water (using milk jugs is easiest, and easiest to measure in weight) is that you can empty the jugs out at the top of the climb and descend unweighted.

Another option: ski touring. The spring is a great season to get some variable strength training into the schedule, and skinning up mountainsides takes the cake. The load which comes from driving boot, ski, and body weight + pack up a 10%+ grade is unrivaled for training benefit. Plus you get some incredible views and some sweet corn to carve on the way down.

Take-home message? Head uphill!

Sunflower!

Washington pass opened today, marking the unofficial start of summer. On my journey up valley after work I saw numerous motor homes that had made their way over. MVSTA's stellar Sunflower marathon and relay event also marks the change of seasons. Before moving to the Methow, I liked the race, but now that I live here, I absolutely love it. The course now starts just a short walk from home in Mazama, and meanders through the wonderful varied micro-climates down to Twisp. Two years ago there was a nice tail wind, and if that past couple of days is any indicator, Saturday's race will be a speedy one.

The calm before the calf-cramping storm. Thanks, Kristen Smith, for capturing it.

This year Sam, Brian Gregg and I are running a team as: Goat's Beard/Methow Endurance, partnering with the exciting new mountain shop in Mazama. Thanks, Goat's Beard! They are opening on Saturday and have a great selection of goods, including my favorite running shoe, the Scott T2C.

Remember your electrolytes! Cramping is not fun, and it will increase your recovery time as well. Massage, however, decreases recovery time.

To kick of the summer racing season, I'm offering a discount this weekend. Mention this blog and get $5 off a 60 minute massage. Happy running!

Spring Racing

A few weeks back, Alison and I journeyed to the rainy side of the mountains to run the 12km Squak Mtn trail race in Issaquah, WA. For me it marked the first "destination" running race I have competed in, and for Alison it was the shortest race she's run in years. We both were excited about the event; Alison's training has been progressing really well over the last several months and she has started to incorporate some significant strength and intensity into the regimen. For me, I was just hoping to run well on the dregs of the racing season, barely two weeks past.

The course isn't tame; mostly on trail and some FS roads, it climbs for nearly six miles in a not-so-gentle fashion until topping out on Squak. After a short teaser descent it climbs again for a piece before finally letting you into the honest downhill portion to the finish. My plan was to race the uphill and take it easy going down, while simultaneously trying to hold Alison off on the downhill. I wasn't sure of the field, but had a thought that I might be alone on the climb. As it happened, a Seattle stair-running champion named Kevin Crossman was also in the race and he and I paced each other the whole way up the climb. He managed to gap me by about twenty seconds as we topped out and from there it was over; I'm no downhill runner. I almost lost my 2nd place too, when I took a wrong turn about twenty meters from the finish and went down a FS road to the main highway and then had to sprint back, costing me about a minute and a half. I made it to the line just ahead of 3rd place.

Alison's race was a true reflection of the training she's been doing; aside from one badass woman that gapped the field right at the beginning, Alison held her own the entire way, outpacing everyone else on both the uphill and (of course) the downhill. This is a huge accomplishment for her physiology, and a real sign that the more structured, comprehensive preparation she's been doing is paying off.

Sorry we don't have any pictures; here's a link to the race site photographer: http://stevesandersphotography.com/p772674826/h19a00fc6#h19a00fc6

Get out and race!

Springtime in the Valley

I look forward to spring all winter. Don't get me wrong, I love that we have four distinct seasons, but winter is my least favorite, despite its white beauty and my winterphilic fiance and dog. With a bit of time between clients and my running class, I took the opportunity to do some work outside and fully soak in the suddenly summerlike weather that has graced us the past few days.

The balsam root are coming into bloom, the hillsides are greening, and the trails are snowfree (well at least some). We're getting excited to put in some longer training runs, and share our favorites at the spring camp. Details are coming together, including shwag. To sweeten the deal, we're now offering a $25 discount if you bring a friend. Everything is more fun with friends, especially training! We also have options for taking part in part of the weekend; let us know if you're interested.

Nikki isn't sure about the warmer weather, but she loves the longer runs. Happy spring!