Chasing Cocodona -Running 250 Miles at 60

This is week 1. Week 1 of 25. Technically as I began writing, it was 24 weeks and 6 days.

What is the Cocodona 250 ?

The Cocodona 250 is a 250 mile race that takes place in the middle of Arizona covering 256.6 miles, a vertical gain of over 40,000 feet, with astounding trails including the Black Canyon National Recreation Trail, Prescott Circle Trail, Sedona, Arizona Trail, and Flagstaff Loop Trail. Along with the trails, we will make our way through Crown King, Prescott (Whiskey Row), Jerome, Clarkdale, Sedona, and finish in Heritage Square in Flagstaff.

Having watched this every year since its inaugural race, I have been drawn to the trails, the views, and the everyday people that take on this kind of challenge.

How do you even begin to prepare?

To tell you the truth, this will my far surpass my biggest ever event, and I can only go by what others have done that have run before me. I have spent the past year training and certifying in Personal Training, Corrective Exercise, Ultrarun Coaching, Endurance Nutrition Coach, so I have learned alot of the tricks along the way. I am my own best coach. Some cannot be motivated, or might feel they need direction, but I really have always been self-directed, disciplined, and very aware of my body and capabilities.

The only ultrarunning coach certification in the US

Weaknesses First!

This past running season, I ran all my training and events with one goal in mind, and that is the race next May. I have focused on those things that I feel are obstacles in my way to completing my goal. One thing I focused hard on this year was adding in strength training at least 2-3 days per week and I found that this really helped change my stride. In changing my stride, however, I found I now needed to do more tendon/ligament training to accommodate the stride change. So going forward, I have a list gathered from a number of self-assessments of what I need to focus on and the order I needed to do it.

Time on Feet First!

My road to Cocodona will need to have more miles. There is no way around that. Over the next 6 months, I have planned out weekly mileage that is non-negotiable. The good thing... hiking/walk miles count. This week I started out with one of my lower mileage weeks this year at 35 miles for the next 2 weeks. At least 10 of this is hiking, with another 10 walking/running, and finally I am keeping an interval workout in every week to help improve VO2 max. As mileage goes up, more runs will be in Zone 2.

Strength / Resistance Training

There is no way to incorporate that kind of training for that kind of mileage without increasing your tendon and ligament load which will be part of my weekly routine. Three workouts a week have begun with low reps and high load.

POWER

Recently, I took some continuing education courses on "Power Workouts" for older adults. The research was astounding that the more power exercises the older adults did, the less their risk for falls and injury. I thought, "Who can't use that?" And so, short targeted power exercises are now built into part of my resistance workout.

Nutrition

This one always gets me, being vegan and gluten-free. Finding out I have the highest impact celiac genes made me decide to give up gluten. I have also been Vegan for over 10 years now. I don't advocate the Vegan diet for athletes, but if it is your personal belief and choice, I don't think as a coach or nutrition coach that I need to berate anyone for whatever they eat, but know the ramifications, and the possible supplementation that you may need. This week, I began counting macros again. Many will argue with that, but I will never argue with a client on what is working for them. This past year, I was able to find out where my metabolic requirements lie. Counting macros is a cheap and easy way to do that.

Age Group Award in Northern Trails '25

Journaling and Planning

Having read the book Built from Broken and keeping it in my top shelf of training books, I was happy to try out the Salt Wrap Daily Fitness Planner. Tracking 3 months at a time, I will pretty much go through 2 of these before the event and it seems to have room to track everything I need here along with goals and the assess and evaluate part.

Well, I am excited and nervous, scared, and not sure what to plan for as far as for taking care of crew/pacing, nutrition, and maintaining the shop and animals at home. Praying and hoping this all magically falls into place.

SALT WRAP DAILY FITNESS PLANNER

Here's to a successful week!