Ty's Training: Week of 2025-23-06
Falling on Rucu, Managing Setbacks & Perspective
Warm Up
This week was about managing setbacks and finding perspective during what turned out to be a challenging stretch of training. I logged 108 kilometers with 7334m of vertical gain over 18.5 hours, but the numbers only tell part of the story. A lingering rib injury from a fall on Rucu last weekend continued to limit my breathing and training intensity, forcing me to scale back workouts and even abandon some sessions entirely. What started as a planned fartlek workout on Polichaski became a lesson in listening to my body and accepting when things aren't going according to plan.
The week culminated with an incredible experience - a 48-kilometer run through Colorado's Four Pass Loop with my good friend Ryan Hall, covering 2,750 meters of climbing in nearly 7 hours. Despite the physical challenges earlier in the week, this long mountain adventure reminded me why I love this sport and showed that sometimes the most meaningful training days aren't the ones that go perfectly according to plan. The trip also included valuable time with the La Sportiva team in Boulder and connecting with the ultrarunning community in Leadville, reinforcing that this journey extends far beyond just the training itself.
Cool-down - Transitions Between Seasons
Coming off a massive season on Everest, I’ve been sitting with the question of how to actually transition between big efforts—how to really give myself closure before moving into the next thing. And honestly, it’s not easy. My instinct is always to problem-solve, to analyze what went wrong or right, and jump into the next goal. But I’ve learned to give myself those first 48 hours post-effort just to feel everything—joy, disappointment, exhaustion—without trying to rationalize or fix anything. That space is sacred. Then I shift into reflection mode: what worked, what didn’t, and what lessons I can carry forward, whether I’m going back to Everest or lining up for UTMB.
What’s harder for me is giving myself real mental rest. I’ll always stay physically active, even in downtime, but what I crave is a kind of structured Rumspringa—a few weeks where I let myself be a "normal" person. Eat sushi in Tokyo. Say yes to late dinners with friends. No watch, no training plan. And the funny thing is, just like the Amish kids who come back, I always return hungry to train. But the key is that return feels like a choice, not an obligation. That makes all the difference. I’ve realized the mistake I made this year was committing to a race (Leadville) too early after Everest. I didn't leave enough time for my mind or body to reset, and I paid the price. So if I could tell my younger self anything, it’d be: take the break, and don’t rush the comeback. You’ll be stronger for it.
Lunes, 23 de Junio, 2025 - 10:20: Easy morning on the treadmill today in layers, again trying to give the legs a break. Left ribcage side still very sore on deep breaths, not the best. Felt a bit long today, kept it easy, which meant slowing down a few times as thermal drift brought HR up. Mostly between 5.5-6kph. Did 15’ of very slow 30/90s (9-10kph on, 5kph off, mostly around 10), which got HR quite high. Finished easy to get over a VK. All at 15% and no ventilation in the building’s gym, so it got very warm.
Total 7km, 71’, 1050m+.
XT: Posture, ethio.
15:27: Bike, another day in layers at 7200m. Mostly at 80W again, keeping HR in the 120s for the most part. Started out very low. Did 10’ of 30/90s at 120W only today as legs were a bit tired still. Total 60’, avg HR 121.
Martes, 24 de Junio, 2025 - TLDR: Semi-bailed 3’/1’ polcihaski fartlek (rib), 65’26
06:24: Up at 04:00 and had 100mg of caffeine, coffee and bicarb and 1x maurten bar.
Plan was to do fartlek of 3’/1’ up Polichaski. Warmed up and felt okay, but left side rib is still very uncomfortable sleeping and also breathing deeply while running. Better than Sunday’s running, but not perfect. Did the usual out/back and then drills and 4x strides. These did not feel good. Breathing just feels like I can’t get a full breath in. Had like 3 almost sneezes, so my body is clearly restricting the amount of movement in the lungs/rib cage. It’s an issue. Legs also just felt heavy.
Workout did not go well. HR was very low for pretty much the whole time, never saw it above about 157 and mostly in the 140s to low 150s. First 1km was similar to last week around 7’30, even with longer reps, and just didn’t feel great the whole time. Tried to stay positive and just accept the lower effort level, but was going quite slow (like 30’ at halfway log) and then really lost it in the Car Wash, where it was very wet and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Fartlek kind of died at that point and I just kept going at moderate all the way to the end (moderate). Topped out in 65’30 (avg HR 142).
Jogged very easy down the MTB trail, felt bad on the ribs, especially one kind of jarring slip-step.
Not a great morning, but setting the bar low I suppose. Really need to get the body 100% healthy before the real work starts.
Total 12km, 1h52, 1151m+.
13:18: Abandoned the second workout and plyos/strength today as it felt like forcing things. Walked to Megamaxi and did some last shopping there. Beautiful day. Total 1h00, 4km, 20m+.
15:12: Bike at 7200m. Started at 80W for 20’ and then upped wattage to 90W and then 100W for 10’ each. Left side rib(s) still a big problem for deep breathing. Kept 30/90s easy (120-150W on, 80W off). Let HR get a bit higher today into the 130s. Lots of layers, shirt, sambob, hoodie, jacket, pants. Total 60’, avg HR 130.
XT: Ethio
Miercoles, 25 de Junio, 2025 - AM: OFF, up at 04:00 for travel to DEN via MIA w/ a long layover in between.
Easy trip so far with ~9 hour layover in MIA, so got through global entry super quick and out of the airport no problem and then went to the UPS store to ship the altitude tent back up to MA to get fixed. Pretty ridiculous that I have brought multiple altitude tents both to South America and back and to Everest Base Camp and back. Anyway, then went to the hotel and did a light workout (below), worked a lot, got chipotle, and then headed back to the airport and took about 3 minutes to walk in, through security and to the gate, so had a bunch of extra time.
Easy flight to DEN so far w/ good wifi and outlets.
13:51: Easy hike on the treadmill in MIA (sea level). Felt pretty bad. Rib is still pretty sore and legs felt a bit tired. HR never got that high, 120s, but body just didn’t feel like going any quicker without ribcage getting quite irritated. Trying to be very careful with this and get back to Quito 100%. No pickups/strides or anything like that today. Total 60’, 5.63km, 845m+.
XT: Posture, Ethio.
Jueves, 26 de Junio, 2025 - AM: OFF, slept very well in Denver at low altitude and drove over to Boulder and spent like 3 hours at Bank of America and then watched Faith Kipyegon try to break 4’00 in my car while it was approximately 500 degrees. Got some lunch from Whole Foods and then got back to the Residence Inn where I realized I’d left my phone at WF and had to go back and get it. Finally, Brian came over and we had some lunch before heading over to the LaSpo offices. Had a nice walk, though it was still insanely hot, before my meeting w/ the product team, ~1.1km, 15’.
Nice meeting w/ Maral on the product team to talk about gear and apparel and footwear. Very good stuff.
Finally, drove over to the LaSpo store for the fun run and movie night.
17:32: La Sportiva store group run. Nice crowd showed up, maybe 20-30 people, including some familiar faces, Liam Wall and Matt from Concord.
Davide did a great job leading the run and took us on a lovely route out of town and on some trails up into the hills. Nice and smooth and runnable up there. Very, very hot, probably still over 90F even at 6:30pm. Stopped at the top out point for some photos, but otherwise pretty continuous. Great chatter w/ a lot of folks.
Total 9.8km, 63’, 331m+.
Viernes, 27 de Junio, 2025 - 09:35: Good sleep in Boulder and drove up to Frisco to break up the drive a bit and get some steeper, longer climbing in. Pretty tired and went very slow on this one. A lot of hiking on terrain that could definitely be running-terrain. Made it up to the first little summit in 72’ (800m+, HR 123, wearing a lot of layers) and stayed up there for a bit as it was lovely. Very easy jog back down and then did parking-lot-ethio and ate some food and drove to Leadville.
Total 8.6km, 1h44, 810m+.
15:10: Drove out to Leadville and hung out w/ Ted and Liam at the expo for a bit before leading the group shakeout run. Brian ran w/ me and then probably 30-40 people total, including Lee Jarvis, who I haven’t seen in a while. Ran up about 1.5M and waited for the group to slinky back together and then back. Lovely, very warm in Leadville! Total 4.8km, 30’, 128m+.
Sabado, 28 de Junio, 2025 - 09:00am: Nice sleep in Leadville at the LaSpo airbnb out in the woods. Got up and had a lazy morning coffee w/ Ted and Pierce and then drove into town and did a nice shakeout on the beginning of the course, got to see a ton of people going by in the half marathon, running through the pack a bit, and then jogged up the first steep climb of the course. Turned early so I could make it back in time to see the winners (and see if they would break my course record). Stopped at the flat section before the last turn and did drills and 4x strides which felt quite good. Jogged down after that and had plenty of time.
Total 7.1km, 41’, 240m+
PM: OFF, lots of socializing at the race w/ the LaSpo guys, Ted and Liam, as well as Brian, Mitch, and others. A great trip to one of my favorite towns!
Left around 3pm for the long but beautiful drive out to Crested Butte to visit Ryan and Sara Hall (and their kids and dogs). Spectacular views over Cottonwood pass and whatever the giant lake is at the bottom on the other side. Got to Ryan’s in time for dinner and some scheming for our big day tomorrow. Great day.
Domingo, 29 de Junio, 2025 - TLDR: Easy/mod fasted long hike/jog w/ Ryan Hall (76KSch, 6h57 / 7h41 total.
05:07: Up at 03:30am for a longer day on the 4 Passes Loop with Ryan. Slept very well but not enough and did this one entirely fasted from about 9pm the night before. Maybe the longest, most moderate run I’ve done fasted honestly.
Got a bit of a later start than planned, but basically left the car at first light and wore headlamps only for the first 30 min or so. Ran most of the first climb and I could feel the HR was a bit higher than I’d like. Got up close to the top of the first pass and I could tell Ryan was feeling much better than me. Led the descent down from that, absolutely gorgeous morning. Had some stomach issues and went to the bathroom somewhere down there before the second climb and felt a bit better, but wouldn’t feel 100% most of the day.
Led the second climb which was definitely slower but felt ok, good banter. Got up there and hung around for a while and chatted w/ some guys and then ran down the other side. Had to go to the bathroom again somewhere on there and honestly just running legs didn’t really feel like they were there at all.
Got to the bottom and we headed up the short third pass, got near the top and Ryan split off to scope out a little cut-through for his big traverse route, which was the last I’d see of him til we got back to the car. Put on my audiobook at that point and just chugged along at my own pace. Got a bit stormy-looking and I knew some weather was coming through at some point, but never materialized for me. Last pass was all good and then a long descent back down to the car.
Overall, a very lovely loop, great company, and a good training day. Feeling much better than a few weeks ago.
Ate some food and drank a lot when I got back to the car and waited for Ryan for about an hour.
NB: No calories on this one, had some caff gum (300mg) and 5 bottles of guun (9 tabs total) over the course of the run.
Total 48km, 6h57 (moving), 7h40 (total), 2750m+.
PM: OFF. Got cleaned up and then got some Thai food and had a nice picnic at Peanut lake w/ Ryan and procrastinated a bunch and chatted before leaving. Plan was to drive to DEN but made it to Frisco and stopped to get gas and was very, very tired and there was a Marriott (AC Hotel) there, so decided to stop for the night. Lots of driving the last few days, but a great visit!