Welcome (Back) to Ty’s Training
This is my written log documenting my training, updated weekly on my personal website or via substack. There’s also an audio version which you can subscribe to wherever you get your podcasts, and a video version which lives on my YouTube Channel. You can also see my daily training data on Strava and I post (fairly) regularly on Instagram.
I started keeping a training log just about as early as I started running. I probably still have the 2008 physical notebook that my parents got me my senior year of high school when they realized that this whole “running thing” might be more than a passing fad (or, at least, the log would serve as a great holiday gift for their teenage son, which, now on the other side, I can only imagine how hard teenage boys are to shop for).
All that said, keeping a training log is not a new thing for me. Over the past 15 years, I have migrated from the original pen on paper to typed documents, usually separated by “seasons” of 4-6 months. I use my logs both to meticulously track what I do in training, as well to celebrate important life events, remember which restaurant we went to in Mendoza, or sometimes vent about myself or the world at large.
For years, I published my training log online. I’m honestly not sure why I stopped. Maybe it was the move to Strava or, more likely, things weren’t going well and I was too self-conscious, and so decided to keep the details to myself. Whatever the reason, it’s been a few years since I’ve shared this publicly and, with some very big projects coming up this year, it felt like an appropriate time to re-launch.
So, without further ado, here’s a quick primer on what to expect from these writings.
What this isn't
Instructional / advice
Please, please do not take this as coaching advice. For what it’s worth, I am a coach, and I would never use my own training logs as a roadmap for basically anyone else. One of the great pitfalls of high level athletes who become coaches is that they try to take what worked for them and apply it broadly to athletes of all levels. This almost never works.
Why? Because, in my experience, high level athletes are where they are because they are freaks in one way or another: They have freakish abilities to tolerate volume, intensity, less recovery, etc., and those who are successful have found out how to maximize their specific freakish capabilities. All of these things make them terrible role models for the general population.
So, please take this as a (hopefully) interesting glimpse into how I specifically train for the very specific niche of sport where I have found myself. If you do want advice, I am more than happy to talk training -- including home some of the ideas I use in my own training can be adapted to you, dear reader -- and would love your questions/feedback.
Perfectly polished / heavily edited
Sometimes, I write my log in the front seat of an uber in heavy traffic on the way back to my house from the mountain where I train here in Quito. Typing with my thumbs can lead to some mistakes. I will try to very lightly edit these writings for typos and readability, but please recognize that this is my stream of consciousness and I’m not trying to be David Foster Wallace.
Trying to get any particular point across
I don’t have any real thesis here that I’m trying to convey.
I remember in high school and college finding the online training log (in a similar style to this, so, props for the inspiration) of a local elite runner named Nate Jenkins. I found it fascinating and -- in the days before Strava, substack, etc. -- would click the little bookmark at the top of my browser every week or so to see what Nate had been up to (he would finish top 10 at the US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2007, right as I was getting into the sport).
The point being: He was an open guy and would share his training with the world and expected nothing in return.
What this is
(Almost) Completely Raw and Transparent
Like I said above, I’ve been keeping a log like this for almost 20 years in some form or another and it’s mostly about my training that day. These are my raw thoughts and I don’t plan to edit them significantly for you, dear reader, other than a few important exceptions, including specific details of my personal life, some people’s names and locations to protect others’ identities, and any legal stuff that I may write about in my log but can’t share.
Otherwise, you can expect the raw and almost entirely unedited Truth coming from my head. Which leads us to…
A Glimpse into My Head (for better or for worse)
I do a lot of processing of training in my log. Sometimes I’m talking myself up, or finding a silver lining in what was a mediocre day (“Not bad given how tired I was and how hot it is up there!”), while sometimes, I can hear the stoke in my own voice after a real banger of a session. For better or for worse, there’s more than just simple training data in here.
A Mix of Very Technical Training Talk and Random Life Details
There are a lot of numbers in here and, if you’re not into that, you can just kind of let your eyes glaze over and skip to the part with more words. There’s a bunch of jargon I use (see my “Ty’s Jargon Dictionary” below), but honestly a lot of my log is writing about how I felt, what animals I saw that day, if the sun was out, if I got cranky because I didn’t bring enough snacks, etc.
I also will use my log to record a bunch of random life details. E.g. The first two weeks of this year, I was still more or less on “break” from training and on vacation, so I found myself writing down not only what I did that day training-wise (if anything), but what I got up to the rest of the day. This is a fun thing for me to read back later in the season when I’m in hermit-mode and my training occupies almost all of my mental and physical bandwidth.
Some Closing Thoughts
1. This format is not set in stone.
If people have suggestions on what they’d like to see, please feel free to share that! I’m super accessible via comments here (or on any other channels) or Instagram DM or email at Ty@chaski.run. I’m starting with this format, honestly, because it’s the easiest for me and I am extremely lazy.
2. Ask questions
One thing I hope to do is start addressing your questions each week. Maybe this will only go on the audio/video portion, or maybe I’ll have some AI bot just transcribe that and put it at the bottom of the written training logs, but I truly enjoy interacting with people and would love to hear your questions, whether it’s about my training, what’s going on in the running/trail/mountain world, or anything else.
So, go ahead, and send something over!
Ty’s Jargon Dictionary
Since this is an introductory post (and I’ll keep it pinned / linked in each weekly post so new readers can come back here) and I have no initial questions to address, I figured I would start with a basic dictionary of jargon that I use regularly in my log. I will try to update this if people request additional entries.
Fartlek: A Swedish word that translates to "speed play." I differentiate fartlek running from traditional interval training by thinking about sections that are defined by time vs. by distance, and also in that the recovery from each quicker section of running is usually more easy/moderate vs. in a true interval session, where the recovery is usually a very slow jog. Fartlek can be done with very quick running on a flat track or trail, or can be done by effort on a steep climb. A very common example would be “1’/1’ Fartlek.” This session would include a warmup followed by some amount of predefined time of fartlek following the pattern 1’ hard, 1’ minute easy.
Strides: These are short, fast, but relaxed runs that typically last for about 20 seconds, often incorporated at the end of a warm-up (before more structured, faster training), or at the end of an easy run. The goal is to improve form, increase running economy, and get your body ready for faster workouts. Strides are not sprints, though; they are gradual acceleration, reaching a higher-end speed for a few seconds in the middle, and then coasting to a stop. I generally do strides in groups of four, with a couple minutes recovery between each.
30/90s: I use these regularly in place of flat strides when I’m either on the bike or in a continuous run on more rolling terrain. They follow the pattern of 30” of quicker running and 90” of easy running. I try to do 10-15’ worth of 30/90s (so 5-8 reps) almost every day, whether on the stationary bike or running on trails.
Vert: Short for "vertical gain" or "vertical ascent," it refers to the total amount of elevation gain achieved during a run (or section of a run), often used in trail running or mountain running. For example, if you run up a hill that rises 100m and then run back down, you’ve logged 100m of vert. If the hill rises 75m, but features rolling terrain where the total amount of elevation gained is 100m to get to the top of a hill, then you’ve logged 100m of vert or 75m of net vert. Note: Descent is irrelevant in vert.
Scree: Loose, broken rocks found on the steep slopes of mountains. This can sometimes be easy to descend when it’s deep enough to “ski” down or can be tricky and dangerous when it’s less deep (imagine marbles on a hard floor). Scree fields can also be dangerous due to the potential of dislodging bigger rocks which can slide down the face and crack your skull open (or tumble onto the climbers below you).
Chossy: A term borrowed from the climbing world, used to describe loose or unstable terrain that can be difficult to traverse. In trail running, a "chossy" trail might be one that's covered in loose rocks (generally baseball to basket-ball sized), making it difficult to get a firm footing.
Arenal: This is a Spanish word that means "sandy area". In the context of mountain running, we use arenal to describe a really sandy section of a mountain slope, generally one step of finer grain than a screen field. These are often miserable to go up (think, one step up and sliding most of the way back down) but fun to come down.
FKT: An acronym for "Fastest Known Time," this is a concept used in hiking, running, and mountaineering where athletes attempt to set the fastest time for completing a given route. These attempts are often self-reported and tracked on dedicated websites, such as www.fastestknowntime.org. In my vocabulary, I use FKT and “speed record” interchangeably.
Crux: Borrowed from rock climbing, the term "crux" refers to the most difficult or challenging part of a route. In the context of trail running, I use it to refer to the hardest section of a run or race, whether that's due to steep inclines, technical terrain, or other challenging factors.
Traverse: In the context of running or hiking, to traverse means to travel laterally across or through an area, rather than straight up or down. For instance, a mountain traverse would involve moving horizontally across the mountain, often along a ridge, rather than directly ascending or descending.
Exposed: When a part of a trail or route is referred to as "exposed," it means that it is open and unprotected, often with steep drop-offs on one or both sides and the potential for a dangerous slip or fall. This could be due to the absence of trees, a narrow path along a cliff face, or a trail that crosses a barren, steep mountainside.
Scramble: Scrambling is a term used in hiking, mountaineering, and trail running to describe a way of moving that involves using both your hands and feet. It's typically used for steep, rocky terrain where it's too steep to walk but not steep enough to require technical climbing equipment. The difficulty and danger of scrambling can vary greatly, depending on the stability of the terrain and the exposure.
Moving Time: The amount of time in a given activity which is spent actually moving, i.e. with stopping time removed. This is sometimes done automatically through the GPS watch or various apps, or is sometimes done manually when the automatic removal gets carried away.
Total Time: This is the amount of time “door to door,” i.e., starting when you first start your watch and continuing until you stop it at the end, regardless of breaks. So, if you run for 2 hours, take an hour break, and then run for another hour, the total time would be 4 hours. I sometimes list the total time and the moving time for days with a lot of stoppage time to give some context.
Steve: Steve is a bird. The original Steve was a Carunculated Caracara that lived near the Refugio Maricunga in the high Atacama Desert in Chile. I befriended Steve there and then realized that Steve also lived on top of Rucu Pichincha (my local mountain in Quito where I train) and, since then, Steve has become something like the Dred Pirate Roberts, and is present wherever/whenever we need him in one form or another.
LT: “Lactate Threshold.” There’s probably a much more scientific way to define this, but for me, I use LT to refer to the pace one can race for about 1 hour, all out. This is also often referred to as “true tempo” pace.
CV: “Critical Velocity.” Again, there’s probably a more specific way to define this, but for me, I use CV to refer to the effort of a 30 minute all out race; so, it’s one big step up in speed from LT.“Critical Velocity.” Again, there’s probably a more specific way to define this, but for me, I use CV to refer to the effort of a 30 minute all out race; so, it’s one big step up in speed from LT.
TLDR: “Too long, didn’t read.” For days where I wrote a lot or had a more important, structured workout, I’ll often put a “TLDR” description at the top w/ a quick summary.
NB: Nota bene -- basically just a pretentious way of saying “Note:” that I picked up from my high school physics teacher and has stuck with me.
Common Notation
km = kilometers
m+ = meters of elevation gain
‘ = minutes, e.g. 60’ = 60 minutes
“ = seconds, e.g. 30” = 30 seconds
6’30 = 6 minutes, 30 seconds
KSch = KiloSchmenzer = This is an important one because I actually use it all the time. The KSch is a unit I invented for myself (and I’m sure I’m not the first person to do so) and it’s a way of factoring in both the elevation gain and the distance of a run. The total for your run in KSch is your distance (D) in km + your total vert in meters (V)/100, i.e.
D + (V/100) = KSch
E.g. If you run 5km (D) with 300m+ (V), your run is
5 + 300/100 = 5 + 3 = 8 KSch
This ends up being super helpful both for estimating time on various courses and comparing efforts on different types of terrain. For example, the Leadville 100 Mile is 161 km with 4200m+, which gives us 203 KSch. Javelina 100M is also 161 km with only 1100m+, thus 172 KSch.
The nifty thing about KSch is that, for me, especially at altitude, the effort to cover 1 KSch is about equal to 1 km on flat ground. So, if 5’00/km is a nice easy jog on flat ground, 5’00/KSch is a fairly relaxed pace. Now, we can plug this pace back into our race totals in KSch and see that Javelina at 172 KSch will run about 2-3 hours faster than Leadville.
Obviously, there’s no factor taken in for descending or for altitude, but I’ve still found it to be an extremely helpful metric and I end up using it much more than absolute pace per kilometer in these mountain blocks.
That’s all for now. See you next week.
Love,
Ty
