Snowbasin by UTMB · Inaugural · Sep 12 2026 · 8:30 AM
28K PODIUM BUILD
29 km · 2,400 ft climb · 6,400–7,800 ft elevation · 3 sacred runs + 3 lifts weekly · decision gate Aug 22 · longest run 2:55 (Aug 6)
The Seven Weeks
This Week's Split—
Lift
Run
Rest
Goal Paces — The Podium Math
Race Day by Segment · measured from the GPX
| Segment | Terrain | Target |
|---|
| Mi 1 | +330′ · 6.3% | HIKE · HR 142–150 |
| Mi 2–6.5 | +493′ · runnable | HR 148–155 |
| Mi 6.5–11.5 | +1,366′ · mi 7 is 7.7% | HR 150–158 |
| Crest | 8,372′ @ mi 11.5 | race starts here |
| Mi 11.5–18 ⚡ | −1,900′ · mi 16 is −10.1% | 7:30–9:00/mi |
One 11.5-mi climb, then one 6.5-mi descent — this course is not rolling. HR is useless downhill (yours read 124 while crawling 12:40s). Judge the descent by pace only.
Finish Time = Descent Speed
| Finish | Climb 11.5 mi | Descent 6.34 mi |
|---|
| 3:00 | 11:18/mi | 7:53/mi |
| 3:15 | 12:10/mi | 8:41/mi |
| 3:30 | 12:57/mi | 9:37/mi |
| Aug 13 actual | on target | 12:40/mi |
The climb split is nearly there already. The entire 30-minute spread between 3:00 and 3:30 lives in the last 6.5 miles. Downhill running on tired legs is the highest-value session available.
The Ladder · 3 Rungs to Podium
| Checkpoint | Target |
|---|
| Aug 3 · 6.5 mi · 67 min | 9:07 GAP @ HR 146 ✓ |
| Aug 6 · 12.4 mi · 2:55 | 12:07 GAP @ HR 140 ✓ |
| Gate Aug 20 · 13 mi | descent pace on tired legs |
| Race Sep 12 · 18 mi | ~9:00 = podium |
Revised Aug 6: the 2:55 long run closed the durability gap far earlier than planned — but it also exposed the real one. You ran 9:07/mi GAP at 67 minutes and 12:07 at 175 minutes: three minutes per mile slower for six fewer heartbeats. Duration is no longer the question; pace in hour three is. Race day still projects 2:55–3:15, currently the slower half. Aug 22 decides.
Training Paces by Sessiongrade-adjusted · trail reads slower by climb
| Session | Pace (GAP) | HR | Feel |
|---|
| Easy / recovery | 10:00–10:45 | <140 | Conversational |
| Long steady | 9:30–10:15 | 140–150 | Comfortably hard on climbs |
| Tempo / threshold | 8:30–9:00 | 153–162 | Comfortably uncomfortable |
| Vert intervals | climb hard | 163–170 | 1–2 min hard, full recovery |
| Descents | 7:00–7:45 | 150–158 | Fast feet, relax, don't brake |
Rules of the Block
- Three runs are sacred: Mon vert · Thu tempo · Sat long mountain. Everything else flexes.
- Upper lifting untouched — pair it with Mon/Fri, keep chasing HSPU and weighted-pull PRs.
- Legs Tuesday only: heavy, 3–5 reps, 5–8 sets, 2 in reserve, never to failure. Stacked behind Monday's hills so Wed + Sun stay true recovery. Last leg day Sep 1, none race week.
- The gate moved to Aug 22. A dive trip cost ~10 days of running, so testing on Aug 15 would only have measured the layoff. Two rebuild weeks first, then the trial — and still three weeks to act on the answer. Race day does not move.
- Protect the long run above everything. If a week has to shrink, cut the midweeks, never the long run. Aug 6 delivered 2:55 on feet — the gap that defined this block is largely closed.
- Repeat, don't extend. Aug 6 jumped your longest run 77% in a single session, from a 9 mi/week base. You bank that by repeating ~2:00–2:15, not by going longer. One jump like that is a gift; two in a row is an injury.
- The question has changed. It is no longer "can he last three hours" — that's answered. It is how fast he moves in hour three: 9:07/mi GAP at 67 min vs 12:07 at 175 min. Closing that spread is now the whole job, and Aug 22 measures it.
- Targets are capped on purpose. Peak week is 23 mi, not 30. From a 9 mi/week chronic base, anything past ~2× is where Achilles and tibial stress injuries live. A finished race at 3:05 beats a DNS at any pace.
- Easy means easy: HR under 140. The 145+ drift is the dead zone.
- Fuel the work: no deficit days until Sep 13. Protein 180–200 g. 60–90 g carbs/hr on runs over 90 min.
- Tripwire: resting HR +7 bpm or dead legs ×2 days → convert to easy. Sharp tendon pain → 2 days off running, lifting continues.
Heart-Rate Zones · Max 178
| Zone | HR | Use |
|---|
| Easy | < 140 | Recovery, long-run base |
| Steady | 140–152 | Long-run climbs |
| Threshold | 153–164 | Tempo, race climbs |
| Hard | 165+ | Hill repeats only |
Gate · Thu Aug 20: 13 mi / 2,000′ of the course at race effort.
≤ 2:00–2:05 with quads intact → register and hunt the inaugural podium.
Slower → race it as the benchmark; 2027 becomes the campaign.