Posted by & filed under 2019, Contender.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Denis Allen is back for Ultimate #6, and his first three-peat!

How is your training going? I have a running coach (H+P) now and a solid routine with a lot recovery volume based running 80K to 110K weeks and I keep chipping away at increasing my speed. My week consists of 4-5 Recovery Runs, 1 Long run and 1 Speed run. It’s working to keep me healthy and I am enjoying it.

How will your ENDURrun 2019 compare to previous years? For 2019 my plan is stay healthy during the week and make some improvement on my time.

What are the key pieces of advice to Rookies that you’ve learned over the years? Enjoy the week, treat it like a fitness vacation and have fun. Learn from the experienced Ultimates, engage in conversation and make friends. You can make the week competitive if you need that edge by finding a group of runners that match your pace and use them for your race strategies. That’s fun too.

For someone who has never been to ENDURrun week, what should they expect? A friendly, supportive and running family atmosphere.

What about ENDURrun keeps you coming back? Besides the friendly, supportive and the running family atmosphere. I think the ENDURrun has now become my center for my overall running purpose and hope it will be there for many years to come.
Sophomore questions

What are your ENDURrun 2019 stories? The 2019 ENDURrun will be my 6th Ultimate and I have slowed down. This was mainly due to injuries. My fastest year was my first ENDURrun in 2011. This past year, I have got a running coaching to help me get back on top of things and have been very happy with the progress. This year should be a step in improvements and my goal is to stay healthy, have fun and improve my times.

What are you most looking forward to about ENDURrun 2019? Seeing everyone again this year and the camaraderie.

What are you nervous about, if anything? On June 24th 2019 I wiped out on a trail and sprained my right ankle. Everything looks OK after some recovery, but it will be in the back of my mind when we run Bechtel and Chicopee so I will need to stay focused on those run and make sure my root avoidance radar is turned on.

Can you share any details of your training? Lots of recovery volume based running 80K to 110K weeks. My week consists of 4-5 Recovery Runs, 1 Long run and 1 Speed run.

What is your runner profile? I ran cross country in public school and track in high school. That was over 40 years ago. At that time, I was able to run a sub-5 minute mile. In 2009, I got back into running for the fitness and being a competitive person, the racing. My main goal was a sub-20 minute 5K and I got close, 20:21. I changed my focus to longer distance and in 2011 started running the ENDURrun as an Ultimate. Out of the gate it went well, then over the years I started running into small issues with my left hamstring and glute and started slowing down, lost my running mojo too. But, I didn’t give it up, kept trying to get back at it. In 2017, I went back after my main goal again sub-20 minute 5K and that is where my bigger focus is right now but at the same time keeping up with the longer distance running. To help me get there I started with coaching (H+P) in Oct 2018 and this has helped big time. I am happy in the direction I am going and hopefully soon I will bust the sub-20 minute 5K. Once that is accomplished I will set a new goal.

What else would you like to share? I am really looking forward to this running week. I treat it like a fitness vacation.