The Back 40 trail races are hosted in the fall in Bella Vista, Arkansas.
There is a 5, 13, 20 and 40 mile option.
This year I’m training for the 20 mile race.
I have been training on the trails around Lake Atalanta in Rogers, Arkansas.
All the trails in northwest Arkansas are beautiful and well maintained. The Ozark hills offer beautiful views and challenging elevation gain.
The mountain biking and trail running community is strong in numbers and funding from several local foundations and philanthropists including the Walton family.
My trail running shoes are the Brooks Cascadia 16 for this season.
This is my second pair of Brooks Cascadia. The plate in the shoe helps protect my feet from the rocks and roots that are plentiful on NWA trails.
For nutrition I’m sticking with the UCan Edge Gels every 45 minutes. I’m using Drip Drop with my hydration. This was the winning formula in my marathon training back in the winter and spring.
I’ve been doing long runs on Sunday at a long run pace of around 10:10/mile. I also do two shorter runs during the week on paved trails. Tuesday is a recovery pace and Thursday is Interval work for speed and VO2 maintenance.
The next three weeks I will be increasing my weekly miles and long run by 10% each week. Then, I’ll do a recovery week by backing off miles by 30% before doing another two weeks of mile increases. I’ll then do two weeks of taper before race day.
Check out more details about the Back 40 trail races here at this link.
