Welcome to our Picky Log!!
The plan is, once a month, to have one of our HOKA NAZ Elite athletes write a detailed “week in the life” type of blog post where they log all their miles, include little tid bits of behind-the-scenes info you can’t get anywhere else, and of course…share their favorite Picky Bars treats!! We’re kicking off this series with a week in the life of newly minted 2:12 marathoner…Nick Hauger. Nick shares an early season week of training, gives you the inside scoop on what Kellyn Taylor thought of the results of the Houston Marathon, and even teases some brand new shoes coming down the pike. Enjoy!!
Monday 1.17.22
I’ve officially been back in Flagstaff training regularly again for 2 weeks now after spending some time home for the holidays. This is the week I like to call, “the foggy week.” Early in a training cycle I seem to have one week where the excitement of being back pushes me to feeling good each day. Then the second week kicks in and well, let’s just say it gets a little harder to get out of bed in the morning. Needless to say, I was still pumped to be at practice putting in miles especially after witnessing a historic Houston marathon/half marathon the previous day. From teammate Alice Wright making her debut in the marathon to seeing two American records go down, I have to say it got the competitive drive in me going again!
AM: 10 miles in 70-ish minutes with the team at Woody Mountain (a little too icy from the snows still). Ran with Kellyn mostly. When asking her about the Houston results, got a typical “Eh, would’ve been fun to be there. Next time.”
PM: Focus/Meditation Session with Shannon, talking about nerves and how to lean into, and use nerves, to our advantage and how to decipher between fear thoughts and simple nerves/excitement. Personally loved this session because having the ability to use nerves to our advantage and see them as a positive is something I find to be so valuable on race day. Quote from Shannon for the day, “Everything belongs.”
Weights with AJ and Wes after the focus session. I love the gym and the strength work we do. It has been so valuable in making me a stronger and healthier runner. Plus having Tyler Day jam out to nearly every song that’s played brings some fun to the hour session.
Picky Nutrition: ‘Trail Mix Fix’ Picky Oatmeal with blueberries in the morning, Blueberry Boombizzle Picky bar post weight session.
Tuesday 1.18.22
AM: 10 miles easy at Mailboxes with the man Tyler Day biking along with us. He even did the add-on of 2 miles
with me since I was the only one with 10 miles on the day. Tyler is an absolute goofball. He has high energy, plenty of jokes (that often times go over our heads), and can fill 70 minutes of running with plenty of chatter. But there’s a side of Tyler that is very serious and motivating. We talked a lot today about the team, pushing each other, and the competitive energy we feel after a big Houston weekend. Tyler is still on the comeback train post surgery but man, it is great having him there to help put things in perspective and get you motivated.
PM: Super secret HOKA prototype shoe testing with some of the HOKA employees that are creating newer/faster shoes for us. Insider account: I’m excited with what I saw! Ran 4 miles and did drills and strides to prepare for tomorrow’s track workout.
Picky Nutrition: Picky PB & J All Day Granola with some cashew yogurt and blueberries before the morning run. Mint Condition picky bar post double as I was very hungry and couldn’t wait until dinner to eat. May have also had some drizzle on sourdough bread as a post dinner snack…
Wednesday 1.19.22
AM: Solo 4 mile shakeout up at buffalo park. Legs were a bit heavy and slightly sore from weights the other day. Not too worried as the shakeout before a workout is designed for exactly that, to prime the legs for a good afternoon workout.
PM: Back at the indoor track! It had been two years since we were in the dome here in Flagstaff working out on the indoor track. I had a different workout than the others today, which was 20 x 300-meter repeats with 200 jog in between each rep. Even though this was a solo workout it definitely didn’t feel like it. Matt and Alex were crushing their session, Kellyn, Dani, and Katie were crushing theirs and hype man himself Tyler was, well, hyping me up after each lap. This felt better than I expected it to as the pace was right around my 10k pace which is something I didn’t touch on much in my marathon build. The fact the pace came easier than expected gave me some confidence as I dive deeper into this spring block of training.
Picky Nutrition: Trail Mix fix Oatmeal with some drizzle added in and blueberries before the morning run and a Smooth Caffeinator Picky Bar before the workout for an added caffeine bump.
Thursday 1.20.22
AM: 10 miles out at good ol’ mailboxes. Managed to link up with Canadian Olympian John Gay for this run. We chatted all things running per usual but I wanted some insight into his Olympic experience in Tokyo. He said the best part was making the final in the Steeplechase because he felt like he contributed something for team Canada. That got me fired up for my own racing and others. I love this time of year in Flagstaff because there are so many other pro runners and teams in town. It gives an incredible energy and feel to the town and the roads we get to run on.
Picky Nutrition: Can’t Beet Chocolate Oatmeal and blueberries pre run and a Cinnamon Rollin Picky Bar post run.
Friday 1.21.22
AM: Mixed things up today and ran the 10 miles from coach Ben’s house on a chilly and gloomy morning in
Flagstaff. We had a smaller group today BUT we had a guest appearance from NAZ legend, Aaron Braun A.K.A. “Brauny.” He was on the team for a few years before I joined the team and has since retired from professional running and is coaching at Sacramento State. It was fun to chat with him on the run for a bit. My Strava for this run was titled, “Slow down to enjoy the view.” We ran nice and easy today and were blessed with a great view of the snowy San Francisco Peaks.
PM: Had an easy 4 miles along with drills and strides to get ready for a longer session tomorrow morning. Had an overwhelming sense of “I’m ready for a good one tomorrow.”
Picky Nutrition: After a morning run like that I went straight for some Picky Pancakes! I like to add a little extra to the pancakes for maximum enjoyment, which I will happily share with you guys! I add ¼ cup chopped walnuts to the mix (for a healthy protein bump) and a splash of almond milk along with the water. Once the pancakes are cooked I top with drizzle and sliced bananas. If you can top that combo please let me know immediately.
Saturday 1.22.22
AM: Camp Verde workout!! Flagstaff was cold, windy and snowy. So we avoided the weather and drove down as a group to Camp Verde. Here, we are at a lower elevation ~3000 feet as opposed to 7000 feet in Flagstaff and are able to run this great 3 mile road loop at faster paces than we would if we were in Flagstaff. While we escaped the cold weather of Flagstaff, Camp Verde was still a bit chilly and quite windy. My workout was 8 miles continuous right around marathon pace. Coming off a marathon not too long ago, I was excited at the prospect of seeing how this all too familiar pace would feel. All in all this was a great day, I averaged 5:04 pace with some heavy headwinds on certain stretches of the 3-mile loop, which was tough to fight through, but a good lesson to stay positive and keep plugging away. After that, I had some 30-second pick-ups and nice cool down with the rest of the team.
Picky Nutrition: You can’t go wrong with the Can’t Beet Chocolate Oatmeal the morning of a workout. The beet powder helps dilate the blood vessels to prep the body for a good workout. While that was pre-run, as soon as we were in the car heading back up the mountain, I ate my favorite Picky Bar–Ah, Fudge Nuts! (Convince me there is a better flavor than chocolate and peanut butter).
Sunday 1.23.22
AM: After big workout days on the weekend, we usually have a day where we aren’t scheduled to meet as a team and instead are given the freedom of running whenever we feel for the day. I’m a routine guy so I stuck to our current normal run time of 9 A.M. I met up with Julia out at mailboxes and we got the chance to join the McKirdy Trained elite team that also trains here in Flagstaff for part of their run. They were all doing a long run so Julia and I turned around earlier than they did as we only had 10 miles on the day after a long workout day yesterday. Something Julia and I talked about was how we miss doing brunch after long runs or workouts like we used to in college. So, one of our plans is to get people together for post workout/long run brunch more often (for obvious nutritional and social benefit of course).
Picky Nutrition: Is there a better day for pancakes than Sunday? I don’t think so. So yep you guessed it, another world famous Picky Pancake breakfast post run today!
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