Sunday, January 21, 2018

The miles ramp up

In 2018 I have decided to take on the 100K distance at the Eagle Up Ultra, it is the logical progression from my two 50 mile finishes in the first two years of this event. I started my training with the start of the year. Today I crossed the 100 mile mark for 2018 with what felt like an awesome run. I ran my long run on Saturday this weekend as part of a group run with my marathon training group which left an 8 mile run today. Due to drizzly weather at questionable temperatures I opted to run at the track at the Rec Center. I didn't quite achieve negative splits because for some reason I slowed down just a tad on mile 7, all the same my last mile was the fastest mile which always makes me happy. 



What made this run awesome was the fact that I felt strong throughout the entire run. I wouldn't say it was effortless because it wasn't but I felt like I could have gone on for hours. I ran portions of the last mile at *almost* as fast as I can run paces, followed by walking intervals to recover.
After my run, I walked a few laps to cool down and then had a good stretch session, not pictured in this photo where I was just playing with capturing a photo of my shoes and my foot pod. 

This coming week brings strength training on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday along with running Tuesday through Thursday. Saturday I will return to the Amana Freezer Run, and annual Winterfest run that I enjoy particpating in.  We will see what the weather brings, current prediction is that it will not feel much like weather. Also hoping to get a  long run in with some hills out on the trails next weekend.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

A cold run

Hello 2018!  Just a couple of weeks in and I have already started training for the spring and early summer  racing season. My two big races in that time frame are an April Marathon and and June Ultra Marathon. Today's plan called for 6 miles, a short enough distance to manage on the track but I opted to run outside in a temperature that felt like -15°f.  My thought was it was a short enough distance that wouldn't require me to be outside for hours and I could manage it. I did well with my layers and was quite comfortable for most of the run.  My legs did start to feel the cold towards the end of the run. I am confident that I most likely will not run outdoors in weather cold than this and that if it had been windy I would have opted to stay inside. Happy I had the opportunity to enjoy the crisp sunrise this morning!
Ninja Me