Running

Running Update 4/26

Swansong09302 Comments

Hello and good morning! Quick update on my running progress.

With my ultra marathon career taking a break until my next race in October, I am free to work on speed instead of raw endurance. While training for long distance races yields its own rewards (5 hour runs every weekend) I do prefer keeping my runs shorter and faster.

My main training focus until mid June will be on regaining my sub 20 minute 5k fitness. Maybe even a foray into the sub 19 minute club. To do this I need to strengthen my legs and crank my cardio fitness into overdrive. Focusing mainly on speed workouts combined with “slow” long distance days is the name of the game.

The Workouts

Last week I polished off 30 miles. Two early morning 10 mile “long” runs with a goal pace of 9:20 that I accidentally beat with a sub 9 pace (oops) along with a series of 5 800 repeats as a speed workout. The remaining 5 miles took the form of another tempo run, focused on maintaining a sub 8:30 pace and burning off the massive piece of baby shower cake I ate on Saturday.

Public Service announcements

In other news, I finally broke down and downloaded Strava! Great tool to really compare yourself to others and feel an impending sense of dread at your lacking cardio fitness! Add me!

Strava Profile

The other, possibly more important piece of running related news is the new hype song I found courtesy of Spotify linked below .

Get Hyped!

Let me know what you guys think about the new song, the progress and add me on Strava! another big week in progress so far, with hopefully some wargaming updates coming soon!

First Ultra in Review…and Beyond

Swansong0930Leave a comment

I’m a little over a month post race at this point which I cannot believe. Was truly the hardest physical challenge I’ve ever attempted. Though giving myself only 2.5 months to train was not the path to greatness I originally hoped I did get the job done, not with a good time but with a finishing time nonetheless.

Above-Thundering ahead, nearing the 28 mile mark

How did it go:

Frankly, the veteran Cross country runner in me is not happy with my time. I averaged a 13’22” mile for the race with a final time of 7:25:38. While I can blame the hilly course, the foul weather, the mud and the extra 2 miles added to what was already the longest race I’ve ever run by a 25 mile margin I have to blame myself first and foremost. I was undertrained and under prepared. That being said, I finished a race that many people will never even attempt, this brings me great pride.

The finishing proof

Lessons learned:

  • Hydration- My camelback, full of water was far too heavy for a long distance race like this. Especially on a 40 degree winter day. In the future I’ll underfill the bag or find a smaller water bottle that can be filled up at aid stations
  • Training- 2.5 months is not enough to go from couch to trail 50k. Not with a good time, and not on hilly terrain like this at least. I needed more mileage, and more hills in my training program
  • Clothing- I actually nailed this part. Had a variety of layers that I was able to switch between as the temperature changed throughout the day.
  • Keep your mind sharp- after 7 hours of running I really lost the mental game, with just a couple miles left I felt my will falter. Only way I was able to get it back was by keeping a positive attitude, and cracking jokes. At the final aid station, after over half of the 100 finishers, I asked the volunteers “you guys know how far in front I am” to a couple motivating laughs. Pic related

The Future:

My ultra career is just beginning, of that I am sure. The first thing I said as I sat in the car, writhing in pain to my Girlfriend was “I’m doing this again”. Now whether that was due to my masochistic desire to destroy my body or due to the fact that I know that I was capable of more I cannot say. What I can say is that I’ve signed up for a 50 mile race on October 14th in Chicago, a race that promises to be flat, and with ample training time, I am confident that I will finish with a strong time.

That brings me to how that applies to this blog. With a 50 miler comes hundreds of miles of training, over scores of hours split between dozens of workouts. This will not be a fun journey, but it will be an interesting one, for me at least. Stay tuned to learn, grow and sweat with me.

Stay Loose -Jerry