Going the distance

This week’s training did not start off on the right foot. Rain and pure laziness put me on the sidelines for three straight days. But no matter what I was determined to get in 70K. It meant I would be running a couple of back-to-back long runs. No biggie. 

While I haven’t run back-to-back long runs in a long time, I didn’t let any panic set in. 

On Friday I met Rachel, Karen and Robyn for a train run in West Bragg Creek. I wasn’t sure what kind of distance they were feeling but I was determined to get in at least 25K (even if it meant I would run longer on my own). We all stuck together because the golden rule of  running is never to leave anyone behind especially in the mountains. 

Thankfully it turned out just fine and I only ran about one kilometre on my own. It involved a few – I am going to run ahead and double back – tactics. 

It was tough getting out of bed and I almost texted Rachel to say screw it I am sleeping in. I gave my head a shake and got my lazy butt on the road. I thought my legs would be a little uncooperative but they didn’t whine too much. My right foot bothered me on and off but I didn’t bother complaining. Same old, same old. Mind over matter is what I say!
 As per usual, we didn’t meet anyone on the first section of the race.  A few mountain bikers crossed our path on this section of the trail. Other than that it was a fairly quiet day. 

It was perfect weather – not too hot and not too cold. I wore a singlet for the run’s duration. I knew I just had to run faster if I got cold. 

These training runs are perfect for testing hydration and fuelling. I’ve noticed lately that I am not taking in enough hydration in the first of couple hours into my run. I know this because usually it is on the downhills that I can hear the water swishing in my hydration pack. I have to get a handle on my fuelling over the coming weeks. Hot weather and poor fuelling really did me in two years ago at Lost Soul. I am determined not to repeat past mistakes. 

I was thankful that Robyn and Karen were good sports about our “just around the corner” tricks. They were a little hesitant about running a long distance but they loved it in the end. Karen has a race on Sunday so she wanted to keep her run around the 20K-mark. I finished with a solid 25K. I challenged myself a little with the hills and stayed positive. I am trying not to freak myself out with all the training ahead especially in this mileage-building block of my training. 

I rushed home in time to practice hot yoga at Bikram. I knew if I was going to run 20K on Saturday I needed to loosen up my tight and tired body. It sure did the trick. Gosh I love hot yoga or maybe it’s the heat. 

My first 15K was relatively flat. I wanted to let my legs open up from all the climbing yesterday. I saved the final 5K for hills. The only hiccup to my run was surprisingly a moose and her two offspring. They had seen me too and went off into the woods. Never get between an animal and her babies. I won’t bother posting my fuzzy photo. 

Surprisingly I didn’t feel like I had run 50K over the last three days. That’s a great sign because in a few months I will be running 54K in one go. Gosh that sounds scary when I say that out loud! I have maintained 70K over the last three weeks.

This week I will spread my runs out a little more over the week. I don’t like the pressure of playing catch up when I miss a run. It’s okay to do once and awhile but not every week.  

 Happy trails!