I started writing this blog post three days ago. I was fed up with winter. It was blowing and snowing, and I simply had enough. Not much has changed over the last couple of days. There’s still lots of snow on the ground and there’s more snow in the forecast.
In case you missed it – it’s spring!
Right. I am not going to let this extended (and extended) winter get me down. Last winter, as you may recall, I really, really let the dark, cold winter months get to me. I was not in a good place. I was grumpy all the time! Lack of sunshine can do that to a person.
Anyway …. I stayed close to home over the long weekend and on the treadmill. Don’t judge me. I suffered through enough long, cold runs. I bought my treadmill for a reason. And let me tell you running 26K on a treadmill took a lot of willpower on Saturday. My plan was to crush 30K but I tapped out early. (Really in the big scheme of things … is 4K really going to matter?)
Consistency is the key, my friends.
Do you want to improve as a runner? The key to improvement is consistency. Much more than any fancy training schedule featuring interval training, tempo runs or hill repeats. Just run day after day, week after week, year after year at a level where you never become injured.
— Hal Higdon (@higdonmarathon) March 29, 2018
Despite all the cold weather and inside runs, I am pretty happy with my training this winter. Last week, I started hill repeats.I’m hoping to get to the mountains soon but I just don’t see the point with all this freaking snow on the ground. I’m starting to get a little freaked out about the elevation in the Elk Valley Ultra in July. Its calling card is “high vert, challenging 50K.” Hello? I think I missed this valuable piece of information when I signed up for this race in Fernie.
All jokes aside .. I am super excited about this race. The photos look amazing. And the goal is simply to finish. I really need to be pushed and challenged this year with all my races. Every time someone asks about my races this year, I have to chuckle because I have set myself up for some fun (and challenging) times.
Happy trails.