I feel good. These last few months I have been focusing on gaining overall strength. Mainly I’ve been climbing mountains and lifting at the gym. (If I squint I can almost see some muscle definition in my arms.) I’ve been running – not too fast and not too often.
I’m definitely not getting in as much volume as I was at this time, last year. I’m recovering from a badly sprained ankle so I don’t want to overdo it. Doctors said initially it would take up to a year before I am 100 per cent. Boy, they have been right. It’s been a long haul.
However, I have clocked some serious elevation in so far this year – 38,900 metres – so I’m not exactly beating myself up as get ready for Elk Valley 50K on Saturday.
I’m actually really psyched about Fernie. Maybe I just need to get away for the weekend. I’m going to try really, really hard on the first leg. This 21K-leg nearly killed me. I was not ready for the elevation. This year I am hoping to write another story.
I’m a little more worried about the distance than the elevation since I haven’t got many longer runs in this year. But I am going to stay positive and keep going one step at a time.
Next big thing in my real-life training
I am going to add faster runs into my real-life training schedule after I finish this darn race. Since I have been so focused on gaining strength, I have basically given up on my pace. I’ve gotten really good at slogging. I know this. Strava knows this. (If I get another … this is worst than your usual efforts notice …)
It doesn’t help that I run solo most of the time. (This is when I miss my Red Deer running friends. I’m talking to you, Laura!) When you are not trying to keep up with someone or whatever, it’s so easy to run the same random pace over and over again. (I’m desperately short on running friends in Calgary so it’s easy to get off track.) I am actually excited about adding speed or “fast running” to my haphazard training schedule. Structure is calling.
My goal race for 2019 continues to be Lost Soul. I really, really want to set a PR on the 50K distance. I have time to work on my pace and get in some longer runs. All this running in Nose Hill has to pay off, right?
I am not running Grand Canyon as mentioned in Less Races, More Adventures. Plans fell through so right now I only have the two races on my schedule. Nothing big planned – yet. I am kinda enjoying the laid-back approach to summer. I am enjoying exploring parts of Banff and Kananaskis. I want to go everywhere but I will likely run out of summer.