A Fool Such As I

I've been a little tongue tied lately, never really knowing where to pick up from and how to bridge the gap between end of 2015 and Spring 2016.  By mid-January I has able to get my running routine back on track and have been slowly building my mileage up moving forward into the Spring.  When asked what my racing plans were for the year I found myself stuttering, stumbling for an answer.  I didn't know what I wanted to do.  There are always a few races that are favourites or close to home which I'm more inclined to do again, but what was on the bucket list?


On April 1st, I made the decision to attempt my first ultra distance race.
On April 2nd, I signed up - waited a day just in case my brain was playing an April Fool's joke on me!

So now I am back to a regular and strong running base, and registered for the Rundle's Revenge 50km Trail Race on June 26th, 2016.

Freaking out just a little on the inside, but I am super stoked that this event has turned into a Dirty Feet Tuesday Crew (DFTC) weekend adventure.  Several of my regular running friends have registered themselves for the race and we're headed to Canmore, Alberta for a weekend of fun, food, beers and of course, running! The 2-day event itself is a MTB Race on the Saturday followed by trail running on the Sunday; offering distances for every level participant.

So how do I train for an ultra distance race when I have never even run a marathon?
Damned good question.  Thankfully I have experienced running friends and I like to read.  With a little searching through old Trail Running magazines and picking the brains of some super helpful experienced ultra running friends (SHEURFs) I have put together my training plan for the next 12 weeks leading up to Rundles.  Gulp.  Only 12 weeks.

Pretty much every plan I found was a minimum 16 weeks training leading up to a 50km race, I jumped in in week 4 of the most appropriate plan I found which did not force me into too steep of a weekly mileage increase.

Week 1 - 55km/53km

The biggest challenge of the week was the LSD on a Friday night just so that I could fit it in and run with a friend.  A flat 21.5km trail run in the evening after a full day at work and on a pre-dinner stomach.  Thank god I had Misty there to keep egging me on or this may have ended at 18kms when I passed the car the first time.

Week 2 - 51km/58km

This weeks runs were doomed to be shortened no matter the day.  When the weekend finally came I was playing catch-up so bad that it was "Garbage Day Sunday" in the Batchelor Hills Trails with Jon, running until I could run no more.  And I still came up short.

Week 3 - There's a downshift to 43km this week, however I not going to throw a party.  Hill repeats are introduced into the mix and if you know me you know how much I love hills. Ha!

Happy Trails...