Update on Ultra Training, and Look Ahead

A week ago I ran my first ultra marathon of 50k (about 31 miles).  I finished in a time of about 4 hours 27 minutes, which was surprising with the lack of mileage I have put in the past few weeks.  The best part was 31 miles felt great.  My mind was strong through the entire thing and I think I only told myself about once to stop at about mile 21.  I persevered and kept running and finished 2nd overall.

Right now I have put in just over 150 miles in this month.  I need to take a day or two off to let my legs recover.  My knees are sore, and so are my shins.  After putting in a 65 miles week where close to half of that was in a race, my legs are begging for some time off the roads.  My training is going well as farther distances do not seem so far anymore.  Last year 8 miles would have been long, but now running 8-12 miles is easy and short.  After you run some 20 milers, and a 50k, it puts distance into a different perspective.  This week my runs have been pretty slow.  I ran a 9 miler on Wednesday at about 8:55 pace, a 10 miler on Saturday at 8:30 pace, and an 11 miler today at about 8:30 pace.  It felt good to slow down and take things easy.

These next couple weeks I am going to slow it down for about a week, then pick it back up.  I have another 50k on March 15th and hope to go sub 4 hours.  I'm looking forward to what this year has to bring since my first race was successful.  The rest of the year for me is as follows:
March 15th = 50k in Solon, IA
April 12th = 50 miler in Thielman, MN
May 31st = Dam to Dam (half marathon) in Des Moines, IA
June 21st = Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN
July 12th = 50k or 50 miler (haven't decided yet) in Baraboo, WI
October 19th = Des Moines Marathon
I might throw in a few smaller road races as well just for fun, but those are the big ones.

Free Spirit

I've been trying hard to boost my miles up, by just getting out there and letting my legs make up where I go.  That sounds kind of cheesy, but I started this new trend where I don't look at my training and don't make up my mind on how far I am going.  I just run.  It works pretty well, too.  On days where my training says 4 miles I might go out and actually put in 6-8, or 15 like I did today.  It's a very free-spirited approach to the sport and I feel at ease when I run like this.  I am sure the "experts" will disagree with this method and say I need to stick to training and appropriate mileage to prevent injury, but I have found the less I think about the technicalities the more I enjoy running.

I have started to notice the tranquility of winter running.  Not a lot of people are out and about in the winter time, especially at night, which makes many of my runs very peaceful.  It's great to take in the simplicity every once in awhile.  I don't listen to music as many people know who follow me, because running, for me, gives me time to think and enjoy life's greatest pleasures.

Today was the longest I have run in a long time (15 miles).  I probably would have liked to go more, but I think hypothermia was on the set in and I couldn't feel my hands anymore, so I had to call my wife to come pick me up.  I have a marathon (potentially a 50k) coming up on the 19th in Dubuque and I really needed to know what a long distance felt like in this weather.  Though 15 miles doesn't really compare to 26.2 it does give me an idea that I might want to dress a little better.  I will also have the adrenaline pumping to get me through the race and other people to run with.  I guess I don't feel as if I am 100% prepared or, at least, as prepared as I was for the Des Moines Marathon.

The goal with my ultra training from here on out is simply spend time on my feet and put in a lot of miles.