Ultramarathon Training Week 13

This week was my final peak week before the Ice Age 50 mile on May 13th!  At the moment, I am glad to enter taper mode, but I am also very nervous.  I tend to go crazy during marathon taper because I feel the need to keep exercising even though I know I need to lay off in order to be fresh for race day.  It’s the constant ED brain vs. logical brain struggle.  I am scared about what an ultramarathon taper will bring.

 

However, this past week was a huge confidence boost.  On Saturday I ran the Earth Day 50k.  It was totally unplanned; I made the decision to run on Thursday.  I’ll detail the post in a race recap later this week, but it was a fantastic experience.  I finished in 5:28:26, taking 4th female overall, first in my age group and fastest “Ultra Virgin.”  Other runners said this race is comparable to the Ice Age 50 so mentally I feel cnfident about where I am.

 

Physically, I am sore.  I ran on Sunday after the race, but definitely shouldn’t have.  I felt the need to move.  On one hand because I was thinking, “This will help you get used to running on tired legs and you’ll flush out some lactic acid” but on the other hand it was my taper and ED anxiety peeking through.  It’s a hard and frustrating balance.  A massage and rest is what I should have done, so that will come later this week.

 


Ultramarathon Training Week 13 Recap

(Catch up on past weeks here)

 
Monday 4/17 EZ RPE 4
Did a very easy 6 miles along the St. Charles River before going to spectate the Boston Marathon. Watching the race was magical and so inspiring. I highly encourage anyone who can to go out there and watch. Total: 6.0 miles

 

Ultramarathon Training Week 13 - Monday
Run along the river. Spring time is here!

 

Tuesday 4/18 Speed with surges
My legs were sill feeling a bit tired from my major weekend so for speed I threw in short 15-60 second surges into my easy paced miles. I had read (and then experienced on Saturday) that in ultra races on trails, you may have to quickly surge to pass someone. Total: 10.30 miles

 

Ultramarathon Training Week 13 - Tues
The infamous Citgo sign is in the sky

 

Wednesday 4/19 EZ RPE 4-5 + strength
Kept it nice and simple for todays run. In strength class we did a LOT of inner thigh work (at least my legs thought so!). In the evening I watch the Boston documentary. It was beautifully done and I learned so much about the history of the race that I didn’t know before. I laughed, I cried, and fell in love with the event all over again. Total: 8.0 miles

 

Ultramarathon Training Week 13- boston doc

 

Thursday 4/20 Rest
Hot yoga gave me a good stretch- my legs were sore from strength! The rest day also offered me time to bake some vegan oatmeal raisin cookies for my friend Shawna for a post-surgery treat 🙂

 

Ultramarathon Training Week 13 - rest day brags
I love recipe testing!

 

Friday 4/21 EZ RPE 4 + NP
Thursday evening I decided that I would be racing on Saturday (long story) so I took today as a shakeout of sorts. We played “baseball” at NP and I made it around the bases once but was tagged out all the other times. It was a blast! Total: 5.25 miles

 

Saturday 4/22 Planned: 30 miles. Actual: Earth Day 50k (31 miles)
I decided last minute to sign u for Earth Day. A longer blog post will follow to recap the race but HOLY MOLEY I LOVED IT. It helped that I took home some good hardware (technically “woodware” and a cup). This boosted my confidence in my Ice Age prep and made me even more excited for the big day! Total: 31 miles

 

Ultramarathon Training Week 13
With all my hardware – err… woodware?

 

Sunday 4/23 EZ RPE 3
Like I mentioned before, I should have taken a rest day. Those hills are Earth Day were no joke – we had about 2,000 feet of elevation change. For perspective, I get ZERO on the lakefront trail and about 1,000 at Swallow Cliff. But I had 9 scheduled to run, so off I went. Stupid, this was definitely my eating disorder side overriding my logical brain. It was slow, but it did feel good to get blood flowing into my legs and warm them up. I foam rolled for about 20 minutes afterwards and then went to the EDGE to do a full recovery plus some recovery yoga. Total: 9.1 miles

 

Photo cred: Nancy + EDGE

 

Total mileage 70.2miles     Total time 11 hours, 5 minutes

 

I may need someone to slap me in the face during these next three weeks if the taper crazies take over.  Stay tuned.

 

Happy running,

Becca

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