Ultramarathon Training Week 6

I’m back from Tokyo and have a slew of things that I want to talk about. However, they all merit individual posts, so today is just going to be a straight ultramarathon training recap of week 6.

 

I know that the posts have been running heavy lately, but ultramarathon training is so new and exciting to me that it is at the forefront of my mind!  Plus I just went on an epic runcation to Tokyo.  That kind of took up a lot of time too.  And I’ve started coaching other athletes. (Check out this blog post about it!)  Coaching other athletes is a very exciting endeavor for me, which has taken up a good portion of my time too (2 entire 13 hour flights to and from Japan actually, I didn’t sleep the whole time, just researched and planned!)

 

Yes, I have goals and intentions to post recipes.  I really do.  I wish this blog was a full-time job; posting recipes requires creating the recipe, testing the recipe on others, tweaking the recipe if needed, photographing the recipe, editing said photos, and then writing about the recipe.  I have pizza, stew, muffin, energy bite, hummus and fig bar recipes to share but no pictures of them.  So until I can make and photograph the process, ultramarathon training recap it is.

 

Happy running,

Becca

 


 

Ultramarathon Training Week 6

(For past weeks, look for the Training Tuesday tag)

 

Overall, this week was a recovery or “down” week following the Tokyo Marathon.  All of the planned runs were easy and low volume.  With the exception of the November Project workout on Friday, I kept all of the runs to RPE 4 or 5. That way, I got in active recovery without creating anymore stress on the body.

 

Monday 2/27 – Recovery Day, 0 miles

I celebrated the marathon with a walking tour of the Ueno neighborhood of Tokyo.  On the walk, Jon and I found Temple Enju-ji, dedicated to the deity Nichika-sama, also known as the ‘god of strong legs’.  I saw lots of prayers from runners about doing well in the marathon; I said my own prayer and rang the gong.

 

 

Tuesday 2/28 – EZ, RPE 4
I did a lot of walking on Monday, but I still wanted to shake out my legs.  I knew that I had taken the marathon at an easier pace than had I been racing it.  BUT given how nauseous I felt at the end, I also knew that I had to get back into running very gingerly.  Even though with the ultramarathon training plans that I’ve seen there are 25+ days followed immediately by double-digit days, I didn’t want to push anything too much too soon.  So I just stuck with a very easy 5 miles and a very easy pace.  total: 5 miles, 9:20 pace

 

Wednesday 3/1 -EZ, RPE 4
The first mile was slow and took a while to shake off the cobwebs, but then I got into a better groove.  I wanted to get in something before our flight, especially knowing I would be sitting for 13 hours straight.  During my run I saw a group of women doing an exercise class by the river and witnessed a glorious sunrise  Total: 4.50 miles, 8:55 pace.

 

 

Thursday 3/2 – Rest day
I was WIPED out from travel.  I slept 13 hours!  The only thing I wanted to do was go to the EDGE to recover and see friends so that’s exactly what I did.

 

 

Friday 3/3 – EZ RPE 4 + NP
With the time change and rest day I felt great when I did this run.  I ran 6 miles down to the November Project workout like normal and was greeted with lots of hugs and congratulations on Tokyo.  The run down there was very easy but the workout involved a lot of sprints!  We were in the Millenuium Park Ampetheater: 5 pushups and then raced around to the other side to try to beat our partner, while stopping twice for jump lunges, mountain climbers, basketball shooters, or Waz burpees.  All the sprinting definitely led to me being tired by the time the trail run came around on Sunday.  total: 8.0 miles (8 min pace for run to NP)

 

Saturday 3/4 – Long Run, RPE 5
Headed out to Barrington but only for an easy 10 miles.  I had hoped to find people to run with, but I needed to keep an 8:30 pace, and most of my runner friends were closer to 7:45.  So it ended up being some lonely miles, but at least it was beautiful weather!  total: 10.30 miles, 8:27 pace

 

Sunday 3/5 – EZ Trail, RPE 4 
Finished the week off at the trails with Dallas, Lydia and some other EDGE runners.  It was slow going.  First, fatigue and jet lag slowed me down.  Second, MUD.  I could feel my knees knocking into each other a few times- a big red flag that my glute mede is weak. Time to hit some clamshells.  I went to the EDGE afterwards for an ice bath, compression boots and social hour 🙂 Total: 6.25 miles, 9:45 pace
 
 
Total week’s mileage = 34.05, Total time: 5 hours 

 

Next week will be another build week!

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