Snowy trails - in April!
Race day is almost here, and I'm as ready as I can be. After my last post, I e-mailed the RD of the Ice Age Trail races and requested a move to the 50K. It was hard, but I think it was the right choice. I've got the rest of the summer and fall to nail that 50 miler. I've got a couple plans floating around in my tiny head. I'll see how Saturday goes and then move forward from there. I think my training was as close to spot on as it can be while working shift work. I got in a bunch of long runs (15+) including 24, 27 and 32 miles. The run 15 minutes and walk 5 minutes plan was working great. I was averaging 10:00/mile pace while employing this strategy. Keeping the pace easy and trying to burn fat instead of carbs has helped my efficiency. I used "Metabolic Efficiency Training" by Bob Seebohar and like how it worked. I think all the long road miles finally caught up to my feet. The first four months of 2013 I ran over 800 miles compared to just over 600 for the last eight months of 2012. I believe some trail miles would have helped.
I managed a couple races since the last post. I ran a trail 15K at Iola Winter Sports Club, and the weather must have felt it had to go along with the name of the venue. The April 14th race was run entirely on snow covered trails. Cross country skiers were waiting for us to finish so they could ski! To add insult to injury, by the end of the 15K race, Mother Nature treated us to almost white out conditions. But I had a great race. I ran it easy and well paced. I felt in control the entire time and never laboring or working hard. My time was only a second slower than two years ago in much better conditions. I also ran a last minute road 5K with one of my boys. It was our first race together and I helped pace him to a PR. How much better can it get?!
So now it's time to relax, do one easy shake down run on Friday and head off to the trail. I can't wait. I'll let you know how it goes in a couple days!
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