The biggest challenge around training for this 50 miler has been balancing the training with regular life. Sounds obvious, but something as simple as a weekend away from home had me stressing a bit about how the hell I was going to fit all of the miles in. I had big mileage goals to hit this past weekend- 25 on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. One of our friends from grad school had organized a mini-reunion of sorts on Sunday in Maryland, so that meant road-tripping on Saturday and an all-day party on Sunday. My goal was to get the entire 25 miles in on Saturday. I knew I wouldn't get the amount of vert I wanted, because I didn't have time to travel to and back from Baldpate. I'd have to get the run in locally. I ended up setting up the truck as an aid station with a cooler in the back and starting early. 4:15 wake up call with a 5AM start. It was going to be a hot one and I really wanted to mimic fueling and hydrating the way I plan to on race day. That meant drinking at least an entire bottle every hour and a gel or bar every 5-6 miles. By the end of the run, I was definitely slowing down, so I took a gel every 4 miles after 15 miles. I also made sure to take a salt tablet when it got hot- that was after my second loop at around 15 miles. My route looked a little crazy, but it was designed to get almost all of the long climbs in town that I could string together. I also had to make it 3 separate loops in order to return to my truck to re-supply. I planned on running as comfortably and as steady as I could with some power-hiking of the hills.
Early start with my warm up at the usual CP loop
Using the back of the 4runner as my aid station
Wacky route with mix of road and trails and as much climbing as I could string together
Started off feeling good and took advantage of the alone time to listen to Maggie Guterl fresh off her win of the Cocadona 250 on Ginger Runner Live. I did my usual warm up at the CP loop. Then headed up Mountain Ave, down Westerly and used the bike path to get over to JP. Took Rosedale up, then Fairway and then the bike path to come back through Ettl Farm. Back down Rosedale and over to Greenway for the usual loop, then back the way I came to re-supply at CP. I tried to be as quick as I could with my pit stop, which also included a bathroom break at a conveniently located porta-potty down by the softball field. First loop was about 7 miles. Next loop was trails. Ditched my Air Pods and did my usual 8 mile loop at Mountain Lakes and Woodfield, first time in road shoes. I wore my Torins because I knew most of the run would be on roads. The shoes worked pretty well on the trails, but I did almost take a spill right as I was approaching Tent Rock. Somehow managed to stay upright. Didn't see a single soul at Woodfield and only saw 6 people out at Mountain Lakes. As I was heading back to Mountain Lakes from Woodfield, I heard the steady mating calls of cicadas. Super loud. Still felt pretty good after loop 2, but figured it would get hot pretty quick as soon as I got out of the shade and started pounding the pavement for my last and longest loop. Took a salt tablet and chugged plenty of water to go with it. At this point, everything was still working, except my feet were starting to feel a little tired.
Last loop was the top part of the Princeton Half, plus winging it at the end to finish up miles around the high school and back at the CP loop. The first section was downhill and pretty flat until Snowden, so those miles clicked by quickly. I took some walk breaks on Snowden and had to really watch traffic at this point as it was starting to get later in the day. I think I started feeling some core soreness at around mile 18. I hit the Herrontown Rd climb at about 20 miles. Hiked the entire length. At this point, my feet were throbbing, but at least I was in the shade. The last 5 miles were slow. Focusing on an efficient and tight arm swing really helped. Also, at this point, I had my long run playlist on, so I tried to focus on the tunes to take my mind off of my feet. A lot of the run was dodging cicadas. I'm hoping that the heavier cushioning of the Altra Olympus that I plan to wear on race day shield my feet from that much throbbing pain, or at least prolong the amount of time I can run comfortably.
Signs of Brood X everywhere
As soon as I got home, I had to rush to hop in the shower, eat breakfast and get ready to head down to Maryland. We were planning to stop in Washington D.C. to walk around and check out the monuments. Thankfully, Chris offered to drive us down so that I could ice my feet, ankles and knees in the car. Traffic was terrible- felt like pre-COVID volume of cars.
We finally arrived at our hotel in MD after a mediocre dinner of way too salty Pad Thai with 5 meager pieces of tofu, but I was too tired to look for more food. We sat and chatted with our friends at the hotel and then I excused myself to go to bed. I had 10 miles to run the next morning. The schedule said 14, but I was pressed for time, so 10 would have to do. Found a peaceful trail with a loop around a lake about 15 mins drive from the hotel. It had a decent amount of rolling hills. I took it easy with a run/walk (5 min/1 min). The night before, sleep was horrible. We had some neighbors playing loud music well into the night. In desperation, I climbed in bed with my daughter in the bedroom farthest away from the noise and finally fell asleep. I was slow, but got the 10 miles done and ended the week with my highest mileage ever for one week (57.5 miles). I was disappointed in the amount of vert I got on Saturday's run, but it was the best I could do with the time that I had. Will get back out on the trails at Baldpate this coming weekend to get more climbing in. Also, I was encouraged that I was able to get a hill workout in on Wed, which was 5 repeats up Washington with downhill jogs in between. I felt like I could run the hills at a decent pace while staying comfortable.
Patuxent Branch Trail in Maryland
Lake Elkhorn
Lots of active recovery the rest of the day. I foam rolled at the hotel, but didn't get a chance to ice anything. Super hot out at our outdoor party. It was great to see old friends, some who I haven't seen in ages and our host, Celeste, generously provided amazing food and drinks. It just so happened to be my birthday too and she had her friend make an awesome cake. Vegan, gluten-free triple layer carrot cake. Delicious and gorgeous.
Amazing artistry in cake form
Right now as I'm writing this, I'm icing my knees and ankles. Eeked out another 5 miles earlier today. I thought for sure, I'd earned a rest day, but looks like I don't get one until Thursday. Overall, I'm pleased and surprised how good I feel. My legs actually worked during my run earlier this morning. I kept it super easy at MAF, but felt like I could've pushed it if I wanted to. Of course tomorrow, I have an interval workout, so I'm glad I kept it super mellow today.
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