50 Mile Training Run Report. Done and Done!

First - I have to report we have hit $9,950 - only $5K short of our fundraising goal!  We have received some great corporate donations and are gearing up for our St. Paddy's themed fundraiser on March 8th at The Stone House in Guilford!  To donate: https://www.active.com/donate/clsmf_wraa 

To purchase fundraiser tickets ($75/ pp): http://www.cindysherwinfoundation.org/fundraiser.html 

There are all sorts of training plans for first time 100 milers.  Some people say you can get away on running 50 miles per week with one really good long run of 30+ on the weekends.  Others say you have to peak at 100 miles in a week to get your body the feeling of what it will be like to run that kind of distance (even though it's over the course of the week).  And others swear by back-to-back-to-back long runs to get your body used to running on tired legs.

When I ran my first ultra of 50 miles in 2012 I used the the back-to-back long run method with a peak of 30 miles on Sat. and 20 on Sunday.  That plan really helped my confidence because I knew that if I could run 50 miles in 2 days, I could certainly tough out 50 miles in 1 day.  The plan worked.

So, for my first 100 miler I have elected to go with the back-to-back-to-back method with a peak of 30-20-15 but I really wanted to incorporate a 50 mile training run as well.  My goal for the run was to finish feeling not depleted, but like I still had more in me.

Last week's post was about about my epic fail attempt at that, overnight, in -15 temps.  In retrospect, I probably set myself up to fail because of the insane wind and weather that night. Needless to say I made it 20 miles before heading to my gym only to find it closed and had to finish the miles the following day.  I was not happy about it.  All week I obsessed - should I have just kept going?  Why did I stop, was it really the cold or was it my mind? Am I too weak for this?

I set yesterday for another attempt at the 50 mile training run.  Technically, I did not need to do this - plenty of people max out at 30 mile runs for 100 miles, but I really felt like I needed the confidence boost - so I decided to set out again.  

I am happy to report that yesterday's run went flawlessly!!! Temp started out at 17 and went to high 20's (perfect), light snow flurries all day and I felt great.  The 100 miler I am training for is 10 loops of 10 miles, so yesterday I did 5 loops of 10 miles.  I wanted to take it easy enough so that I had plenty left when I finished. Fast hiking the hills, running the downhills and jogging the flats and it went great.  I really warmed up at mile 30 and 35-50 I was comfortably cruising.  I finished the run absolutely not feeling spent and could have continued no problem.  Other than some back/ shoulder pain and fatigue I felt fine after and this morning.  Pretty much no fatigue in my legs and I spent today skiing.  This tells me I must be getting stronger and the back-to-back-to-back runs must be helping because after previous ultras I can barely walk the next day.

Of course, the thing that I worry most about is my mind - it's really easy at 4 AM when it's freezing cold to say "screw this, I'm going back to bed" - there has to be something dragging you out.  I think of Cindy and how she can't run here - I also think of those kids who will be getting an amazing playground... I can't let them down.

A more technical post to follow on nutrition and gear reviews...