Thursday, March 29, 2012

A New Approach

It has taken about a week and half and two massages later for my legs to feel semi normal/recovered from Way Too Cool 50k. I did though manage to squeeze in one final long run last week. Last week on Thursday I decided that 20 miles from my place up to Beals  Point and through the fire road to granit bay would be nice quality workout.

I have been toying with the idea of running AR50 really light. Meaning one hand held for water and a waist pack to carry my gels. So of course on this run that is exactly what I did. I immediately noticed that my legs didn't have that heavy feeling like they usually do when I run with my pack. This feeling typically last for 5 miles, which can really mentally defeat me. Instead this time my legs felt smooth and the turnover solid. The first 5 miles sailed by with no complaints.

I also found out that while I enjoy my pack, carrying a hand held I actually remembered to drink water. Or I should say it was easier because all I had to was squeeze the bottle and water came out while a pack I had to inhale, which sometimes uses up a lot of energy. During this run I really focused on proper hydration, how to fuel out of the wast pack so I wouldn't waste too much time and getting my bottle ready to refill. Which I had to refill three times at the various spots, once going at Beals, once at Granit bay and again at Beals.

Overall this run was a good training run, I learned how I would need to do things when race day comes. I also managed to run the 20 miles in 3 hours flat. That is a 9 minute pace, which puts me right on target for my overall goal.

What's next? Rest and recovery and focusing on my race day strategy. I am not feeling overwhelmed which is great I am actually feeling calm and confident because I know my training has been there and I also know that my goals are realistic and attainable.

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