Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

22 miles of Mistakes

Yesterday Cory and I decided that for our 22 mile run we wanted to go somewhere new and interesting. Cory suggested that we checkout the Greenland Open Space where the Greenland Trail 50k is run. We found an 11 mile loop that was perfect to run twice with a stop in the middle at our car to refill our packs and grab more nutrition if we needed it. We checked the weather and saw there was a storm coming in late in the afternoon, so we hurried out the door to beat the weather. When we got to the trail we saw some ominous clouds in distance but decided to try to at least get one lap in since I was NOT prepared to run 22 on the treadmill.Here I am power walking to the port-o-potty, check out the gray clouds! After starting out the sun came back out and it was pleasant except for the headwind we were battling. I kept thinking that at least on the way back we would be mostly going down hill with a tail wind.Starting out I honestly didn’t know if I would make it 22 miles, I was tired my legs felt really tired and heavy, it was hard to breath, and I was getting some quad pain, same as I had last week. The thought of not finishing this run was worse than my pain so I huffed, puffed, bitched and whined for about the first five miles. After about five miles it wasn’t easy but I felt like I was at least in a groove. I guess riding 50 miles before running 22 miles for the first time might have made things difficult, brilliant!The loop was described as only having a 500 foot elevation gain, too bad you run up and down that 500 feet 20 times!We ran around Palmer lake and started our way back to the carAs we were running back we decided to take a longer loop , this was a very hilly extension, and as soon as we started climbing we got hit by a very cold head wind. WHAT?!?! We had a headwind running out, how can we have one running back as well? I guess the storm came in early and changed the wind direction, lucky us…..As we got close to the car the rain and snow started hitting us. We had started our run at 62 degrees and it was now 34, we called uncle and decided to finish our run at the gym. This was a good choice give that this was our view a few miles into the drive.
We were so cold that we stopped at Starbucks to get some hot coffee, I probably would have been ok, except I ordered a latte . Huge mistake!!! As soon as I got on the treadmill my stomach started to revolt. The gym was hot and I felt like my stomach was rolling around like a washing machine. I couldn’t stomach anything more than cold water (thanks honey for stopping to buy me cold water, you’re the best!) So the last ten miles were ran with no fuel, just water. Not the best way to finish a 22 mile run but I was happy to be done, and I count it as mental toughness training. The day ended with ice baths and dinner.

It was a difficult day but it was our longest training run before our race and we found a trail we really like. Happy Monday everyone, I am going to enjoy my rest day!

The Long Run

After taking Monday as an easy day (just an hour of yoga) and sleeping in my compression pants Sunday night all soreness from my race is gone, YAY! It felt good to spin this morning after just running for over a week, and I am really looking forward to this weekend’s long ride. My workouts for this week look like this:
Monday: 60 min yoga
Tuesday: am 60 minute bike (on trainer) and pm: Track practice with RMTC, we will do between 4 and 6 miles of intervals
Wednesday: am 1900 swim (300 WU, 6×50 drills, 8×100 main set, 6×50 drills, 200 CD), pm yoga
Thursday: 90 min spin class straight to a 4 mile run
Friday: 6 mile tempo run with an easy 1600 m easy swim
Saturday: 22 mile run, longest run before marathon
Sunday: 50 mile bike ride, probably flat after Saturday’s long run

Totals:
Swim= 3500 meters, I need to increase this soon!
Bike= approx. 80 miles
Run= 37 miles
Strength/Stretching= 120 minutes

My goal for this week is to keep to my plan, with a crazy work schedule I almost always end up skipping at least one workout. I also want to work on nutrition this week, after botching my half on Sunday I need to practice before the Colorado Marathon, I have a little over a month to prepare! This week has the longest distance we run before the marathon but I am not that nervous, 18 and 20 went pretty well so hopefully 22 won’t be any different.

Recently I finished reading The Long Run by Matt Long. This isn’t a book about how to run or race triathlon but about how a NYC fire fighter who was severely injured came back to run a marathon then complete an Ironman. If you want inspiration this is it, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is injured, or lacking motivation. What’s the furthest you have ever run? Happy Tuesday!

20 miles at Bear Creek Lake

Yesterday Cory and I were set on running our 20 miler on the Highline Canal Trail. We like this trail, it’s fairly flat and has a soft surface.

Highline Canal from our 18 mile run
I was dreading running 20 there mainly because we have ran so much on it. So last minute we decided to go to Bear Creek Lake Park and run loops.Trying to pretend that I feel strong before starting out.
There are many different path’s to run. On our first loops was just a bit under 5 miles everything felt pretty good and we stopped at the car for Gatorade and a bathroom break.The second and third loop we ran the opposite direction and ran a slightly different way. By the end of the second loop I had pretty bad blister pain so stopped at the car for a band-aid and a change of socks. At the second car stop I ate a few potato chips, I couldn’t help it, they looked so good and salty. I felt fine after eating them so I am happy to know that I can stomach solid foods on long runs. We shared the trails with many horses and mountain bikers.
I was feeling pretty good until mile about mile 14 when my hips and knees started to hurt.

My legs continued to hurt until we got back to the car at mile 16. We headed out for a 2 mile out and back and amazingly my legs stopped hurting, admittedly I was running pretty slow at this point. We got back to our car at 20 miles exactly. We had planned on taking a natural ice bath in the creek but we were running late so we just took the time to soak our aching feet before rushing home. Sometimes I forget how much harder it is to run on trails than flat paths.

I feel really good about having 20 miles under my belt and hope things don’t fall apart on race day, I am a bit nervous that the marathon is on all pavement.

The worst thing about the run was being rushed afterward. We had plans in the evening and had to rush home and get ready without our normal ice bath rituals. Obviously I am more sore today then I would like because of this. We had planned a 45 mile bike ride today, but it may drop down to 40 miles because of our sore legs and losing an hour. Happy Sunday!