Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Weekly Rundown – Ultramarathon Week!

It’s been a while since I posted a weekly rundown, the week of my ultramarathon seems like a good time to bring it back to life. The last I updated this I ran the Desert Rats Trail Marathon since then I have been trying to keep my milage up but I haven’t  gotten the time in that I would like.

Last week I didn’t mean to taper for my 50k, I was hoping to keep my milage high, but my mental game wasn’t strong and with summer semester starting I let it slip. Just five weeks until Leadville Silver Rush so I have about 3 weeks to keep the pressure on, then taper.

As usual I am linking up with Jessie at The Right Fits and Jess Runs ATL to recap last weeks training.

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Monday:  On Memorial Day Cory and I decided to take Cannon for a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. We hiked up to Emerald lake, it was beautiful, but the trails were mostly still covered in snow. I was so glad that Cory thought to pack our Yak-tracks.

Tuesday: 6.7 mile run a 1,000 meter swim, I am so happy that our neighborhood pool has opened for the summer.

Trying to decide if I remember how to swim…

Wednesday: Nothing, sad……but it was the first class of the semester, which is always crazy so I am going to give myself a pass.

Thursday: 3 miles on the treadmill, nothing exciting.

Friday: Nothing again, my father had hip replacement surgery, everything went well but I wanted to visit him and prep for my race.

Saturday: North Fork 50k!!! About 33 miles of gorgeous miles. More details coming soon in a race report so for now I will just say that this is an amazing race and you should totally do it! The weather was perfect and I had a great time.

Sunday: Nothing again, we spent the day celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom. She was off riding bikes in Tuscany in May so we all celebrated her in June.

 

Totals:

Running: 42.6 miles

Swimming: 1,000 meters, impressive, no?

This weeks goal is 65 miles, let’s see if we can make this happen!

 

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 10

How did we get through week 10 already?!? This ultramrathon will be here before I know it. I am looking forward to putting in some big millage weeks at the end of the month and hopefully that will be enough. With all that here is how week 10 went down:
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Monday: Day off of work means time on the trails! 14.5 mile trail run at Picture Rock in Lyons. Awesome new trail.
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Tuesday:  Walk with pups

Wednesday: 4.5 mile run around local lake

Thursday: 1.5 mile walk around city park (start of mini taper)

Friday: 2 mile run with Winston

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Saturday: 2.5 mile hike while monitoring prairie dogs

Sunday: 26.47 mile Leadville Highest Marathon (race report coming soon) Furthest I have ever ran at one time =)
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Total miles ran or hiked: 52.5 miles
Total hours training: 14:46

This week was interesting since I had Monday off of work for labor day. Even though I had raced a half marathon (Breck Crest) on Sunday and was racing a marathon that weekend, I couldn’t give up the chance to try out a new trail. So it wasn’t the best marathon taper ever. A lot of plans call for a three week taper but this wasn’t an A race so I mainly “trained through” and I definitely didn’t feel completely fresh on Sunday, but that may have also been the 10-11 thousand foot elevation. Next couple of weeks am traveling for a work conference, while it’s a lot of fun there isn’t a lot of down time. I am hoping to get as much running in as possible. Anyone know any great routes running distance from Disney?

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 6

Last weeks recap is coming a little late since I was out in the field for work the beginning of the week with no internet. Last week was a step back week after a couple high milage weeks:

Monday: 1,250 yds swimming in my favorite pool
Tuesday:  5.5 miles of mile repeats
Wednesday: 3.5 mile short neighborhood loop // one hour bike ride on the trainerIMG_1933
Thursday: 5 mile Hilly run at Green Mountain // 1,550 yd swim IMG_1886
Friday: 1 mile walk (planned)
Saturday: 1mile walk (unplanned) long day at work so this was all I could muster Sunday: Beaver Creek Trail Half Marathon (race report coming soon) IMG_1923

It was great to start incorporating swimming and biking back into the plan. THe past couple weeks it has just been whenever I felt like adding it in. The second half of August I hope to actually add them into my schedule.

Miles ran or hiked: 29  miles
Yards in the pool: 2,750 yds
Miles on the bike: 16 (ish) miles
Total hours training: 8:49 hours

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 4

Whew this last week was a great training week  but the increase in miles did make Sunday’s run feel long and challenging. It probably didn’t help that I had a LONG busy day at work on Saturday but that just means that it’s great ultra training….right?

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Monday: Easy 2 mile jog with my pup
Tuesday:  7 mile trail run at Bear Creek Lake Park
Wednesday: 5.2 mile run around the neighborhood.
Thursday: 5.9 mile run with mile repeats
Friday: 10 mile trail run at Teller farms in Boulder
Saturday: 2 mile easy shake out run
Sunday: 18 mile trail run from Roxborough State Park to Colorado Trail CT2

Total miles ran or hiked: 50.5 miles
Total hours training: 13:51

This week was a jump in miles from the past few. I did put in a 50 mile week last year in preparation for Ironman Lake Tahoe but that was mainly because I had two long runs in one week (one pushed to Monday from the previous week). While my legs are heavy and tired I feel like I am recovering more quickly and feeling ready to run again each morning. It was a hot week so I am looking forward to a cooler week this week.

Running in Leadville

It’s been a long time coming but I wanted to share my adventures in Leadville from last month. In June Cory and I decided we wanted to get out of town for the weekend and hit some trails.

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We found a cabin in Twin Lakes (right outside of Leadville) where we could stay and easily hit up some fantastic trails. We left Denver on Friday and drove the two and a half hours to Twin Lakes. We were very excited by how beautiful and quiet the area was. After unpacking a little we jogged up the road until we hit the Colorado Trail for a few miles before heading back to our cabin for dinner, much needed ice cream and bed.

Colo trail

Even though the temperature was very comfortable in the low 70s it felt MUCH hotter, something to note when running in the high country.

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On Saturday morning we drove into Leadville where we found a great coffee shop for breakfast before wandering into the Leadville Race headquarters where we got a map of the Leadville 100 Trail Race to find trails. We decided that it would be fun to climb up to Hope Pass (Rising above 12,400 ft).

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After talking to some locals we were convinced it was best to climb up the south side with less snow (good advice). By the time we got out to the trail head it was later than we had hoped so the plan was to hike to the top then jog down. Sections were so steep it was hard moving in either direction and oxygen is really in short supply at this elevation. But the views were worth it.

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The one not so fun part of the trip was the slippery trail. Towards the bottom of the trail there are leaves still decaying from the fall that are slick as ice. I was fine on the way up but on the way down I slipped and landed hard on both elbows. Luckily it wasn’t a leg so I was able to get myself off the mountain but had some pretty bad bruising on both arms.

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I must learn to stay upright on trails! The plan had been to run again on Sunday but after staying up much of the night with a sick pup we scrapped the run in favor for sleeping in a little then driving out around turquoise lake and heading home. We both really loved Leadville, Twin Lakes and the surrounding trails, we can’t wait to get back up and explore some more of the area.

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 3

As I have started week 4 of my 16 week ultra-marathon training plan I thought I would share my plan and how it’s going so far.

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 3

This was a bit of a step back week. After my race on Sunday I was feeling a twinge in my hamstring so I took it fairly easy during the week. My weekend miles were also a little short because of race spectating, all worth it. Here is how week 3 went down:

Monday: Easy 1 mile walk/jog with my puppies

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Tuesday:  Short 3.6 mile run around the neighborhood
Wednesday: 4 mile run with repeats
Thursday: 5.25 mile Hilly run
Friday: 2.18 easy shake out run
Saturday: 16.6 mile trail run Devil’s thumb – King’s loop

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Sunday: Easy two miles // 0.5 mile swim race

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Total miles ran or hiked: 35.24 miles
Total hours training: 13:19

Sunday was supposed to have 8 mile medium run to back up to Saturdays 16 miles. Instead I raced the swim portion of a triathlon for my dad then cheered while he completed the bike and run portion and my mom did the full tri. They both did great on a tough course at over 11,000 ft elevation. After driving back from Steam Boat and picking up the pups there was no time for a longer run.

Overall it’s an adjustment to running every day, now the challenge is to build in strength training (week 4 I swear!) and then bring back cross training. I do miss my bike and the pool.

Quick recap of the first two weeks:

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 1

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday:  4.76 miles with mile repeats
Wednesday: 2 mile run with the pug
Thursday: 6 mile neighborhood loop
Friday: 1 mile run/walk with Bailey
Saturday: 6 mile trail run at Dowdy Draw
Sunday: 10 mile trail run at Sourdough Trail + one twisted ankleIMG_1682

Total miles ran or hiked: 30.1 miles
Total hours training: 7:40

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 2

Monday: Easy 1 mile walk/jog with my puppies
Tuesday:  4.1 mile run with mile repeats
Wednesday: 6.24 mile neighborhood loop
Thursday: 4.14 easy jog
Friday: 1.43 walk with the pups
Saturday: 1 mile shake out jog
Sunday: 13(ish) mile Copper Mountain Trail Half Marathon

Total miles ran or hiked: 31.02 miles
Total hours training: 7:15

Badwater Ultra Marathon

This morning the Badwater Ultra Marathon, arguably one of the worlds hardest ultra marathons.

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The Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as “the world’s toughest foot race”. It is a 135-mile course starting at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California‘s Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 °F, even in the shade, are not uncommon. Consequently, very few people—even among ultramarathoners—are capable of finishing this grueling race. Source

While I dream of one day running an ultra marathon (anything longer than 26.2 miles) I don’t aspire to run this one. It’s an incredible race, I would love to crew someone some day. It would be so amazing to help someone reach that goal. I have no idea how you get involved but one day I will.

People competing in this race will be running over night tonight so send them good thoughts when you tuck yourself in.

Would you do it???

Ironman

I know that I want to do an Ironman sometime in my life. You probably already know that I am signed up to do a half ironman in June and I am really enjoying training for it so far. As I was reaching about mile 12 of my 16.2 mile run on the treadmill last night I really started to think about racing an Ironman this year. I have been thinking about racing Vineman in 2012 but I really feel like I want to push through and complete a full this year.

The race I am considering is the Grand Colombian, it is a unincorporated iron-distance race, meaning it is not owned by ford or braded “Ironman” (but I don’t care I still call it an ironman).

It takes place on September 17th in Washington and should be gorgeous, the website describes it as:

“For 2011, the Grand Columbian Super Triathlon will take place on the 17th of September, and will be bringing back the Ultra Distance (Iron) triathlon as well as adding a Super Triathlon! The course will be both challenging and fantastically rewarding, and will most definitely earn you bragging rights! Additionally, we are really looking forward to utilizing our new race to help the local community for their fundraising project to build a new school for the Grand Coulee Dam School District. You can find out more info on this project at http://gcdnewschool.com/. And we’ll be sure to send more information on this project as we move forward.”

Proceeds go to building a school, how could I NOT participate???

So here are some reasons I think I should do it:

  • I am on a roll with training
  • I feel good so far
  • I don’t really want to wait over a year to do an Ironman

Reasons to wait:

  • This is only my second year doing triathlon and Ihave never ran a marathon or ridden my bike more than 62 miles
  • A (very small) part of me wants to make this year about my half ironman and not
    overshadow it with a bigger race

So I want your advice should I do a full ironman this year or not?

Either way I do want to complete a 50k this fall, anyone have any they would recommend? I am willing to travel.