Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Weekly Rundown – 50 Mile Training Week One

This week officially starts my training for the Mt. Hood 5o Miler. I am still not feeling great and my base is not where I want it to be, but my plan calls for 24 weeks of training and that is where I am at.

For now I am focusing on time on feet not miles so I don’t get caught up in tying to do too much too fast or comparing to past years.

This is how the week went down:

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Monday:  An hour easy jog before dragging my sorry butt to the doctor to try to get better already.

Tuesday: About 45 minutes easy with the kiddos in the stroller.

Wednesday: About 40 minutes on the treadmill, with a little speed work. I have been enjoying the treadmill way more than normal lately.

Thursday: About 90 minutes on the treadmill with some progression miles.

Friday:  Just 20 minutes to get moving, Cannon had a hard night and didn’t go to school. Have you ever woken up to the sound of a child throwing up in your bed? I do now…..

Saturday: I got up with the family and enjoyed breakfast together before 30 minutes on treadmill. These early base training days are so nice when half the weekend isn’t spent running.

Sunday: So glad to be back to Sunday long run days! It’s not really that long but 90 minutes total makes me feel like there is progress and maybe a chance for July.

Kids playing at the park while I ran

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Totals: Just about six hours for the week plus a couple core and strength sessions that I didn’t record. It’s a start.

The goal for this coming week is to follow the plan as written and drink 100 oz of water a day.

What are you up to this week?

Ultra Running Resources

Are you thinking about running an ultra marathon, curious, or already training? I thought I might share some of my favorite ultra running resources and sources of motivation.

I shared yesterday that I am using Krissy Moehl’s book Running Your First Ultra and that has been a great resource.h

One of my favorites for a very long time is The Ginger Runner. He has a YouTube channel, podcast and is a great community leader in general.

I love that he is an age grouper that is passionate about running, is so funny and makes the most beautiful films. He and his wife host weekly Ginger Runner Live videos on youtube where they interview all kinds of amazing runners.

I Run Far has great coverage of current events, videos, interviews and much more. I love their coverage of races, they have the best posts about Western States 100 and UTMB

Another YouTube channel I love is Billy Yang Films.

Billy’s films are visually gorgeous and he is such a good story teller. I love watching these on the treadmill.

Another great resource is Ultra Runner Podcast.

I love his Ultramarathon Daily News for fun updates, he also has a podcast that I listen to regularly on the run.

Sage Canaday is a professional runner (ultra and otherwise)

Sage is a coach and posts great tips and videos on YouTube.

REI also has a wonderful library for for trail runners, not just ultra lengths.

Jamil Coury, who runs Araviapa Running posts hilarious videos called Mountain Outpost and Mountain Outhouse, good for a laugh.

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What are some of your favorite running resources?

What am I missing?

Fresh Start + 50 Mile Training Plan

Finally I am feeling better and real training is starting to happen. This 50 mile race might actually happen (fingers crossed).

There are so many good resources out there on ultra running and I have really been liking Krissy Moehl’s book Running Your First Ultra.

There is so much good information in here as well as detailed training plans for 50k, 50 mile, 100k and 100 mile. The 50 mile plan is 24 weeks and that is exactly how long I have.

Let’s just not talk about the 75-80 miles planned for week 19 with 30 miles backed up with 15 miles the next day.

I will be loosely be following this plan and hoping that it gets me successfully to 50 miles in July!

Currently dreaming of sunny hours on trails.

The Dreaded Question…

Oh the dreaded question…… I know it’s coming, and I never know exactly how to answer it. The question:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND?

Back when it was just Cory and I pre-kids we were deep into Ironman training. Whenever someone would ask me what we were up to this weekend I would cringe because it was always the same.

Swim. Bike. Run.

Our co-workers often didn’t get it but it was amazing and exhausting. They were off doing cool things like going to concerts, bars, baseball games etc. We did fun things sometimes, but we weren’t looking for things to fill our time. Six hour bike rides and three hour runs took up most of our time.

Now that I am focusing on running and have little kids the answer is a little different but equally as boring.

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But now there is also kids in the picture so there is, laundry and time at the playground or pool and cleaning….so. much. cleaning.

I think next year we may have to add skiing to the weekend agenda. It feels like a crime to have kids grow up in Colorado and not learn how to ski. I am not ready to think about the time and cost of that so I am going to just ignore it for now.

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So what about you, what are you up to this weekend? 😉

Have you found a balance between being “boring” and fitting in endurance training?

Winter Running Favorites

It’s not always easy getting out and running when it’s dark and cold outside. But winter running can also be refreshing, calming and wonderful if you have the correct gear. Here is some of the gear that keeps me moving in the winter:

  1. Lululemon Brushed Speed Up Tight – These puppies are warm! I have worn them in less than 20 degree temps with driving snow and still felt comfortable.
  2. Boco Technical Trucker Hat – I have several of these hats from different races I have participated in. I love them and wear them all year. In the winter I still like to have protection for my face from the sun, rain or snow. I just add a headband over my ears on cold days.
  3. HEAD gloves – I am not too picky on my gloves so I grabbed these from Costco and call it good.
  4. Hoka Challenger ATR – I have tried many things for running in the snow; sheet metal screws, yack tracks, hope….but I have found that running in my trail shoes has been the best for comfort and traction.
  5. Ginger Runner Buff – This is what I put on over my hat to keep my ears warm, it’s also great to grab two and put one around your neck to keep yourself even warmer and pull over your mouth and chin if it’s really cold.
  6. Smart Wool Socks – These are great for keeping my feet warm as well as avoiding blisters on wet feet.
  7. Old Navy Fleece Jacket – There are a lot of great running specific jackets out there but if you want something that will keep you warm for a great price this is it! I have had mine for a few years and it has held up well to lots of miles and so many washes.

New Favorite Morning Fuel

I recently found a new favorite bar to have before my morning runs, or really most other times of day.

These Verb Bars are amazing, they are 90 calories and have as much caffeine as an expresso.

I am a hardcore believer in coffee before morning runs:

You need to experiment and find what works best for you, some people need very simple food and no coffee, I can’t live without mine. For runs less than an hour I will usually just have coffee (with creamer). For workouts over an hour or if I am feeling particularly hungry I will have a little something. Some of my favorites include:

  • Cliff Shot blocks

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What are your pre run favorites?

How to Run 100 Miles….

Today I ran less than two miles, so I am feeling super ultra…. at least these two are cute.

I am still taking things easy while my lungs are healing. I am so hopeful that I will be running longer by the weekend.

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I found this hilarious video and picture from REI about ultra running.

REI also has lots of other ultra content that are great and educational about trail running.

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Found any great running videos lately?

Time vs. Distance + Wish Me Luck

Todays “run” consisted of both kids in the stroller, out feeling way colder than I expected. I am keeping things short and easy while my lungs heal (like my doctor suggested). I have decided to track time instead of milage for the first few weeks. I don’t want to get caught up trying to run too much, or comparing now to years past. Time on your feet counts!

Hopefully next week I will be back on schedule.

ALL the drugs….the inhaler is helping a lot!

Especially since the lottery drawing for the Mt. Hood 50 is tomorrow

*yikes*

there was a 66% chance of being drawn the day before so the chances are likely even lower now. Fingers crossed!

Today we took Emmy back to gymnastics. She went last session between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wasn’t sure about signing her up again because she didn’t always follow directions, but this time she loved it and I am so glad we stuck with it. She is so stinkin’ cute trying to hang on the bars and jumping around.

Throw back to Cannon when he took gymnastics at this same(ish) age.

Baby Cannon!

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Do you track your time, milage, neither?

Into the Lottery – Mt Hood 50 Mile

While clearing out my inbox a few days ago I noticed an email with the title Mt. Hood 50 from Go Beyond Racing.

I grew up in the shadow of Mt. Hood on the east side of Portland. I love that mountain, the PCT trail and have family in Oregon still that we love to visit. I got excited thinking about running in the lush rainforest with views of Mt. Hood. We were planning a trip out to Oregon this summer anyway and Cory agreed that July seemed like I fine time to go.

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I mean…it’s kind of pretty 😉

I was pretty bummed when I went to go check out registration and the 50 miler was only open as a lottery. I have no idea of the entry rate, but I will find out on January 11th if I am in or not.

After the lottery registration for the 50k opens up with no lottery so that is worth considering if I don’t get in….

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Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Ever entered a lottery for a race?

My Early Morning Run Routine

Happy Monday everyone! It’s our last day of winter break so I am planning a fun day with the kids. My energy is low in the evenings so early morning is my best chance to run.

My alarm is usually set for between 4:00 and 4:30 AM depending on how long I am planning on running.

I try to get out of bed without using the snooze option as I have read it’s really bad for your sleep cycles and can leave you more tired.

I always have coffee before my run, it’s something I really enjoy and my stomach handles it just fine. The trick is to not let myself have more than one cup, I could easily waste the morning away drinking coffee and scrolling. On mornings that I am running more than an hour I will eat something simple as well, but I had planned to run for an hour so I just had the coffee and some water.

I always set my gear out the night before and leave it downstairs so I can get ready without waking anyone who might be sleeping in our room (lately that has included Cannon a lot). This was pretty easy since I I was running on the treadmill that morning.

It’s a lot more work when I run outside in the dark.

From last winter

This morning I was on the treadmill from 5am to 6am just running easy and watching Brittany Runs a Marathon on Amazon Prime, I haven’t finished it yet but it was pretty good and made the time pass!

When I was done running the kids were still sleeping so I got to have some more coffee and power clean for 20 minutes.

When the kids were up we all had some quiche that Cory made last night.

Then we went for a morning walk just like we do for school, hopefully getting back into our routine won’t be too difficult.

Cannon wanted to walk with me instead of riding so he could get some energy out too.

We made it home in time to help get the recycling out, there was so much left over from Christmas!

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Every morning is slightly different but follows a similar pattern.

Are you a morning runner?

What do your mornings look like?