GRT 50k Training Week 1

Week 1 is in the books! There is always a sense of satisfaction starting a new training program and already putting a week behind me. I know there are many challenging weeks ahead but it feels good to be jumping in and moving towards the Glacier Ridge Trail 50k.

As with other training cycles, I'll be detailing my training each week. Read my previous post for an overview of my training plan and goals. Here was what my week looked like:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Stride workout: 11 x 20 second strides starting at 5k pace and progressing down to 1 mile race effort with 1 min recovery jog in between, 15 min warm-up and cool down

Wednesday: XT

Thursday: 50-65 min easy run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 75-90 min long run, Jasyoga

Sunday: 50-70 min easy run, Jasyoga

Total: 20.46 miles

* McMillian 3hab, Strength, Core programs 2-3 times per week

My McMillan coach designed an 18 week plan consisting of 4 phases. Currently I am in the "Stamina" phase which ironically falls very neatly on the heels of the stamina plan I had been following for the past 4 weeks. My first workout consisted of "strides" and was the same workout I had been doing during the stamina plan. This instantly gave me a lot of confidence as I was not stepping far outside my comfort zone. All in all it was a fairly easy week to jump into with mileage that was similar to what I had been running for the last few weeks.

Runner Highs:

• Weather: I got to run outside in shorts on a beautiful 55 degree day before old man winter returned
• Fueling: I made a real effort to fuel properly after runs and I could tell this made a difference
• Strength work: I was able to stick to the 2 x/week goal for the McMillan core and strength workouts

Shorts in January!

Challenges:

• Weather: ice + speedwork= bad combination. It was a struggle to find a safe place to do speedwork outside
• Sickness: I picked up a chest/respiratory type of infection that made it hard to breathe and wiped out my energy
• Habits: I am still not in the habit of doing all of the McMillan prehab and other workouts, and I forgot to do the 3hab on Thursday and Sunday because I was in a rush to get to my run
• Comparison: I found myself comparing my performance right now to the self of last year. Last year I was unemployed and found myself with unlimited time to run and train. While I know this, I was also feeling a bit down about how "in shape" I was at this time last year and wishing I was there physically right now. I am trying to stop these thoughts as they take shape and come to terms with being present now, but some days it is a challenge

One thing I really enjoy about the McMillan training plans is that each workout has a purpose. Even if it is as simple as "recovery" or "build endurance", I feel as if every run matters. Sometimes in the midst of hard training it is easy to lose sight of what you are doing and why you are doing it. I like to remind myself of what that run is doing to help my performance on race day and I feel this makes a difference in my daily outlook.

So there you have it - Week 1 in a nutshell. My goals for the next week are to work on recovering from this sickness as well as focusing on being present with my training today. I don't want to waste energy comparing myself to where I was at a year ago under completely difference circumstances. Instead, I am excited about this year and all the goals I have set for myself, and I need to focus on building the blocks to get me to the start line of the GRT 50k healthy both physically and mentally.