Headed to Hennepin Week 9
Welcome to Week 9 of training for the Hennepin Hundred - 50 mile race. This week is just over the half way point of training, and Monday was the exact two month mark until the race. For the second week of the "50 mile specific" phase, I was pretty much thrown into a high mileage week. I haven't run mileage like this since the end of my 50k training, so my previous concerns regarding where I was at in this plan were obliterated.
Speedwork for the week was my first tempo run, which is something that I really need. While of course I would like to be a faster runner, I have always struggled with pacing. When I did the Hansons plan for my second Chicago Marathon, I really learned the benefits of proper pacing and felt like I finally had the "tempo" under control. Once I switched from running road races to primiarily running trail races, pacing pretty much went out the window. It is hard to "pace" while on a trail as one's pace will ebb and flow with the trail, but this also means that I still go out too fast. This is obviously a concern for a 50 mile race as I don't want to burn out too quickly and because the course is flat, running too fast is extremely possible. My first tempo run was 3 x 1 mile at half marathon race pace with 2.5 minutes recovery in between. I practiced running super easy during my warm-up and eased into the tempo intervals. I felt really great for the entire workout and was proud of my ability to keep my pacing in check. I told my coach I enjoyed this workout so she knows to include more of these in future weeks.
And then came the weekend. Back to back long runs. How I did NOT miss these. I know how important they are to ultramarathons and looking back at my last training cycle, I realized how much they mentally helped me realize what I was capable of more so than just physically finishing them. My coach also provided the long runs in terms of miles and not time which was a bit different, but I still had a range and that gave me some comfort. While it would take a faster runner less time to cover the miles, I also know that I will be covering 50 miles slower than most, so long runs in miles vs time is probably what I most need to prepare for the distance.
Saturday's long run went really well for the most part, although I ran out of water and Nuun and suffered from pretty bad dehydration for the rest of the day. I think this also messed with me a little mentally as I did not want to get out in the heat again for Sunday's run. My coach told me to make recovery a priority on Saturday after my run and I spent a lot of time eating properly, foam rolling, and doing yoga. Physically I felt surprisingly good on Sunday - better than I ever have after a long run, but it was the mental side of things that was bringing me down. All I could seem to focus on was how hot it was and how I wanted the run to be over, and it was more of a sufferfest than anything else. No matter how much I tried to focus on something positive, I couldn't bring myself out of it. I really hope the heat goes away for next weekend's long run.
Monday: Tempo Intervals
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 60-75 min easy run
Thursday: XT
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 16-18 miles long run
Sunday: 10-12 miles long run
Total: 37.78 miles
Speedwork for the week was my first tempo run, which is something that I really need. While of course I would like to be a faster runner, I have always struggled with pacing. When I did the Hansons plan for my second Chicago Marathon, I really learned the benefits of proper pacing and felt like I finally had the "tempo" under control. Once I switched from running road races to primiarily running trail races, pacing pretty much went out the window. It is hard to "pace" while on a trail as one's pace will ebb and flow with the trail, but this also means that I still go out too fast. This is obviously a concern for a 50 mile race as I don't want to burn out too quickly and because the course is flat, running too fast is extremely possible. My first tempo run was 3 x 1 mile at half marathon race pace with 2.5 minutes recovery in between. I practiced running super easy during my warm-up and eased into the tempo intervals. I felt really great for the entire workout and was proud of my ability to keep my pacing in check. I told my coach I enjoyed this workout so she knows to include more of these in future weeks.
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| Fueling and hydration |
And then came the weekend. Back to back long runs. How I did NOT miss these. I know how important they are to ultramarathons and looking back at my last training cycle, I realized how much they mentally helped me realize what I was capable of more so than just physically finishing them. My coach also provided the long runs in terms of miles and not time which was a bit different, but I still had a range and that gave me some comfort. While it would take a faster runner less time to cover the miles, I also know that I will be covering 50 miles slower than most, so long runs in miles vs time is probably what I most need to prepare for the distance.
Saturday's long run went really well for the most part, although I ran out of water and Nuun and suffered from pretty bad dehydration for the rest of the day. I think this also messed with me a little mentally as I did not want to get out in the heat again for Sunday's run. My coach told me to make recovery a priority on Saturday after my run and I spent a lot of time eating properly, foam rolling, and doing yoga. Physically I felt surprisingly good on Sunday - better than I ever have after a long run, but it was the mental side of things that was bringing me down. All I could seem to focus on was how hot it was and how I wanted the run to be over, and it was more of a sufferfest than anything else. No matter how much I tried to focus on something positive, I couldn't bring myself out of it. I really hope the heat goes away for next weekend's long run.
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| When you run so far you reach a familiar place! |
Monday: Tempo Intervals
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 60-75 min easy run
Thursday: XT
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 16-18 miles long run
Sunday: 10-12 miles long run
Total: 37.78 miles
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