Aesthete Runner

Week 2 of 50 mile training went well. It was another base building week, which has been nice as I lost some fitness over the past month of recovery from the GRT 50k. This slow build up back to training has been perfect, and while I am still curious to see how the next 15 weeks will look like, this is another reason why I am happy with my coach's approach to training.

With just over a month until the Glacier Ridge 50k, I am at that critical point in training where I am tested physically and mentally. This was very evident this week which consisted of three long runs. Thankfully I survived and am all the more stronger for it.

Week 3 of Glacier Ridge Trail 50k training was a solid week. Even though the weather wanted to make things difficult for me, I feel like I nailed every run and my recovery from my longer or more difficult effort runs was faster than expected. Maybe it was the sports massage I had on Wednesday, but mentally I was in a great space this week.

I can't believe the marathon is a month away! A few weeks ago it felt like there was still a lot of time to train, but suddenly I look at my training schedule and see that it is almost time to taper. Fall is my favorite time of year, and now that the weather has started to cool off and all things pumpkin have popped up, I am ready to run in my favorite season.

9 weeks down, 7 weeks to go! Another difficult, but great week of training in the books. I think this week was more mentally challenging vs physically challenging. The hot, humid temps came back in full force, and I had to complete my very least favorite speed workout - Yasso 800s.

It is already hard to believe that it has been just over 2 weeks since the F^3 Lake Half Marathon. I finally feel like I am fully recovered and have enjoyed some warmer weather runs this week.

On Saturday I completed the F^3 Lake Half Marathon and have finally thawed out! In all seriousness, I really enjoyed the race and while cold, the weather was tolerable. For those wanting the quick story, I did not PR but had one of my most consistently paced races to date. Read on for the full details of race day.

The F^3 Lake Half Marathon is just 6 days away. While the weather for Saturday is going to be drastically different from the 58 degrees I enjoyed this past week, I am feeling ready. This taper hasn't "tapered" as much as others right before a race, but I am looking forward to a lighter few days leading up to Saturday.

In the past few posts I have mentioned using the R8 Roll Recovery tool that I received for Christmas . Having used this for almost a month now, I am in love with this roller and want to share my thoughts.