Aesthete Runner

It was another hot week of training. I complain about the heat every year and miss it in the winter, but it really does make training for a fall race infinitely more difficult. Thankfully it also prepares you well for what's to come.

I made it to the taper!!!! Week 16 was my last 50k-specific week of training, and now I have entered into the Peak Phase, or the taper. It feels really good to be here. While the taper brings all sorts of challenges of it's own, I am really ready to focus on mental and physical rest to get ready for race day.

I recently was catching up on old episodes of the Trail Runner Nation podcast  and listened to the episode called "Grit: That Space Between Giving Up and Going All In". Not only was I fascinated by the topic, but I really related to much of the dialogue on the podcast.

I survived peak week! While there are still many more weeks of hard training, it feels good to put my biggest mileage week behind me and finish my first 20 miler of the training plan. One of the coaches notes this week was  Repeat after me: "I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it. I can do it. I will do it." Say it rhythmically and often. I sure did say this often and this was definitely a week of doing hard things and succeeding.

Hooray, I made it to the taper! This past weekend I finished my last long run and the next 13 days will be spent focusing on recovery. Looking back over the past few months, it feels like this day would never come.

It is now officially April and that means my race is in 20 days!!!! The nerves and excitement are starting to set in. Yesterday I had my second 20 mile run and it is definitely sinking in that this is going to be happening...soon.

Quote from a recent Runners World article that sums up my week: We runners need to be light on our feet. We need to be able to adapt to changes in weather and terrain. We need to be able to handle detour signs and find alternate routes. We have to be able to push through a bonk or a wall, and hold it together until we can transcend. We need to be able to run in a pack, or go it alone. We need to be able to adjust our pace and tweak our training. We need to be both self-reliant and coachable. We need to know our bodies well enough to know exactly what we need—and do something about it. We need to know what pain we can play through and when it’s serious and time to stop. Anything can happen between a start and a finish line, and we have no idea how the miles in between will unfold. I feel light on my feet, happy to find a way to make it work instead of making an excuse . This past week marked one month until the Earth Day 50k race. I think that it never really hit me that this is ha...

The balancing act continued this past week as I somehow managed to adjust to a new job, morning running, and a 20 mile long run. I might be crazy, but I am actually happy that the clocks jumped ahead last night as now I can get in some runs after work.

What a week! I started my new job, became a morning runner, and ran one of my longest training runs in a while. Needless to say, I am exhausted! I am still working on balancing a new job, training for my first ultra, and everything else in life, but I know that each week will get easier.

Sensing a theme with podcasts this week, I recently listened to the latest episode of Trail Runner Nation. The topic of this podcast was " Vulnerability: Our Greatest Measure of Courage " and I was deeply inspired and engaged during this episode.

Recently on a run I was listening to an episode of the Marathon Training Academy podcast regarding the topic of balancing running and life. One of the guests spoke about moving to a new country, quitting her job, but found running. Even though her life had changed she said "I will always have running".

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.

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.

“After I greeted a group of young men who were hanging out next to the running trail, one said to the rest, ‘Let’s gang rape her,’ as I ran past. The other boys laughed.” —Shannon, 30, Parker, Colorado Part of being a runner is putting yourself out there. I know every time I enter a race or train for a race, I open myself up to failure. As someone who runs outside and in populated areas, I also open myself up to harassment as well. This is the theme of a recent Runner's World Podcast that I listened to on Sunday that made me incredibly sad.

A few weeks ago the running community was buzzing about staying safe on runs after there were several reports of runners being killed. While these incidents are not the norm, it never hurts to bring awareness to the issue of safety. Personally I take precautions on my runs, but I find that I get lazy or complacent, and sometimes a good reminder is needed to bring attention back to the topic. I happened to listen to a podcast on my run that did just that.

It is hard to believe week 8 is in the books! As with last week, I took some liberties with the plan as I found that I needed some time to recover from my race. Here is what the week looked like for me: Monday: 6 miles easy   Rest Tuesday: Speed 6 X 800m with 400m recovery   Tempo 5 miles Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Tempo 5 miles   Speed 6 X 800m with 400m recovery Friday: 5 miles easy  6 miles easy Saturday: 6 miles easy  Cross training Sunday: 10 miles long (on the trail) The biggest change was that I switched the tempo and speed work. I found that my legs were still really sore from the race and jumping into speed work might bother my hamstrings. After my previous hamstring injury, I am very conscious of the fact that speed work bothers them more than anything and made this adjustment. I do not regret my Monday rest day as that is just what I needed after recovering from the race and enabled me to feel refreshed for the tempo run on Tuesday. While I...