Showing posts with label ice age 50k. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ice age 50k. Show all posts

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Holiday Runfessions

It's New Year's Eve, but it's also the last Friday of the month, which means it's time for Runfessions! Marcia opens up the runfessional every final Friday of the month. It's a great time to cleanse your soles. Mine are plenty dirty, from running in the mud. What did you think I meant?

Let's get to it!

Monday, January 4, 2021

Running Wasn't Canceled: A Look Back at 2020

In one way or another, 2020 was the year that challenged all of us. How could it not? From politics to the pandemic, we've all had to adapt and figure out how to survive these trying times. Running was the key to keeping me sane this year. But running was different this year too. Races were canceled and group runs were not happening. Virtual runs and challenges became a thing. Initially a novelty, for this runner, virtual runs grew old really fast.  

How to sum up the year that was 2020? There were a lot of lessons to be learned, for sure. Instead of just writing a recap of the year--you can certainly read my 2020 racing recap here--I decided to do a self-reflection of my year as it related to running. These questions were taken from a Psychology Today article; I adapted them to fit my purpose of evaluating my running and fitness from 2020. 

I'm not a goal setter or a resolution maker, in fact, my goals evolved as the year played out. These questions helped me frame my year in a positive way, which was really helpful in light of the year that was 2020. This exercise also helped direct my thinking towards 2021. I'm looking forward to using my answers to help me decide on my plans for the upcoming year. It's not going to be a normal year, either, so it's good to be ready for whatever comes our way!

Newport State Park, June 2020

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Ice Age Trail 50k Training Week 3

Training felt real this week as I hit my highest running mileage in years! With the mindset of running for distance instead of time, I don't feel as intimidated with my training plan as I did in past years training for my marathons. I cannot stop marveling at how refreshing it is to just run and to even take walk breaks when I need them. I'm not saying that it's easy but training for a trail ultra is a whole different mindset. 

I'm still feeling tired but for the most part, I'm sleeping better this week. I continue to worry about the unrest in our country and the COVID hotspots but I've really limited my news time and that seems to have helped me a lot. 

Saturday's trail 10

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Ice Age Trail 50k Training Week 2

After processing the events of the past couple of weeks, I was feeling pretty tired this week and it all played out in my workouts. My runs were sluggish and my strength sessions felt hard. My sleep improved over the course of the week. I got myself back on track with my nutrition. I stuck to the plan that Marcia laid out for me and got it all done.

Digging deep was the lesson of the week. Maybe I can do this thing?

Wednesday's hot and steamy run.

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Ice Age Trail 50k Training Week 1

This post contains an affiliate link.

With all the race cancellations happening, I optimistically embarked this week on my training plan for the Ice Age Trail 50k, rescheduled for September 26. Will it actually take place? Only about 250 runners did the 50k last year, so as a smaller race, hopefully it won't be canceled. The race takes place completely on the trails of the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest in Wisconsin. Reading about other trail races and how they are adapting to the challenges of the pandemic makes me think that with some changes--think staggered start times and hands-free aid stations--this could actually work.

We'll see. For now, I'm sticking to the plan that Marcia has made for me. I've got this.



Friday, April 24, 2020

Quarantine Runfessions

I thought March was long, but how about April? April has been indeed the cruelest month. All month we've been quarantined at home, stuck inside most of the time because it's cold and snowy and rainy.

That doesn't mean I don't have anything to runfess! I've still been running and working out, which has been about the only thing that's felt normal this month. Marcia has opened the runfessional--and not a moment too soon. Let's get right to it.