Curling

Training Week: 02/06/17 – 02/12/17

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02/06/2017 – 02/12/2017
This was supposed to be a down week, but my schedule got a bit mixed up with some work commitments, so I flipped this week (easy/low mileage) with next week (hard/high mileage). I may or may not have overdid it this week. Not enough rest and too many continuous hard weeks has me worried about my left achilles again. On the schedule was to be Fort Ebey Kettles trail marathon in two weeks, but I find myself on the way to Texas that week ya’ll, so instead of high tailing it back to the Pacific Northwest to try to make the race, I decided I’d extend my trip and in true ultra running fashion, signed up for not one marathon, but two marathons, back to back, in two different states. The plan is to take them both easy as training race runs, finish them and check off two more states on my list of marathon or more. These will hopefully be states number 10 and 11 for me. But for now before I get too far ahead of myself, I’m going to try to nurse myself back to health.

Questions to you:
• Have you ever run back to back races?
• How many states have you ran a marathon or more in?
• Have you ever had an injured achilles? What did you do to help it heal?
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Training Week: 01/30/17 – 02/05/17

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01/30/2017 – 02/05/2017
This training week had a little bit of everything – rain, sunshine, snow, fartleks, long runs, friends, lunch runs and even a few firsts (for a friend). Set out this week with no real goal, other than to hit my mileage, but by my last run on Sunday, I had decided my weekly goal would be 50 miles and 10,000 feet of vert. I’ve made training plans in the past which incorporate dedicated hill workouts and prescribed speed workouts and they’re great, but I’ve also teetered just on that fine line of injury and peak fitness, more often than not crashing over to the injury side of the line. For this Bighorn 100 training cycle my core training plan consists of only hitting mileage (four week training blocks of three increasingly progressive weeks followed by one recovery week), maxing out vert (rough weekly goal of 10,000+ feet), and continuing to have fun while doing it all. It’s not much to ask for and yet I know from past experiences it will take perseverance to make it all the way to the end in one piece, both physically and mentally.

It’s 130 days until Bighorn…

Questions to you:
• What is your favorite hill workout?
• How is your training plan structured?
• What is your “A” race this year?
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Training Week: 01/23/17 – 01/29/17

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01/23/2017 – 01/29/2017
Easing into this training cycle has been both a chore and something I’m looking forward to. I have not really felt like running at all this week, so I tried my best to run to get others to run with me for as many runs as possible. At the same time, I’m really enjoying running. Although a 14 mile run still seems (and feels) ridiculously far to me right now. I find training to be as much physical as it is mental. Apparently I have a long ways still to go for both.

Questions to you:
• Do you incorporate speed workouts into your training?
• What is your favorite speed workout?
• Do you heat train? How does it affect your workouts?
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Training Week: 01/16/17 – 01/22/17

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01/16/2017 – 01/22/2017
I’m going to try posting my weekly training recaps again. The posts take more time to construct than they should, so the format or content will probably change to streamline the process. So far the format is the same as it has been in the past, except for a Call for Comments which has been added at the bottom. We all have something to share and learn.

I hope you’ll indulge my curiosity and share your experiences and feedback! Continue reading →