(Long Overdue) Winter 2018 Ultra Training Recap

Just a suggestion. 

Well, I intended to write this a month ago. Let me tell you the first thing I’ve learned about ultra training – it is hella time consuming.

The past few months have been dedicated to training for the Pick Your Poison 50k on April 28, 2018. I did not want Squamish to be my first ultra so I signed up with the main goal of testing the ultra waters and getting a better idea of what my race strategy (read: survival plan) might be. It’s exciting but it also means that 8 out of 12 months of 2018 are entirely training focused.

Overall, it’s been fun. I am working harder than I ever have and staying mostly motivated. Of course, there have been some seriously tough days. Prior to this training cycle I had only ever done 4, maybe 5, workouts in a week with the remaining days being solid rest days. I am currently doing 6 days a week with only one rest day and have managed to keep this pretty consistent. I’m proud of that. 

What training plan?

I didn’t start out consciously thinking, “Screw training plans I’m just gonna roll with it” but that’s what happened. This is one of the biggest changes from my ordinary training MO. For all other major goal races from half marathon to full marathon distance, I have had some form of structured training plan. When I trained for my first half marathon, I had no idea what I was doing and carefully followed a training plan I found online. As I got more comfortable with consistent training, I started making my own with an excel spreadsheet and a calendar.

This time, I had a 16 week First 50k training plan all printed out and ready to go and … I ignored it. I think I had to change the structure of the plan a bit to accommodate Frosty Trail Run in early January and then I got sick and had to skip a long run and a few other workouts and pretty soon I was winging it. 

Here’s the thing- I know how to train for a race. I know how to increase the mileage on my weekly long runs. I know how to progress with the number of hill repeats. I know I can’t go hard and fast on all my runs. I know I need to rest at least once a week. I’m not about to write “Nora’s Fool Proof Guide to Intuitive Training” any time soon but I am at a point in training where I can just sort of glance at the calendar and know when I need to be at X weekly mileage and roughly how long it will take to get there. So – I’ve slowly gone from running 40-50 mins after work to an hour or more. Long runs started around 15k on the roads and peaked at 38k on the trails.

Do I suggest you do this? Maybe? I think I’m able to do it because I am motivated as hell right now. I also have three years of training cycles to look back on. If you’re new to training, absolutely look up a training plan that fits your schedule and follow it religiously. After three years, I am loving my new approach. It has helped me be more flexible when work or life gets in the way and I don’t feel bad or guilty for rearranging workouts to fit whatever I have going on in a week. As long as I accomplish the runs and workouts I need to be doing in roughly the period of time I have to do them, I’m good. And I’m happy. 

Long, long runs

Ok, we all know how important these are. Long runs are the cornerstone of any marathon/ultra training plan. They build endurance, of course, but for me, it’s more about building confidence. 

I always planned to do my longest long run of 38k three weeks before race day. Starting at 15k, this means that I increased my long run mileage by around 3 or 4k every week. I would typically build some cut-back weeks into a training plan but those took care of themselves thanks to cold and flu season. Being that I was training in the dead of winter in Southern Ontario, I started with road running and moved to the (still somewhat snow covered) trails at the beginning of March. Running on snowy, icy and muddy trails has slowed my long run pace to a crawl but I am trying to remind myself that the point is to build endurance and if it takes me five hours to run 35k then I’m going to be out on the trails for five hours to finish that 35k. 

Exhibit A

I will admit that this is probably my biggest insecurity going into my first 50k. I feel like long runs have turned into long runs/hikes due to the ridiculous trail conditions I’ve been dealing with. I know there will be plenty of hiking in Pick your Poison but it just feels weird to be this far into a training cycle and not have run a steady 20 miler.

Exhibit B

Eat Eat Eat Eat Eat 

I have always struggled to take in enough calories during races or long runs. I either lose my appetite or forget, or, in the case of a marathon, am too damn tired to bother opening another gel (tip: don’t be like that.)

Ultra runners need a lot of calories to keep going. I also think they need to be able to stomach a lot of random aid station food because it’s convenient and no one wants to lug around more of their own nutrition than absolutely necessary. I’ve been heading out on the trails with 1.5 litres of water, 2 or 3 gels, some kind of energy bar (usually Clif) and a pile of junk food. I’ve taken Oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, M&Ms, gummies and Coke with me. Yes, all at once.

Is this healthy? Noooo. But it makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to. I can also justify myself with the knowledge that this is standard ultra aid station food and my stomach needs to adapt. Yes.

Yeah this is my life now. My hand for scale. 

Gym Life

This could and should be an entirely separate blog post so I’m going to save my gym spiel for a later date (likely falling later during taper when I have some actual free time). I will say this, however – I didn’t know I was a gym person. Somewhere between the stair master’s interval setting and learning to do my first ever barbell squat, I became a gym person. Plus, my gym is awesome and has a cat. Yes, a cat. Details to follow, I promise.

Road (/trail) Blocks

Here’s a question for anyone reading this – how do you block out the negative and focus on your workout?

I work in a fairly stressful professional position and sometimes it is really hard to just pack the day away and go out for a run. I feel like I am being physically weighted down. It’s hard to get out the door and sometimes I want to quit running the whole time, not because I’m not capable of doing whatever workout I set out to do but because, mentally, I’m not there, I’ve gone to a place of worry and anxiety. This is the hardest part of running for me. If I’m anxious, I am also lazy and slow. I will also say that the dark, cold winter months don’t really help and I sure am happy that there is now sunshine for my after work runs.

Just me out here.

And now, taper

And just like that, it’s taper time. I can’t believe I made it here. I’ve never trained harder or been more consistent which will probably make taper even more of a shock to my system than it normally is. I’m going to try to blog about Taper Madness because a) I have time and b) It is a real thing. Nothing is more real than taper madness.

 

TL;DR

Training highs: being more consistent than ever, sticking to strength training and using a squat rack for the first time ever

Training lows: hill repeats in the dark and cold, anxiety being pretty much the most demotivating thing ever

Eating: Uh, everything? Brookside chocolate I got in bulk from Costco is a great trail snack. Also, birthday cake Oreos.

Wearing: Tights all day everyday because it is still damn cold. Injinji toe socks save my feet from blisters. Tip: Always wear an old marathon shirt to the gym for confidence.

Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline for road and Brooks Cascadia for trail

Soundtrack to the training cycle: Survivor by 2WEI, War Lord by 2WEI, Majesty by Apashe, Waisu and all the Ginger Runner music obviously

 

 

 

My Love/Hate Relationship With Winter Running

Well this looks motivating. 

I’m so ready for winter to be over.

I actually fell in love with running in the winter.

I started running in July of 2013. By started, I mean that I ran consistently for about 6 weeks, worked myself up to 3 kilometres or so and then got injured. I think that tells you everything you need to know about my fitness levels at the time, but that’s not the point. The point is that, by the time I started running regularly again, it was freezing cold outside. I didn’t have any winter running gear. I used to layer leggings under a pair of track pants and top it off with a very poorly ventilated windbreaker. This was back in the day when I owned exactly one sports bra. I promised myself that if I ran through the winter I could go out and buy some real running clothes for the summer. That was my primary motivation.

There was also a part of me who thought that “real” runners had to run through the winter and if I stuck it out I’d be passing some kind of runner’s commitment test. At the time, I had no plans of ever racing and I’m not even sure I knew how long a marathon was, but I’d head out two or three days a week and get it done. It wasn’t so bad in the late fall and I remember coming home elated after a 6km run (my longest run ever!) and signing up for the Yonge Street 10k.

The Yonge Street 10k isn’t around anymore but all you need to know is that it’s in early April. So I’d head out in my track pants and horribly uncomfortable windbreaker/old fleece combo and train. It was slow going but I managed to drag my mileage over 10km by the time the race came around. I have a lot of memories from Winter 2014. Mainly, it was frigidly cold and every time I came in to defrost I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I’d gone out and faced off against the elements and gotten shit done. I had a goal and I was going to power through. And February is the best month for sunsets over country roads. My phone has been littered with sunset photos since this first training cycle.

Now, I do this every year. Signing up for early Spring races forces me out the door in the most ridiculous conditions. I ran my first ever half marathon at the Chilly Half Marathon on March 1, 2015. I ran Around the Bay in 2016 and 2017. I’ve had some pretty adventurous long runs. It’s been -30C and I’ve been out there with three pairs of pants on. I’ll be attempting my first ultra at the end of April. This has become a tradition. It isn’t winter if I’m not running across the countryside dressed like a ninja.

My biggest nemesis is probably unshoveled sidewalks and unploughed roads. I live in a small town where no one seems to care if the sidewalks are maintained in the winter. Ploughs don’t hit the roads until late in the day or, in the case of country roads, days later. I train alone and sometimes the thought of slogging through ankle deep snow for hours is a lot to stomach. There’s also a bit of a safety issue. I fell flat on my ass just last week and I’ll admit it completely freaked me out. Injuries are my worst fear right now.

What’s a plough? Never heard of it. 

That said, I have made some pretty crucial adjustments to my wardrobe. I now have real winter running tights of varied weight and layering options. I have fancy Merino wool base tops. I own five running jackets (two were gifts, and one was Chilly Half race swag). I still only have one hat and one pair of gloves.

And Winter running still sucks. No amount of fancy gear will change the fact that some days it is damn hard to get out the door. I joined a gym a few months back and sometimes I do run on the treadmill. After 4 winters of nothing but outdoor running, it feels like a luxury and I don’t really want to get too used to it. Winter running has taught me to tough it out even when you’re miserable and that you don’t always need to like running to love it.

This isn’t to say that the runner’s commitment test my former self believed in is a real thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being on the treadmill November-March. Do what you need to do to chase down your goals. If nothing else, it will make you look less crazy. Which, I’ll admit, in a small town, could be a very valuable thing.