This is part of a series of posts regarding how I am preparing, planning, and train to complete the 100 miles Ultramarathon Umstead 100: Road to 100. For all the ultrarunning series here is Road to 100 last week’s post and for additional ideas follow the link. Training for a 100.

Although it might feel like a long taper, 3 weeks, I am still putting some good mileage to keep the body moving and starting to feel comfortable. Some might consider or feel that it might be too long we might lose some conditioning. Keep in mind that this is time to recover, to work on the mental preparations on how to deal with different situations. Time to enjoy the light training and let the body get back and close to an optimal state. It is also time to start thinking about those non-running things.

If you are using new running shoes this is the time to break them in. Do not let them be the item that breaks you down during the event. There are many good short miles for you to start breaking them and making sure that they will be the best running shoes for the event. This week I started to break in my Brooks Adrenaline and the Salomon Ultra Glide both will be my go-to shoes for the Ultramarathon.

This is also the time to do the final test on your electronics items that you might be planning or considering to use for the event. You want to do this to make sure that if you need backups you can procure/borrow/buy/order those to have them tested and ready for the main event.

Assessment:

What electronics are you planning to use? Wireless headset? How many? Are they old? How does the battery last for each? Which miles will you need to have ready for you?

Using an MP3 player (Yes, they still have those, I use the iPod Shuffle) Does one will be enough? Wired headset? Spare ones? Battery life?

Carrying a phone during the event? How does the battery last? Will you need to put it on airplane mode to extend the battery life?

Headlamps, flashlights, torches, handhelds, will you have enough life in the battery to last the time you will be in the dark. Have a backup just in case the main one stops working?

Glucose meter, do you need one a certain aid stations/checkpoints? Does the event have a medical tent and have one available for you? Do you need more than one? Is it charged and ready?

One GPS watch? Multiple ones? Relying on the pacers? Once you determine the watch life, would you be able to charge it during the run? Do you need a second one? Planning to stitch the GPS file of multiple data files?

Charging Blocks, are you planning to re-charge any of the equipment or electronics you are planning to use? Do you have them ready? I had some old ones that they do not charge as they used to.

The answers will help you get ready for the next step the planning session.

Planning:

During the next few days, charge the electronics and turn them on especially those old ones that you have not used in quite some time. Make sure they will last the time you think they are needed.

Even the charging block, verify that it will charge as expected. Have the necessary cables ready? You do not want to be surprised by having to charge and the cables are not there. Organize and strategize your approach, what? when? the how? you are going to charge. Planning and preparation are key now that you have time to test your strategy.

How is the plan going:

This week was another solid week. The workweek mileage was decent, here are some highlights,

Monday: Spend some time with easy stretching and rolling. Not as intensive as previous weeks.

Tuesday run: Easy miles, legs feeling really good. Sore, but with energy.

Wednesday run: Morning some light stretching. This week in the afternoon was the second week running with the Insane Running Group. Very easy conversational miles.

Thursday run: Long day of work meetings, had to switch to an afternoon run. A little bit faster than I want it but since I was running out of time I had to make it a quick one.

Friday: Spend extra time doing additional stretching and rolling. Followed by rest.

The long runs were good too, Saturday: Tons of rain for the morning, slight change of plans, and completed the miles on the Treadmill watching Boba Fett.

Sunday: One final loop at Umstead today. Running with Jay who will be completing his first 50 miles and Venu, one of the pacers for loop 7 or 8. We talked about the aid stations, the different things that he will be able to help me with. A little bit of rehearsal loop. I was able to run it at a faster pace from target, given that I was well rested from an easy recovery week.

This week actual numbers:

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Plan
Week 14	Stretches & Rolling	3	4	4	Stretches & Rolling	14	15	40	78