Relentless to 100: Week 24 : Insane Running

Relentless to 100: Week 24

This week is the Bull City Run Fest half, and in two weeks is the City of Oak Marathon, so after this week’s race with a low mileage total, it will be followed by another low mileage effort taper week. Although I am pacing neither event this time, and I am just participating, I am considering this a supported pressing the pace training run. Ultrarunning definitely takes a completely different training approach than shorter events, but the tapering process is very similar. Reduced mileage and, when running, a fair amount of easy running. Higher effort running is not out of the question, but be careful. This is not the time to really go for PR on your training runs. Your focus is to learn to recognize the different ways your body will feel at different paces and distances. To also learn, test, and practice how to recover, rest, and re-energize in preparation for your event.

This is part of a series of posts regarding how we prepare, plan, and train to complete the 100 miles Ultramarathon Umstead 100: Relentless to 100. For all the ultrarunning series, here is In the Relentless to 100, last week’s post, and for additional ideas, follow the link. Training for a 100 .

Assessment:

Take the opportunity to start looking for those things that are going well. The fall is the time of the year when temperature and humidity start feeling phenomenal. It’s a great opportunity to start paying attention to all the things you need to start taking notes.

For example, if your running shoes come untied during the training runs. You might not think much about it as you stop to retied your running shoes. But every 1 or 2 minutes, there are precious, something very preventable. Also, you might not stop right away to address the issue, changing the way your foot moves inside your shoe and creating perhaps the possibility of issues later on.

Planning:

In your running journal, look for those great and not-so-great training runs, especially those that seem to have similar feelings or similar situations. For those, consider the following questions and formulate a plan to reinforce the good and adjust the not-so-good. Be sure to be honest with yourself; this is not for me or others to reflect; this is for you to reflect and use to move you forward.

What do they have in common?

Are you testing a few new things? Clothing? Fuel? Shoes? Electronics?

How is your weekly mileage?

Are you recovering well?

Are there any pain or nagging issues that keep coming back?

This week’s actual numbers: