I blinked and April was over. In what seemed like no time at all, my first 50k was in the record books and I had already returned to training with the BERunProject team. Since the turn of the year, I’ve run 626 miles, pedaled 676 miles with Peloton and spent about 14 hours in semi-private personal training sessions at Beyond Exercise. That’s a combined 135 hours worth of training over the last 18 weeks … all while continuing to observe #nodaysoff.
What does #nodaysoff even mean at this late point in my spring training season? Well, it doesn’t mean over-training. In the weeks leading up to and immediately following the Forget the PR Mohican 50k, I eliminated speed work and reduced the length of my long runs. I decreased both the duration and intensity of my Peloton workouts. I attended my last semi-private personal training session at Beyond Exercise on March 27th (the week before my 50k) and I probably won’t return until mid-May. For someone as injury prone as me, maintaining any kind of a training streak means listening to my body and adjusting my activities accordingly.
With that approach, I have been able to maintain some level of physical activity every single day of 2019. Even if it’s a quick low impact spin workout, I’ve made training a conscious part of each day. This mindfulness has also included sports massages, chiropractic “tune ups” and a couple of particularly intense active release sessions following my 50k. Thanks to a more-consistent-than-normal approach to training (particularly cross training), my weight is down, my VO2 max is up and I feel legitimately ready for my spring races for the first time since 2016.
Based on how I’ve felt in the weeks following my 50k, I’ve decided to try to race the Flying Pig Marathon this Sunday. I don’t feel nearly as beat up following my 50k as I have in the weeks immediately following a road marathon … so I think I can run a decent race on May 5th. I’m a master of self-doubt, so it’s hard for me to truly commit to a goal time. That said, I’m going into this particular race telling myself that I’ve spent 18 weeks training with a 3:15-3:25 marathon pace group and there’s no reason why I can’t finish somewhere near that range of time. I know that anything can happen on race day and the best laid plans don’t always pan out, but I also know that I’ve put in the work necessary for a successful race day … so I owe it to myself to try to hit a goal that might feel a little bit unattainable right now.
After the Pig, I’m looking forward to having some fun in May and June. After four months of consistent training, I think I’ll finally be ready to enjoy a few days off.
See you at the finish line this weekend …
Run, Kamandi, Run! 