After a summer preparing for the Spirit of Racine 70.3 race, I turned my attention to the Glacial Trail 50, this weekend. There are two notable changes in the preparation for a 50 mile running race when compared to a triathlon. First, everything is a run (duh!). Second, both Monday and Friday are rest days.
Friday is preparation for the long weekend. Monday? It seems to be a matter of survival. After this weekend, today was going to be a rest day, scheduled or not. And I can safely say that Mondays are going to be interesting for the next eight weeks.
A variety of activities worked together to make training a challenge, this weekend. The schedule called for a 3.5-4 hour run Saturday followed by 3 hours on Sunday. On both days, the only real "free" time was VERY early in the mornings, so I was running in the dark. And since I had NO intention of getting up at 3 a.m. on Saturday, that run was shortened. My wife had to leave by 8:30 for a conference.
In the end, I ran the same 17 mile route both days. Saturday took just over 2:47. Sunday was a bit slower at 2:49. Taking the advice of the training plan, I used the run/walk method with intervals of 5 minutes run and 2 minutes walk. It turned out pretty well because 10 minute miles is the general target I've been considering for the race.
Of course, it is obvious there is a lot of work to get there. In fact, there's a lot of work before I'll be "comfortable" putting myself on the starting line for a 50 mile running race. Around mile 12 on Sunday, my legs started to rebel against the treatment they were receiving. In fact, my left leg threatened to rep my right leg off and beat me with it.
Today, my legs are completely wiped out. They want to punish me for the training. Luckily, they can't agree on which one is doing the work and which will sit back and watch. Perhaps nine miles, tomorrow, will help them decide.
Still, it was good to get a 34 mile weekend under my belt. I've had some long weekends in the past, but my prior "longest" weekend was probably only 27 miles. Next weekend, I'll probably go well over the new record of 34.
It will, however, depend on how things go. The 9th and 10th are already fairly full. Saturday is the kids triathlon where B-Boy and Monster Girl will run their first multisport event. Sunday is the race for my youth tri club. I'll have five kids there, though one is an unofficial member (and faster than me).
Somewhere in there, I have to squeeze nearly seven hours of running. Should be fun.
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