With just five weeks until the Lakou Backyard Ultra, training has been ramped up in style and I'm really hoping that the miles, the hills, and the strength work, all come together on race day, so I can go into the race feeling confident of hitting any targets I might set myself.
Right now, I don't have a goal except to attempt one more lap every time I feel like I've truly had enough. I'd much rather time out on a lap that not start, but then I have said that before and gone again my word!
This past week has been a great week of training, with a decent speed session on Tuesday that saw me comfortably running 7.00 to 7.30 miling despite a brisk wind, Wednesday saw me doing what is now known as my 10-mile classic simply because until recently, all I tended to do during the week were 10-milers. Then Thursday, I was back at the off-leash dog park, running up and down the hill in an attempt to get stronger at hill running and therefore making my hillier races feel easier. That's the theory anyway! To be fair, I am ascending those hills much more quickly now, and I am definitely not walking as much towards the top, so that must mean things are improving. I've still a long way to go to be cruising up single track mountain trails, but even if my shuffle is quicker, it'll give me better finishing time when it comes to racing.
In addition to those hill repeats, I am still heading out to Devon on a weekend to get in some trail running, and some of the climbs out there are longer than the one I'm using at the dog park. Add to that the stairs that can be found heading up and down the river valley, it really is a great place to go to get some decent elevation without having a 2 or 3 hour drive. Last weekend, I had a 40km run on the schedule, and I'm not going to lie, it was tough! The combination of all my other training sessions that week made it so that my legs were definitely heavy and somewhat tired, but then I know it's the kind of fatigue I'll encounter during race, so it does no harm getting familiar with the feeling.
This weekend's runs have been somewhat different, with Coach Paul putting in four backyard practice loops on both the Saturday and the Sunday. When I've done these before in training, I've tended to just go out and do the loops whenever, but this weekend I was far more disciplined, determined to take four hours out of my day to do four consecutive loops. The fact that I have a loop that is pretty much 4.17 miles from my own front door and back again, it works really well as I can head indoors to get drinks etc, before starting the next, and I can nip the loo and have a puppy snuggle whilst waiting to head out on my next loop.
Saturday's four loops were a little harder. That morning, I awoke feeling a little bit off - bad stomach, rotten headache, and generally just feeling a little bit meh. I wasn't really in the mood for running, so I left it as late as possible, hoping that my mojo would come back later in the day. It didn't, but I still wanted to get the four laps done, so I ran back from the dog park - a distance of 10 miles - and walked in between whilst waiting for the first hour to end and the next to begin. My legs didn't actually feel too bad, but I did need to go the loo twice with the trots. The good news is that I was still able to cover the loop with plenty of time to spare, despite the unwanted visits to the portapotties around Telford Lake.
The last two loops felt marginally better, but I was so glad to just get them over and done with so I could chill out for the night, and brace myself for another four loops on Sunday.
Sunday was the day when Hill of a Race was taking place out at the Rabbit Hill Ski Resort, and although not racing it myself this year, I still wanted to head out there to cheer on some friends. This meant that I had to do my backyard loops on Sunday morning instead, so I was up relatively early and was ready to head out by 9am.
I definitely felt much better on Sunday compared to the previous day, and I found that I was still running at a 9.30 mile despite trying really hard to slow things down. The pace felt extremely easy, and even my heart rate was well under 130 bpm, so I definitely wasn't overexerting myself, and with each loop, my heart rate was dropping and my pace slightly increasing.
It was a beautiful morning to start with - blue skies and a little on the cool side without a breath of wind. Being Sunday morning, the roads were really quiet, and I enjoyed having things all to myself as I just jogged along. By 11am as I started my third loop, there was lots more traffic and more people out walking, so I popped in the headphones for a bit of escapism and enjoyed listening to some music for a short while. Things were also starting to warm up and the wind was now quite gusty, so I was glad I had started early and taken advantage of the much more favourable conditions.
Four loops done for Sunday, eight done for the weekend - I was extremely chuffed. Even more satisfying was how consistent my loops were over both the days. I do need to slow things down, but even so, maintaining a decent pace and keeping my heart race low was reassuring, and I am really hoping I can go long at Lakou in a few weeks time.
Having finished my run, I had a quick shower before heading over to Rabbit Hill to catch the last hour or so of Hill of a Race. I'd been on such a high from my own runs, but by the time I got to Rabbit Hill, I felt terribly depressed and on a downer. Things happen, and I was pissed off! Thank goodness for my running family though. I love being around positive people, people who don't judge, and who make you feel worthy and good about yourself, and it was so nice to see running friends out there crushing their goals. With not racing so much this year, I have really missed seeing these people and I so desperately needed to see them. As an aside, feedback was that the snow hill was much harder to run on this year due to slush and icy sections - maybe it was a good thing I hadn't raced!
So after another successful week of training, I'm looking forward to the next, and I know that next week will bring big miles. I am a little nervous as to how my body will cope, but I'm also excited to be getting out there and running. I say it so often, but along with the pups, running is my life and it's in my blood. I've got the day off work tomorrow, so I'll be spending the day outdoors with the pups, and then next weekend, I'll be heading out to Cooking Lake to run a loop of the Blackfoot Ultra course with friends. Here's hoping it's another fun day!