Part 2

July 12, 2024

Originally posted April 21, 2024

I can’t believe that a month has passed since my last “training update”. Now there are only two months to race day. It’s starting to feel “very real”!

My training is going quite well and I hope yours is too. What we do in the next month is key to having a good race experience both in terms of performance and how the race will feel. Here’s what I am focusing on now:

• Long Runs: I’m continuing to increase the length of my almost weekly long runs. I am up to 5 hours and will continue to increase the duration up to 6-7 hours.
• Hills: I’ve added more hills to my training, especially steep ones. I’ve been able to get some 500 m steep climbs in and of course added the steep rocky descent as well. I will continue with this gradually going higher as the snow melts.
• Tempo Runs: I’m trying very hard to add some tempo to my week and this will be a focus over the next month. My workouts are 2-3 times 10 mins or 20-30 mins at an 8/10 effort. I will vary the terrain of these workouts between flat ground, rolling hills, and steep hills.
• Enter a race: I think it’s a good idea to enter a running race this month. This will allow you to practice your race day routine. I’ve entered the Yakima Skyline 50 km in Washington on Saturday April 20. This trail race has almost 3000 m of climbing so I thought this would be good for me! Hopefully a confidence booster. We will see how it goes…
• Race Day Fuelling: Practice your race day fuelling on your long runs. I’ve been working on increasing my carbohydrate consumption to 60-90 g/hr (approx 250-300 kcal/hr). I find this easy to do for the first few hours of my long runs, but it gets more challenging after 4 to 5 hours of running. I will keep practising as I know this is key to feeling good at the end of the race. The Minotaur SkyRace Aid Stations will serve XACT Fruit Bars and ELECTRO2 electrolyte drink so I am training with these. I am also a fan of Skratch super high-carb sport drink (liquid fuel) and Maurten Hydrogel Gels. I’m planning to add Naak Ultra ENERGY bars to the mix. (All available in-store and online at spry!)
• Strength/Power: I am finding it harder to keep this in my routine now that my long runs are longer and the hill climbing is harder. I’m doing my best to get one strength session in every week and a few exercises on other days.
• Mobility, Stretching, and “Foam Rolling”: always and every day!

I hope your training is going well. I continue to remind myself that training is one of the best parts of signing up for a race. Enjoy it, put in the hard work, be consistent, get out with friends and have fun.

-Susan

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