That darn CRUD 8-Hour trail race really has me rethinking my standard training and racing protocol. CRUD did not go well, and I've had a few bad races in the past year. It's too easy for me to sign up well in advance for a race, hoping I'll be motivated to train hard, then expect a good race. So what usually happens? I register for a race, train rather lackadaisically, and have a bad race. Rinse and repeat. Things need to change. I'm tired of poor racing. My new philosophy (which goes well with my new "Summer of Malmo" training plan), is to TRAIN FIRST, then register, then race. Why register for a race if I'm not ready for it? Sure, I may miss out on a few races that close early, but in general, I can run most local races by registering only a few weeks in advance. And if I actually get in good shape soon, then I can register for whatever I want!
I am instituting this new "train, register, race" sequence right now. No more registering for a race unless I am fit when I register. No anticipating being fit come race day. I do have one race that gets "grandfathered" in--that's the Howl at the Moon 8-Hour run on August 13. If Howl wasn't one of my favorite races, I'd skip it. Guess that means I need to train hard for the next 2.5 months. If I train well, then race Howl, I should be in a perfect position to register for several fall ultramarathons. I'd like to run the new Evergreen 50K on September 18, Farmdale 33 miler on October 8, and the McNotAgain 30 miler on October 29. I may sneak in a few 5Ks too. We shall see!
For now, my training is going OK. This "Summer of Malmo" thing has kept me honest. I have run everyday over the last 2 weeks, and tried to toss in a couple doubles each week. The summer heat and humidity is taking its toll on me, but I'm not giving in yet. In the ongoing struggle of "man vs trail" or "man vs nature"--I'm still coming out on top. If I can hold on for another couple of weeks, I should be heat acclimated. Kinda sucks running a hot 10-12 miler and being zonked for the rest of the day. That's what summer is all about in the Midwest. It's 92 degrees today. 95 degrees tomorrow. 97 degrees Wednesday. Crazy.
2 comments:
I'm glad to see you have a streak going again. Remember when it was below zero several days in a row last winter? I love running in the midwest. I've run barefoot 4 days in a row now. It's the only way to go for me lately, here's a clip from my running log Sunday, "After being stepped on accidentally and stubbed multiple times, the ever increasing blood blister under the black toenail on my big toe exploded in a bloddy mess when I stubbed it a final time (during my run). ER cleaned it up and now I have medication to prevent infection."
That log entry is poetry!
Post a Comment