It’s now less than two weeks until I’m going to run The GAX 100 Miles and it’s time to sum up my training and some thoughts regarding the race.
A month ago I wrote a long post about why I decided to register for the race and putting some lights on my bumpy training record this winter.
While my training during the autumn and winter was terrible with a lot of speed bumps, the training during this spring has been almost flawless. I have pushed hard, taken some risks but it has payed off.
I’m going to share a brief overview of my training history these couple of months leading up to the race and also admitting to some mistakes.
Getting back after being sick – how you shouldn’t do it
Being sick 3 times in a less than a four month period can really put you down. I was struggling to get back to a decent fitness level and my weekly volume had plummeted badly.
Once I was recovered in March from my last sick period I was trying to quickly discover how much weekly volume I could swallow right away. The worst thought for me at that point was starting to run a lower weekly volume than I could do. Why do even more step backs if I don’t need to!?
This was a stupid plan but so are most desperate ones I guess. After a week with 3 easier running sessions at 34 km in total, I tried to jump up doing 62 km the following week. The result was a body telling me that was too much, forcing me to step down to 48 km and then 40 km the following weeks.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this approach is not optimal. But I continue this dance going back up to 76 km and then down to 48 km and then 39 km. I can really feel the Nobel price committee have found a nominee at this point.
The problem is that I’m overreaching by a lot for my current level, forcing me to adjust the training volume down for the following two weeks. At least I had the decency to be kind enough to my body and lower the volume but it was my hunger for too much that required that kindness.
During this time I also tried to combine powerwalking with running during the week to get extra mileage in. Not in the same session but as different training sessions. Because I was pushing myself pretty hard I noticed that powerwalking is building up more fatigue than I expected and it gave added soreness in tendons.
By the end of this dance, April is coming to an end and we are heading into May. During these weeks I have improved and getting closer to where I once were, but it would have been smarter to have a more relaxed approach and increasing the volume steadily, rather than drastically.
May and June was good months
After my less optimal start I was heading into May and my training started to shape up nicely.
The walking strategy changed to focus more on running. But I still decided to walk when I felt for it. If it was good weather, I walked to the gym (3,5 km) as a warmup trying to keep a steady pace and getting more comfortable with walking.
Strength training my calves has been an important part to keep them in line.
My strength training had moved to the gym during April and I now only trained strength at home as a last resort. I did 2-3 strength sessions per week and my main approach was to walk to the gym in a decent pace (usually around 9 min/km), about 1 hour full body strength training and then run a longer route home (7-10 km).
I have always liked the feeling of running straight after a strength session. The legs are thick and you feel heavy in your steps. Your heart rate is higher in the beginning and it’s a different challenge. I believe getting used to that is something that can help during ultra running as fatigued muscles will feel more familiar then.
It’s important to note that I’m only doing an easier run in combination with strength training. If I were to combine a tougher (high intensity) run on the same day with strength training I would have swapped them around and have a few hours of rest in-between.
The running also steadily increased from this point and I was finally feeling that I had found my current level pushing 65, 73, 80 km before doing a “rest week” with 67 km of running.
Heading into June it continued nicely, doing 73, 92 and 110 km – an increment that is very impressive based on my weakly volume record of 100 km half a year before.
The midsummer week was then next planned “rest week” and I started of with a rest day on Monday, but this week didn’t go as planned. A combination that I found a tick on my body that was done with it’s mission and the midsummer celebration made me miss a couple of training sessions.
Last week ended my training for June with 106 km. It’s now almost 2 weeks left until the race and the real tapering begins. The last two months have been great where I have successfully pushed my running into new dimensions without any injury.
While I don’t feel ready for a 100 miler, I feel strong and I have never been this trained as a runner before. Looking back at my last post, it’s important to remind myself of my goals. My main goal is not to run 100 miles, but rather beat my distance record of 50 km and learn as much as possible while doing so.
Unfortunately I can’t filter out the walking which makes some weeks seem better than what they are, especially during my “Desperate Recovery”. What it does show is several months with bumps ending with a steady and nice increase in training volume. Most of my training sessions were private on Strava during this time so you can’t see if you visit my profile.
A quick tapering for the race
With less than two weeks left to start, I will try to do some kind of tapering.
Lowering my volume this week and then very little the days leading up to the race in the last week.
I found my love for running in early 2016. Since then I have used social media to get inspired and eventually inspire others. I have continued to use running as a great way to stay in good mental and physical shape. I have also found out that I’m apparently mortal and can get injuries.
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