What's a blog without a post about New Year Resolutions?
Realistically, I don't have a lot of specific goals this season (I guess I'm living the dream already) but the few I have are difficult to achieve.
Increase my Base
I believe that one reason for my lack of improvement last year was my fairly low weekly mileage. It was enough to finish the races, but not to actually approach my potential PR. There is no substitute for time on your feet and I'm going to try to do just that. We will see what happens to my right ankle.
Become a Hill Lover
There no buts, ifs or maybes: if I'm ever to finish races like Western States or UTMB, I have to become stronger on hills. I need to train on them. I need to learn when to walk them and when to run them. I need to become better at walking, since a strong uphill power-walk if often faster than a half-ass run. Can I ever become an uphill runner? Depends on the incline, I guess but realistically for 50 and 100 milers, I will be walking anything significantly uphill. That's the hand I was dealt. I just need to learn to walk them faster.
Get Closer to my Racing Weight
Ever since I've started ultra running, I've gained weight that I can't get rid of. I'm so hungry all the time. Some part of my brain has obviously decided that I can't be trusted and has decided to build a reserve. Hopefully, my increased training volume will take care of some of that. Since controlling cravings is basically impossible, I'm also experimenting with lower-calorie snacks.
Work on my Nutrition
My race nutrition is a mess. What can I say? Is there anyone out there who actually know what they are doing? It is my opinion that nobody does. As soon as it gets hot, everybody falls apart. Sulphur Springs wasn't even that hot and it was just a mess. Anyway, I want to try to improve on what's been working for me in the second half of last year.
There you have it. Nothing dramatic. I do plan on running a few new, hard races. I want to run the Mohican 100 in June and do the Rim-to-rim-to-rim of the Grand Canyon with a few friends some time in October. But those plans can change. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what race I do, as long as I can run.
Hynerview Challenge 50K Race Report
7 years ago
1 comment:
re: hills. That's one of my goals this year as well. And faster isn't necessarily the only thing, but *stronger*. I figure if I do a lot of steep climbing in training, I will get stronger and it will make me less tired... even if my pace on those doesn't improve much, it will leave me stronger for the rest of the race. Or, that's what I keep telling myself. ;) Good luck!
re: low-cal snacks. I'm currently devouring 2C of snap peas, only 56 calories. Sweet and satisfying. :)
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