Wednesday, February 15, 2006

An Easy 14K Run

Last night was a pleasant 7C/45F as I headed out for a 14K/8.7M easy-pace run. The field and forest portions of my route were extremely muddy, but it was still better then running on the icy trails that we had the past several weeks. My average pace was 5:51/K (9:25/M), a little faster than I wanted, probably a result of the warm weather.

On Monday night I ran the same route at a faster tempo. As I started out my run last night I had a little bit of pain and stiffness in my right ankle. This is the second week that I have experienced this, I am thinking that I must have twisted my ankle somewhat during one of my icy runs. Once I get warmed up after 5 minutes or so the pain and stiffness goes away. This morning my ankle feels fine, so I am wondering how much I need to be worrying about this.

I guess I will really find out when I run my last long run on Saturday. Speaking of which, the weather is calling for sunny and warm temperatures (up to 12C/54F) on Saturday, although not at 6 a.m. when I start my run. I want to try to run 3½ hours at marathon pace.

Tonight I want to run another 14K run, tempo to be decided once I get out there. I think I will take two rest days before my long run on Saturday morning - this simulates race week.

Thank you for the comments about my Ultra training plans. Thomas reminded me that most Ultra training plans call for back-to-back long runs on Saturday and Sunday. I was already thinking about this, but as my run on May 25th is only 50K (remind me I said that on May 26th), I may stick to the one long run. For a longer ultra I will probably need to double up.

I have always heard that “Anyone who can run a marathon, can run a 50K, it’s only 8K/5M longer!” Before I ran a marathon I had no comment. After I ran my first marathon I said “no way!” After my second marathon I started to picture this. Now I am convinced that I can - somebody ask me what I think about this after my marathon on March 12th :-)

I have been trying to upload this profile of the 50K Fun Run on May 25th for a couple days now, but Blogger has been freaking out. The "V" points are control points with refreshments and first aid. The "T" are tea points (e.g. drinks only). The distances on the bottom are in kilometers. The elevation marking on the left in meters.

Comments:
You realize it's like 2KM vertical, right?

Wow - cannot wait to read about it!
 
Where is the "Fun(Run)" with such uphills?
 
The fun lies at the top of the hill when you have just realized that you have conquered the seemingly impossible and beginning flying down the other side.

Actually I think the organizers named it a Fun Run because it didn't make any sense for them to time the event - it is too hard for the majority of the runners that they are trying to attract to the race.

I figure if I can complete this event I am ready to start training for longer ultras!
 
Good luck on your long run this weekend!!!
 
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