Running with Jack

This is more than the title of an excellent Dixie Chicks song, this is my current status.

Last night I gingerly set out on an easy recovery jog (6:20/K, 10/12/M), not quite sure if the legs were ready for it, but after the first five minutes of easy jogging the muscles warmed up and I made my way comfortably over a 7K/4.3M loop around the local fields. There is still a lingering soreness in my left foot, probably from pulling the muscles pretty good last Sunday.

I wanted to run farther but resisted, I knew my legs were still not 100%, they felt about the same as the day or two after a real long run. After the run I spent some extra time stretching and doing sets of pushups and situps.

This morning I woke up feeling revitalized, my legs feel good, my energy level is high and I am looking forward to my next run on Saturday.

Angie questioned whether I should really worry about speedwork before my 50K run in May. She noted that I will be stressing my body out quite a bit as it is with strength training, losing weight and focusing on hills. She is concerned that I might overdo it by adding speedwork too.

I was thinking about that when I drove to work this morning and I think she is absolutely right! When I start breaking down my training schedule it is clear that I only have 10 weeks (from today) to get ready for the 50K and actually the next two weeks I will still be in recovery status. When I add two weeks of tapering at the tail end, I have effectively 6 weeks available for intensive training, far too few to be worrying about speedwork. I need to concentrate specifically on what will make or break me during the race, namely the hills and the pace! So the priorities are to find my ultramarathon pace (including walking), build endurance and train on the hills.

We have a very clever RBFer among us folks! Thanks for getting my head out of the clouds Angie!