Hello everyone. Did I mention I ran my first 50k ultramarathon just over three weeks ago? I did! Well, not to brag, but I'm still stoked... and still climbing out of the fatigue slump and getting over the urge to eat all the foods! Ok, I may be just a bit melodramatic, but finishing an ultramarathon requires a lot of recovery time! I have to say the taper crazies got NOTHING on the reverse taper crazies!
Now on to what I plan to do next. Should I go into hibernation? Should I eat anything and everything I want? Probably not. What I'm going to do is recover, regroup, and give it another shot! Yep, you heard it folks! I plan to keep going!
Let's back up a bit. I learned so much about my body this past year while training for my first 50k race. During the build-up phase, I mentioned that I ran many of my training runs much too fast while increasing my mileage. This combination of too fast too soon when your body is not prepared can cause niggles, twinges, or worse, stress fractures, tears — and who knows WHAT else! Luckily, even though I had a few twinges that forced me to rest and reset, I finished my 50k injury free. Needless to say, I full-on expected my recovery to take several weeks, at the very least.
Now I am preparing to take on my next ultramarathon this August, the ET Full Moon 51k. I fully realize that I have about 18 1/2 weeks to train, but I don't intend on pushing my pace — this time my intention is once again to finish, but to finish stronger. In order to do this, I'm adding additional functional movement and strength workouts to my routine. According to the non-professional, but insightful input of a peer, I'm adding more glute, core, and barre workouts. Barre? Sounds good to me... though I'm sure a coach would structure a routine specifically for me, I figured barre would be a great addition!
I tried barre for the first time this past week and I must say, I'm going to stick with it — it challenges my balance and works a lot of the areas I need to work as a runner, like my glutes, feet, hips, and core. This is not professional advice by any means, but I'm doing my beginner barre workouts barefoot in order to develop my foot strength and ankle stability. I feel the muscles of my feet working as they're intended while doing toe raises sans shoes! Also, my gym floor has very cushy mat's that feel much like my new Hoka Challengers. Not sponsored by Hoka, alas!
I'm also cleaning up my nutrition! I'm logging my food in order to track my macros — and since I'm not currently running 20-milers, I probably should stop eating like I am. Of course, I'm not planning to starve myself either — I'm eating lots of whole foods and learning at when to add additional supplements.
Here's a quick recap of last week's training:
Sunday- 2.5-mile run, 15 min spin bike.
Monday- 4.7- mile hill run. Caroline Girvan leg day- EPIC. Yoga with Adrienne.
Tuesday- 7-mile spin bike- Studio Sweat on Demand, arms & core on FitOn.
Wednesday- 5.7-mile run. Thursday-Rest day.
Friday-6.7 miles of hills. Saturday- Barre and abs.
Total miles = 26.6
Lately I'm enjoying the scenery on my runs along with the mental reset it gives me. I'm slowly easing back into a buildup phase. I'm working towards setting intentional training goals for my next race. While I am still learning much about my body, I am also embracing what it can accomplish. I hope to accomplish much over this next training cycle and next year.
How do you recover after a marathon or ultramarathon?
How do you stay focused on your nutrition?
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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