Summary

With four days to go, it's time for another summary post of my training. This will make it easy to get a quick overview of each training cycle in times to come.

Training: 20 weeks
Miles (with a few yet to come): 1286
# runs of 20 miles or more: 10
Highest weekly mileage: 86.5
# of weeks over 80 miles: 7
# of PRs: 2 (5k and 10k)
injuries: one, my hip problem

All in all I'm very pleased with that training cycle. I was pleasantly surprised about the number of 20-milers, I expected that number to be around 7 or so. The best weeks were the ones with the back-to-back 20-mile runs, and it's those double headers that give me the most reason for optimism. I think I will have a good race.

My hip feels good in the morning, and hurts more the longer the day goes on. I think sitting in an office chair for hours is the worst thing to do. As long as I manage to survive the drive to Connemara without problems, I will be ok.

I did some running in the last few days, namely 5 very easy miles on Monday, and 8 miles today, with a big fat goose egg in the middle. Monday's run was as slow as I could run without feeling uncomfortable. I don't think running as slowly as that would be a good idea, even for the beginning of the ultra. I felt cumbersome, and not really into it. I did produce my lowest heart rate for a training run ever, though. Tuesday produced my first voluntary zero, the only other days I had to take off were at the end of January, after I nearly cracked my skull open playing indoor soccer. And today was a dress rehearsal for the race. I wore the shoes, socks and top that will probably form my wardrobe on Sunday (depending on the Connemara weather), and tried to tune into the pace that felt easy enough to be sustainable, but faster than Monday’s clumsy run. I was a bit dismayed to find it raining, especially after yesterday had been such a gorgeous day, but I guess that’s preparation for Connemara as well – you can never rule out rain in the west of Ireland. After a first mile at around 8:40 and a second one at 8:20 I settled into about 8:00 pace, and felt thoroughly comfortable. If it’s the correct pace for Sunday, I don’t know. I guess I’ll find out one way or another. The return leg was against a fairly strong headwind, which is the most likely cause for the fact that the return leg took longer than the outgoing one, something that’s very unusual for me. I did manage to keep it easy until the end though, headwind or not.

I’m as ready as I will ever be. I can’t wait. Bring it on! My race number is 39061 (the 39 is for the ultra distance, they don't have 40000 runners there), but that information won't help you. Tracking? You've gotta be joking, This is a low-tech race for down-to-earth runners.

26 Mar: 5 miles, 44:09. 8:49 pace, HR 133 (felt too slow)
27 Mar: 0
29 Mar: 8 miles, 1:05:11, 8:08 pace, HR 139 (felt just right)