Training Recap: April 15-21

I really back-loaded this week in terms of mileage. With Saturday marking three weeks out from Ice Age 50 Mile I wanted to get one more big back-to-back long run session in before I have to start slowly backing off and letting my body reach 100 percent.

I included two intense sessions at the beginning of the week, then went with sheer bulk miles for the final two days. Friday's total of 27 miles (20 and 7) followed by Saturday's solo run of 26 miles left me feeling very optimistic about where I am in my training. The solo 26 felt extremely smooth the entire way. In fact, it has been a while since I have truly bonked on a run—or even felt a big high followed by a big low. These are all very optimistic things heading into what should be a highly competitive 50 miler.

I was a little curious how my legs would feel this week after last week's five intense sessions and total of 134 miles. I am pleased to say that Extreme Endurance and the increase in healthy fats appear to have really cut down on the amount of recovery I require. Following my typical cycle of two weeks high, one week low, would have put me at a down week this week. My legs felt really good though, so I took it easier on a few days in the middle of the week and ended with the aforementioned back-to-back long days. I sincerely doubt I would have been able to do this (much less feeling good) on my old diet. It seems the healthy fats, coupled with Vespa and Extreme Endurance have been working for me.

I will be approaching this next week overly cautious. Normally, there are a couple runs a week I will purposefully push through on tired legs in order to acclimate my body to the ultramarathon experience. This week I will do a fair amount of running, but any time my body doesn't want to spring out the door, I will rest instead. My guess is this will put me at around the 100-mile mark for the week, but we shall see. The following two weeks I will begin "forcing" myself to rest. I will purposefully reduce or eliminate runs even when I feel great. I follow a general rule of thumb that nothing can be gained in the final two weeks, but everything can be lost. I am very happy with my base, so I am not worried about losing any fitness by tapering for Ice Age 50.

Thanks for checking in on my training and please see below for a more detailed look at my day-to-day workouts this week!

Sunday	20 mile long run
Monday	10 mile easy run
Tuesday	AM: 10 mile hill workout - 5 min warm up - 3x City Park Loop (rolling) - 25x Sled Hill - 3x City Park Loop (rolling) - 25x Sled Hill - 3x City Park Loop (rolling) - 15 min cooldown PM: 7 mile easy run
Wednesday	AM: 10 mile easy run PM: 7 mile easy run
Thursday	10 mile hybrid workout (hills/pickups) - 7 min warm up - 3x City Park Loop (rolling) - 25x City Park Sled Hill - 3x City Park Loop (rolling) - 10x 30 sec pickups (90 sec recovery) - 7 min cooldown
Friday	AM: 20 mile long run PM: 7 mile easy run
Saturday	26 mile long run
Total	127 miles

April 2012 Training