Cloudland Canyon 50k Training (Week 9 of 18)

Ummmm so apparently I can't count? I've been on a 14-week plan and realized that it was actually 18 weeks until Cloudland. Good grief. Well I guess that's good for me! I sure didn't feel like I only had 5 weeks left.

Goal is to hit 40 mpw again to build some consistency there.

Monday
Planned: strength
Did: 58 min strength
Sometimes strength sessions drag on and I can barely muster 30-40 mins of focused effort... today was the opposite! I had more that I wanted to do but ran out of time. I need to do more PT for my IT band and general stretching, though, because I can tell some of my leg muscles are stiff.

Tuesday
Planned: Track Tuesday + extra
Did: 8.47 mi @ 8:35/mi avg
Got downtown early and did ~2.5 miles on my own before meeting up with the crew for Track Tuesday. Did 3x mile repeats on the track (7:02, 7:15, 7:09) - not stellar speed but felt like good hard work. Feeling like a rockstar getting 8+ miles in before work, too! 🙌

Wednesday
Planned: work run
Did: 5.01 mi @ 9:41/mi avg
Goodness this was a SLOG. It's so freaking hot outside and it's OCTOBER. I ran the trails at lunch today and had to walk for 3 extended periods. Just yuck. Can it please get cool???

Thursday
Planned: treadmill run
Did: 5.05 mi @ 8:25/mi avg
Morning speedwork on the treadmill, did 3x3x400 at increasing paces per set. This didn't feel hard at all! Making me think I need to increase speed overall and possibly try to race something short this fall.

Friday
Planned: rest
Did: rest

Saturday
Planned: long trail run (~15 mi)
Did: 15.03 mi @ 10:38/mi avg trail run
Set out at dawn for this long trail run at Jackrabbit Mountain where we were camping for the weekend. I ran literally every trail in the entire park and it was awesome! I definitely felt tired by the end but my last couple of miles ended up being some of the fastest... I call that the "horse-to-the-barn" effect.

Trails at dawn

Sunrise over the lake through the trees

Viewpoint

Um, what? Where??

SABA Beach

Bonus: 7.62 mi mountain bike ride
As the tradition goes, the last night of camping everyone joins in a night ride out to SABA Beach. No photos because, duh, it was dark, but was a fun ride! It ended up being my one and only ride during the weekend but I was OK with it.

Sunday
Planned: short trail run (6-8 mi)
Did: 7.15 mi @ 8:54/mi avg road run
I opted to be lazy on our final morning at camp, which was definitely the right decision. Got to enjoy making breakfast and packing up camp before heading home. Decided to run in the neighborhood in the afternoon (BECAUSE IT'S NOT UNGODLY HOT ANYMORE!!! 🎉🎉🎉) and opted for a hilly Green Valley run.


Miles run: 40.71 
YAY
Another 40-mile week and boy I am feeling it. But hooray, feeling good about 1) the 25k in a month and 2) building to 50k in 2 months. EEk!