Running With Jack

On Friday after work I drove 30 minutes to the town of Johlingen which is one of the town’s along the route of my 50-mile run on June 23. I then ran a 32K/20M loop out and back over some of the hillier portions of the race course.

It was a cool 12C/54 when I set out on the run about 5 p.m. and had warmed up to 16C/61F by the time I finished (according to a nearby bank). With the exception of a couple breaks to answer the call of nature I ran straight through completing the run in just over 3-1/2 hours. I wore my CamelBak filled with sports drink and ate a couple sports bars and some Pringles along the way. My right foot felt a bit sore on the last half of the run, I think from the several downhill stretches - the route was about 70% asphalt. My energy level was good, I felt like I could have gone much further. Considering this part of the race course contains the most hill climbing the run was a good confidence builder!

On Saturday morning my right food was still sore, I was wondering if I may have twisted it slightly, but by Saturday night I didn’t seem to notice it any more.

This afternoon (Sunday) I went for a 14K/8.6M recovery run. For the first 15-20 minutes my right foot was a bit sore again, but once I hit the dirt trail sections I didn’t even think about it again. I ended up running the second half of the run at almost a minute faster (per kilometer) pace then the first, so I guess my foot wasn’t so bad. I finished the week with a total of 84K/52M, the highest mileage week so far this year.

I have another hard week of training, then about two weeks to taper until race day. My race plan is mostly the same as last year, the only difference is that I want to really keep the pace down in the beginning with the hope that this will keep me running more the last 15 miles of the race which is really run-able.

Have a great Sunday!