50 Miles Down, 100 to Go

This past May I completed the Pineland Farms 50 Mile, my first ultra-marathon since the Pineland 50K I did back in 2017. Yes, it's been that long since I've updated my blog. To be honest, my motivation to run and train has waned a bit in the past five years. Injuries and pandemics, respectively, sidelined my progress, and the constant starting over from square one to build up to just about where I was before got tiring. Dealing with a bout of plantar fasciitis in 2018 got me into corrective exercise and strength training, and personal training was a natural extension of that. 

Once I recovered from the fasciitis in 2019, I started marathon training again in preparation for Sugarloaf Marathon. Along the way I was getting faster and setting new PR's. And then COVID happened. The race was canceled. A really cool chick named Angie planned a socially distanced marathon around her neighborhood that I ran instead. It was hot and I bonked harder than I ever have. It was a disappointing end to a promising training season. 

I tried to keep running throughout that summer, but I was struggling with asthma and heartburn issues, and my heart wasn't in it anymore. My training and races suffered. I actually got into a very heated discussion with a friend who said it was my mindset that was off. Despite that being the very core of my philosophy of life, I stubbornly disagreed and said that something was wrong with me physically. 

I tried to continue running through the winter of 2020, and some races started coming back in the spring of 2021. I signed up for the Great Bay Half Marathon, a race I swore I would never run, despite running the course in training dozens of times. But I lived in Newmarket now, and wanted to do a race. On a disappointing 12 mile run in April, I quit running. 

I didn't run at all during the summer of 2021. That September, a switch was flipped, and suddenly, the desire was back. I gradually increased my endurance with short, easy runs that fall, and carefully began building up mileage and longer runs through the winter. I wanted to go back to Pineland Farms and run the 50 Mile. I needed a big, scary goal to motivate me. And it worked. 

I got sick a few times during training, so I didn't get the volume I needed to increase my fitness. But I got enough long runs in over 20 miles to know that I could go the distance. And I did. It was without a doubt one of the hardest races I've ever done. But it never once occurred to me that I wouldn't do it. I knew I would. I finished second to last. Crossing that finish line was one of the proudest moments of my life. Even if no one was there to cheer me on. I was so fucking proud of myself.

I thought I would take a break from running after the 50, to focus on other things. I wanted to get back on a ketogenic diet, and get back in the gym, and start writing again, and focus more on work. But almost immediately I began thinking about the next race. I wanted to do a 100 miler. 

I took it easy on my running for about six weeks, recovering from the race, and adapting to my low carb diet. I started light workouts in the gym, just doing a few exercises every day simply to get back into the routine of lifting. My weights and reps have progressively increased since then, and man do I love how amazing my body looks now. I love lifting!

I also discovered the Sweet Trail in Newmarket, and I fell in love with trail running all over again. I continued to look for 100 mile races, and ultimately decided on The Hamsterwheel 30 Hour event: a flat, 4ish mile loop run as many times as possible in 30 hours. I registered and began training in mid-July. 

And suddenly ALL of the passion for running came back. This training cycle I am healthy and strong. I sleep well, eat a ton of food, lift weights, and am able to run higher mileage training weeks than I have in years. My fitness is coming back (and then some). I am hitting times I was in 2020, but at much lower heart rates and lower effort. And now that I am running well and feeling stronger, I am excited to finally beat my best times in the past. I know I haven't even come close to touching my potential yet. I know I am capable of so much more... 

I also signed up for the Riverlands 100 in May of 2023. I consider my current training for Hamsterwheel to be Phase 1 of my Riverlands training. Right now I am building my volume, and getting the 100 mile distance under my belt on a beginner-friendly course. But in May, I will have 12,000ft of gain over 4 laps of 25 miles. Only two women finished the course last year. I intend to be one of those women next year. 

But I have one more thing I want to do this fall, and I plan to do it next month, on my birthday. A fastest known time attempt on a 60+ mile route. This would give me a 100k distance about 6 weeks out from Hamsterwheel, and would give me the record for being the first (and by default, the fastest) female to complete the route. 

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am for running this year! 


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