IT100 training--coming down to the wire

  Well the big day is drawing nearer and nearer. It has been a long time waiting and training. Though I can be hard on myself that I might not have trained enough or in the right way I am sure that I have done all I can at this point. Only a couple more weeks of training and I start to taper down to the race.
   I have worked on many things that I think tripped me up last year. One, last year I DID spend a bit too much time getting myself together at the aid stations and didn't always have clear objectives when people tried to help me. Some of this was later on when I was just too tired to think but even in the beginning laps I could have been more organized and better able to help the ones who were trying to help me.    
   Two, my nutrition last year was very haphazard. I have never been really great at nutrition. Usually I just bring along some swedish fish (everyone who knows me knows this) and some natural made fruit roll ups and then just snack at the aid stations when i was hungry. WRONG.  Not only is this wasting time trolling the delicious snacks at every aid station and trying to decide on the fly what I am hungry for it also may provide the wrong macronutrients at the wrong time.
      Though the volunteers are awesome and we couldn't do this without them and the food is truly delicious I had to have some kind of plan as to what, when and how I was going to provide nutrients so that I can make quick decisions as I go along and make sure I am staying satisfied in calories and still be able to bypass the food at aid stations--at least not eat every time. There are 6 laps and 3 aid station stops  plus start finish so that is 21 times I am stopping during the race. I think last year that truly hurt my time. 
   So instead this year I am trying a leaner nutrition plan. I put it together with the help of my pacer this year and it worked great at Land Between the Lakes 60k. It is a mixture of Tailwind and honey gels/waffle stingers/shot blocs to carry me through. AT the 100 I will also mix in some real food because I have to do that. But LBL was awesome for a test of this basic plan.
     I sipped the Tailwind every 5-10 minutes and every two miles ate something. I was able to bypass many aid stations...stopping long enough to maybe use the bathroom or drink a little coke, thank the volunteers and run off. Just by doing that I knocked an entire hour off of my time of the same race I ran in 2014. I was able to finish in 8:16 on my Garmin and 9:06 officially and so far my fastest 50k has been over 9 hours. What a difference some planning makes!!
   I have run three back to back 20 mile runs in the last few days. That was to do time on my feet training and also nutrition training again as that seems to be one of my problems areas. The first 20 mile run on Sunday I went pure Tailwind...no gels or food. I found that I got a little tired without some caffeine in a gel or something. So Monday I ran no Tailwind only gels/shot blocs. Again I started to lose energy. This morning I ran with a mixture and it went great! My stomach was growling by the time i got home but that's fine. I didn't feel the need for tons of nutrition as this was 20 miles in town. Much different than 100 miles on a trail!
   I have also been testing out my shoes. I have two different pairs of Altras going. I think I like them both about equally so I am bringing both pairs with me. ALSO a pair of really big open shoes for the finish. (Thanks to Mory!) 
  I am going to be better about packing my needs this year. I am not the best at organization I know that. But I found that by packing individual packs of the tailwind i needed as well as the gels i would need it was easier to grab and go. One thing!!! I am pre-mixing my tailwind and also packing it in a sealed plastic tub instead of a drop bag. At LBL I opened my drop bag at the end of the race and it was full of ants. Apparently (DUH) they like Honey Stinger Gels too!! 
   I had wanted to run the course at least once this year to get the idea of it but it didn't work out. I ran a lot of my training in town. However I have trained for many trail races in town and did fine. The course will be well marked and I have a general idea from last year plus I have viewed a very helpful video to renew my memory. 
   I had some great pacers last year. They both did a wonderful job of handling me when I was tired and sometimes cranky. I applaud their efforts on my behalf. I think this year having the same pacer for the entire last 50 miles is going to be good. I can get accustomed to her way of pacing and we can get a rhythm going for the race. I also last year really could have used a pacer the last lap. By then I was so tired and kind of out of it I really could have used some guidance. The wonderful Jerry Deihl helped me last year prodded me to the end. This year it will be good to have someone consistently with me to get me into the last lap with wind left in my sails. 
 
   All I can say is just that I feel truly lucky and extremely grateful to my ultra running community for being so great to me, so THERE for me and so supportive of me. Terry Fletcher and all at  Indiana Trail Running, BARA, Mike Pfefferkorn, all the other runners from last year, my pacer this year is already supporting me 100% and all of this makes this race all the more special. It will be like a big family reunion with a LOT of running thrown in but also a lot of emotions, laughs, ups and downs, great food, two sunrises, a sunset, beautiful woods and lots of great energy from everyone around. 

  Here is Mory Bailey running me up the finish line at the end of the race last year. Her energy was very much needed and I appreciated her being there and everyone being there at the end. It was a great HUGE thing for me to have finished and I was truly proud to be an ultra runner. I cannot wait to go back!


                         One month left. Almost running up that finish line. Almost.............

Land Between the Lakes 60k--training run sucess!

       I am at a critical point in my 100 mile training. The race is only five weeks away. I had to take a little time off because after my big back to back weekend a couple weeks ago where I did 16 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday the top of my right foot was hurting a bit. I went and got it checked out and no stress fracture so it was just an overuse problem so I rested, iced it, babied it and it got much better. I was nervous, though, as I had to take two weeks off of training and I am usually very strict with myself about my training program. However if I am injured then the races were out completely.
  I showed up to the starting line of the land between the lakes 60k without having really run in two weeks. I have an active lifestyle so I was walking a lot, riding my bike, doing HIIT workouts in my classes and generally all kinds of things but had not had a "scheduled" run in awhile.
  I was also testing a new nutrition plan I am going to follow for the race. It consists of Tailwind, gels and honey stinger waffles and not much else. Tailwind hasn't worked very well before for me but I got some good advice about just how and when to use it and this time it worked. I filled up my hydration pack with 32 ounces of water, added four scoops of Tailwind to it and every lap I refilled it. I also had some gels with me and some packets of baby food at the drop bag site. I had a 16 oz. bottle of regular water as well. The Tailwind had been hard to take before because I had the flavored kind. This time I used the unflavored or "naked" tailwind and it was much better.
   Every 10 minutes I drank some Tailwind. Every two miles or so I took a gel only if I felt I needed one. I was able to run by the aid stations with only stopping to take a couple of Enduralyte pills for electrolytes and sodium replacement and drink a little coke. Otherwise I didn't feel hungry and was able to run by the food. At the drop bag site I would refill my pack with 32 oz of water and four scoops of tailwind, eat a packet of baby food for some "real food" nutrition and then be on my way.
   I was also testing my walk/run strategy. I ran for 25 minutes and then walked for 5 minutes. The times I didn't take a walk break was if I was on a downhill or a nice straightaway because I didn't want to waste a good downhill or run-able part with walking. I walked all the big hills and switchbacks however even when I was walking it was speedwalking--I tried to keep walking pace below 14 minute miles and it worked out about that pace.
  I did eat a little real food at about mile 20. I think it was more for the taste than that I really needed it. But after 20 miles brownies grew hard to resist.
  I also got to negative splits which I really like. By the last 8 miles or so of the race I was speeding up to sometimes 10 minute miles. I felt good the whole race, was passing quite a few runners and didn't feel any pains or aches. I had good energy and was able to keep my mind focused on the task at hand. Having to watch my watch to make sure I drank and ate my gels at the right times really also helped to keep me on point. I also left my phone at the cabin. One--because I tend to lose phones quite easily but two--i didn't want to have the temptation to take photos of the beautiful views.
   Land between the Lakes is a beautiful place to run. The trail winds all around Kentucky Lake and the woods are lovely. The frogs were singing too. I could hear the birds in the trees and the weather was perfect. Overcast, not too hot and the rain didn't start until the last bit of the race and by then I was hot so it was actually the perfect timing for some rain. There was mud--seems there is always mud--but it wasn't too bad. Pretty manageable.
   I finished it in 8:16 on my Garmin time and 9:96 official time which is an awesome time for me. My last 50k was over 9 hours so here I had added on 6 more miles and done it an hour faster. Whoot! I feel so much better about the race now. I feel like my planning is going well and I can get through the aid stations faster and knock off loads of time that way. I think I arranged my drop bag strategy well too to make it quick and not dawdle which I can tend to do.


On to April 30th and the Big Day!!