Green Lakes 50K Training
I signed up for the Green Lakes 50K on August 23rd, and I am following Scott's training plan that he's using for his first 50K.
Week 1
The May Day 5&5 is complete! We had our post race wrap up meeting and set the date for next year. Now it is time to launch into the next training plan. I signed up for the Green Lakes 50K on August 23rd, and this week was week 1 of training. I am following Scott’s training plan that he’s using for his first 50K. Here are the week’s highlights.
The first day was 45-60 minutes easy. We have a swap that we do during piano/dance lessons, so during my hour of workout time, I ran around Cass Park. After 30 minutes I was ready for a new challenge, so I hopped onto the Black Diamond Trail for the rest of the time. My first time on trail for the season and I LOVED it! Great start. I was feeling jazzed for the race.
Wednesday brought a hilly run into my life. After spinning I talked Christina into joining me on a Black Diamond trail run. It was GREAT! We headed up for 25 minutes and then back down. After this run I was thinking “Yay! I’m so glad I didn’t get into NYC marathon so I can do this trail race.” I think I like trail running.
Thursday ushered in stomping and tears. Scott asked me to join him on the Rim Trail while Xander was at soccer practice. I spent the entire downhill time fearful of the uphill and then much of the uphill was stomping and whining. Scott says, “you know all that stomping is getting in the way of a good workout!” and I think, “I’m NOT a trail runner!”
Saturday was the first long trail run of the plan. Jenny joined me and we headed up the Black Diamond trail for 5 miles. Hot, humid day with no hydration and we were exhausted by mile 2. We were both wearing new shoes, and were not quite ready to get them muddy! We ran into Scott on his 22 mile run and got some hydration. When we finished the run, we were so thirsty we ended up drinking from the dog spout in the park!
Sunday was Mother’s Day and I enjoyed a one hour run with my great friends and running partners, Christina and Jenny. It was nice to run for time with no worry about pace, and on this lovely sunny day we had planned water stops. Bonus, it was the day I was painting my house so this was my break from painting, making it even more fun!
Overall at the end of week #1 I feel excited and worried. I am ready for the challenge, and grateful for friends willing to train with me.
Week 2
This week I edited Scott’s training plan to fit all the things that I need to do; Pilates, Yoga, Bodypump, Skier’s Edge and a couple of races I don’t want to miss. My plan below has no rest days built in, but I know that I’ll squeeze some rest time in!
Monday I couldn’t make my usual Bodypump/Pilates combo, and it was my night to drive Elizabeth to dance so I fit in some Power Yoga at Michael’s Power Yoga Bootcamp Studio. My legs were really tight after the weekend’s running and I felt almost perfect after this class!
The first day was 45-60 minutes easy. Today I hit the Black Diamond trail again. I broke out the small pack that can hold a 1 liter hydration pack. This is one of our last weeks of piano/dance shuffle and I got the 7-8 p.m. slot again after Scott’s 6-7 time. It was a great time slot because it was a very warm day and it was cooling off by then. I had a bit of trouble with the pack rubbing on my shoulders, but other than that it was a great run! I kept a positive mental attitude for the entire run.
Wednesday I went to spinning and then instead of doing hill repeats when it was nice and cool outside, I waited to do them when it was 80 degrees during Xander’s track. He and I ran to track. I carried water bottles for both of us, and then started my repeats when he started track. Since it is early in the plan, I only had to do three 600 meter repeats before heading home with my empty bottle just in time to hit a PTO meeting. Luckily Christina brought Xander to the meeting for me, as it was Scott’s night to do the dance driving. On my way home, I tried putting the bottle between my skirt and back like the elite trail runners did at Western States. Scott tried this the other day and it worked great for him. Not so much for me.
Thursday I headed out for my first solo effort at a rim base rim run. I forgot my GPS which turned out to be a good thing (no pressure) and set a timer on my phone. I started at the overlook and went up and then down the South Rim to the base. Picked up the CLT course and went to the falls. I stopped to have a hiker take my picture and enjoy the spray of the water before heading back on the trail. I took the South Rim back up, walking all the stairs until I hit this one little tree that I always negotiate with myself to be the “you must start running again here and no stopping to walk after you start” point. Later, I stopped a couple of times for texts with Elizabeth about end of day plans. Today I used music to help keep my positive mental attitude. I figured out mileage when I got home - and spent much of my run thinking about all the little tricks I have started using in my short tenure as a trail runner. I came home and composed them before they left my head.
Friday is a day off from running. I fit in the Skier’s Edge before heading off to Friday night Bodypump with Scott. This is always a high point of my week; seeing my friends in class and often heading off to Viva afterwards!
Saturday before my planned trail run with Jenny, I took some time to do a half hour of flexibility yoga. Early in the afternoon I met Jenny and Jess to do 2 loops at Buttermilk Falls State Park. The start of this run was not my proudest moment. I was late, and then had to buy my park pass so I was feeling stressed about making them wait for me. Then, as we started up the steep hill I had a complete flashback to High School track when I arrived late to practice. My coach sent me off to do a “horn” which is a 1.5 mile warm-up run around a loop starting with a hill. I ran quickly to catch up with the last girl and grabbed her shoulder and begged her to wait for me. On this run, I felt that same way but instead told them to “just go on without me” and I’d see them somewhere on the trail. Of course they didn’t leave me and we had a good run, but it was a rough start!
Sunday I took in Bodypump with Jenny because I can’t make Monday’s class again and enjoyed my hour timed run with Jenny and Christina. It was a nice cool day and it was fun to be running on the road with friends. Later in the day I took in some relaxation yoga with Scott.
All in all this week #2 felt pretty good. Things were mostly positive, and I’m enjoying the challenge of this training.
Week 3
Weird training week! I was able to flip/flop things around because of Elizabeth’s dance recital and the fact that we were renting our house out for Cornell graduation but everything felt a little chaotic. I am starting to get stressed about focusing so much on trail (yes I should be doing this since my goal is a 50K on trail) when the Cayuga Lake Tri is coming up so soon. I really don’t swim (realized when checking past results that my swim times have gotten progressively worse each year instead of better!) and haven’t made any effort to improve this year. But back to this week and Green Lakes in particular for now.
Monday I turned the planned rest day into a trail run day. After I dropped Elizabeth off at dance, I ventured down the hill through crazy traffic to Treman State Park. Right out of the gate my 1:15-1:30 window dropped to an hour because of the traffic. I quickly headed up the Gorge side of the trail and almost immediately I was transported to Oregon trails in my mind. The upper falls were closed, so I crossed the bridge to the Rim after confirming the closure! A mile down the rim side, I took a left fork when I should have gone right. The trail rapidly turned to single track, and there were lots of downed trees, most covered with moss. I was zipping along thinking “they need to do some trail work here” when pretty soon I came upon water. Looking up I thought “the rim doesn’t go right to the water!” Plodding up the hill, I panicked about being late for Elizabeth, getting lost and thought “this is why I haven’t ventured out on the Pacific Crest Trail alone yet ...” I realized I must work at being much more thoughtful and brave on trails! All in all a good, albeit VERY SLOW run.
Tuesday Delightful! I thought I had the bad time slot this week and was feeling like it was my turn for it anyway since Scott got the heat last week it would be my turn for rain this week. But it never really rained - just slight sprinkling which was nice. Almost the same stats as last week for time and distance for this timed run (45-60 min). The difference was that after running Buttermilk and Treman this trail felt EASY. Nice to see harder work pay off to make something that used to feel really hard feel more comfortable. I averaged a 9:30 pace for just under 6 miles.
Wednesday After Spinning, Teresa and I hit the Black Diamond Trail. I was tired from class and my left knee/IT band was tight. What was interesting was that on Tuesday evening I felt I had pushed myself hard, and then I was zipping along with Teresa much faster than when I ran alone. We ended up with an 8:54 pace for 6 miles. This was a reminder that I need to push myself harder more often! After this run I regretted letting Teresa go ahead during the Flower City Half. I think that if I could have kept her in my sight instead of letting my head decide she was too fast for me, she could have unknowingly been my pacer for that race. I’m working on challenging myself a little harder at least some of the time now!
Friday Jenny and I changed our Saturday long run to Friday because Scott needed to run 24 on Saturday. Since we were staying at Kathey’s lake house while we were renting our house for Cornell, I realized that it would not be responsible to leave the kids and Elizabeth’s friend at the lake house while both of their parents were off running. I could have taken the afternoon slot, but we really didn’t have time to stagger before the recital without being very pressed for time. So, Jenny and I met shortly after lunch and did 3 rounds of the Cayuga Lake Tri route with two Rim loops to make 14 miles. This was really fun. We had perfect weather (albeit a bit too humid) and we settled into a nice groove early on. I was really hungry about an hour and a half into the run, so I tried the Trail Butter that my sister had sent earlier this year. After a lot of laughter and pictures about it looking like poop coming out of the tube, I tasted it and LOVED it. It settled very well in my stomach and I was no longer hungry. Of course when I love something this much, I have to shout it from the rooftops. So, more about that in another post. Stay tuned.
Saturday This was supposed to be a 1 hour medium effort run. It ended up being a day with lovely Yoga/Pilates on Kathey’s dock. Honestly my knee hurt, I didn’t feel like staggering with Scott and having to run right when it was getting nice outside, and I really wasn’t in the mood to have to shower before the dance recital. So, my choice was to pretty much rest. Two rest days within a couple of days of each other didn’t sit that well with me, but my legs sure felt better for it!
Sunday It was so nice to be able to run this medium effort hour long run with Scott. We were able to talk about a lot of things that were just general to the world and not specifically about our kids or our own day to day life, and kept up a nice 9 min mile pace for 7 miles. I also appreciated the time on the road for a change.
Week #3 is down, and I’m excited to get to 16 miles next weekend. An added bonus is that the Cayuga Trails 50 is next weekend! It is being hosted by our local running store, Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company and Cayuga Medical Center next weekend. This race is the 50 Mile distance championships for 2014! I’ll be volunteering at an aid station with my family. I’m sure both Scott and I will come away from this event really inspired and ready to focus even harder on our own training.
Week 4
This week was exciting! The Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company hosted the Cayuga Trails 50 Miler in Ithaca week and we attended several of the pre-race events and volunteered at the race. It is really cool to be so inspired! We met amazing athletes, learned some hill running techniques, and watched the Trails In Motion Film Festival as a family. Walking up Buffalo Street after the show discussing the films was one of my favorite moments. Now to the work outs (38 running miles logged this week).
Tuesday After my friend Kathey told me her 12 year old daughter runs the Rim Trail in 30 minutes, I decided I needed to push myself to run the whole thing. I headed out and squeaked in the 2.93 miles in 29:56. Scott suggested starting at the top and doing all the downhill running first. It was a good choice and I have a nice benchmark for next time! Before evening piano lessons we stopped at Finger Lakes Running & Triathlon Company to meet Yassine and Willie from Animal Athletics. They were here to run the Cayuga 50 Miler and it was fun to be part of the energy of the upcoming event! My plan called for an easy 45 and storms were predicted for my normal evening slot. However, I was ready to run in case they didn’t come and they didn’t! I got a really nice comfortable run up the Black Diamond trail during the kids’ piano lessons. I have settled into a predictable pace for this run, almost always averaging 9:31 pace for my 45 minute run.
Wednesday was a triple workout with Spinning and Pilates early in the day and Hill Repeats during Xander’s evening track program. The repeats began with a 1.5 mile warm-up, 5x500 repeats and just under 1 mile cool down. This was hard! Time includes all rest time - watch interval workout setting is AWESOME. Keeps you VERY honest!! (5.28 miles/52 min)
Thursday we had a Field Trip to Taughannock Park today so I was able to run to work! It was a great way to start the morning. I enjoyed a comfy 6 miles to the park before walking with my pre-schoolers to see the falls. When I got there we had planned to run the kids a little so they’d get some energy out before our big hike. I had a blast racing with them across the field. The only downside of this was that it was COLD and after I finished running I was freezing for the trip even with 5 layers of clothing on! (6.08 miles/54 min)
Friday The Finger Lakes Running Club and Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company brought a program called Animal Athletics to Ithaca. My sister knows the directors; Yassine & Willie and we enjoyed meeting them! It was really fun to have the chance to learn about hill training from them. We met in Buttermilk State Park and worked on hill repeats. I plan to write a specific post about this event because there is SO much to say! I was so nervous for this, but it turned out to be an amazing opportunity!
Saturday I enjoyed a hike with Xander, and a nice solo bike ride along with some relaxing yoga to wind the day down. The ride was great. I took my typical route out Waterburg Road and managed 15.5 mph pace. I need to start getting on the bike more and working on improving pace. This was the 2nd outdoor ride of the season. Elizabeth is interested in a road bike too, so this could be an opportunity for me to upgrade my bike if I can find a good deal!
Sunday After volunteering at the Cayuga Trails 50, Jenny and I drove up to Green Lakes to run 2 loops of the 50K trail. This was a VERY good idea! I printed the maps and we were ready!! After less than 3 miles we were lost and much more tired than usual. I wasn’t terribly surprised that we were lost since I’m terrible about reading maps, but it was humbling. We ran into a trail runner who took time from his day to run us back to where we needed to be and help guide us on our way. It made us feel better when he told us that there were a lot of new trails that weren’t on the map, making it really challenging to stay on course. The terrain at Green Lakes is quite varied making this a really nice route. We enjoyed what they called the Serengeti because of the wind on this really warm day! Sadly, my watch died at mile 12.62, but we switched to phones and luckily I had recently looked at my watch! My achilles and calves are tight so I will have to watch that. Jenny and I started discussing strategy for aid stations, thinking about practicing with food on long runs and seeking out similar terrain for training running. We may venture out to the Finger Lakes National Forest soon as the terrain is more similar to the course than the State Parks are. (16.14 miles/2:58)
Week 5
Wow! Week 5 was filled with ups and downs. I practiced what I learned from the Animal Athletics Hill Training clinic and did all my mid-week running on trails, braved the Cayuga Trails 50 course for my Saturday long run, and fit in a lot of cross training. I also realized this week that on shorter run days I’ve started replying to “How long are you running for?” with an apologetic “only an hour.” Hmm ... I don’t think this is the best reply. (45.99 m for the week)
Monday is supposed to be a rest day, but we shifted things around this past week, so Monday was the hour timed run. It was HOT, my legs were tired and I was happy to run from water to water, using Not My Dad’s ice-cream as a water stop twice on this hour long road run. I also fit in my usual Pilates and Bodypump. (6.3 m)
Tuesday last chance for the season to do the evening slot for running the Black Diamond trail. Piano is ending soon and it is a season of concerts, business trips and general chaos. So, despite not being in the mood to run I pushed myself out of the car for this one. Well, Scott did actually! Ran up at a 10+ pace so sped down to have a 9:27 overall. (6.11 m)
Wednesday was a speedy outdoor ride (2nd fastest ever) early and the running plan called for a 55 minute hilly run. I decided that the bike counted for something and did a fast Rim run instead. (2.93 m)
Thursday This was a timed run day and I hit the trail again. Plan was to do the Rim, base rim combo by starting at the overlook. I managed to keep a pace in the high 10s (ok so I stopped early to prevent it from hitting the 11s as I had one last ascent) and run most of the hills. I used a lot of the suggestions from the Animal Athletics hill training clinic. I’m glad I attended this. It’s already helped me improve both mentally and physically on the hills. (6.51 m)
Friday Rest day from running before the big 18 miler, but fit in some Skier’s Edge, a quick bit of yoga and my favorite Friday night class of Les Mills Bodypump at Island Fitness.
Saturday
This was the really hard workout of the week. Scott ran 26 in the Finger Lakes National Forest in the morning. He returned from his run at 12:50 as I was heading out to bring Xander to a birthday party and meet Jenny and Christina for my 18 miler at Buttermilk. He was laying on the floor muddy knowing he had to be at play rehearsal in a half hour as I left! Jenny and I dropped one car at Treman and headed over to Buttermilk to meet Christina. After assembling our packs, we started up the brutal hill. We stopped at the gate where our hill training class met and I shared a couple of hill tips with them as we started up the hill. After doing repeats up this hill at the clinic, it feels like a familiar friend instead of the enemy it once was! Our first 6.5 were challenging but good. It was Christina’s first big trail run and she did really well. We nourished her with water when she was thirsty and gave her sport beans when she was in need of some sugar. She’s even thinking about joining us another time! After loop one we refilled water and headed back up the hill as Christina headed home. The 2nd time the hill didn’t feel so familiar and I wasn’t quite as happy as we headed up. We did a lot more power hiking on loop 2, but we made it. We took the Finger Lakes Spur trail over to connect to Lick Brook and get on the Cayuga Trails 50 course. It was splendid! We got lost a few times, and consulted our GPS and map (and my watch died AGAIN - realized at home that it is on night setting with backlight, so hopefully next time it won’t drain battery so fast!) We had packed extra socks for our water crossing over Lick Brook. However, when we arrived we saw a nice little railroad bridge that we could cross to avoid the water. With only 5 miles left to go and very tired legs, we decided that we’d take the path of less resistance and stay dry. Lucifer’s steps were pure torture when we hit them. I can’t imagine hitting those twice on the 50 mile race! I’m so impressed with everyone who did that race. Just as we were 2 miles from done I got a text from Scott saying “are you ok?” because of course we were taking MUCH longer than anyone would have thought. Embarrassed, I replied that we were 2 miles out. We slogged through the final 2 and finished pretty strong all things considered. All in all, it was a good day; good friends to run with, we tried out typical Aid Station food and our stomachs did fine, we hydrated well, and we’re trying out new terrain to keep things interesting! (18 m)
Sunday The last run of the week! A one hour timed run. I hit the Rim trail again. I am starting to prefer trail!! I waited until the last possible moment to do this, and got caught in the rain. The scary moment on this run was running into a large snake at the top of the trail. He was big and had spots on him and was across 2/3 of the trail. Of course my heart didn’t calm down for about 5 minutes! I even contemplated returning a different way, but then realized that was insane. (6.10 m)
Week 6
Week #6 was another challenging but very good week of training. Between the weekday running and Sunday’s long run I hit 43 miles for the week. My plan changed slightly as it often does, and somehow Scott and I got away from our good solid home yoga routine this week, but all in all things are going well for week 6 (or 11 the way it is on my plan ... 11 to go until the 50K that is!)
This week was really great for training because Elizabeth had a 4 day ballet intensive at Armstrong School of Dance so I had 2 hours on Monday and Thursday to use for training. Monday I had to decide between yoga and running. The plan called for a rest day from running on Monday, but there was an FLRTC group run scheduled. I can so rarely make these runs that I decided I’d run. It was GREAT to join the group and run downtown. I think there’s hope for me being able to navigate myself down there without getting lost someday!
Tuesday between work and kid activities there was no time to do anything, so I enjoyed a delightful rest day. Wednesday morning kicked off with my very last favorite spin class of the year. With school ending the entire routine is going to be different for summer. Chantelle gave an excellent workout, and I enjoyed spinning in my normal spot next to Christina. Later in the day it was time to hit trail. With the threat of thunderstorms I headed for the Rim trail to do hill repeats. Scott told me where he had done the repeats on the South side. I decided it wasn’t quite steep enough. Seeking a longer warm-up, I continued to the North side. While running up the camp access road, suddenly I wished I had stopped where Scott suggested. This road felt plenty steep and was only .15 miles long. I used it anyway and did 6 repeats. The distance and grade of the hill were both manageable and I while it was challenging, it was not unpleasant. A quick run back to the South side to do 3 more of the proper distance fully rounded out the workout. Those three were SO hard that I was laughing to think that just a little bit earlier I had declared that hill “not steep enough” as though I was an expert hill runner. And those forecasted storms - they never did hit! A funny thing happened near the end. I accidentally did all of these with my sunglasses on my forehead. On my last repeat I tripped on a root and my sunglasses saved me from a real face plant. Out of concern for their well being, when they started to fall I reached to catch them. I missed, but managed to avoid falling on them. Earlier in the week, I had talked with Natalie Kelly at our FLRTC run. She had the same thing happen on trail recently ... but she caught her glasses!
Thursday I had plans to run the Black Diamond trail with a local runner I’ve not yet met in who is doing the Green Lakes 50K. With 100% chance of thunderstorms during the time we planned to run, she opted to run earlier in the day. I was only able to run at 6:15 p.m. so I decided to give it a go. I also switched my plan to Buttermilk. I have never run it alone, and thought I was up for the challenge. After finishing piano lessons for Elizabeth and for me, I dropped Elizabeth off at dance and headed over. This was probably the BEST trail run I’ve ever had. I enjoyed everything about it. The storms never came, I enjoyed the chance to think and just had a blast hopping over logs and navigating the trail.
Friday we enjoyed our weekly Body Pump “happy hour” class and I got a little time on the skier’s edge. This is always a highlight of my week! Xander had rehearsal for Oliver and Elizabeth had a school dance, so we had to race back to Tburg to get them where they needed to be. We weren’t able to go out afterwards, but we did have a nice date at home. Saturday was Scott’s trail race and Xander had play rehearsal all morning. Elizabeth and I headed out for a run. She is considering training for a longer distance race this fall, and I tried to talk her into going out with me for 6. After a mile she peeled off to do her standard 3. After starting our run off with a nice 9:40 warm-up pace, I stayed slow and comfortable on pace for a little longer. At the base of Rabbit Run my average pace was 9:13. I always have to set some sort of intention at the bottom of that hill, so my goal was to not lose pace. Arriving at the top with a 9:12 my last goal for fun was to get back to my house with a 9:09 overall. Arriving home with a 9:08 I was happy with my road run.
Sunday was our big 20 mile trail run. After doing Buttermilk/Treman last week we opted to give ourselves the easier terrain of Taughannock Rim and base trails this week. We started from my house, stashed a car at the Overlook as our Aid Station and off we went. Christina and Jenny were both battling head colds while I was in fine shape to run. I felt bad for both of them, and worried about whether they’d make it but they both powered on. Christina joined us for our first 7 miles and then we continued on our adventure. This went really well. The temperature was perfect, the air was delightful and we managed to stay upbeat for most of our run. We knew the last 3 miles were going to be on road uphill, and while we briefly considered staying on trail and just driving my car home, we were tired of looping by the end. The hardest part of this course for me today was frequent entry into “civilization”. We ran the base trail 3 times and each time there were a lot of leisure walkers out on the trail. It feels kind of weird to be around all those people with our hydration systems on and blowing by them as we run. However, the Green Lakes 50K will have this same thing with the same almost completely flat run, making this a pretty good thing to practice! We also felt how different this trail was from Buttermilk because it is either up or down. There aren’t very many rolling up and down hills that are nice and gradual. We should have done the open part of the Cayuga Lake Triathlon course to approximate the grassy part of Green Lakes, but it was full sun and we didn’t have visors or sunglasses. We opted for the cover of trees instead. Jenny managed to go the distance with her head cold (yay Jenny!) and we started thinking ahead to next week’s 22 miles! We realized that when either of us has an event at any point in the day, it makes it really challenging to schedule. We joked about people asking us what we did that day. “Oh I ran 20 miles.” And then they wait to hear more and we say “yup, that’s what I did with my Sunday.” Hmmm. Of course there is time left, but it does feel very long compared with road running! Scott used the find my iphone feature to find us and surprised us with ice mid-run. It was great to emerge from the woods and see him with Xander. They were headed to Xander’s soccer game and made a little pit stop to cheer us on.
Week 7
Scott was in NYC for the week, so I started Monday by taking him to the Cornell bus really early, coming home to get the kids ready for school before starting what turned into a rather busy exercise day. I grabbed a quick hike with Kathey, and later a 20 miler with Lynn, before concluding with what was actually on the training plan - an evening run during Xander’s last soccer practice.
Tuesday was a rainy, very busy day which was perfect for a planned rest day. By Wednesday I was running very low on sleep (something I really struggle with when Scott is away)! Not in any mood to run, I was really grateful that Christina and I made plans the day before to do a timed run. We took it easy as she was recovering from a sinus infection, and it was a great way to get out and catch up with a good friend. Later that day I hit the bike in my FLRTC tri suit. I had time for a quick 14 mile ride (same length as the tri distance) and I took my Waterburg route that approximates the hill on the Cayuga Lake Tri course. I felt completely unworthy of this great suit, as I’m not a fast biker, but it was amazingly comfortable. I had a perfect ride that was pretty zippy for me too. I tried to take a picture of myself in the mirror, with no luck!
Thursday was the last day of Pre-School with graduation later that evening. I had a lot of things to do between those two things, and while in the middle tasks, I headed out to check the mail. I forgot to check the door (it was locked) and I didn’t have my phone. My parents weren’t home, I couldn’t get in touch with Scott’s parents and no one else has a key. After hanging out with my friend and neighbor, Jackie, on her porch for awhile (using her phone) I got in touch with Scott who reached his mom and she let me back in. Jackie told me it was the universe telling me to relax and slow down! My training plan called for a 1:15-1:30 which I almost skipped because of lack of time, BUT it was beautiful out and I knew I’d be happier if I got a run of any distance in. I raced to the Rim Trail and enjoyed a 50 minute run! I felt so much better after this and while a bit bummed I couldn’t do the entire length, I was grateful. Later that night, after a mere 14 hours of sleep for the week, I squeezed in a few minutes of yoga before I picked Scott up at Cornell.
Friday was another crazy day, but I got some Skier’s Edge time in the day, a little bit of yoga and we capped things off with our Friday night Bodypump class! Saturday was the big 22 miler! It is supposed to be a fall back week to 16, but both Jenny and I are both traveling next weekend, so 22 it was! We met at Island Fitness and headed up the Black Diamond Trail. The low grade hill actually felt quite nice, and we kept a pretty comfortable pace until we hit the crazy mucky part of the trail. When we finally emerged from the woods and swampy trail, Jenny looked at her legs and saw they were bleeding. Then she looked at mine and said “you are bleeding too!” We had our first war wounds! Our feet weren’t too bad, just a little wet. We only just taken out extra socks out of our packs (from our potential river crossing run 3 weeks ago)! Scott and Elizabeth met us at the overlook of Taughannock with chips and m&ms at mile 9, and Christina joined us for the next 3-5 miles. We enjoyed our roving Aid Station before starting down the hill for our first time around the rim. Christina had fresh legs and Jenny and I were really dragging when we hit the uphill. We walked/ran/walked up the hill and then got into a groove again as it started to level off. We had arrived later than planned at the overlook, so Christina needed to head home after one loop. We said goodbye and Jenny and I continued on for loop 2. The 2nd time up the stairs we just hiked. We can’t even call this power hiking, just hiking. Scott and the kids were going to meet us at mile 14 before we headed back onto the Black Diamond trail. Scott hid behind a tree and scared me badly when he jumped out. They gave us more food and I knew my stomach was going to be a problem when the salt and vinegar chips tasted terrible. I had a few m&ms hoping that the sugar and peanuts would help, but started the next section of the run feeling pretty lousy. We had decided to avoid the mucky part of the trail and hit the road for just a bit to get around it. The road was a gradual uphill and it was sunny, so we found ourselves walking just a bit of it before picking our feet back up and running. The last 8 miles on the Black Diamond were pretty uneventful. We settled back into a groove and enjoyed seeing our average pace fall. The big stones underfoot became less frequent, and with that we were a bit happier. I had a pretty close to major fall, but caught myself on a pricker bush! Another cut, but no fall. We finished strong, and I headed home for my planned evening date with Scott. An hour later, my stomach was still not ready for food, but I managed to eat a little bit and we enjoyed some nice quality time together.
Sunday calls for a timed run while pushing the pace a bit to simulate the last miles of the race. After waffling about whether to run at all today because my legs were tired, and feeling guilty about missing much of yesterday with the family, I finally decided to go. But, after playing Chess with Xander and begging him to join me for yoga on the deck, I felt good enough to go. The kids were at the neighborhood trampoline and I decided to brave the rim. It was sunny and hot, so the road (while tempting) wasn’t that appealing. It turns out I loved this run. Sometimes when I’m feeling really tired I do my best running solo. I pushed myself hard and because it wasn’t a long run, I really enjoyed the scenery and was grateful to be able to run again after feeling so tired from the 22 just 12 hours prior. Except for one uphill stretch that I should have run more of, I had a pretty solid pace for this, and it was definitely a good simulation of the last miles of a race.
Week 8
Monday I got out on my bike with Scott for a 14 mile ride. It started with a flat tire for Scott (before we left the driveway) which reminded me I really NEED to learn to change a tire. The weather was perfect, and though my attitude needed improvement, it was enjoyable. I finished up the day with Bodypump with Jenny at Island. Now that school is ending, I’m not able to make as many classes, so I am grateful that this works with my schedule for June and July. Tuesday brought another hot, humid and sometimes rainy day to Trumansburg. My plan called for hill repeats. As is often the case, I postponed them as long as I possibly could! I managed to do 8 on the South side of the Rim Trail. As luck would have it, there were a lot of hikers out and that really spurred me on. As I passed by them, I wasn’t about to be slacking!! (6.34 m, 11:13 pace)
Wednesday was the last day of school for the kids, and we had Xander’s 4th grade moving up ceremony at 10 am, so Scott and I hit the trails early. He had his last round of hill repeats and I had a timed run on the plan. I did rim/base/rim at a rather anemic pace in the very heavy air. My legs and body were tired, but I did get it done! Later that day, I fit in some Skier’s Edge and finished off the evening with yoga in the living room with Scott. (5.01 m, 11:13 pace)
Thursday was our LONG run for our fall back week. Both Jenny and I had travel plans for the weekend, so we moved our Saturday run up in the week. Patty and I have been trying to meet up (she’s also doing her first 50K at Green Lakes this summer) and it worked with her schedule to join us for this run. We met at the base of Buttermilk at 5 pm with the plan to head up and pick up the Finger Lakes trail, head down Lickbrook and over to Treman. We stashed Jenny’s car over at Treman to drive us back when we completed our 16 miles. Best laid plans and then ... While we did figure out the Finger Lakes trail (last time we had to resort to road for a bit of this) we hit a lot of swampy trail, tons of prickers that weren’t there just a few weeks ago, and when we got almost to the top of Treman we had only 7 miles. We realized we’d need to make this an out and back, so we braved our way back up the Lickbrook hill. A friend had recently run the Cayuga 50s, and she said it was crazy hard to go back up that hill. It was SO lovely going down that I really didn’t believe her. Well, this was so challenging! I felt very whiny and tired for this entire ascent. We made it though and then hit the road to avoid some of the really swampy parts on the Finger Lakes trail. It was getting darker, and we didn’t want to be on wet trail again in the evening. We hit the base of the Bear trail realizing we’d have to make up 2 miles at the end to hit our 16 miles. This was the first time EVER that we agreed to just call it a day at 14. The trail was hard, we were tired and hungry and we convinced ourselves that 14 miles on this terrain was more like 18 on easier turf. All in all this was a good run. I struggled with being hungry from the beginning (5 pm was a tough time to start for food. I should have had a decent meal mid afternoon) and later I got a cramp towards the very end. I think this was from being slightly dehydrated. (14 m, 14:30 pace)
Friday I was able to get a quick timed run in on the roads. I need 60 minutes, and while I hit this in the heat of the day, it was nice to see a single digit pace for a change. Sometimes it is nice to get off the trail and head back to the good old road! (6.15 m 9:13 pace)
Over the weekend we had planned to run on our trip to NYC, but Xander forgot sneakers and I forgot a sports bra. It was for the best anyway as we racked up 10 miles of walking on Saturday and another 6 on Sunday.
Weekly running miles (31.85)
Week 9
Another great training week! The weather was pretty cooperative and I managed to start getting a little bit of cross training for the upcoming Cayuga Lake Tri. With 35 total running miles, a 28 mile ride and two sessions of swimming totaling 1600 yards, I’m satisfied.
Monday After taking the weekend off for a trip to NYC, my legs were ready to run. I Opted for road after dropping Xander off at his 45 minute Oliver rehearsal and made it back right on time to pick him up. (5.18, 45 min, 8:41 pace) Later that evening, Elizabeth had dance so I enjoyed BodyPump and my first pool session of the season. (800 yards, 21 min, 45:06 pace). Tuesday I led a group run for FLRTC at Buttermilk. It was early and at the same time as another event, so I knew it was unlikely to be a big group, but Patty came and we had a GREAT time despite the muggy 94 degree heat! Thunderstorms were looming and we enjoyed just a little cooling rain on our run. I’m planning it again this week if anyone is free. 5:15 p.m. for about an hour and fifteen minutes at Buttermilk. (5.28, 1:11, 13:30 pace). Later that night I grabbed 20 minutes on the Skier’s Edge for cross training.
Wednesday was my first time at Jessica’s Wednesday night BodyPump class since she got married. Great fun! I followed this by swimming again. Twice in the same week! (800 yards, 21 min, 45:06 pace) Thursday my plan called for a hilly run, so I did just that. I did it in two loops so I could grab water at my mailbox mid-run. I worked on form and after a first loop with a 9:16, my goal was to have loop two be faster. Goal met! (7.36 miles, 1:07, 9:03 pace). Later; Skier’s Edge for 20 minutes. Friday Jenny and I squeezed in our long run before a weekend of time with family, and Scott’s first 50K! We met early at Island Fitness for our 2nd fall back week of 16 miles. We ran 3 in Cass Park on roads before doing 10 on the Black Diamond Trail and our last 3 in Cass. This was perfect!
Saturday After watching Scott run 32.9 miles, I felt silly going out for my one hour run. I decided to do a hilly route and spent the entire run calculating paces for Green Lakes. Today was the first time I realized that for every 32 minutes added to a time, it was a one minute per mile addition. With Scott finishing in 5:40, suddenly our predicted 7 hour finish that Jenny and I have been discussing doesn’t seem so realistic. (7.21, 1:12, 9:59 pace)
Sunday While working at the Finger Lakes 50s South Beach Aid Station with my friend Michael, I mentioned I planned to run the Cayuga Lake Tri course on Sunday morning. He wanted to get a ride in too, and pretty soon we had plans for a morning outing. It was my longest ride of the season on a perfect biking day! (28 miles, 1:57, 14.4 pace). I selfishly followed this with Melissa’s Yoga class in Cass Park before joining the family again!
Week 10
I can hardly believe there are a mere 6 weeks remaining until the Green Lakes Endurance run. My Pearl Izumi N2 shoes are up to 260 miles, I’ve been logging about 40 miles each week, and my legs are holding up really well. While I still get pretty nervous before a hilly run in Buttermilk, it is amazing how quickly bodies adapt to training. My favorite part of this training is running what I used to consider a really big hill on road and having it feel pretty fun! Now to the week’s highlights. Overall running miles this week: 43.85.
Monday was a very muggy day, and I grabbed 5 miles on road in between storms, and went to Jenny’s BodyPump class in the evening. (48 min 9:35 pace)
Tuesday was the 4th time I ventured out when there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms. It was the only time I had to run, and I had put it out as a group run opportunity for FLRTC so I needed to show up in case anyone else came. It was just me, and I started off in 87 very humid degrees at the base of Buttermilk. A lovely time of day to be on the trail, it was eerily calm before the impending storm. I had the trail mostly to myself, and while I wasn’t feeling very zippy, it was meditative. As I hit the final descent, the wind picked up and I knew I had just minutes to make it back to the car. I used all of the Animal Athletic’s strategies to pick up my downhill speed (body as joystick, hands down for stability, and no fear) and reached my car a mere 3 minutes before the storm hit! (5.25 m, 1:07 12:45 pace)
Wednesday was fun. I took Elizabeth with me to BodyPump and had her hang out reading while I was in class, and then we grabbed dinner at Wegmans before heading to Melissa’s Wednesday night yoga class at Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon Company. It was my first chance to go, and Elizabeth’s first yoga class ever! Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our mats, but fortunately I had a blanket in the car and Elizabeth was able to use the store mat. It was really fun to do this together, and Elizabeth did really well for her first class. Next time we’ll remember out mats as yoga on a blanket was challenging.
Thursday we had the Women’s Distance Festival in Dryden. Elizabeth and I have been doing this race since she was just in grade 1 (she’s now 13). We’ve always run our own race and this year was no exception. We both had course PRs, and had a great time! Our evening finished with a celebratory dinner at Viva with friends Brenda and Jocelyn.
Friday it was time to try a brick workout! I enjoyed 25 minutes of a pool swim in my in-laws pool, while Xander helped me train by pretending to be a fish, splashing water on me and kicking a lot so I could work on staying focused in turbulent water. Then, I headed out on route 89 to do most of the Cayuga Lake Tri course. However, this route avoided the most major hill. It was a successful, fun ride and I really enjoyed my Finger Lakes Running Company Louis Garneau tri suit. Elizabeth has this brand of ski speed suit for racing, and she has always said it is the most comfortable thing ever. They do have comfort mastered! I only do this one triathlon, and finish toward the back of the pack every year, so sometimes I feel silly having such a nice outfit, but it is really awesome!! (15.25 miles, 59 min, 12:45 pace)
Saturday Jenny and I had our longest training run ever! We met at Island Fitness and headed north on the Black Diamond Trail all the way to Trumansburg where we ran on roads for 9 miles before heading back down the trail again. This was challenging from the first step, mostly because of the humidity. The prior two days were not humid, and I got really used to that! We were dripping wet, tired, hungry and thirsty by the end (I ran out of water with two miles to go) but it was a really good run! When I arrived home, Elizabeth had prepared lunch for me and the family even saved me my favorite flavor cupcake from Scott’s birthday dinner the night before! (24 miles, 4:11, 10:27 pace)
My legs felt tired from the long run on Sunday but I knew Jenny was off doing the Boilermaker so I couldn’t skip my timed hour run! Christina had just arrived home from vacation and was up for a run. I was so happy to have her company to keep my mind off my tired legs for this! After the run, I hopped on the Skier’s Edge for a quick 20 minutes to end the week! (6.55 m, 1:02, 9:27 pace)
Week 11
Another training week is in the books! I cannot believe my first 50K is now less than 5 weeks away. I logged 37.72 running miles this week, grabbed a couple of brick workouts and did some lifting. I have yet to get into the lake to swim for the upcoming tri that I’m not really preparing. I’m feeling VERY chicken.
A high point of this week was the Cayuga Lake Triathlon practice night. Every summer, the Ithaca Triathlon Club offers this opportunity to ride and run the course on a Wednesday night in July. Simulating race conditions, groups head out in waves and while the road isn’t closed and the turn around isn’t staffed, it provides the chance to really push hard riding with others on the course. Every year I am less afraid and more excited! This year I was outfitted in my Finger Lakes Running and Triathlon tri kit. It was so comfortable to ride and run in, and fun to see so many of my teammates. Shortly into the ride, I rode straight over glass and waited to hear a hissing in my tire. I was lucky! Both my tires were fine. Later in the course, there was a piece of metal in the road. Yup, I rode right over that. Having recently passed a man changing his tire, I figured it was now my turn. Again I was spared. I went on to enjoy this ride. Wearing my Nathan hydration pack (or a small baby as my friend Brenda noted at the start), I was able to drink whenever I wanted to, and while I had hopes of crossing over the road at the turnaround without hopping off my bike, I chickened out and carefully walked across (I still don’t trust my mirror). On the way back, this was my first time not visioning Scott getting hit by a car. Every year, I spend the last 3 miles freaking out that a car will hit him and he will be splatted on the road. I know this is ridiculous, but this doesn’t seem to stop the fear! The worry for me is different. When I was 12, a good friend flipped over her handlebars while riding downhill on her bike, ending up in the emergency room. I don’t remember anything from that day except a lot of blood! So, whenever I hit the downhill, I worry that my brakes will fail while I am using them constantly to avoid going too fast. This year was no exception. When I got to the base of the hill, I walked my bike across the road, and then took the long way back (while they were giving instructions, I was chatting thinking I knew the course well enough). Even with all these things, I maintained a decent pace for me (16.2 mph).
The run was GREAT! I don’t love this course, but I always feel so happy heading out on the run. It is a big mental game to head out on grass and run through the park on a seemingly random route through the grass. My mantra was “an object in motion tends to stay in motion” as I kept putting one foot in front of the other while working on keeping a quick cadence. I heard three men chatting behind me, and as their voices got closer, I knew they’d be speeding by before too long. My goal; hold them off as long as possible. They breezed by at about a mile shouting out “good job” and “it took us almost the full mile to catch you.” They confirmed with each other that they were averaging 8:44. I looked at my watch, 9:03 average. I know from running this for training that I can gain speed on the return trip, and set a goal to hit 8:35 for the course. I nearly hit that, coming in with an 8:37 per mile pace.
The other highlight of the week was the Forest Frolic (read my race report). Jenny and I chose to use that race to get our fall back long run in. It was challenging but rewarding and a lovely change from the trails we’ve spent so many of our weekends on.
Goals for the coming weeks include starting to think about race day strategy, realistic pace goals and to get into the lake at least once before the Cayuga Lake Tri!!
Week 12
Weekly Stats: 48.27 running miles, 1,600+ yards of swimming, 16 miles on bike, 1 lifting session, 2 sessions of yoga and 6 lovely hiking miles. I’m ready to taper now! I had hoped to break a 50-mile week for my longest week, but will settle for 48!
This week I struggled with a sore achilles, and then somehow I altered my stride to compensate. This made my longest training run (26.2) really challenging. Jenny was so supportive sticking with me as I really struggled on this run!
The high points of the week include a first open water swim (read about the swim), and the 26.2 run (read about the run).
Week 13
Weekly Stats: 28.8 running miles, 750 yards of swimming, 14miles on bike, 1 lifting session, and 1 yoga session. Hard to believe that just a week ago I ran almost 50 miles!
I found this week rather uneventful and uninspiring. It was Scott and Xander’s final week of play rehearsal before their big production and Elizabeth had dance camp. Workouts were tough to squeeze in with the twice daily driving to camp and lots of game playing and pool time with Xander. However, my in-laws were amazing and totally cool about me running while Xander was at their pool with them, giving me variety in route and a chance to get a run in while my little boy was having a blast! I ran every day but Saturday this week, splitting my time between road and trail. I feel like trail running has made me rather finicky about the weather for road running. When I ran during lunch on Friday it was already warm and full sun, so I ventured to the trail to avoid the heat!! When I was training only on road I never worried much about heat and sun.
The highlight of this week was the Cayuga Lake Tri. The only odd thing about the day was that even though I had altered my plan to let the race count for my long run, I felt compelled to run that day. When I got home from the race, I did Scott and Xander’s stage make-up for their last show. Elizabeth decided to have a friend over, and I decided I must run. Note: It was POURING when I headed out still in my tri suit hours after the race. I had the most amazing run! It was fun to run while sopping wet with no concern about pace, distance or competition!
The Race
And that’s it! Check out my race report