Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Off Plan but On Schedule!

Like most runners I like to plan, I plan my race calendar, I plan my training plans, I plan for race day; as anyone knows failing to plan is planning to fail…yeah I am bit OCD. Well you may have seen the little widget thing on the side bar pictured to the left, which listed this year’s races, it’s gotten smaller as I have ticked them off and now there is only one which has a splash of ‘Registered Red’ by it. I like racing to train, it helps gauge fitness and it helps overcome race day nerves, there's free support and you get a T-shirt and medal...if you finish.

By and large the first half of year went well, I ran three out of the four races faster than I have done previously and I would have at Leona Divide had my stomach not gone south, well north actually…oh well!

There were two place holders for August; Mt Disappointment 50m and Bulldog 50k, well these bit the bullet. Put simply I can’t fit them in. Mt Dizzy falls on a night run weekend and Bulldog falls on a weekend when I am on vacation…oh well, it’s not such a problem, running in Las Vegas in August is going be more of a problem!

Timewise I am nearly halfway way through my training plan, I have 8 weeks left including the two-week taper. Training so far has actually gone really well, I am injury free, have run my biggest week ever; 76 miles, I have only missed one run in eight weeks and by the end of this week I will be only 9 miles short of the 340 run miles and 18 miles short of the 542 cycling miles, that being said I am only 44% through the plan in terms of miles; I have my last long bike ride this coming weekend; a century and then it’s long runs; the shortest of which is about 26 miles and the longest 69 miles run on my Birthday weekend in August.

So while I am changing my plan I am at least on schedule!

9 comments:

  1. dude, bonus: first comment. sweet. those are insane miles. seriously, a 69 mile training run? did i read that right? you ultra people are just a different breed i think. :) keep it up stu - almost there brother!

    ReplyDelete
  2. the idea that your shortest long run coming up is 26 miles not only boggles my mind, but makes my goal of running London Marathon next year look somewhat lame...

    ReplyDelete
  3. hey no big deal, we all adjust our race plans. at least you are better than me... i continue to make lists and mark calendars for all these races i say i will do and then i end up doing none of them! :( need to work on that.

    at least your training is still going well and in the grand scheme of things your main goal race is the priority. keep up your crazy runnings (and ridings)!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Plans are meant to be flexible, and schedules can always be adjusted.

    Nice job with the mileage! It's incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whenever I get off schedule, I edit my plan and then - VOILA! Look at that! - I'm back on again.

    Keep the faith. Keep the pace.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think the long solo training runs prepare you a lot better than a training race, in some ways. It forces you to deal with all those isolation/loneliness issues that you'll inevitably face during the 100. You're right on track, I'd say.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are simply insane shiek one. INSANE. you are getting in so many great miles and taking care of your body to stay injury free. I'm glad your training has gone so well thus far!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm eye-balling the last two races you listed as well (assuming my foot cooperates).

    Hope I can join you on the August training runs...I'll tell ya post-SFM!

    ReplyDelete
  9. thats you wait to register right? awesome job on the training! YOU are amazing!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading this post and leaving a comment, if you are entering a contest, please ensure you put some sort of unique name down so I can get back to you. E-mail addresses are ONLY displayed to me, and never shared, sold, pilfered, or anything else unhappy.