Relaxing after a trail run in my Mizuno Kazan shoes: will most likely wear these for my first ultra
Happy Ultra Week! Finally, the last week of ultra training has arrived. And with it the “taper madness” that accompanies the end of distance training for a lengthy race.
In six days on Saturday, I am running my first ultramarathon, the Market-to-Market 50k. It just became a lot more real seeing that the race directors have announced our wave assignments and bib numbers for the race. I’m happy & excited to be in Wave A (first wave) starting at 11 a.m. The faster, more experienced runners start at 11:45.
So I’m trimming my mileage from my normal levels to prepare and will be doing a lot of visualization and positive affirmations this week to prepare for the race. I’m excited but also nervous, the normal pre-race jitters.
Due to the runstreak that is still going, I may trim a few miles from the pre-race schedule this week. Perhaps 3 one-mile runs this week. Overtraining this late can really hurt you at race time. Being well-rested is key. Fatigue at the starting line can make the race much more difficult than it otherwise would be. It’s almost better to be slightly undertrained late in the training cycle.
My only goal in this race is to finish. I could set time goals for myself but do not think it’s a good idea for my first ultra. I would love to finish in 6 hours or so. We have about 7 hours to run this race and I am confident that should be plenty of time. I know I can run a 5 hr or faster marathon but cannot predict anything after that due to my lack of ultra experience.
Really looking forward to this. It should be challenging, exciting, and fun! To quote Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, my approach for this is: “R-E-L-A-X!”
Follow