The first time I trained for a full marathon I was told on multiple occasions how I must be crazy to want to run that far, well to be quite frank those of us who do run long distances are a little crazy. After completing my first full marathon I was left wondering, what the heck is next? Feeling a little lost after achieving my goal I took a few years off from training for long-distance running and focused on other areas of fitness. My life changed quite a bit in the past few years, one of the biggest changes was meeting and becoming engaged to my fiance who was a past long distance runner as well. After chatting about our old running days we decided to begin running together, just short 5K races, no crazy long distances until we listened to a podcast featuring Courtney Dauwalter (an ultramarathoner). We were both incredibly inspired by her story that we registered for a 50K (31 miles). Eeek!
So, here I am now registered for a marathon (for a training run) and an ultra marathon on October 20th. Below you can check out my week by week journey of training and more information on the races, training program, etc.
About Me: I am not a born runner. I did not start running until I was 26 years old. I am a relatively slow runner normally averaging 10-minute miles.
Food: I do believe in carb loading the night before a long run and on a long run normally take gummies as fuel every 3 miles or so, depending on how long the run is. Daily eating, I do my best to eat a whole food diet full of leafy greens and lean protein. I am also a huge craft beer lover.
My Gear: I run in Nike’s, wear a hydration vest that holds a 3-liter bladder and two water bottles, always wear compression leggings and sometimes compression socks (I do not like to wear shorts when I run) and I swear by Victoria’s Secret sports bras.
About the Race: Wild Duluth 50K
About the Training Race – Marathon: North Country
Training Program: Keep in mind the program below I have modified slightly to fit my body. I normally take two days a week for cross training and I also switched up the weeks that include two long runs with the same mileage to include one longer run and one shorter long run instead. I also officially began this training program on Week 5 – so important note my week 1 corresponds with week 5.
Ultramarathon Training Diary
Week 1 July 2-8
Week one is off to a good start! The holiday actually made it much easier to train on off road/dirt trails while we were camping. I did do a 9 mile run on Monday on pavement which hurt! My feet were incredibly sore after finishing this run, but the good news was that 9 miles was my longest run in quite some time and I was incredibly happy with my pace, time, and how I felt afterward. I did pop my right hip out of place on this run, which is not uncommon for me. When training for my last marathon I had issues with popping this hip out of place as well. To remedy this I found lateral leg raises pop it back in! I also did not take a real rest day this week, I did a short sweet 2 miler when I should have been resting, but like I said with camping I just had so much access to trail running I couldn’t resist!
End of week one – body is feeling good and feeling positive!
The view from my 9 miler – ick!
Week 2 July 9-15
Week two has been a struggle with work to find the time to train, but I feel like I have managed pretty well! I modified the program slightly by doing an 11 mile run on Wednesday and an 8 mile run on Friday. The 11 miler went great, it was on a paved trail and I did take a break half way through to stretch out my right hip which unfortunately popped out of place again mid run. The 8 mile run was a tough one. It was incredibly humid out and I do suffer from asthma and was having difficulty with my breathing. Other than that I incorporated some hot yoga, which felt incredible, and Orange Theory Fitness throughout the week.
View from my tough 8 miler – at least the view was good!
View from my 11 miler
Week 3 July 16-22
This week my long run was 13 miles long and I must say it was mentally one of the hardest runs of my life. I was in a very negative place and throughout the entire 13 mile run I was being incredibly mean to myself. I broke down in tears afterwards. It was a rough day, but it was a good learning experience to understand what a really really bad day feels like.
Week 4 July 23-29
Off to a much better start this week! Started Monday right by dominating a 14 mile run! It was a bit slower than I would have liked, but my body felt good afterwards and into the next day. I left for Milwaukee for three days and on top of a super busy weekend I did not train…
Week 5 July 30-August 5
Proud to say that those days I took off last week really served me well! I took a crosstraining day on Monday to enjoy some hot yoga and then on Tuesday I was pleasantly surprised by how energized I felt when going for my first run in almost a week! I was faster than normal and was able to get into that meditative state of running.
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