Race Training

Many of you (okay, one of you) have asked how my race training is going. It made me realize I haven't said much about running since I posted this whiny entry back in June. 

The good news is the sore ankles went away, as did the heavy legs. I've still got the right hamstring/glute issue but I've been dealing wtih that for the last four years, so it's more of a white noise pain at this point. 

I'm wrapping up week 6 of training (10 weeks still to go) and just came off an awesome 20 mile run this morning. I got to mile 16 and was like, "What up? That's all you've got?" and pushed out 8 minute miles for the last four. Hell yeah. 

That being said, I struggled through a 17-mile run a couple of weeks ago and had a COMPLETE meltdown this week on a tempo run. That one was my own fault. I went out for a run on a hot, humid day at 2 pm, having had NO WATER that day and not much the day before. I cramped almost instantly and ended up having to walk almost every 1/4 mile. Idiot. 

While the runs are going well, I'm still not sure how to answer the question, "What race are you training for?" Theoretically, I'm training to run the Richmond marathon in November. However, I've got the Hinson Lake 24-Hour Race on Saturday, September 29th. I'm hoping to better my 11-hour time from last year's 24-hour ultra and make it at least to midnight. Would LOVE to complete the full race but not feeling overly confident that can happen. 

I'm not sure what my recovery will be like from Hinson and how that may affect my Richmond race. Also throw into the mix that we're going to Italy in September for 10 days and I have no idea what my training/running there will look like. The dream is to run around the streets of Italy, the acceptable is to use a hotel treadmill, and worst case is I can't fit the runs in. 

The nice--and highly unusual part--is I'm good with it. If I can train in Italy and have a good marathon, awesome. If I'm exhausted after Hinson and have to drop down to the half, no biggee. 

Right now I'm enjoying my running, but not loving it. I'm thinking of making some changes next year. Not sure what--maybe more trail races, or endurance races. But 2013 may be a no marathon year for me. 

Maybe. 

We'll see. 

Cheers,

Dena