Thank you to all of you for the kind words. I was not sure if there would be much interest in a running race report here on VFTT, but since this event was so life-changing for me I felt compelled to write one.
One week out on the race, and my recovery is going remarkably well. I went on my first post-Rocky run yesterday during lunch, and definitely could feel some lingering fatigue... but no aches and pains other than a pair of tight IT bands!
I've received a few questions from folks regarding training, nutrition, etc. which I'll do my best to answer now:
How did you train for an ultra distance event?
The truth of the matter is that I
didn't do anything special to prepare for this event. Given that I signed up for the race in mid-October, I didn't have much time at all to develop a comprehensive training plan. I ran about 25-35 miles total on the weekdays, and then hiked on weekends. My longest run prior to Rocky was a 50 mile race on November 5. Other than that, I didn't get anything more than 20 miles in.
I should mention that January WAS a very solid month for me - 243 miles of hiking, running, and cross training. Nothing more than 15 miles at a time, though.
So without the big runs, how did I get through this? Well, I attribute most of my success in the race to hiking. I think that people really underestimate the value of just spending time on your feet, regardless of pace. I've put in some LONG days over the past few years, and I truly believe that those grueling days out on the trail helped me to establish a solid endurance base.
What did you eat/drink during the race?
I mostly ate what was offered to me at aid stations! During the day, I really enjoyed M&Ms, fig newtons, PB&J, and pizza
. I also tried to take at least one gel/hour, and would eat Honey Stinger bars that I brought with me. At night, I started to find it tough to eat real food, so I stuck to chicken noodle soup and Mountain Dew. Yummy combination, huh?
My drink of choice was Hammer Perpetuem. I am officially in love with the stuff. During the race I had no stomach issues to speak of which is unusual for me. Given that Perpetuem was the only big change I made to my race nutrition, I do believe that the drink helped to keep my stomach happy all day... will need to race with it a few more times though to confirm this though.
What are you planning next?
My next big race will be the Vermont 100. I had the pleasure of running the 100k event last summer and I can't wait to return for the 100 miler. Now that I know I'm capable of running 100 miles, my goal at VT will be to finish the race within 24 hours. Training for a sub-24 will be hard, but I'm pretty driven to achieve this and I'll do my best to turn my dream into reality...
Other than that, I'd love to try to break 9 hours on the Pemi Loop this year, and FINALLY get around to doing a single day Hut Traverse. Oh, and try to continue working away at my Grid, though I'm really making poor progress there...
