No, I'm Not A Masochist...It's Just The Name Of A Race!

After a little blogger hiccup, blogger was down for service last week which I found out only after writing and trying to save a different version of this blog which unfortunately became lost in cyberspace somewhere...ugggh, in any event.

So here is my training plan for the next several months.  It took a while to compile and will serve as my guide during my build up the ladder eventually leading to the 2 races I am looking most forward too, the marathon and Mountain Masochist.

Last week I left the idea of a 50 miler up in the air.  Well, I can tell you that my failure to commit didn't last long as soon as Renee looked at me on Mother's day and said "why don't you go ahead and sign up for another ultra."

5 minutes later I was entering my credit card information to secure my spot in this years Mountain Masochist held in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on November 5th.  There will be plenty of time to talk about the race in future posts.  What I can tell you is that Renee has already been very patient with my almost obsessive talk about it (ok, so it's obsessive, but sometimes I can't help myself!).

As for the training plan I have tried to balance the mileage in order to peak for a lot of different races along the way.  It was more difficult then I first thought.  Creating a training plan for a single race is definitely a little easier, but this was well worth it.  I am focusing on 3 primary workouts throughout the weak which through my research seem to be the important ones.

1. Speed work to increase VO2
2. Tempo/Pace work to increase lactate threshold
3. Long slow runs to gradually build my base aerobic capacity.

On some weeks I will be throwing hill work in to help build power into my running.  I have also previewed masochist's elevation profile and I can use all the help/practice I can get.  I'll also be working some consistent strength training into the week on my off days from running.

Here's a run down of my past week.

Last weekend I tackled the NJ trail series half marathon, although I think it may have tackled me with the way my left knee has felt since.  I bombed a few of the last down hill sections and came up a little achy the following day.  I've been doing therapy and is getting better, but I definitely took a step back following this weeks training with the speed work, tempo run and 14 mile long run.

This week is going to be about getting my knee right even if that means a departure from planned training.  The training plan is only serving as my guide and will be changed if need be to ensure I'm feeling 100% come race time.  Athletes struggle with this all the time and many times don't back off enough to get their body's right.  I'm struggling myself...half my brains says "just push through it" while the other half (the half I'm going to listen to) say's "get this thing right".

So we'll see where my training goes this week while I continue to rehab my knee.  In the meantime it gives me a little more time to focus on the other aspects of the training plan...the Fuel and Recover portions.  I've been known to skimp on sleep from time to time and my body just can't afford it if I expect to keep up the volume of training I have planned.  Along with recovery goes the fueling.  I'll be tracking my calories over the next 1-2 weeks (something I haven't done in a while) to see where I currently am.  My primary goal of this is to be sure that I do not lose too much weight in the early going.  So we'll see what the next 2 weeks show.