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| Panorama of a hilltop field near trails I run most often |
A running recap for 2016! And 2017 goals. In case anybody's interested.
As mentioned in my last post, I ran the following races in 2016. 80% were on trails.
West River Trail Run (11 miles), 1:57
Vegan Power 25K, 3:12
Pisgah Mountain Trail Race 23k, 2:55
Maple 5k, 0:24:23 (3rd female)
Hamsterwheel 6-hour race 32 miles in 6:15 (2nd female)
I also did the inaugural Ginger Runner Virtual Run. This was a 2 hour run of any distance done anytime on November 19, 2016. Runners from around the world took part and the Ginger Runner compiled some of the videos people sent in here: https://youtu.be/F07FKJBx6G8 You can also watch the ridiculous Donut Challenge GRVR on one of my favorite Youtube channels, Mountain Outpost. (Jamil & Schuyler do the 2-hour run while also trying to eat as many donuts as possible.)
And I co-directed the annual Turkey Trot 3-miler on Thanksgiving Day for the second year. It went really well!
RECAP:
In terms of meeting my 2016 goals, I didn't do a great job. Maybe my goals were too specific, maybe even restrictive. I lost my mojo around March and didn't have a plan B for building things back up again. Here's my list from last year, with comments in red:
Jan-Feb: build up mileage again, slowly. Aim for at least 20 miles a week by end of February. Nope--I finally got up to 20 miles in the first week of March.
Mar-Apr-May: Follow same half-marathon training plan as last year Nope. My hip flexor hurt so I didn't do this.
May 9, Mother's day: HALF MARATHON! Nope. Not only was I untrained, but also uninterested in a road race when I really wanted to focus on trails. It turned out to rain that day so absolutely no regrets.
May-June: Switch to trails/hills and increase mileage a reasonable amount. Start fun run season. And streak! I did streak from Memorial Day up to the Vegan Power 25k, then stopped to focus on race recovery for a few days. I did a FEW fun runs over the summer.
June 18, 2016: Vegan Power 50k in Pittsfield, MA (registered!) Really glad I ultimately dropped down to the 25k distance instead of 50k--that was all I could handle. Good race!
June-July: As much trail-running as possible, maintain higher mileage & hills Nope.
July 4, 2016: Bill Powers Memorial Firecracker 4-miler No.
August 6, 2016: Moosalamoo 36-miler? or 14-miler? (not yet registered) No no no.
August-Sep: Keep it up! Fun runs end around late August I did some long training runs around this point that set me up nicely for Pisgah. And I took my son to the last fun run (1-miler) and it was truly fun! I'm finally learning that the competition is NOT the point of a fun run. Duh!
Late Sept: Pisgah 50k? (not yet registered) I ended up doing the 23k and felt this was my best race of the year. Really great day and feeling strong. I like middle distance.
Late Sept: Maple 5k Yes! Reclaimed the podium after falling off last year (3rd woman).
Fall 2016: Something else? I'd love to do another 6-hour race at some point. Yes! Hamsterwheel 6-hour again. A mental saga but glad I did it.
November 2016: Co-direct the Thanksgiving Morning Turkey Trot--year 2! Yes!
So I'm dialing things back for my 2017 Goals:
Training: I just finished week 2 of a 16-week beginner marathon training plan, then will immediately follow that with a 10 week intermediate half-marathon training plan, which takes me up to the next Vegan 25K/50K in June. I figure at that point I'll have a good idea what to do next. So far I'm liking the structure of a 26-week training program. 26 weeks! All figured out!
Nutrition: I'm taking a break from alcohol. That is my one nutrition plan for 2017.
Race Schedule: Being hyper-timeline-lady did not work for me last year. This year I have collected a smorgasbord of race ideas and will pick and choose from this list or whatever else comes along:
Cade Cod Trail Race (Falmouth, MA), 5k/10k/50k/half-marathon/marathon, April 9
Traprock 50K/17K (Bloomfield, CT), April 15
Seven Sisters Trail Race 12 miles (Amherst, MA), May 6
Soapstone Mountain 22k (Stafford, CT), May 21
Salomon Trail Running Festival 5k/10k/25k/50k/50-mile (New Gloucester, ME), May 27-8
West River Trail Run 11 miles (Jamaica, VT), June 3
Vegan Power 50K/25K (Pittsfield, MA), June 17
Goshen Gallop 10k (Goshen, VT), July 15
Jug End Loop 6-hour (Egremont, MA) July 29
Moosalamoo 14mi/36mi (Goshen, VT) sometime in August
6 Hours in Paradise (Windsor, VT), sometime in August
Pisgah Mountain Trail Race 50K/23K (Chesterfield, NH), September
Runner's World Festival (Bethlehem, PA), October 20-22
Mt Toby Trail Race 14 miler, MA, October sometime
Hamsterwheel 6/12/24 hour race, November
A few other things on my list that aren't races:
- Do my first 20-mile training run
- Traverse Mount Bromley on the Long Trail running north to south
- Do a night run on trails
- Find at least one other person to run trails with me
- Do at least one training run in Pisgah State Park (not just the actual race)
- Make a list of destination races that I may never do, but nice to dream about
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