Week 1: Pikes Peak 50M Training
Hello! So I have about a million (rather, two) drafts thats I’ve wanted to post about running, but for whatever reason can’t get around to sprucing them up and hitting publish. Instead, I thought it would be fun to have some structure to writing by keeping a log/journal of my upcoming training for Pikes Peak 50 Miler in July.
I wrote a 21-week training plan (loosely based off of this) for a few reasons:
I typically don’t follow plans (I try to hit a certain amount of mileage per week, any which way) but this time around I’ve really been craving a bit more structure
I NEED to be better about penciling in a variety of workouts - not just long runs. These include speed sessions and hill repeats
I wanted to design something that incorporated both a) enough rest and b) enough long/back-to-back runs. I want to be well rested AND really strong on the endurance front, if that makes sense
I missed running so much over the winter and writing a plan made me excited to get back into it :)
Without further ado, here’s how Week 1 went:
Monday
Morning yoga
Afternoon strength work (focused on hips/glutes)
Notes: I always try to do some yoga in the morning, whether it’s 30 minutes at home or a 60 minute practice at the studio. This is always dependent on work meetings! Strength session is a continuation of what I was primarily focused on this winter to rehab a pained left hip
Tuesday:
6 miles, flat dirt
Notes: I really wanted to go to GMR but it was a road run (due to muddy trails) and my hip has been bothering me a lot. So Sarah and I decided to get in 6 miles on soft dirt via the Highland Canal Trail. It was a perfect evening.
Wednesday:
4.5 miles (hill repeats)
Notes: I think I’ve been haunted by hill repeats since H.S. track, so I’ve avoided them like the coronavirus (too soon?). I know how important/beneficial it can be, though, and Pikes has a lot of elevation gain. My schedule only had 4 miles for the day so I did two repeats of the Fire Road at Green Mountain, which gave me around 1,500 ft of gain. (For those unfamiliar, it’s a 1 mile uphill with around 700 ft of climbing.) I’ve also never been able to run up the road without stopping, and managed to run the two repeats with no stops or power walking! I felt very fatigued, haha.
Thursday:
7 miles, trail
PM yoga
Notes: This run was supposed to be 6 miles, but I added an extra because I finally found my running grove and didn’t want to turn around on a nice section of single track. I also wanted to flush out my calves that were really sore from Wednesday hills.
Friday:
4.5 miles, road
Physical therapy
Notes: I didn’t rest on my rest day. I know, I know. Trying to be open and honest here. I went for a 4.5 easy road run for two reasons: 1) it was so, so nice out! and 2) really needed to clear my head after a long and tough week at work. In the afternoon I went to PT for some dry needling funtimes and to evaluate my hip. The results weren’t awesome; there’s a chance I have a hip labral tear, but the good news is even if that’s the case, diligent PT exercises can help it heal. (Surgery used to be the only option.) So now I’m doing hip mobilization exercises seven days a week (fun) with regular dry needling sessions. We’ll evaluate in a month and go from there.
Saturday:
6 miles on snow/ice followed by 5 miles on roads
Notes: This was supposed to be one long 10-12 mile run up at Buffalo Creek. Trails were a muddy mess down in Golden/Lakewood, so me and a group of friends tried to hope for the best a little bit out of town. Turns out Buff Creek was an icy, snowy slog, and it took two hours just to go 6 miles! I fell twice on ice, lol. We knew we’d be cutting the “run” short so I came home and ran 5 miles on roads to get my legs moving. Buff Creek was so beautiful though and I’m excited to go back when the trails are in good condition! See pic below.
Sunday:
6.2 miles trails w/ Luna
Bear Creek finally dried out so I took my middle child (Luna) on an hour easy run to end the week!
Total Mileage: 39.9 miles
Total Hours: 7 hours 12 mins
Total Gain: 3,261ft
Overall Emotions: I am so happy to be back running more regularly. So much so that I took it a little too intensely for week one (my plan said 34-35 miles). I probably didn’t need that run on Friday, but it really did wonders for my brain during a long work week. But as my wise friend/training partner Sarah told me, “If you overtrain or get injured, then you can’t run at all and that’d be worse.” I hope this training blog keeps me accountable.
Other thoughts: While the runs felt good, my body this week was a wreck. I slept weird on my neck one night and I legit couldn’t move my head side-to-side for three days. Hopping back into hill repeats and walking weighted lunges also left my legs sore in places that usually don’t ache. It was disheartening to wake up every morning really tired and in pain, despite doing all the “right” things — foam rolling, PT, yoga, 8+ hours of sleep, lemon water! I wish I could just experience what other people feel in their bodies on a daily basis to understand if this is just normal and I should quit complaining, or if there’s something physically./mentally/emotionally I need to address.
Ok, that’s all from me. Until next week!
