#11 - Loading it Up

Thankfully the full-time school commitments are done for the year, so now is the time to take the training up a notch as I press on towards the Voyageur 50 in July, and ultimate Superior in September. I've been steadily running between 40-50 miles a week, and will slowly build on that as I get into July. For now, I have more available training time than I can dedicate to running (if I want to avoid injury, that is) so I'm adding some biking and running in as well. I'm heading to the BWCA next week, which will be my only break from training until after Voyageur, so I'm loading up on fatigue for the next four days in anticipation of some rest in the BW. Yesterday I did a nice 12 mile bike ride to my local trail running destination, ran trails for over an hour, then rode the 12 miles back home. This was a good way to pile on 3+ hours of aerobic work without the pounding of constant running (although my tailbone isn't used to the saddle, so I'm working through some early summer butt pain). Tomorrow I intend to wake up, swim laps for an hour, and then drive to the local big hill so I can finish my vert accumulation for the week.

Doing these combo workouts is great, it mixes things up to alleviate some boredom, and as I mentioned previously, gives you a lot of bonus aerobic and strength work without the pounding of running.

Training: Easy run, 7 miles.

#4 - Know When to Say No

This is a tough topic. If you have a scheduled training run, at what point is it OK to say 'No' to a run? The 'to run or not to run' question highlights the central dilemma (and challenge!) of run training. Train too little and you won't be prepared to meet your goals; train too much or too hard and you end up injured and unable to train or compete at all. Getting help in answering this question is one of the major benefits in working with an experienced coach if you have the wherewithal to do so. For my training, I typically try and err on the side of caution when deciding to rest in favor of running. As I've stated before, being slightly under trained is superior to not being trained at all, and any significant injury immediately places you in the latter category.

That being said, one must always be vigilant against laziness. It can be tempting to make the claim that your legs are tired or your feet are too sore as easy justification to sit around and do nothing. It must be understood that feeling a little beat up is part of any serious training, and is a key part of the stress/recovery cycle. My rule of thumb to follow is if I'm starting to feel a little too pounded, and am worried that my injury risk is growing higher than I care to tolerate, I'll stick to my work as scheduled, maybe swapping an easy run in for something more strenuous if necessary. If after a few days of easier runs I'm still feeling rough, I'll take a down day for some extra recovery. Swapping in some swimming or cycling is also a good option to keep adding fitness when running seems like a bad idea.

Training: Light cross training (I canceled some speed work, my lower legs are sketchy and I really want to nail a big run tomorrow). Rode bicycle for 60 minutes.