Today was a perfect morning for a run. The wind still and reflections on the water nearly as crisp as the morning air.
As I had decided to include more strength training, I wanted to run the stairs leading up my hill, or at least see how many I could run before facing a heart attack. Let’s just say there is loads of room for improvement! The view from the top of the stairs is worth it though:
When I got back down I was treated with spotting the ship behind the rock!
Today’s run reminded me of how far I’ve come and I thought about the book I am reading right now. “Running to the top” from Arthur Lydiard was my original inspiration for “becoming slowrunnergirl”. I had read it back when I started running again and his training plan just seemed so incredibly far away that I went to create my own “plan” in the hope of getting to his mentioned durations at least. “Speed will come with time, it is just a matter of running consistently and without injuries”. This is what I told myself back then and forgot all about it.
Now the year is ending and at the end of the year I wanted to make the decision if I run an ultra next year or not and I got back to read his book. I was blown away by the fact, that when I read his beginner marathon plan I thought “hey that sounds doable”. When I now read about running 6 times per week, it doesn’t feel like a distant vision. It’s reality. I just ran 50 minutes and feel like I finally recharged my batteries and am ready to tackle the day.
So will I run an ultra next year? Probably not. I think I could, but not the way I want to. I don’t yet have any concrete plans, but I think it would be clever to get some more experience in shorter distances before I tackle anything big. Of course the temptation is there, but I have the rest of my life, so I shall do it properly. Another reason is that there is i.e. the perfect “first ultra” for me, just around my cliff, but one of the starting conditions is to have run a marathon.
What is next? I will continue what I have been doing, but won’t increase the duration. I will include faster segments. To transfer from my typical “MAF” paced run to more Lydiard style “Steady” runs. 80/20 fits right in there and I think December and January at least will be good for this. I plan to include more of the hills and stairs stuff to prepare my legs. It will be a nice mix-up, for my legs, my brain and you as you follow along and read my ramblings!
Got an opinion? Give me your best!
G
SlowRunnerGirl 