Photo from Mount Royal, Frisco, Colorado.

"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

Sunday 14 February 2010

Making plans

After our run today, I'm getting more excited about the upcoming spring and summer.

It snowed all morning (again). We ate breakfast with my mother who is visiting from the US. SR and I knew that no matter the weather, this was our day for a long, long run.

SR put on his backpack, I my Garmin and we were off. Okay, we did put clothes on, too.

But then it ended up being warmer than expected, so the clothes had to go. Ahhh, the Danish countryside.


We ran about 80% on snowy trails. I have never had a winter of running on almost exclusively snow. In the US, I ran on the sidewalks in the winter. But here, the sidewalks are also covered with snow. The town of Næstved actually recently ran out of their salt supply for the entire winter. So why not run somewhere pretty?

I do not know if snow running is good training, but I do know I've gotten good at it and my legs have gotten quite strong.

Here we are taking a break at Karrebæksminde Bugt and then Gavnø Slot.




Gavnø Slot is the beautiful castle, which looks blurry in the background. It is here I hope to start and end an 80k/50 mile ultra. I've been working on the plans with SR, we just need to get our athletic club involved and work out the details of the route.

We ran for nearly 4 hours together and that was 21.5 miles. But at that point, I wasn't really feeling sore or tired. I have to say that now that I am 53 kg (and I can tell, or at least really hope, the weight is in muscle and not fat), I have become a much stronger long-distance runner (my mom suggested it is because I'm not breastfeeding anymore; an interesting theory). I ran for another 4 miles alone at around a 9:30 pace, even on the snow. I still felt great, but didn't want to get injured, so I called it a day after almost a marathon.

We both felt so good afterwards and were able to better plan out our races for the spring and summer:

1. Hells Hills 50 miler (SR is running the 50k)- April 3. I have spent some time studying the race and I may have a shot at the female course record (which right now is 9:24). But depending on how hellish and hilly it actually is, I might have to revise that goal. Honestly, it does seem realistic with having run one 50 miler in 8:45 and then Voyageur in 9:40 and feeling even stronger this year. But, even if I'm 3 hours after that goal, I'll still be happy. Mostly because I finally get to meet Olga and Larry. And SR and I get a romantic getaway in the small Texan town of Smithville.

2. Copenhagen Marathon - 23 May: goal time is under 3:20.

3. 24 hour race on Bornholm vs. Aabenraa mountain marathon at the end of June. Well, I'm not thrilled about the idea of running a 24 hour race that is half on asphalt. But if Steve Q really does come to run it, then I will, too. If I run the 24 hour race, SR will run the 6 hour and then pace me. If we run Aabenraa, we'll both run the same race.

4. I'll skip right to our plans for late July, early August's trip back the US. We have three weeks, one of which is just the two of us. The first weekend, we are going to run Voyageur (if a race directory is found). I think I speak for both of us when I say the main goal is to show up on time. Followin the race, we'll stay in Duluth and then start a week long trip around lake Superior by car, stopping in parks, towns, wherever we feel like. Just the two of us, bikes, wetsuits and running shoes. The week will end with a marathon around Grand Island near Munising, MI. That is, if we can run a marathon the weekend after Voyageur.

So, what about getting pregnant? Well, let's just say there is no hurry to have baby number two, but if I do get pregnant, the racing plans probably won't change. I'll just run slower.

I didn't actually listen to much music today, but one that stands out was a rec from Steve Q (wow, two mentions in one blog post!)...

Running song of the day: Balloon Man by Robyn Hitchcock

10 comments:

RunnerWoman said...

sub 3:20 marathon sounds TOTALLY do-able based on your current PBs and training. I would even say closer to 3:10 (assuming no baby). Go SLG Go!
Leslie

Olga said...

The CR is soft for sure, although it's weird Meredith ran 9:4x in 2007. The trails are fine there, no rocks and few roots. Heat might be a big factor. Train for heat.
See ya soon!
p.s. saw a 6mo pregnant woman running sub-4hr marathon yesterday when we did an AS at mile 22. She looked great!

cldevall said...

Just wondering if you ever had any supply issues while you were breastfeeding and running? Any idea how many calories you ate to keep your supply up? I'm a very novice runner and I had my little one 9 weeks ago. I'd like to train for a 5k, but don't want to have any decrease in supply. Btw The Lorax is so adorable!

Danni said...

I can't believe you run in sweatpants. :-)

SteveQ said...

How sweet you're thinking of me! I won't be doing the 24-hour, both because I can't get trained in time and money's so tight I may be down to 2 races this year. Voyageur has a race director (two, actually), so all is well there.

It might be right for running, but my current fave song is "Dreams" by Twilight Hours.

sea legs girl said...

Leslie,
Thank you so much for that vote of confidence. It was just what I needed!

Olga, I forgot to mention that the two of us will actually be battling it out for the course record. Oh, yeah and bring on the heat... please!!! Thanks also for metioning the fast pregnant chick! I love it!

Learningtorun2009, I am so happy you commented and it is awesome that you are taking up running as a new mom. The only time I had supply issues was during a hot ultramarathon where I got dehydrated, but the milk came back the next day. It also seemed like my supply went down when my weight was at it's lowest (BMI below 18!). Other than that, I tended to have an oversupply and pumped tons of extra bottles, even some for friends.

Danni, SR has made it clear that if there is ever a Danish cotton-only ultra, I will probably be the winner. I am a believer in continuing to wear all of my clothing from high school as long as I can.

SteveQ, Bad news about the 24 hour race. But good news about Voyageur. Thanks for the update! Now I have to find that song.

Olga said...

I won't be battling anything in TX, I am aiming for good time at Leona Divide 2 weeks later. I usually do this - if it's local and/or free, I don't race, just use it as a training run. If i travel and pay money - I put an effort:) I am still surprised at Mer's time though, and she loves the heat. Gotta find out what went wrong,

Olga said...

p.s. at Rocky my 50M split was right on 10 hrs. I heard hell's hills has a bit more steep climbs, but other than that it is similar. Granted, that was a split where I was saving myself for the second half. Say, my goal would be sub-9? Worthy goal. Just like with mountain 100's, I haven't run "flat" 50 in a long time...so not even sure what to predict anymore:) And I certainly don't want to battle you! But if I do catch you in the last 5 miles, you better hang on my skirt, and we can finish together! Wouldn't it be neat?

sea legs girl said...

Olga, that not only sounds neat, but way better than a win. I hope it happens and that we share the course record. Somehow I think we'll both be laughing, though, when we realize how tough the course really is. But since you're a native, you will probably be able to handle it :).

sea legs girl said...

Olga, that not only sounds neat, but way better than a win. I hope it happens and that we share the course record. Somehow I think we'll both be laughing, though, when we realize how tough the course really is. But since you're a native, you will probably be able to handle it :).