Preparing for the Sugar and Spice

I sent my regsitration for the Sugar and Spice Ultra 32 miler last week. I felt excited and confident sending it in, but then Saturday came. I went to Todd's Road in the morning and met Lynn to run an easy 6-9. Running with Lynn is always fun, but it hurt a lot more than I expected. My hamstrings were screaming at me, and I just felt tired. I took Sunday off, and ran an easy 3-4 miles on Monday. I actually felt pretty good, and decided to join the Starbucks group Tuesday morning. This group runs about an 8 min. pace which is a good pace and I have no trouble keeping up and chatting. This time however, I felt like I could barely grunt out answers to their questions about the marathon and I had to really push to keep up.

I suppose I have overestimated my body's ability for recovery. What should I expect though, I did just run a marathon less than 2 weeks ago. For some reason I thought that the training for this ultra would be easy because it would simply blend into my marathon training. I need to keep reminding myself that I do not need to worry about running fast, but running long and easy. I plan on only running about 3-4 times/week in this next month. Tuesdays and Thursdays I will try to run 8 with the Starbucks group. Saturdays probably Todd's Road, and Sundays I'll find some trails for some long easy runs. On my other days I plan on swimming and biking to keep my fitness up and try not to hammer my legs so much. I think they need some well deserved rest.

Well that's the plan so far. I am still excited and optimistic about this race. I think it will be a great feeling to complete 32 miles. Some people have told me that I am nuts for doing this race and so soon after the marathon, but I think if I am smart with my training and not try to overdo it I should be just fine. I can't wait to get back on the trails and reconnect with my nature obsession.