It’s race week, y’all!!! How is it here already!? It feels like it was both a long time coming and got here in the blink of an eye. This is real, though, and on Saturday I’m going to step into the unknown world of ultrarunning for the first time. Ack! I’m simultaneously excited, nervous, anxious, and terrified. But most of all I’m thrilled.
Here is a recap of my last full week of training before race day. This recap is part of the Weekly Wrap link up, hosted by HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin’.
Monday – Rest.
Tuesday – Cross training: 30 Day Shred Level 1 DVD workout.
Wednesday – 4 mile trail run at the state park. I forgot to bring my inhaler, which was not good, but it was a really nice evening to be out for a run on the trails. There are some early season campers staying in the park already, so I got to smell campfires while I ran. If the below picture was scratch and sniff you could smell it, too.
My legs felt great and I took the run nice and easy but my lungs were not feeling great still. I think if I had remembered my inhaler I would have felt much better. On the way home I drove with the windows down and listened to a Garth Brooks live album. All in all, a pretty good evening.
Thursday – Cross training: core work, planks, and push ups.
Friday – Rest. I spent the morning giving our dogs baths. Then I got to meet up with Debbie for an early lunch as she drove through my area on her way home.
Saturday – 10 mile trail run at Pandapas Pond. I took this run super easy and focused on staying in my aerobic heart rate zone, since that’s the plan for Saturday. For the most part this run felt good. I remembered to use my inhaler before starting my run and I never needed it during the run.
For some reason both of my knees felt kind of creaky and a bit sore during this run. I have no idea why, as they felt fine after the run and have not hurt at all during training. Hopefully it was just one of those weird pains/twinges you feel during your taper when you’re cutting your mileage back.
During my run I was running around the actual pond and I got hissed at by a goose. It stood its ground as I ran by, and I’m guessing it had eggs or babies nearby to protect. It made me laugh, though. However, I was not laughing about the four snakes I encountered throughout this run. They don’t freak me out, but I also don’t really care to have any interactions with them. I nearly stepped on this guy, who was sunning himself on the trail, because he blended right in!
This run seemed to fly by and 10 miles felt short. I hope that’s a good omen for race day. I’m pretty sure in the past my long run the weekend before the race has never felt great. But I finished the run feeling like I could keep going and honestly it felt like I hadn’t even really run 10 miles.
Fun side story: I hung out with a group of friends the rest of the day Saturday and through the night to celebrate my best friend’s birthday. Everyone in the group fell asleep by 3 AM, but I was still up so I started flipping through TV channels. I happened upon live coverage of this year’s Paris Marathon. How about that!?
Sunday – 4 mile run with Kim in the afternoon. I was feeling pretty sleepy after all of the birthday shenanigans the night before (and less than four hours of sleep). This run still felt really good, though. The miles flew by and as always the company and conversation were great.
Total Miles: 18 miles
March Total: 89.89 miles (my lowest month of the year…. stupid flu!)
So that’s it! All of the work is truly in the books now. I’ve got a couple of really short runs this week and then we’ll be headed up to race central – aka dad’s house. Things are about to get real.
Who else is racing this weekend or raced this past weekend?
Have you ever watched live coverage of a marathon on TV? I like watching Boston and I can’t wait for the summer Olympics!
What is your favorite spring/summer-related smell? I love the smell of campfires.
Turkey Runner 
No racing for me this weekend. Have to crew for some trail nut.
I love the smell of the first few grass cuttings. Must be a suburban boy thing.
LUD.
I’m thinking about doing TNF ECS half in Kettle Moraine Wisconsin in September. I’ve never done a trail race and this one’s been on my to do list for a while. Without a fall marathon on my schedule, I could actually do it this year!
I had a goose come after me when I was riding my bike last week. He was not one bit shy! Yikes! No snakes, tho. Thankfully.
Based on my past trail race experiences, The North Face trail races are kind of like the Cadillac of trail racing. I hope you check it out, you’ll have a blast!
All great signs that you’re ready and going to have a great race! I’m excited for you that it’s almost here!
I can’t believe April’s here already. Good luck with the race! You’ve done the training and I know you’ll do well.
Nice job with your taper! I am envious of your trails though I think I would have freaked out if I came across some snakes! I do love the smell of being on the trail amongst the trees! I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on Sunday and was happy to have a great race!
Your trail photos are lovely (minus the snake!). I have my goal race this coming weekend and we just ran a few smaller races this weekend, including a trail one, but it was short. I wish we lived closer to nice trails. They all require a bit of a drive and in rush hour it’s not gonna happen. Good luck this weekend! Have fun and enjoy the scenery!! 🙂
Good luck on your race!! I think I would have run faster if I ran into a snake! lol I can’t wait to read about your race!
Good luck on your race. I am like you, I love the smell of camp fires. i would have freaked out if I saw those snakes on the path.
Eek! Race week is such an exciting time! My knees always seem like they act up during taper and I usually chalk it up to weird phantom pains. I LOVE watching marathon coverage. We were able to stream NYCM this year and I’m hoping to go to a Boston Marathon viewing party at a local brewery. 🙂
Race week! So exciting! Good luck, you’ll do great!
I love the smell of lilacs! We have a small bush. It’s a pity they don’t last long.
I have had 10 mile runs that did seem like nothing, and then others (like this past weekend) were I was soooo tired afterwards, but at least 5 miles were a race so I have a little excuse.
4 snakes? Yeah, that would be a bit freaky. I guess the geese around here aren’t that mean — never been hissed at by one.
Wishing you such good luck on Saturday! I look forward to reading your recap! 4 snakes? yikes. You should have hissed back at the goose! I love trail running – I’ve only done it a few times, but how beautiful! No trails by me, so road it is!
You live in a beautiful area! Except for the snakes…yikes. I always watch out for them when I’m on the trails but haven’t encountered one (knock on wood). Good luck on your first 50k – will be looking for your recap.
I like watching any marathon coverage – watched the Olympic trials and will definitely tune in to Boston.
It’s here, and I can’t wait to cheer you on this Saturday! See you then!
Good luck on your race this weekend!!! It sounds like you got some good runs in this week!
My favorite summer smell is coconut!! I hate the tast of it, but love coconut scented things, because it always reminds me of the beach! I even like the smell of sun screens that smell like coconut, it just screams summer to me.
I am thrilled and excited for you! Ugh to hissing geese and yikes to snakes. The less of those the better. We don’t tend to see snakes here until late summer it seems. I have a 10 mile race this weekend. I hope it warms up just a little!
A 10 mile run feeling short is a very good omen 🙂 I hope you have a great time running that ultra!
The darn geese are moody, they don’t want to move off the sidewalks when I go by lol
Scratch and sniff…ha. I do smell the campfire. I can barely see that snake! You made me realize the ones I always see are the color of pavement. What a wonderful experience you will have. I’m excited for you. Enjoy your taper this week. Have fun this weekend at your ULTRA and with your Dad too. Thanks for linking with us Meagan.
EWWWW, that snake! I’m not really afraid t=of them, but it would be freaky to just se one there on a trail. I have a couple races this weekend…a small local 5K on Saturday, and the Fight for Air Climb on Sunday (racing up 86 flights of stairs for the American Lung Association). Good luck on your race!!
It sounds like you are ready! My HR gets so high when I run. My average during my race was in the 170s! My resting HR is bear 40!
Beautiful photos! I had no idea there was live coverage of the Paris Marathon, would have loved to watch that.