The Unexpected Vertical Week

Here I go with another run post. This is all I’ve been thinking about lately 🤷🏽‍♀️

With the plan I had cooked up in my head for GDR, last week was supposed to be a low mileage, recovery week. Technically the mileage was lower than the previous, but boy did I hit it hard on the climbing! And yeah, that was a blast! Running in snow has been a constant lately, and I am using muscles that have been dormant 😂

I ran at Brandywine creek during the week, and did a solid treadmill workout that felt strong. The highlight really was Saturday’s adventure at Tammany. I went into it with no plan or expectations. I’ve had a hamstring / glute issue on one side that tends to get aggravated sometimes. Decided to take it one loop at a time. Felt really strong on loop one, which I expected. During that loop I decided to use the day to experiment with race day nutrition. I had enough gels, water, electrolytes and food with me in the car. Between each loop, I made sure to hydrate a ton, eat, take salt tabs, pee, change buff or jacket if need be. Basically setting myself up to tackle the next one without any “I wish I had” thoughts. Loop 2 felt good. Loop 3, 4, and 5 felt good too! Helene convinced me to do another loop and I did. Basically finished strong, with enough left in the tank to go on if I had to. 20 miles with more than 7K + feet of climbing for the run, and a whopping 14K for the recovery week 😂

So basically food allowed me to be in the moment. Nourished my brain, and kept me happy! Now I just need make sure I apply this on race day 🤪

Happy trails !

Some pictures from this weeks run adventures.

At Tammany lookout with Helen
Testing out the Brandywine trail near Harmony Hills
Slush fest on my week day run

One thought on “The Unexpected Vertical Week

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