Saturday, August 23, 2008

Preparing for Palo Duro Canyon

This week, I had another great running week. Monday, I did my usual 5 mile run in the morning, and then lifted weights in the afternoon. Tuesday, I did 6 miles in the morning. Wednesday was a rest day, and my first day back to work, so I rested my legs for the thursday, friday, and saturday workouts.

Thursday, I came back with another 5 mile run in the morning, and lifted weights in the afternoon, using supersets, which really work your endurance, as well as your strength. Friday, another 5 miles, and then saturday morning, I ran 11 miles.

Next week, I will incorporate hill training in the afternoon, as I prepare for my first trail run that will be held at Palo Duro Canyon. It's a 20k run through the canyon, and it will be a tough, tough run, but a good training run for the 50 mile race in December. Total miles this week, 32 miles, an increase of 2 miles over last week.

Training is going well, so far, and will start increasing miles gradually, with longer and longer training runs on saturday.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Quest for the 50 mile race

This past week was a great start toward my 50 mile race at the Huntsville State Park, near Houston. I only logged in 27 miles for the week, but got lots of weight lifting and cross-training in there, as well.

Monday, I ran 4 miles in the morning, and lifted weights for upper body in the afternoon.

Tuesday, I did another 5 miles in the morning, and did lower body weight training in the afternoon.

Wednesday, I did cross training. I got in a great aerobic workout on the elliptical trainer for 25 minutes. It was a great, hard workout, and I rested as far as running goes. Seems like I should add in another 3 mile of running to my week after that...the elliptical was pretty intense!

Thursday, I came back and did another 5 miles at Redbud Park.

Friday, another 5 mile run in the afternoon, and did some walking in the afternoon.

Saturday, I was up at 6:00 a.m, and did an 8 mile run. It was a great run...I saw three deer and two jackrabbits as I ran down an old country road near my house.

Sunday is a day of rest. So, not a bad week of running and cross training. Next week will be an increase in mileage, especially on my long run.

A great start toward my march to the 50 mile race in December.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Training for the Sunmart 50 mile race

Well, I am officially entered in the Sunmart 50, and I have booked my room in Houston. Now, I'm hooked in...too expensive to pull out, now. This is a great challenge, the biggest running challenge of my running career. The 50k was quite a challenge, but this is 19 miles farther. Some people are encouraging me in this adventure, but others just say I'm crazy...I am just looking forward to the challenge.

The running adventure in Africa was really good for me. I was running twice a day, and I could feel my enthusiasm for running returning. Now, I have added some strength work to my routine, and running more in the morning, which is good because of the heat. That makes the afternoon a great time to do weight training, or finish off some mileage on a treadmill.

I'm excited because Bob Kennedy is the speaker for the Sunmart race. He is a former Olympian, and I have heard he is an excellent speaker. I am also excited because the race is the World 50 mile championships, so there will be some major players there...and the course is an incredible tree-lined trail that I can't wait to run on. I love running trails, and this one is one of the most beautiful trails around.

The training is somewhat different, but not all that different from marathon training. I'm doing more strength training, and longer weekend runs...possibly in the neighborhood of 35 miles for my longest.

I am pumped up right now...let's hope it lasts....!

Jerry