My 13 Week 50K Training Plan

My viral infection is desperately trying to abandon ship and I am determined to keep my ass motivated to make it through my first trail ultra marathon.  Sure, it's a 50K-equivalent to 31.06 miles- and I've completed a 60K (37.28 miles) before but not on a trail.  I was fortunate enough to test my insanity on pavement both times; trails are a different type of hell.  If I didn't learn this during the North Face Endurance Challenge in Massachusetts last year, then I must be a goddamn fool.  In turn, I will be getting my redemption at their Washington, DC location aiming to knock that shit out like the boss bitch  that I am.

When I'm recovered, I know that my loved ones and the Internet is great for keeping me honest about my journey.  Hard to lie to myself or the masses when there's a digital imprint reminding you to be on top of your game.  

Honestly, I am a bit discouraged that I lost a few weeks due to circumstances beyond my control but if I do what I can in the meantime, I'll be able to fall back into the swing of things without injuring myself.  Thus far, I made it a point to attend the gym a few days a week when I do get the energy and feel that I can safely and effectively perform a workout.  In fact, today was the first time that I was able to run in weeks--my time was pure shit and it felt incredible.  My food intake has reduced a bit since being home--a mixture between being sick and not wanting to eat as I would if I was training.  

Fortunately, I have been proactive about being hydrated.  I recruited my ten year old to nag me about my water intake.  I think my body is past the solitary confinement stages where I'm limited to staying close by my toilet bowl.  My body is adjusting pretty good to drinking almost half of my bodyweight.  Contrary to belief, 8 cups of water is simply a bare minimum.  In my unprofessional opinion, I never thought it was enough.  Please know that I'm not suggesting you to hydrate to a point of drowning because I don't want to be told that I suggested you to be Aquaman.  

Before I go on a ridiculous tangent, I created this training plan through a mixture of other training plans that I experimented with on myself.  November was the last endurance race that I took on that was remotely close to 31 miles.  Although I did a race on the 21st of January, consider me starting from scratch and for some odd reason, I only have 12 or so weeks to work with.  Ideally, if this is your first 50K, you would want to train for 20 weeks.  

Some people use timed based training plans--I'm not a fast runner and I need precise numbers to maintain my sanity.  I'd be damned if I am done with a four hour run and see 18.69 miles on my app. My personal training plan is preserving these goals in mind:

1. My long runs will be slow as fuck;
2. I'm not a failure if I have to walk or hike through some areas;
3. Since I live in NYC, I will utilize every place that has an ounce of elevation when possible--bridges, hill repeats on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn or even dare take a terrible trip to the dreadful Bronx --shut up, I'm from Brooklyn;
4. Try to do as many trail runs as possible and recruit people to run with my scary, city girl ass for a few miles
5. When I'm too defeated to run, don't skip my cross training;
6. Respect my rest days and honor the schedule.  Just because I feel like I can go for one more mile doesn't mean that I should;
7. Back to back runs are NECESSARY, particularly for my long runs;
8. Skipping a run doesn't mean that I'm a shitty person.

My goal is to finish on time and not be dragged off the course.  I don't want to be a whiny basic bitch and be escorted off because I'm a punk ass who is scared of snakes, spiders and everything nature.  I want to make sure that I have a life with this training plan.  Work, a family who needs to be regularly fed and watered and my mental requires attention too.  Training for ultras can make you feel like your running schedule is a job--actually, it is.  Even with jobs, you can call in sick and with this temporary assignment, my vacation is two days after the 50K.  I am doing a 10K with the North Face Challenge too.  Side eye me if you want; I have goals dammit.  If you think this is crazy, wait until you entertain yourself with the rest of my calendar.  If you want to indulge in my insanity or use it as a template, steal my calendar through this link.  Just don't try to sue my ass because hey...this is something that I created for myself.  Plus, I promise you, I'm mega broke and my lint went on a strike four weeks ago.  Obviously they needed union representation for fair treatment too.  Until my next blog kiddies...

P.S.  In all seriousness, whatever you're training for, have fun.  That's what keeps me going, especially when the F bombs flow into my vocabulary like water.