Hey everyone. I hope your New Year's celebrations were fun! In the last post, I looked back on 2015, and that's all well and good. But it's 2016 now! Yikes! As is customary for a new year, I have set some goals and resolutions for myself, including running a few races. So without further ado, I present my one-year plan to get into the crazy world of ultramarathons
Now, I may do various smaller races when I feel like it, but I have three big events that I am actively training for and will race (assuming registration/lotteries go well).
Vermont City Marathon (VCM) (26.2 mi) - May 29, Burlington VT. I've already signed up for this one, which shouldn't really surprise anyone. This will be my second marathon race. My goal is to try and complete VCM in under 4 hours, which I failed to do last year. Mind you, I'm not going to let that be the only focus of this race - fun is still a priority!
Vermont 50 (50k/31 mi) - Sept 25, Brownsville, VT. This is one of the premier trail running events in the state and maybe New England. I've run 50k before, but from what I hear, this course is over tougher terrain. (Should be pretty though). I'm going to run it but take it somewhat easy, due to the scariness factor of my next major race.
Stone Cat Trail Races 50 (50 mi) - Early November, Ipwswich, MA. This is the reason why I'm going to try and take it a little easy at Vermont 50. I've run a marathon before, and I've run a 50k before, and I can comprehend those distances. But this will be almost 20 miles longer than my previous longest run, which is a little nerve-racking. As such, I have only one goal for this race - finish in the 12.5 hour time limit set by the organizers.
Luckily, I also have a plan to get myself in shape for these really long races. First of all, I have already begun averaging high weekly mileage, and I intend to run 50-70 miles a week in practice in order to prepare (with the exception of tapering down to or up from a race). Back-to-back long runs on Saturdays and Sundays will become the norm, particularly after VCM. I have been adding some very light speedwork elements to my shorter runs, and I intend to continue this. I am also going to focus on nutrition and weight - sadly, I am a few pounds over my ideal race weight, and if I want to run my best, I need to take care of that.
So yeah, that is what my running in 2016 is going to look like. I hope that you are all doing well and that whatever goals you have in 2016, you accomplish them. I gotta run,
Brian
