We Did NOT Expect That.....

As Lexie posted about last week we are back on the training plan bandwagon as we prepare for the Sears Run in September (fundraising link). It is an ultra marathon training plan. For those interested, an ultra is defined as anything longer than a marathon. The plan is like a marathon training plan that Lance Armstrong would use on steroids. A few things that are new to us:

1) REALLY REALLY long runs. the longest run on this plan is 26 miles as opposed to the 22 miles on the last plan. I mean really? A marathon as a training run? That one will be tough.

2) No speed work. Because Ultras are all about spending time on your feet and making the distance, the training is less about getting faster and more about going long. This is good news for me because speed work never really was my strong suit, obviously.

3) Longer Taper. Simple; more time for your legs to recover to prepare to hit that 31 mile distance.

4) Timed Runs. All of the mid-week runs in this plan do not have distances attached to them but rather times. For example this week was: Monday - Rest, Tuesday - 45min-1hr easy, Wednesday - 45 minute Hilly run, Thursday - 1:15-1:30 easy, Friday - Off or XC, Saturday 10 Miles, Sunday - 1-hour medium effort run.

5) Recovery Runs. This is the one that killed us today. The plan has the long run on Saturdays. This is good because we always do our long runs on Saturdays anyhow. But a new addition is a 1 hour recovery run EVERY Sunday of the training plan. So after doing our 10-miler yesterday, we headed off today for our 1 hour recovery run with the stroller. It was super tough. My legs have never felt so dead on a run. I think it was a combination of the heat, tired legs, and only being 2 weeks out of the Marathon. Needless to say, neither of us expected that or will be looking forward to it for next week.

So our week 1 recap:

Monday: Lexie - 1 hour run, Leigh - 50 Minute run
Tuesday: Lexie - Cross Train, Leigh - Rest
Wednesday: Lexie - 1.5 hour run (9.5 miles), Leigh - 45 minute run
Thursday: Lexie - Rest, Leigh - 7 mile run
Friday: Lexie - 45 min. hilly run, Leigh - Rest
Saturday: Lexie - 10 miles, Leigh - 10 miles
Sunday: 1 hour family stroller run!

A good start to the first week of training and we both feel great!

-Leigh