by Keith Paine…
The first thing we decided is “this is definitely not a race.” It’s 50 miles, so we’re taking it slow. Biggest goal? Finish before the sun goes down! That gives us a pace of about 4-5 miles an hour over rocky, hilly incredibly beautiful terrain, with a few bike paths (and water/aid stations) thrown in.
Team Nimble by Nature (anybody who was born before 1990 will get the joke) is slightly ad-hoc, but all of us are seasoned cardioheads, with quite a few marathons, half-marathons and 100-mile bike races between us. So, the checklist for training for this 50-mile beast goes something like this:
*Gear! Anybody who’s done a race of any length knows that if something’s wrong with your shoes, socks, shorts/leggings or shirt, things can go to hell, quickly. In a distance race, the small things become the big things. So we start with gear. Socks must be thick, but not too much. Shoes must be worn all day for at least a week to get comfortable. Shorts—no chafing. Muy importante! Shirt must be loose but not too much, cannot be cotton or heavy material. Major discovery : A+D ointment, which is intended for my 3-year old daughter, just happens to be excellent anti-chafing material for runs. Whatever works!
*Terrain Running over rocks, grass, hills and roots is very, very different than your typical road race. Fortunately, in NYC we have a couple a major parks—Central Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn—that provide a great variety of training terrain. Shoes must have a stronger sole, with better grip, or they’ll get shredded. Ankles and lower legs have to stay springy to avoid injury on uneven surfaces. Which brings us to…
*Pacing Finding an appropriate pace for 50 miles is a bit challenging. Only elite level athletes will run an entire 50 mile course, and even they keep it to a fairly pedestrian pace—8 and 9 minute miles. Of course, they’re running a double marathon! Our goal is to pace around 4 to 5 miles an hour, which is slow as mud for a marathon, but will definitely challenge our crew over the all-terrain course.
So, training for this week looks like this :
Monday—tax day, missed my strength workout. Ugh!
Tuesday—foam rolling and stretching in the morning, and then 5 mile walk home from 12th street in Manhattan to my house in Brooklyn. Took a little under an hour, so about “race” pace.
Wednesday—my peak day before the event, which is on April 30th. 11 miles and change in the morning, over uneven terrain in Prospect Park. It was a run walk, so it took me just under 2 hours, which converts to about 6 miles an hour. A little faster then goal pace, but felt really good. I’m going to do 4 more slow miles on the treadmill this afternoon, plus a 4 mile warm-down on the bike, to give me 24 miles in 24 hours, including the walk home Tuesday night. Any working parent will recognize you have to get in those miles when you can!
Thursday—strength work, with a focus on “climbing” exercises: step-ups, lateral lunges, pull-ups and crawls.
Friday—recovery day!
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