Last week’s focus was on resting and recovering from Hotter Than Hell. After running 33 flat miles in the woods in the middle of the night my body appreciated every effort I made to treat it kindly. I grew up playing sports and remember phrases like “Pain is gain”, “Mind over matter” and “Pain is weakness leaving the body”. While it does take a little suffering to make gains (that is ultra running, isn’t it?!) as an impressionable child I took this very literally. To succeed I must push my body and make it listen to me, no matter the cost. No wonder I often ended up injured.

While training for my 100k last year one of my priorities was learning to be better in-tune with my body with running. I gained a lot of insight by doing this and didn’t have any big issues during my training. In starting my 100 mile race training I recommitted to this idea as a priority and Hotter Than Hell, Dusk to Dawn was my first big test of the training season. As I mentioned last week Justin and I toyed with the idea of running until dawn instead of stopping at 32 miles. With 4 to 6 miles to go until we reached 32 miles I knew that it wouldn’t be wise to continue. Justin was excited about the prospect of running until dawn so at first I heard a familiar voice- of- old saying, “Suck it up buttercup!” I reminded myself that my big goal is my 100 mile race in December and quickly informed Justin I was done at 32 before that voice could try to bargain with me! He opted to finish with me as well.

During the week I made sure to sleep and rest a lot (I’m already an 8 hour a night kind of girl). I ran comfortably and slowly on all of my runs. I ate a lot of (mostly) healthy food. By time my 12 miler came around Saturday I felt hungry for a strong run and ready for the upcoming focused block of intense training. That is the benefit of taking a down week seriously! Most importantly, truly honoring my rest and recovery days or weeks keeps me from burning out and losing interest in this sport that gives me so much. Just the other day I was reading about the longevity of most ultra marathoners in the sport hovering around the 7 year mark. While that’s a decent spread I’d love to participate in ultra trail running for as long as I live. Why? Please refer to my previous post on why I love this sport.

Recover well, my friends!