Spring Training 2013

Five years ago, I volunteered to work a relay station at a trail race called Dances With Dirt Gnawbone.  I had been running for a year and I was intrigued by the idea of trail running.  I was intimidated though and I had no idea how to get started.   I thought volunteering would be a good risk-free way to scope out this activity.  My job was to take down bib numbers as the runners came through, an easy job.  Watching the enthusiasm of the relay runners coming into my exchange station only fueled my desire to be a part of this event someday.  The only thing holding me back was that I was afraid I’d get lost if I ran the course alone.   Last year (2012), my friend and I decided to run the half marathon there together and we had an absolute blast.  It was so much fun that before the race had ended, we’d decided that we’d run the 50k in 2013.  Why?  Because we wanted to make the fun last longer!

As January rolled around, I realized that I had no idea how to train for a 50k but I knew that I needed to buckle down if I was going to do this.  I was terrified, excited, and extremely motivated.  In January, I happened to listen to a Trail Runner Nation podcast about Metabolic Efficiency Training and I was hooked.  This sounded like a method that could work for me!   I completely revamped my nutrition as well as my training methods.   In simple terms, MET is a combination of training at a low heart rate plus the elimination of simple sugars and grains from the diet. The idea is that you train your body to burn fat instead of sugar for the long runs.  This appealed to me on a few levels.  I hoped that it would help me to lose some weight, be better fueled on long runs, and it also gave me some guidelines on pacing.  What I didn’t realize was how good it would make me feel, even when not running.  Recovery from long runs was very quick, my energy level was better, and I felt like my running had taken on a whole new direction.  As luck would have it, my friends training for the 50k had adopted the same training regimen.

In the early weeks of heart rate (HR) training, it was frustrating.  I was shuffling in order to keep that darned HR monitor from going off.  Walkers were passing me.  Literally.  I imagine that I looked ridiculous but I’d been told to expect this and to just be patient.  So I shuffled.   For the first few weeks, I stuck to flat roads or even the indoor track on the nasty days.  Just when I thought I was starting to see improvement, I transitioned back to the trail.  I had to walk every hill.   Every single hill.   I couldn’t take 3 steps on an uphill grade without hearing my HR alarm go off.  So I walked.  And walked.  Sometimes I thought I might have to take a nap right there on the trail to get my HR down, it was that bad.  Insanely frustrating and I admit, I wondered if this was going to work after all.

I think it took about 2 months before I realized things were getting better.  Not in a big way, but I noticed that I’d get farther up a hill before I’d have to walk.  I also noticed that I could feel the change in my legs when I crossed that HR threshold.   I was getting more in tune with my pacing and my body.  As the spring went on, my pace was dropping and the weight was coming off seemingly without effort.  That only served to fuel my motivation and commitment to the training.  As my miles were ramping up, I realized that I wasn’t experiencing the fatigue that had been part of marathon training in the past.  Yes, I was tired, but I wasn’t popping ibuprofen after every run and I’d finish a long run without needing to take a nap to recover.  I was feeling good.  Not just good,  I was feeling better than I’d felt in years.   Magic beans indeed!  I’m just now getting to the point where my HR pace is in line with my pace from last year, but the effort is completely different.  The pace that last fall had me breathless and unable to carry on a conversation is now almost effortless.  I can’t wait to see where the next few months take me.