It's a Big Week! Training Update for Green Jewel & Marathon Training

It's a new month, a new week - and a big week at that! On Saturday I'll be running my first 50K ultra-distance race. I opted for the Green Jewel 50K because it is a road race and I want to see what I can do in preparation for my marathons coming up - Toledo and Cleveland! The main goal of course it to finish the race healthy and in one piece but I of course have some time goals in mind too. I will keep those between myself and my coach for now so as not to put any unnecessary pressure on myself.

This weekend was a pretty easy training weekend as compared to weeks past. Saturday I had a 13 mile run to do as 8 miles @ 9:00, 3 @ 8:30 and 2 @ 8:00. I did an extra 1/2 mile cooldown to wind down. Then I had Sunday off! Yes, off! First off day in a while. I guess we need those at times - even if I'm not always a fan of them.

This week my volume is way down. A few shakeout runs, a swim, a bike and it's go time! I looked at my schedule and thought this is weird. I only have to workout once a day for an hour at most. I can't remember what that's like so I am planning on getting my workouts done in the am before work and spending some quality time with my husband Steve in the evenings this week. He too will be running the Green Jewel 50K this Saturday and I'm really excited to see what he can do!

The new kicks! Love them!

I am feeling well and planning to spend the week loading up on good food, green tea, emergen-c and doing lots of recovery techniques to be in the best possible condition for the start line Saturday. No matter what happens, I will finish that race and learn some things along the way that I hope will make me stronger for my spring races. I finally found a great shoe to run the race in - the Saucony Triumph ISO and I made a killer playlist. Just need to finalize the outfit now.

Special thanks to my sponsor Powerbar for fueling countless hours of running over the last few months! I would also like to thank my Challenge Family teammates and all my friends for the support. I also have to thank my husband Steve for being a constant companion and training with me. Thank god we like each other! Finally to my coach Chris Martino of New-Level Coaching, thanks for the guidance and support. I couldn't do it without all of you. It takes a village! And I am excited to see what I can do Saturday! So, nothing to it but to do it now. Wish me luck!!!