I found out this past week that the Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug 50 Mile Ultra was cancelled because of Connecticut’s restrictions on gatherings over 50 people. So it looks like I’ll be running my 50 miler solo on April 26th.
Training has been going pretty well so far, so I’m a little disappointed there isn’t an official event to compete in, but now my sights are even more focused on the Yeti 100 Mile race in September. Hopefully the coronavirus outlook will be better at that point and the race can still happen.
My biggest surprise so far since I started upping my mileage in mid-January is how much faster I run with music. I’ve been listening to a friend’s running playlists on Spotify, which are all upbeat, dance remixes, and have shaved 30 seconds to a minute off of my mile times. I am a morning runner, and have typically felt stiff and sluggish when I run in the morning, but recently I’ve finished a few seven to ten mile runs feeling great and maintaining a low-seven minute mile pace, which is definitely out of the ordinary for me. On top of the music, I have also stopped drinking caffeine, which has made me sleep a bit better, so that probably is playing a role as well. Regardless of the reason, I’m pretty happy about the results so far.
Long runs have also been going well – I ran for almost four hours last Saturday and felt like I still had something left in the tank, which is probably right where I want to be with about a month and a half left before the 50. I have done zero trail running, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be ideal, but since I most likely will be running it on pavement anyway, it might make sense to do all my training on the road as well.
I still can’t get enough of distance running in New York – every single run is unique and the landmarks are spectacular.
