22 Miles Of Hill Repeats (kind of!)

Finally..... Great weather for a long run!!!!  We had temps in the low 30's which felt like a heat wave.  Considering we had a weather forecast of snow and rain, this sunny low 30's was fabulous running weather.  Despite a little wind on part of the run, the weather was pretty darn perfect.  The only thing better than Friday's weather would be slightly warmer to wear shorts and tanks, but no complaints here!

Angie and I met between her place and mine and then drove out to the Kettle Moraine Forest.  We parked at the Ice Age Visitor Center in hopes of an open bathroom.  We got ready and set out for a nice run.  We planned on going out 5.5 miles and turning around, then stopping at our car and the visitor center for a bathroom and fuel break and then doing the same in a different direction.  We did have to use mother nature for one bathroom break a few miles in but after our first half, the visitor center was opened and we had a nice little break.  That strategy worked wonders on the mental part of running 22 miles.  The "out" part of the second half seemed the longest, but I think breaking the run up the way we did was an amazing way to conquer the miles!

We stopped here to look for some knock-off purses, but the vendors were still sleeping. . . . .

If you know anything about the Kettles, you know it's pretty much hill after hill.  This was one of the hillier routes we've run, especially this round of training.  Since we have our 50k trail run coming up and we haven't been able to actually get out on the trails, we figured this was the next best thing for training.  22 miles of practically all hill repeats.  We ran ALL over the place.  At one point, I saw this sign and thought. . . if we are just getting into Sheboygan County (where we live!), where the hell were we?

Angie was pretty excited to be running through a few counties. . . she even mustered up the energy for this leg lift!

 

 

Not to be outdone, I did a leg lift too, and almost got a cramp in my hip. . . . this didn't last long!

Shortly after we left Fond Du Lac County, we were close to our "turn around" point, but we were at the top of a hill.  Angie suggested (as I was about to) to just turn around at the top of the hill and not go back down the other side of the hill.  As you know, what goes down, must go up.  So, we cheated the hill and turned around.  We planned it so that we had a little bit of walking recovery at the end before we got back to our car, so this seemed like the logical plan.  BUT . . . . . when we neared the end of the 22 miles, we were on the last 1/4 mile completely UP HILL.  And not just a teeny tiny incline. . . it was a HILL.  And to top that off, I looked at my Garmin as we were almost complete and realized we were within about 45 seconds of finishing under 4 hours.  So, we sprinted the last 20-30 seconds, which doesn't sound long, but the last part of 22 miles is tough to sprint.  We finished with about 10 seconds to spare!  WHEW!

As you can see, it was fairly windy, luckily we had tree cover for much of the run.

Cheers!  Us crazy Mother Runners celebrated with a clank of our chocolate Milk Jugs after a 22 miler!

 

 

I brought along my "stick" to get as much muscle recovery as possible since we had about a 30 minute drive home so we each got a little recovery in and headed home.  Thank goodness for a great runners high, or I would have fallen asleep driving home.  22 miles of hills is exhausting, but that runners high just kept me going!  So exciting!  I even did some Target shopping Friday afternoon.  No wonder I crashed at 8:45 and didn't wake one time until the morning.  What a great workout!

Compression socks are a MUST for me after a long run! 

 

 

Friday's run was a challenge.  I actually felt really good yesterday.  My legs were slightly fatigued, but nothing compared to what I was expecting after a hilly long run.  I was hungry like I normally am post long run, but not terrible.  I can't say I'm ready for another super long run right now, but after a few weeks of recovery and shorter runs, I'll be ready for our next challenge.

Angie and I agreed this was a great way to change up our routes.  We have been running together for over 2 years now so we have done quite a few course repeats.  It's exciting to have some new routes to keep us occupied.  Although, this route takes up much of our day due to driving further, it was worth it on a Friday!

What do you do after a long run to ensure better recovery?  It's foam rolling & compression socks for me! (and usually a good snack!)

Hopefully everybody is getting a lot more "enjoyable" running in now that the weather is getting better!

Happy Running!

~Brooke~

20 and 20

 



As we all know (at least us mid-westerners), this winter has been the toughest in history of the world...... . . well, for as long as I can remember anyway.  Last year Angie started training for our spring marathon a few months before me so she was running all winter and I picked up in March.  Neither of us ran one single mile on the treadmill for our spring marathon.  I didn't even have mine set up last year.  This year, we started earlier since we have a 50k coming up and we have both spent way more time on the treadmill than I ever thought possible.

 

 

It's March and we are still dipping into frigid cold temperatures. . . . . . .

 



Last weekend, Angie and I switched our long run to Sunday due to scheduling conflicts.  It worked out just fine.  The weather was equally as bad every day, so holding off until Sunday was no big deal.  The problem was, we were scheduled for a 20 and the temps were about -15 with the wind chill.  We were going to just "toughen up" and get it in, but when we woke up and saw the temps that cold, we realized that was never going to happen for 20 miles.  Not safe, not fun.  This running stuff is supposed to be enjoyable. . . right?  Not at -15 degrees.  So. . . next best thing?  Treadmills at work, together.  We just set up shop in our fitness center at work and ran 20 miles next to each other. 

TV on mute for something to look at, a few fans & my BRB to make 20 miles possible on the TM.

The most I ran on a treadmill up to this point had been 10. . . . and for Angie it was 7.  I would say 20 miles on a treadmill certainly gave us more mental strength.  Many days it's tough to imagine running 5 miles, let alone 20 on a treadmill.  The treadmills at work stop after 60 minutes (there is a reason for that!  You should NEVER have to run more than an hour on the treadmill!), so we did our run in 60 minute increments.  I just stopped after 6 miles, took my break to refill water and then hopped right back on.  The last round for me was only 2 miles. . . and it was torture.  Angie was done because she came in a bit before me to get a head start. . . . she was worried about not keeping up with me on the treadmill, so she finished quite a bit before me.  I made her tell me any story she could think of when she was done to occupy the time!  It was tough, but we did it!

I took my little buddy on a lunch date the other day. . . . he was people watching here. . . can't say I blame him!

 

 

Yesterday, Angie and I met at her house to get another 20 miler in.  Since we didn't end up getting  20 in the previous weekend and we only ended up finishing 12, we had two 20 milers back to back.  Normally, we run on Saturdays, but since our last run fell on a Sunday and this long run fell on a Friday we had less time to recover.  We also both ran on Thursday which we normally don't do before a long run.  I guess it's great 50k training since we will be really going further and having far more difficult terrain than the treadmill or even road running. 

 

The 20 yesterday were  difficult despite awesome weather (above zero!).  It was 30 degrees out.  We had a few miles in the wind which was uncomfortable, but the rest was pretty awesome.  It was so nice to be able to hydrate.  I drank about 20x more than I have for any run recently because my water and Gatorade never froze!  It really makes me think about how poorly I was hydrated for all of our long runs this winter.

 

This is what happens after a 20 miler, unless I fuel properly throughout the run!

 

 

I will say, I fueled far better yesterday than I did the week prior.  Our run yesterday was more technical, of course because we weren't on a flat treadmill.  The extra effort results in more calories burned, which results in more Runchies!  We both consumed around 600 calories while we ran yesterday, which is a lot!  We burned approximately 1600 calories (rough estimate as I didn't wear my heart rate monitor).  I'm usually have the appetite of a 16 year old boy after a long run, but I did pretty good yesterday.  I had a couple pieces of pizza for lunch and cereal for dinner with no snacking!  (Weird)  --I'm feeling the effects today and having some rebound hunger!  

 

 

 

I hope this is a step in the right direction of better weather.  Hopefully we can start getting some better outdoor running done without 3 layers of clothes, hats, gloves, trax, and hand warmers.  I'm so excited to run outdoors with shorts and a tank on.  Soon .   . . . very soon!

 

Question: What is your favorite post long-run "treat?"  Mine is pizza!  Jacks Natural Risers -Pepperoni. . . . .  I'm drooling thinking of it! :)

 

Enjoy the rising temps. . . . and outdoor running!  I know I will!

 

Happy Running!

~Brooke~