Pre-Training Phase I complete

 

View from this morning's run. How could you not be grateful when seeing this?

Since committing to the Cowboy 200 last September, I have been in Phase I of "pre-training".  This has been a base building phase with strength work added in for fun.  Actually, not for fun - I don't love doing it, but I sure do like the way it makes me feel. 

Anyway, 400 miles later, and I am ready to roll into Phase II of pre-training which will be from Jan 1 - April 15th.  There is an estimated 527 miles to run in this phase and countless hours of weights, thousands of squats and lunges.... 

Then I will be ready for actual training - or the final 20 weeks until the Cowboy 200.  (Estimated mileage in this final phase - over 1,200).

So far so good.  I am tracking my recovery and actually paying attention to what the numbers are telling me and adjusting accordingly, and lo and behold, it is working!  Go figure - if you pay attention and try to do things the smart way, you stay healthy. Huh.  Should have paid more attention to that earlier in my running career.

Meeting with my crew and pacers in January to start planning trip logistics. I have made hotel reservations at the start and finish line, and I am starting to loosely sketch out what my race goals. I always have an "A, B and C" goal for each race and this one will be no different.  The main difference here is that it is the first time at this distance, and really all of my race goals are being pulled out of thin air.  Once I get to my 70+ mile weeks, I should have a better idea.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and as always...

Happy Running! 

Edie