I’m now less than two weeks out from my next hundred and Eastern States seemed like it was just the other weekend. The five weeks between the two races is my shortest turnaround time to date. I had six weeks between races back in 2019 and seven weeks in 2016. In both of those cases, the second race ended up being the better/stronger performance. I’m not sure if it’s a function of the second race being better suited to my strengths, a case of the best way to train for a hundred is to run a hundred, or some arbitrary twist of fate. Fingers crossed I can go three for three.
The Plan
I should probably throw some quotation marks around those words. There really isn’t much of a plan to get me to the start of Grindstone.
- Recover from Eastern States.
- Don’t do anything stupid.
Number 1 had an interesting wrinkle for me. After the race, my legs felt really good. Like I could walk around not looking like I was on mini-stilts and everything. Then a couple days later my right knee got a little sore. Nothing that kept me from running or impacted my form. It was just a little something. So I kept things even easier than I normally would and slowly it started feeling better and better. But it was a very slow progress and I kept asking myself, “Is it better?” Yeah, I think it’s better. Or maybe it’s about the same? No, definitely a teensy weensy bit better. I think. You know how these things go.
My weekly mileage steadily increased from 13 the first week to 21 miles to 33 this past week. I’ll probably do about 40 miles next week and then 18 miles in the days preceding Grindstone. My longest run will be 8 miles. Everything at a relaxed pace with plenty of walk breaks thrown in for good measure. On top of this, I’ve been walking 25-35 miles per week. These are mostly road miles right at 4mph give or take.
Overall, I feel recovered at this point. My legs and body feel ready for another 100 miler. More importantly though I’m mentally ready for another go at the distance. Already starting to get excited even. How many more days do I have to wait now?