Flat On My Face: Preparing For 50K

Last year was a pretty kick ass year for my fitness. I lifted heavier than ever – I dead lifted over 300 pounds! I nailed my HIIT workouts. I embraced running trails and hills and ran a lot of races, including a couple of tough, hilly marathons at Crater Lake and the Columbia River Gorge. I took some boxing classes to mix things up a bit (and because I often want to hit something after work!). I found a good nutritional balance to give me enough energy for my workouts and running while not causing big weight fluctuations. My doctor told me I was the picture of good health and fitness and to keep doing everything I’d been doing.

This year I’m running my first 50K, a trail race out at Smith Rock. The distance itself doesn't scare me... It's only five miles more than a marathon! The terrain, though, is rocky and dusty trail with a couple of big hill climbs. I need to work on a few things to get ready for this. I think if I ran it right now, I’d fall flat on my face. I have a new trainer I’ll be working with on lifting, HIIT and functional skills to help me run strong in this race.

https://gobeyondracing.com/races/smith-rock-ascent/

Even though I'm no stranger to hill running, I need to take it up a notch. The climbs in the race are short and very steep with about 1000 feet of vertical over a mile in the first – and biggest – climb. I’ve already found a couple hills in the area that have similar profiles, so I’m going to work on conquering those over the next couple months.

Smith Rock 50K Elevation Profile

My downhill running has improved tremendously this past year, but the added element of rocky, technical terrain is going to need some attention. I’m going to do more running out in the Gorge to simulate these conditions and do a lot of skills work on my balance. Right now my balance sucks. I need it to be better if I’m going to tackle technical downhills with any confidence. I’ll be working on single leg dead lifts and squats, bounding, balance board exercises, etc. to get my balance and my stabilizers where they need to be.

I’ve struggled with strained calves the past few months. My chiropractor tells me I have two contributing factors: lack of gluteal engagement and inflexibility in my feet. Glute strengthening and activation exercises are going to be important to overcoming this problem. I’m also going to have to keep my feet rolled out with a ball and make sure I’m getting back to a forefoot strike when I’m running. I’ve been running pretty flat footed and that’s not helpful for foot flexibility.

I put a lot of thought last year into pre-marathon nutrition and figured out that I needed to start loading up calories about four days beforehand. I can extend that to the longer distance and time on my feet for the 50K, but I still need to work on fueling during the race. My goal is to get to about 250 calories an hour while running. I’m not sure my stomach is going to like that, but that’s what the next 18 weeks of training are for!

Finally, I have to get better about maintenance. I’m going to have my trainer keep after me about this. I know that I have a lot less knee pain when I keep my IT bands and quads rolled out well. My hips and glutes feel a lot better when I roll them on a ball regularly. Plus I know I need to stretch more. A few weeks ago, I couldn’t even touch my toes! My chiropractor has helped me fix that, but I need to keep doing stretches and exercises to keep it up. I’m too old now to ignore maintenance!