I can’t blame my entrance into a 100 miler on a moment of pure insanity. In fact, there were many long as hell moments involved, as Ultrasignup crashed under the sheer number of people anxious to get into the Yeti 100. It took more than 20 minutes of me screaming insults at my computer, the internet, and Ultrasignup itself before I got the magic confirmation.

This will be my third year of running ultra distances and my first attempt at going for a belt buckle after withdrawing from Devil Dog 100 last year due to my foot injury. (AKA my plantar plate is a whiney little beyotch). Not counting all the walking to and from Marine Corps Marathon (well over 32 miles), I mostly did “normal” distances with one 50K, a 40 mile running adventure, and then race sweeping for the first 50K of a 100K back in May. This was peppered with a trail Ragnar, Road Ragnar, a trail 1/2 marathon, a 5K, and pacing for a friend at Devil Dog. Compared to 2016 when I wanted to run a 50K and lost my damn mind and did 7 ultras and finished up with a 100K, I’m feeling a little out of shape and wanted to start working on my base without blowing out my body again.

I hate training plans. They make me anxious and every time I don’t hit “mileage” I start to doubt all my life’s decisions and so I’m throwing caution to the wind and winging it.

Brie’s Non Training plan:

1. Lots of really hard mileage and time on feet. I’m really lucky to live near some amazing sections of trail and lots of options for ass kicking gains. Unfortunately,  a lot of these sections are rocky as hell. So my plan is to get more comfortable on technical trail, with lots of gains, and time on feet. Mileage is secondary. I may hit 20 on a long day or I may hit 14 if there is ice or slow conditions. Time on feet and elevation make it a more challenging workout for me without the continuous pounding that my feet take on road.

   

2. Don’t do over 10 on the road at a time.  My toe has good days and bad days and I’m reasonably sure it won’t ever feel “great” until after my bunions are fixed. Since road running makes it the most grumpy…yeah I’m just not going to do a lot of it.
3. Reverse PR my 100K. Yeah baby, going for even slower. Instead of signing up for a 100K, I signed up for a 24 hour race with the intention of stretching that bad boy out for as long as I can for time on feet. I reserve the right to go over 100K, but 62 miles is the lowest number I can stop for. It will be 5 months before my race, so if this goes horribly I have time to jump on a plan if needed.
4. Train on harder terrain than my goal races. I move like a drunk bear on technical trail. My theory is by training on harder, more technical trail I’ll be able to glide on a flat trail. 5 bucks says that I still fall on my ass.
5. Cross train with burpees and pushups and core and Barre, but not yoga…never yoga. I tried people…yoga and I are not friends.
6. Don’t take it all too seriously. I’m not elite. I’m doing this for my deranged sense of fun so may as well enjoy it.