snow and sun

I think the same thing happened yesterday or Saturday: sun snow. Like sun showers but with snow. It was very pretty.

The dog and I timed our run well. I slept in until 8, lol, then did the morning yoga, ate something and got us pulled together. It was cloudy and snowing when we set out, and then the sun came out and the snow gradually diminished. The clouds came back, but it's been on-off since then. At least it was looking pretty lovely when we went out, plus the fresh snow was easier on his paws.

We jogged 5.7 miles, then I did another 1/4 on the fitWalk--I'm not sure if it's because of the incline, or the counter's off, but that took me nearly six minutes! I was walking, briskly (for me, lol), but at that incline it's pretty much the same pace as jogging. Still, I want to try jacking it up a little.

I'm going to have to get used to walking on an incline because the ultra I'm keen on will have a lot of uphills, and it's best that I walk up those. I have plans to throw in some stairs and steep uphills and downhills during runs here--there aren't many options, but there are a few once the paths by the river open, and there are always bridges at least. I think using the machine at least a few times a week will help too. I'll start with 1/4 of a mile and work my way up, week by week, to 2-3 miles. It's a bit different using it for its intended purpose so I didn't want to push it too much. 2-3 miles will set me up well for the uphills on the course. The best time for this would be on core exercise days (such as today--I also did three sets of everything). I'm kind of really soft with uphills and downhills, but have done a fair bit in the past, such as running up/down the Grand Canyon and a bunch of the 'mountains' in Korea...hopefully a bit of that is still in my bones.

And I'll take the stairs more at work. I spend most of the eight hours on my feet--more x-training right there!

I also talked about this ultra with my run club coach--he says that I wouldn't have to do too much differently training-wise, just more back-to-back long runs, and then hiking or snowshoeing before some long runs, to get more time on my feet in big chunks. He also said that there wasn't much point to my doing a 50K, lol...best jump in. This is what I'm feeling, too. The 50K would be tough but it's still kind of hard to get jazzed up about, and it's still short enough that I would have some pace expectations. The 50 mile might be too tough, but I've decided that even if I make the 39ish mile cutoff, I'll be happy. If I finish the whole thing, I'll be estatic. It's too gonzo to have any preconceptions of pace. This isn't going to be about numbers--success will be more absolute. Just finishing the thing! :) And, meanwhile, it's getting me excited about training again.

Actually, I haven't signed up yet--registration apparently opens in fifteen or so minutes so I still have time to wimp out. LOL