A collection of race reports and other writings of and about ultrarunning, trail running, and other running related topics with a strong focus on the East Coast. The "Beast Coast" has a strong trail running community and some amazing events; this blog aims to showcase some of that.
Monthly mileage check in! A little over 335 miles for me in April, just slightly less than March (350) so I did not follow my regular monthly mileage volume build up to prepare for a big backyard race. The reason for that is that I decided to run a 48 hour race in March, Dogwood Ultramarathons, where I accumulated many more miles than I would have during my normal training routine. Since I am a big believer in the value of consistency, I feel like my 335 miles in April made for a better training block than my 350 miles in March where nearly half of those miles were run in a single weekend. This year’s April training block was a slight increase over last year’s April training (322 miles) leading up to Capital Backyard Ultra. Hopefully that means I am as well prepared this year as I was last year. Physically, I feel like I am. Mentally, I feel ready to test my limits again. I don’t know how far I’ll run, who will run with me, or what challenges I’ll face along the way, but that is all part of the fun and adds to the sense of adventure that the backyard format brings. As of now, my at large spot on Team USA for the international backyard team competition is probably pretty safe. But if it is going to be threatened, it will probably happen at Capital which is one of my main motivations for running Capital again this year. That and the fact that I just think it is a great race with a great vibe and amazing support for the runners. I’m not saying that it will happen, but I’d love to be able to better my backyard PR at Capital this year!
