Welcome to the first weekly wrap-up of my training and preparation for FURTHER 6 day which begins March 6, 2024. I enjoyed my first week of training and really am looking forward to continue to try and figure out the puzzle that is running for 6 days. That’s the thing, it is a puzzle. Currently, I have spreadsheets and lists and such all trying to figure this thing out. I’m researching and theorizing in a way that I have never done before for an ultra. Running for 6 days is nothing like anything I have ever done. And that makes it exciting. My goal is to make the training and racing of FURTHER the most fun and interesting. I have an amazing opportunity to spend the next (checks countdown app on my phone) 101 days very focused and all in on this one goal. It took me a long time to wrap my head around this challenge but now that I have, I am enjoying the process of unpacking what it will take to make it happy and healthy through all 6 days.
I have never centered my running in my life as much as I am for this race. I have always been afraid to go all in on running or fully commit to a single race because of, well, baggage. What happened with basketball has always been a limiter. The constant fluctuating state of my health also doesn’t help. Also, being a runner for life has always been extremely important for me and I have always been cognizant that intensely pursuing this sport could cause me to burn out on it. And I want to love it forever. I want to be balanced. I want running to be a part of my life. Not all of my life. But I also have an incredible opportunity with this project and with lululemon to go all in on something and so I want to explore this finite opportunity. For me, being present with this opportunity and focused on doing all I can feels good. I am trusting and counting on myself.
This week has been a good kick off to my training and slowly introduced my body to some of the stimulus that we will be increasing over the coming weeks. In the past 7 days, I have done over 100 miles, with doubles most days, but those doubles were split between some walking and some running. With the demands of moving for 6 days, I know my body needs to get use to moving a lot and also, I want it to be adapted to all the various speeds I might need to utilize throughout. I got in 3 strength training sessions, 7 PT/Core sessions and 2 mobility sessions. I definitely need to increase the mobility and yoga, but I am pretty pleased with everything I got in this week. I have definitely increased my commitment to doing all the extras that will keep me healthy and strong. If you are really curious about the day to day, I started doing a daily Vlog post on YouTube. Here are links to all the videos from this week.
Yes, I am not a YouTuber, but I have enjoyed making this videos because it also serves as a way to keep myself accountable. Also, this training is going to include some aspects of training that are very novel and because of the lack of information about racing 6 day races, I want to share what the process looks like. As I’ve said, this is supposed to be fun- sharing the journey in a lighthearted way is fun to me.
So, let me know what you are dying to know about training for 6 days in the comments or simply reply to this if it arrived in your email. Thanks for following along!