Dear Coach,
The proverbial pooh has hit the fan and my 10 percent build up rule is long out of the window. We booked an eight day trip to Kruger Park ages ago not realising it was slap bang in the middle of a serious build up of kilometres for the Karkloof 50-miler.
Not much running can be done in the Park unless the lions are feeling particularly sluggish which only leaves six more weekends for us to get our ultra on. This has resulted in me going from a 32 km week to a 78 km week – so much for build up rules. In the last three days I have racked up 52 km and Brufen has suddenly become my best friend. And lots of yoga stretching.
I am learning lots of stuff though (apart from the delights of Brufen and yoga). I have learnt that the biggest factor when doing the long stuff is to stay comfortable (relatively speaking of course) – this entails keeping the heart rate down by walking whenever I need to so that I feel like I could trot along for days. Slow, steady and strong is my new mantra.
Chow for now Coach – will let you know if I survive the full 78 km in my report back next week.