I’ve been so caught up with gear reviews and GranFondo posts, that I haven’t done any training or race updates lately. Well fear not you (couple of) people that read those posts, here I am! The title alludes to the fact that I spent the winter with the comfort of knowing that my big spring race was far away.  That comfort needs to go away now that spring is nearly here, and with it my goal race!

I’m still working up to it – my first 50 miler which is Sulphur Springs in Ancaster at the end of May.  I have had this in my sights since late 2012, and fell into the “its so far away I don’t need to focus yet” routine.  Here I am now, 2 months away from the race, and realizing its time to focus.

What training looks like these days

My training has been decent (In my humble opinon!) but I need to start working on longer duration runs.  I have been sticking to my plan of doing some hill repeats, some faster runs, and mixing in some non-running every week.  My non-running has consisted of a tiny bit of cycling (during brief flashes of spring-like weather), core/leg strength circuits, and most recently Moksha (hot) Yoga.

I have really been enjoying the Moksha Yoga. I have been going once or twice a week for the past month to a great place in St. Catharines, Ontario – Moksha Yoga St. Catharines.  For the unfamiliar, it is basically yoga in a super hot, super humid room.  I see a few benefits in terms of my running (not to mention my mental state).  It forces me to do a good stretching session on my whole body and the heat is great for improving developing flexibility.  It helps with my strength, especially in my core but also my legs. Finally I am assuming that the heat/humidity will provide a bit of an acclimating effect for the summer running season down here which is similarly hot and humid.  The amount of sweat I produce in an hour of these practices is incredible – I almost need to drag my mat/towel to the car afterwards because its so heavy!

I haven’t done any racing so far this year.  I am planning to do a local 20km trail race in mid-April and then the next one will be the 50 miler.  I know I will be doing another 50 mile race in Minnesota in September, but my summer racing plans are up in the air.  Lots of change going on these days, so I’m going take a wait and see approach.

Nice weather hasn’t made its presence felt yet, but I’m still smiling!

What are your plans? How is your training going? Thanks as always for reading what I have to say.  It is coming up on the one year anniversary of runbikerace.com and I am amazed at how much it has grown.  I appreciate every visit to the site, so keep coming back!