I am signed up for the "Rebel Challenge" which consists of a 10k on Saturday the 17th and a Half Marathon on Sunday the 18th. It's been a few years since I've done a back-to-back race. The distances aren't too long for me, but it's the effort level that I'll be putting out for the races that will be challenging. I didn't sign up to 'coast' through these races. I plan on hitting the 10k hard and then hoping to still have some good legs for the Sunday race.
Over the last month, I've been doing some back-to-back longer runs to see how my legs hold up. So far, it looks promising that I can pull off two good races. My only concern is the temperature difference. I am used to running in 20-30 deg temps the last few weeks. The temperature in Anaheim is lows in the upper 40s and highs of low 70s. The highs don't bother me as the race starts at 5:30am. It will be on the cooler side for the start, but slightly warmer than I am used to.
Words of wisdom for the race
Once this race is over, I am looking forward to some shorter runs for a few months before I ramp up for my races this summer. I've been working hard on the trainer for my bike workouts since the weather hasn't been too cooperative for outdoor riding. I've gotten a huge boost from the Sufferfest videos. Danielle has been assigning me some workouts based on the videos. They really are a good tool to help break up the monotony of traditional trainer workouts.
I'm not a fan of watching movies on the trainer (if you are watching movies on the trainer, chances are you are spending too much time on the trainer and not enough focusing on your workout). My longest workout on the trainer to date is 1:40 and it was full of threshold and VO2 work. I love reviewing my data at the end to see if I hit my power goals for each segment. And of course if I repeat a video every week or two, I like to compare my numbers to see if I had a better outcome. It should be interesting to see my progression as we get closer to spring.
