UTMB lotto loss

After nearly two weeks off running visiting home in Minnesota I’m back at it. A bit sore but doing ok. Routine in life is falling back in to place which I’m looking forward to. 

As the title of this post says:

I guess I’ll keep chasing it! No Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc for me. I wasn’t expecting it really anyway. So as it stands West Highland Way (WHW) is the “A” race. Just need to sort out that mandatory crew requirement now. 

I was fortunate enough that the wife bought me a pair of Nike Vaporfly Next% shoes. They weren’t a surprise, more of a “do you want those for your birthday” gift.  They’re a very expensive running shoe for marathon racing, $250! Normally shoes are around $120 - $150. It’s proven to increase your time by around 4 percent, really, no joke! Look at any elite race, those pink or green things, yep EVERYONE is racing them. And if their sponsor is different they’ll be spray painted! 

Now I feel obligated to race a marathon. Looking at the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon (people also call it the Stratford Marathon) on April 26. It’s close to home and supposedly flat and fairly fast. It also lines up well with the WHW.

I’ve never focused on a marathon PR. My best so far is 3:00:09 on a hilly course and I believe was a training run for Superior 100. The obvious goal is sub 3 hours, but I think I’m good for sub 2:50 if I train right. So I’m trying to sort out training. In all actuality it could be extremely beneficial for ultras as long as the speed work doesn’t injure me, something I’ll need to keep in check.

On we go.......