Tapering for the Bartlett Ultra

Map of where the Bartlett Ultra will be held.

I decided to post a little update on the progress of my training for the Bartlett Ultra. My training has been going as well as it could due to the few workouts that were missed because of my dental problems I have been having.

I wish I could say I slowly built up my mileage this summer but I missed a few workouts and I wasn’t able to use the same schedule as I did last year for this race. The two things that are different this year are the walk to a run/walk and building up my miles faster in fewer weeks.

I was at the point where I wasn’t quite at the right mileage and I had to make up for some lost weeks. I started at 18 miles and then went to 20, 22, and then the last long one of 25 miles. I wasn’t have any problems on the first 3 weeks but on the last one I did the 25 miles on the actual race course and my knees started to give me problems at mile 16 and I decided to keep going but went from a run/walk to a mostly walk with a little running. I got the miles done but my ITB is now acting up some and I have to run with the knee straps. Plus I was still going to the boot camp classes 2-3 times a week and I have decided that I don’t think I need to do those until my knees are much better.

I think if I had dropped down to 16 miles and then did the 25 miles I might not have had the problems I did since it was going well. If I had done it that way, I would only have a two week taper instead of the three.

This week’s 16 miler I decided to walk instead of run/walk for two reasons: need to work on walking faster and to give the running muscles a break and use the walking muscles. Yes there are different muscles for the two different work outs. Running – ITB, knees, walking – hips, at least, for me.

I am hoping that now I am tapering that my ITB will get better with the icing, stretching and rolling I am doing. Plus I plan on cutting out the boot camp workouts and doing something at home that doesn’t cause me to irritate my knees any more than I need to. My goal now is to get to the starting line injury free or at least enough to be able to complete the race. 

For the next three weeks, I plan on doing 14 miles, 6 miles and then the race.