Addison Oaks Loop

January 2, 2022 • 3 min read

For a training run for my 50 miler in Marquette I decided to try my hand at a timed loop course. This was a 2.5 mile loop at Addison Oaks and the goal was to complete as many loops in a 6 hour time limit. I thought I’d be able to easily complete 13 loops (about 33 miles) but I ended up one lap short of that. The 30.6 miles took me almost up to the last minute of the 6 hour time limit. The heat and humidity and the lack of long training runs before hand made this super tough.

Things I did well:

I fueled well: I took in about 1000 calories from Tailwind, 800 calories from Huma gels, and 200 calories from Clif Bloks. The 2000 calories spread out over 6 hours would mean about 333 calories per hour which is the upper end of the amount of calories you should take in. I’ve realized though that Clif Bloks are giving me slight stomach cramps so I won’t use those in the future. I also need to find a couple more fuel sources besides just Tailwind and Huma gels.
I had been running lots of hills and while the course wasn’t that hilly (1900 ft in 30 miles) I think that helped with my ability to power up the hills.
While not part of the race, afterwards I feel like I recovered pretty quickly. My legs felt trashed after the race but a couple days after my legs felt like I hadn’t even run a race. Not sure if it was because I was running slower or because I was eating more during/after the race, but I’m glad about my quick recovery!
I was able to pull out of some low points in the middle of the race when I just wanted to give up.

Things I need to work on:

I died in the heat and humidity. My vest was soaked through in a couple hours and I ended up ditching it for a handheld but even with that I struggled. I went out going 10 and 9 minute miles but then tanked once the humidity got to me. I should have gone out slower or tried to find ways cool myself down a bit like drinking cold water.
My longest training run in the months before this race was only 14 miles so that obviously made this super tough and made me start to struggle very early on.
I need to bring many more calories and many more options since I ran out of calories. I need to just bring electrolytes when I want to take in more water without more calories when it is so hot out. Also I need to work on taking in real food since I didn’t do that during my race. Taking in calories that are provided at the aid station would also be helpful
As always I need to work on my mental strength.

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FKT Attempt

January 2, 2022 • 6 min read

With the lack of races happening this year my coach suggested trying my hand at an FKT attempt. The Waterloo-Pinckney trails is about 36 miles that starts on one end of Waterloo Recreation and ends in Pinckney Recreation. I was about 6 weeks out from my 50K that was in Pinckney Recreation. I had recovered for a couple weeks, had a couple weeks of workouts and then tapered before the attempt. I had been dealing with some on and off right hamstring (or IT band?) soreness ever since the race but it seemed to calm down right before the attempt on Saturday Dec 5th 2020.
I had been running in an REI pack but had just picked up the Salomon ADV Skin 8 around Black Friday. While I shouldn’t have done anything new, without ever trying this pack on a run I decided to use it for the FKT attempt. Surprisingly it ended up working great and I’m glad I made the last minute decision to use it. In my pack I had the following: headlamp, first aid kit, toilet paper, pepper spray, backup charger, phone charger, headphones, hot hands, and an extra pair of socks. I also had about 3.5 liters of water with Tailwind, 3 sleeves of Clif blocks, 6 Huma gels, a couple handfuls of pretzels, and some dates. I ended up consuming all of the Huma gels, 1.5 of the Clif block sleeves, a handful of pretzels, and 2.5 liters of water. In total I took in about 1500 calories. I never had any stomach issues but I definitely should have taken in more calories because I did feel hungry about 5 hours in.

How it all started

January 29, 2022 • 2 min read

I didn’t grow up playing sports and it wasn’t until a couple years ago that I would have even used the title athlete to describe myself. I started running when I was a teenager in my spare time, on a treadmill, by myself. I mostly did it to get in shape but along the way I fell in love with it. Fast forward about a decade and I had succumbed to two femoral fractures, one of which led to surgery and hardware in my leg. It was after my second injury that I decided to train for a trail marathon after never racing before in my life. I figured it was finally time to become part of the running community and hopefully following a training plan would allow me to properly recover and have purpose rather than just mindlessly running myself into the ground. It was also around this time that I found friends that pulled me into the climbing, mountain biking, hiking, and outdoor community. In 2019 I ran my first marathon and in 2020 I signed up for my first 50K in hopes of calling myself an ultra-runner. I was ecstatic to place 3rd in my first ultra-marathon and decided to keep pushing forward to see what I could do. I recently completed my first 50 miler a couple months ago and I feel like I’m just getting started.

Victoria Zakrzewski

A Run Through The Woods