Antarctica Training Update

 We are roughly 17-18 weeks (yes it’s a range as the race’s start is subject to weather) away from Antarctica Ice Marathon. I’m planning to do 2 or 3 full marathons + as part of my training including a trail 50k to get used to the foot conditions of running on snow. Right now I’m targeting the Hudson Mohawk in October for my “fast” fall race and that is only 8 weeks away. Today I did a 16 mile training run. 

Folks, it’s hot. It’s very hot. And while I was finishing my run I was thinking:

1. Maybe training in extreme heat is not the best way to train to run in Antarctica 

2. Maybe dressing in the dark isn’t the best choice either 🤦‍♀️

People keep asking how I’m going to train for running in the arctic. 🤔 Being in Kentucky, it’s not the HOTTEST part of the country but we certainly don’t get comparable weather conditions of Antarctic summer (December is summer there) until our coldest parts of the year- typically January. Just like with all races and training, there are things in my control and things that are not. The weather is not one of those things. So here is my plan:

A. Run at the coldest part of the day / week. My oct-Dec long runs, I’ll actually look for the coldest early mornings and run then. I’ll also wear as little as I can tolerate to try and thicken my blood.

B. Lots of lots of miles. The ground we are running on is flattened snow and ice. I’m told it’s very similar to running on wet sand. I don’t have a ton of trails around me (nor the time to get to them) but I do have the ability to put in so many miles that 26 in sub-optimal conditions is easy.

C. Tempo and speed training. No, I’m not planning to run a PR, but similar to the above, the tougher I can get my body, the more doable it will be to run in not great conditions. 

That’s it… that’s all I got. Other than a wing and a prayer, this 👆is essentially my whole plan. Yeah so… wish me luck. 

Oh I forgot the top training strategy!!! Keep this guy around as a reminder that we can work through hard things! If you haven’t met Mavi John, this is him. He’s my youngest and our Neruo-diverse super hero! I’m running 2 hard challenges this winter, including Antarctica, in support of him and all of his neurodiverse friends. Mavi was diagnosed with autism at 2.5 years (more on this in upcoming posts). His biggest challenges have been speech and sensory seeking. He can’t conjugate full sentences but he is resilient and smart and finds ways to communicate and get all of his needs met… which mostly consist of asking for Pizza, ice cream, to swim and to watch tablet. What else does a kid need?! #RunforMavi

That’s it for now. Maybe I’ll stop sweating sometime today. 

-S