I am just 9 weeks out from my first relay event and my motivation is high to be successful and support my team well. I have put together a detailed plan with pace goals and I wanted to share it with you!
The Race
It is a 200 mile relay with 12 people. I do not yet know my legs and it can be as short as 11 miles or as long as 20 (I know I won’t get that so really as long as maybe 18), spread over 3 runs in 24 hours.
The Pace
I have set a goal of accomplishing a pace of a 10 minute mile for a 10k distance and I have some work to do to get there. I took a good look at my recent runs and found that I am capable of this goal, but some of my runs have been a little more comfortable than they should. I can be really consistent at a 12:30 pace on an easy run and I need to stay at 12:00 or less. I have done some harder runs that are unstructured, but if I want to meet my goals I need to focus.
For the next 8 weeks, here are my pacing goals:
| Slow and Long (or short) | Race Pace | Long Interval | Short Interval |
| 12 min | 10 min | 9:29 min | 8:42 |
I will be signing up for a 10k half way through this plan to get a practice event in and test my pacing progress.
The Plan
I am a little nervous putting this plan out there. I could share gym workouts all day long, but this is my first detailed running plan and it is really different than other plans I have built for myself.
I am typically slow to recover. It is one of the things I need to train with though since it is a 3 run in 24 hour race. I have a 2 run day most weeks and did one of them this week and it went well. The 2 run day’s are really important to this training. The long run and interval training are also really important for me for this event and my goals.
I am letting myself take an extra day of when/if needed. Each week, if I need an extra day off, I will either let go of my strength/yoga workout or one of my easy runs depending on why I feel like I need a day off. For example, if I am sore or have any pain, I will keep that strength/yoga for some prevention and maintenance. If I am just tired I will let go of one of one of my short runs.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | ||
| Week 1 | 16-Apr | Rest | 3 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | 3 | 7 | |
| Week 2 | 23-Apr | Rest | 3 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | 2, 2 | 3 | 10 |
| Week 3 | 30-Apr | Rest | 4 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | 3, 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Week 4 | 7-May | Rest | 4 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | Tempo | 4 | 8, 3 |
| Week 5 | 14-May | Rest | 4 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | Tempo | 4 | 7, 4 |
| Week 6 | 21-May | Rest | 4 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | 2, 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Week 7 | 28-May | Rest | 5 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | 3, 2 | 3 | 12 |
| Week 8 | 4-Jun | Rest | 5 easy | Interval training | strength/yoga | rest | 3 | 5 |
| Week 9 | 11-Jun | Rest | 2 mile at race pace | 3 mile easy | 1 mile tempo repeats | Rest | Epic Relay | Epic Relay |
I just need to learn the extra features on my watch to be more aware of my pace and stay motivated until race day.
I will follow up with progress as I go!
Sarah
Hi Sarah, did you see this article about the Epic Relay? http://www.kgw.com/news/local/runners-seek-refund-after-oregon-relay-is-canceled/442895315
Did you register already for the relay?
Thank you for sharing that article! I was registered and we have been notified about the cancellation. It is very sad. I have been planning a post about the cancellation, but I have my initial reaction on You Tube up now. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT4GvYyV-Lw&t=211s
I own race company called Uberthons here in the Portland area. We saw the article this morning and thought we should give an offer to all those affected by the Epic Relay cancellation. We are putting on a 100k Relay at Champoeg Park in August. We would like to offer you and your teammates a 75% discount to the Oregon 100k Relay, http://www.uberthons.com/oregon100krelay.
Let me know what you think and if you would be interested in this offer. You can send me a personal email at alan@uberthons.com.
That is very generous, thank you! I will pass your offer onto the team. I will be manning a water station at the Monkey Face half that same day, but it looks like a really great event.