I completed the Fort Ebey Kettles Trail Run – full marathon – on February 22. My last attempt at a trail marathon or ultra was in 2016; I spent much of 2017 and 2018 battling various foot/ankle injuries and focused mainly on triathlon in 2019, so I wasn’t really out on the trails as much. I trained using the 80/20 Running plan, which is 80% low intensity and 20% high (my focus was heart rate instead of pace because it’s hard to hit goal paces on the trails). I spent four months out on the course, learning it until I almost knew every hill and every turn. I felt really strong going into race day. We had to be through the half within 3:30 (the full is two loops of the half course) so I wanted to make sure I finished the first half in no more than 3:10. I surprised myself by making it in 2:53, which was a half PR on that course. 🙂 I struggled a bit on the second loop, but breaking my own rule of “no music on the trails” helped a lot. I was even dancing at one point. 🙂 The course is beautiful, but also challenging in that it’s a constant series of short rollers. The total elevation gain is over 5,000′, even without big climbs! I was thrilled to finish in 6:07, and feel really good about my training and race effort. 

 

Coming up next for me is the Chuckanut 50K* (*hopefully not postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19), and my big goal this year is the Battle Point Endurance Run, which is a 12-hour run in which I hope to (finally) get to 50 miles. 🙂