Badwater Training and Race Schedule 2011

My training for the Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 is going very well so far. Even though I much prefer running outside, the long and very cold winter in Toronto made me choose the treadmill a lot more frequently than I normally do during the winter months. Running for hours on the treadmill next to the fireplace was still way more enjoyable than running in the freezing cold on icy roads or trails. All in all I kept increasing my weekly mileage and March was my best month ever – 402 miles!

My training schedule till Badwater looks something like this (except for race weeks):

Monday: 5 – 10 miles easy recovery run
Tuesday: morning 10 – 15 miles; evening 5 – 10 miles
Wednesday: 10 – 15 miles hill repeats, intervals or tempo run
Thursday: morning 5 – 10 miles, evening 10 – 15 miles
Friday: off
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long run

I’m also doing weights 4 – 5 times a week, and will add heat training (sauna sessions) the last two months before the race in July. In addition, I’m planning to do some races before and after the Badwater Ultramarathon.

My tentative race schedule for 2011 is:

April 23: Jerseyville 100
April 30: Pick your Poison 50k
May 28: Sulphur Springs 100
June 11: Laurel Highlands 77 miles or Kingston 6 hour
June 18: Niagara 50k
July 11: Badwater Ultramarathon
Aug 6: Dirty Girls 6 hour or 12 hour
Aug 20: Summer Beast of Burden 100
Sep 10: Haliburton Forest 100
Sep 24: Ottawa 24h
Oct 8: Oil Creek 100

I will be a very busy runner this year and hopefully it will be another great year of running with Badwater as my highlight again!