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A brutal but fun Cheddar Gorge Challenge Half Marathon today.

Constant (and largely severe) hills, technical sections but breathtakingly fabulous views.

Training aim was for time on feet and challenging terrain. Got both.

Photo of steep and long steps. Runners can be seen walking up them.

Selfie of Emily grinning next to a sign that reads “Relish Running Races. WE DO THIS NOT BECAUSE IT IS EASY”.

A photo over the Mendip Hills. There is green as far as the eye can see. A reservoir is visible.

Selfie of Emily with a large stoney gorge behind here, lots of trees cover the edges.

Mid-40s, wet, and gloomy—just how Virginia’s winter should be! 30 easy, easy minutes of jogging. Might do it again tomorrow to round out this nice little recovery week. Been focused on base building and have scheduled one more block of it. But slipping into more specific training for spring races is tempting.

#running #ultratraining

Focus was on elevation. While the kilometers are a little short from my target 50, the elevation is good for now.
#UltraTraining #Running

this is a view of my Strava activity summary for all run. we peaked at 56 km at the end of November and then the break happened for six consistent check-ins. the run was minimal or not at all. Right. at January we climbed out of that hole on a steady climb this week was 43.57 km, time: 5H 42m, elevation gain 1,482 m

Absolutely beautiful day! Gorgeous run! It's now chilly enough for wind pants, windbreaker, toque and gloves. But beautiful and sunny!

First week of the last training block of the year done. Seven weeks until the solstice and my solo race. November is usually when I start making plans for next year. I've got a solo trail race planned for June and a long bike trip for August. Anyone else cooking up plans yet?

#GetOutside #TrailRun #TrailRunning #UltraTraining #UltraTrail #SeenOnMyRun #AutumnRunning #Run #Running #SilentSunday #LongRunDone #SundayRunday #UnofficialUltra #SoloRace

A trail in the afternoon sun in November. Deciduous trees are bare, conifers have kept their green coats. The trail is littered with leaves. The sun is low in the sky.

A few pics from last weekend's 4.5 hour run, it was hard going and a sobering reminder that in 6 weeks I'll be doing 4x the distance .... Yikes!

Also, dates filled with peanut butter are my new favourite run snack!

Keeping on keeping on, active recovery week this week so much shorter runs. Still breaking in the new trainers which I'm just taking slowly.

#Running #RunnersOfMastodon #EDSAthletes #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #UltraTraining #Endure24

Photo of Ruth in running gear holding up a date filled with peanut butter and smiling

Photo of a wood with the floor carpeted in bluebells

Taken the plunge, ordered my first pair of #altras ... Tips for transitioning from Brooks Ghost to Altra Torin? I'll of course break them in and rotate with the old ones etc.

I'm much more a mid- to forefoot runner on the treadmill now and my feet are just struggling. I've tried new insoles, the shoes are wide fit and only have 180 miles on them so pretty sure it's not that they are already dead. So giving it a go with a different shoe to see if that makes a difference.

#running #UltraTraining

A fun couple of days on the #Endure24 training plan - 1 hour aerobic endurance run yesterday and 44 minute tempo run late tonight at the gym!

10 weeks until the race when I'm aiming to complete 50 miles in 24 hours and raise a bunch of cash for the lovely peeps at #Breathworks.

Getting very real as Sunday's run is 4 hours long ... Haven't done that long in about 18 months!

https://www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk/fundraisers/ruth-endure24

#ultrarunning #UltraTraining #Running #VeganRunners #ThisGirlCan #EDS #EhlersDanlosSyndrome

Photo of Ruth smiling at the camera on a city street wearing a pink long sleeved top and a running vest, and a green vegan runners sun visor.

Photo of Ruth on a treadmill at the gym smiling at the camera, wearing a pink headband and a dark blue t-shirt.

We have moved beyond science in my PT sessions, and into the realm of witchcraft.

Today as we were fighting this issue I'm having my PT turns to me and asks, "So... What's your view on cupping?" My response, thinking of what both Michael Phelps and Nick Tiller might say: "I'd describe it as pseudo-science, at best, until someone convinces me otherwise."

While my PT laughed and said they agreed, we decided to give it a whirl, with me mostly just fearing how my interval workout later today would go.

Result? No discernable difference... Until I was running on technical trails, at which point all pain *vanished* and was replaced by joy, because moderately technical trail is the best trail. Intervals? Fine, though the joy was replaced by curious numbness. Maybe I was just too worked by how hard a rolling 10 minutes on punchy trails can be. Here's hoping we can move back to science, or at least art, since apparently we do some gait analysis next time.

#trailrunning, #ultratraining

The season of slow slog running is officially here! Heavy snow, very wet, on top of yesterday's freezing rain, make for a meditative run today. Today's recovery run was even slower than yesterday's long run in the freezing rain!
#SeenOnMyRun #GetOutside #TrailRun #TrailRunning #UltraTrail #UltraTraining #Run #WinterRunning

A snowy, tree lined trail. The trail is sloping downhill and around a bend, with foot prints marking the ankle-deep snow. Deciduous trees, every branch coated with snow, hang heavy over the path. The sky is grey.

¡Meta! #ultratraining #ultra #trailrunning

Beauty evening for a run last night!

I am working my way through advanced yoga teacher training and spent a lot of time on asana yesterday. Felt really good to shake out with a run. My hips and pelvis felt really good while running though. I almost always do yoga after my runs, maybe I need to switch it up and do some before! Seven weeks out from #UTHC80 and I have some elevation in my future! Time to climb!

#UltraRunner #UltraTraining #UltraTrail #GetOutside #SummerRunning #TrailRunning #TrailRun #Run #Yoga #DailyYoga #YogaEveryDamnDay #YogaTeacherTraining #AdvancedYogaTeacherTraining #SummerRunning

The setting sun shot from just outside a wire fence encasing a lush green field. The sun is sinking beneath a line of conifers that encircle the far end of the field to the horizon. The mackerel sky heralds the changing weather coming and the hazy orange of the sun indicate distant smoke from forest fires. Lens flare in the foreground of the shot.

A beautiful evening for a run after the thunderstorms and two tornado warnings ended. Everything is finally fresh and green after a pretty dry spring. Felt good to #GetOutside after the two trips to the basement! Hoping everyone is safe today.
#SummerRunning #RunningInOttawa #Greenbelt #Run #Running #UltraTrail #TrailRunning #TrailRun #UltraRunner #UltraTraining #OttawRunners #SummerInOttawa

From the bank of a pond, looking southwest towards the tree covered hills on the opposite bank. The slate grey of the pond reflects the cloudy sky, with a few slivers of blue peeking through. The foreground and the opposite bank are lush and green with plants and trees.

Beautiful day to #GetOutside
#LongRunDone again! Absolutely stunning day! The Humidex stayed pretty constant at around 31 (C) but beautiful breeze! Mostly pavement today. Felt really good! Glad it has cooled off a bit! Much easier to race the mosquitoes and still stay in zone 2!
#DoubleLongRun #UltraTraining #UltraRunner #GetOutside #Zone2 #SummerRunning #Run #RunChat #LongRun

A mid run selfie of a middle aged white woman in a blue ball hat with a cape, sunglasses, a grey long sleeve shirt, black shorts and a neon peach running vest with two water bottles. She is smiling as she runs on a paved multi use pathway, the bright and partly cloudy day reflected in her sun glasses. The wind is blowing the cape of her cap around.

The Dalewood Disaster has concluded. 43km in 30°C heat in 7:38. 4 loops, 4 15-minute stops at the Water Works splash pad to cool down and recover. My nutrition and hydration were dialled in, my gear was right, and the slow pace got Kelly and I through the heat. Incredibly stupid, incredibly fun. #trailrunning #ultratraining #queerswhorun

And shortly after this picture was taken, taper began!
#TaperTime
#SeenOnMyRun #SpringRunning #LongRunDone #UltraRunning #UltraTraining #TrailRunning #GetOutside #SpringInOttawa #OttawaRunners #RunChat #Run #CrabAppleBlossoms #BlueSkies

Close up of crab apple blossoms in deep flamingo pink, with unopened buds in magenta, in bokeh blossoms to the left and green trees to the right along the horizon against a blue spring afternoon late evening sky

#SeenOnMyRun Today was a beautiful run at 10C!! Saw a pair turkey vultures for the first time this year! #SpringIsHere Then I saw this lovely creature twice in a row! And then my first groundhog of the year! Big day today for the #LongRun #LongRunDone #SpringRunning #SlowHills #UltraRunning #Fox #UltraTraining #UltraRunner #Run #Running #RunChat

A red fox trotting by the multi use pathway in the grassy ditch. The fox has a white chest and black stockings. The fox is looking directly at the camera. The fox is walking along the edge of the shadow created by the embankment. The fox's shadow is cast on the golden grassy hill behind

Spring running at its best!

I am counting on tulips in about seven weeks and I'm holding onto that hope for dear life!

A slow cat shuffle in zone two doing loops of a nearby trail, longer shuffle on deck for tomorrow! The spring build is here!

#Spring #SpringRunning #SpringInOttawa #SheliasBrush #Selfie #PostRunSelfie #Run #RunChat #RunningInOttawa #Ottawa #OttawaRunners #UltraTraining #UltraRunner #Snow #TrailRun #SpringUltra #Ultra #GetOutside

Selfie of a middle aged white woman post run. There's snow on her toque, her buff, her hood, and her bright pink jacket. The background is snow covered. She has an amused smile on her face.

Three snow angels left by hunting birds of prey on the snow, the most pronounced with two talon indentations between them, eight indentations in snow forming a fan in the snow on the right, and seven shorter indentations on the left in a fan shape, and two pointing arrow shaped indentations just behind, pattern repeats.

Got to see snow angels on my run today! Trail run on very snowy trails with nordic poles. Windchill -19, I got ice whiskers! Beautiful day to be outside!

#LongRun #LongRunDone #TrailRunning #SnowAngel #Birds #BirdsOfPrey #SeenOnMyRun #Run #GetOutside #UltraRunner #UltraTraining

A single line of footprints along a snow covered trail cresting a hill. Two bare maples stand against the cloudy grey sky, flanking the right side of the trail, the edge of branches flank the left . Four weeks until Sulphur Springs 50km training block kicks off! Double long runs this weekend, felt amazing to #GetOutside Despite the milder weather this winter, still lots of fresh snow to ensure that I get my knees up! #WinterInOttawa #WinterScenery #LongRunDone #GetOutside #TrailRunning #UltraRunning #WinterRunning #Run #RunChat #LongRun #UltraTraining #Ottawa #OttawaRunners