Ragnar Race Week!

Ragnar South Beach Race Week is finally here!!!

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In t-minus 5 days team Run Away With Me will be running south from Melbourne Beach to South Beach for my final Ragnar of 2017!

I wanted to do more Ragnar events this year but money has been tight and my schedule has been hectic. Last year, when I was planning for my 2017 running goals, I wanted to complete 2 road and 2 trail events this year. But unfortunately time and money did not allow for that. It sucks when your bank account and your schedule don't comply with your running/racing expectations doesn't it? Next year I'm hoping that I'll be able to do at least 3 Ragnar relays (fingers crossed).

But I don't have to worry about that this week because race week is finally here and my team is ready! Well... we're mostly ready. There are still a few logistics that need to be worked out, but it's mainly minor stuff so I'm not too worried. What's most important is that we are excited to start a weekend full of fun and fatigue! 

Training for Ragnar has not been the greatest but I also wanted to make sure I had a slow return to running after the Berlin Marathon. So I tried to stick to a "no more than 4 runs a week" plan for October, and then for November I started with 3 runs but I'll resume my 4 runs/week schedule this week (hopefully tomorrow)...

Even with my slow build up and the decreases in temperature, I'm still battling blisters :( I even tried using an excessive amount of anti-blister powder (as evidenced by my shoes after my run yesterday)...

But that didn't work so I'm still on the hunt for effective blister prevention methods (share your tips please!) I definitely need to get them under control before Pittsburgh marathon training starts next month. I've planned for an earlier start because Christmas (and all the associated holiday activities and travel) may throw my training schedule off a bit. So I decided to build some "cut-back" weeks into the plan to accommodate that. But, if all goes well with my mileage build-up, there shouldn't be any negative effects on my training as a result of the adjustments I've had to make. In the meantime, I'm just going to focus on one run at a time and, during my Ragnar weekend, one leg at a time :)

How do you adjust your training schedule during the holidays?

What are your running/racing plans this week?

If you've run Ragnar before, what's your #1 piece of advice for all the newbies on my team?