AFT dreamin’ – part 2.

Back in early 2019, I got this idea that I wanted to do the entire 42-mile Allegheny Front Trail by foot in one day. I covered 20 miles of it on a cold day that February, a President’s Day adventure on a bit of a whim. The spark was ignited. But shortly thereafter, my right hamstring decided that it did not like running (actually, it had decided that several months earlier but I ignored it – not smart!) — and it was years until I could run more than a few miles with any regularity without my hamstring flaring up.

Then cancer happened, and running during chemo just hurt. I tried a couple really short ones before deciding that I would just stick to biking and walking, feeling like running would do more harm than good. As it turns out, the 6+ month complete break from running was exactly what my hamstring needed to fully heal and reset. I cautiously returned in fall 2022, a couple months after I’d finished chemo — and felt better on my feet than I had in years. I began to build a base again. I began to dream about doing longer runs. In summer 2023, I found a regular running buddy with a similar style and pace who is up for just about anything, and that winter, I did my first double digit runs since 2019.

I don’t remember when I decided it was time to try for the AFT again. I originally thought about doing it in spring 2024, but didn’t truly commit to the training months in advance like I needed to. At some point this year, I told myself I was going to make it happen in spring 2025.

Why spring? I naturally don’t want to run as much in the summer and there are some pretty remote sections of the AFT that get overgrown pretty fast once May hits. I decided that April would be the perfect time for an attempt — days long enough that I could theoretically get it all done in daylight (my goal is 12 hours or less) and hopefully temperatures that would be not bitterly cold but also not hot. My running buddy Barb was interested in doing it with me, and together we committed to a mid-April 2025 attempt. Another fortuitous alignment with timing was that our high-energy heeler puppy, Moon, was able to start running with me when she turned one year old in December, just in time for me to start training in earnest.

I put together a loose plan for myself nearly 6 months out. After my hamstring woes, I am pretty paranoid about doing too much too soon, and wanted to make sure I was building weekly mileage and long runs slowly. I scoured the internet for a variety of 50-mile and 50k trail run training plans and combined elements from a few different ones to create something that I thought would work for me.

Because I have no intentions of giving up riding my bike, I’m doing less running volume than most plans call for. I aim to run three days a week, with one of those typically being a “long run.” I’m still riding my bike 8-10 hours per week, and in order to fit it all in, most weeks there is one day per week where I’ll do both a ride and easy run. I also am doing strength training regularly (I’ve stuck with at least once a week, though my goal is two days per week) for the first time ever, which I hope will help prevent injury. I’m trying to be better about having one rest day per week (rest day for me = just a walk/hike and some yoga), but that’s the hardest part.

I exclusively run on trail with some gravel road connectors — but almost never on pavement. Both my brain and body prefer it that way. While I am “training,” the purpose of each run is not solely to make me fitter. It is about adventure, exploration, and enjoyment as much as anything. I love mapping out new routes to run and figuring out how to link trails together so that they flow, creating a balance of technical sections, climbs, and runnable miles.

Before every long run I’m still always a little nervous. And then, with its completion, comes a unique sense of accomplishment. It’s a feeling I don’t get as much with biking, perhaps because I have higher expectations of myself as a cyclist. Going out and riding my bike for 4 or 5 hours is routine, but running for that long still feels novel. I can’t believe that in three months I’m going to be attempting an ultramarathon. It’s pretty daunting and I’m still a little skeptical that I can do it, but I’m just trying to take things one week and one run at a time.

I am also trying to find a balance between commitment to my goal and staying flexible. We’ve had a pretty snowy winter so far, so I’m behind where I had intended to be with both my weekly and individual long run mileage because running in the snow is significantly harder. And with more snow on the way, I may substitute some running for cross-country skiing. I keep telling myself I would rather go into the AFT attempt a little undertrained than overtrained, injured, or burnt out, because the point of all this is to just have fun.