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Emily Rudow

Go Do.

All Posts Under productivity

Productive Training: Using Exercise as a Productivity and Learning Tool

July 6, 2021July 6, 20216 minute readby emilyrudow

My Year In Review and Setting Goals for 2020

January 22, 2020April 20, 20205 minute readby emilyrudow

emilyrudow
200 Mile Training | Week 10 Recap ↟ᨒ As I was wri 200 Mile Training | Week 10 Recap ↟ᨒ As I was writing this recap, I kinda forgot what I did last week 😂 
Week 10 was my recovery post-Chuckanut. I took a few days off running with flexible workouts on the schedule based on how I was feelin’. My coach and I didn’t know what the damage would be post-50k, but I was pleasantly surprised to be feeling quite good…aside from some aggressive sleep-yelling the first night. The ol’ body is holding up well! The highlight last week was definitely hiking the Slhanay trail for the first time with my pal @wild.and.hungry, who lugged up a piece of cake to the summit to celebrate my bday. My heart genuinely could not handle it. Still not feeling ready at all for Tahoe, but that’s how I’ve felt every new distance so far…and it’s worked out. + I still have a few month of training to go! 👍🏼 #200miletraining #hikebc #trailrunner #hikemoreworryless #slhanay
If you told me this time last year how much would If you told me this time last year how much would happen between then and now, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s wild how much can change in just 12 months. I finally broke free from an injury cycle I genuinely thought would never end. I healed from a break-up with some tears, trash TV & lotsa tacos. I got a built-in bestie named Billith🐾. I moved back to Olympic Village. I met an amazing lady. I froze my eggs. My life turned around completely. Today, I’m celebrating 37 the same way I spend most of my days: morning coffee and reading, a walk in nature, tacos, a sweet treat, and time with the two loves of my life. 35 was a bumpy ride. 36 was a wonderful one. I have no idea what kind of ride 37 will be, but here we come anyways! #37yearsyoung #birthday #tacofinoambassador #thisis37
200 Mile Training | Week 9 + Chuckanut 50k Race Re 200 Mile Training | Week 9 + Chuckanut 50k Race Recap ↟ᨒ I knew attempting a 50k at this stage of my training was going to feel like a challenge, and man did it ever…. My week-over-week volume has been intentionally conservative due to my CRPS flares and precariousness of symptoms. My coach and I made the call to play it safe, not risking anything that could jeopardize the bigger goal: Tahoe. Chuckanut is probably one of the easiest 50ks I’ve done terrain-wise, yet felt like one of the hardest because of how undertrained I felt. The ratio of enjoyment to suffering leaned heavily toward suffering, but despite that, I still managed to have some fun. Running along the ridge with those stunning mountain views, briefly crossing paths with my coach @adventuresofjenthar as she flew by, and seeing my good pal @sarahkorp at the finish line (who absolutely crushed it with a PR!), were some of the highlights. After Chuckanut, I felt kinda down. Not so much about my time (I finished in about 6 hours), but how hard it felt physically and mentally. I wasn’t dialled in, and my thoughts about dropping were stronger than normal. I thought to myself that if mentally, I can’t even endure 50k, how the hell am I going to manage 200 miles? In the days that followed, I felt anxious, questioning my abilities to achieve such a huge feat. Races expose where we fall short—where we excel and what needs work. Physically, I got a lot of work to do on rolling hills, climbing, and general conditioning. But my mindset needs work too. Enduring boredom, managing those negative thought loops, and reminding myself why I’m doing this in the first place. Lucky for me, my girlfriend and coach got me out of my head with a post-race pep talk, refocusing me on next steps and getting me excited again. The last 10k of Chuckanut was flat and horrible…but I got it done. It was a solid training day and more importantly, honest feedback. Now, back to work🙃 📸: @tiarebowmanphoto #chuckanut #chuckanut50k #ultratrailrunning #trailrun #ultramarathon
200 Mile Training | Week 8 Recap ↟ᨒ Last week, I 200 Mile Training | Week 8 Recap ↟ᨒ Last week, I rolled my ankle badly. Usually, I jog hobble for a few mins after a little twist, but this one took me out for a good 5 minutes. One minute I’m cruising, the next, I’m weeping in the snow next to my dog who was looking as bewildered as I was. Rarely, do I emerge from a trail unscathed: scratches, bruises, cuts, scrapes, swollen cankles. Last year I found an actual twig in my skin. Ankle rolling is just one of the many self-inflicted injuries that have become commonplace. While I am more injury prone than most, a fall is more likely to happen when I’m rushing, overthinking, overconfident, or have tired legs (and my stride turns to slop). Last week’s culprit was rushing. I was trying to finish as fast as possible to move on to the next part of my day. But this time last year, I was sitting at home sad as hell—almost willing to sell my left hand for a chance to get back out there again. So why rush it? Last week was a (painful) reminder that running is not just another to-do, should or must, and it’s not something to be rushed. Rather, running is something I should always be grateful for because - as I experienced last year - can be taken away in an instant. #200miletraining #runvancouver #trailrun #trailrunninglife #trailrunner
200 Mile Training | Week 7 Recap ↟ᨒ Had a fun wee 200 Mile Training | Week 7 Recap ↟ᨒ Had a fun week: increased load (safely), spent lots of time outdoors, and played a bit of pick-up puck. Training for months on end can get boring and repetitive. When all your focus is on running, burnout ain’t far behind. To me, cross-training isn’t just about diversifying the exercise you do to reduce risk of injury or improve performance. It’s about adding spontaneity in other areas of life to keep things fun and interesting—a prerequisite for perseverance. #200miles #ultratraining #trailrunner #trailrunning #crosstraining
200 Mile Training | Week 6 Recap ↟ᨒ I still have 200 Mile Training | Week 6 Recap ↟ᨒ I still have CRPS symptoms, and I suspect they’ll stick around for a while, so I'm working with what I got because I don't really have another choice. When I feel my best, I tend to squeeze in more and more, believing performance is a derivative of addition— more miles, more volume. But when constraints are imposed, I’m forced to be choosy with where I spend my steps. Constraints enforce a kind of creativity, demanding discernment. What makes a haiku so beautiful is its limitation. In traditional Japanese form, it captures a fleeting moment in time, often rooted in nature or the shifting seasons—in a single vertical line with 5-7-5 syllables. Brevity becomes power. Physical constraints, whether in training or daily life, can offer something similar. We can resist, wishing things were different, or we can accept them, stay open, and look for possibilities we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. There aren’t many big week-over-week running increases right now. But I can still walk. So I’ve spent more time on slow, easy walks with my girlfriend—time we likely wouldn’t have had together otherwise. I’ve been reading more, practicing deeper focus, and resisting the constant need to check something. In endurance, we have to withstand long periods of boredom, which many of us dread. Mental training is often the hardest battle in a long effort. To build that kind of endurance, we gotta learn to endure boredom. Leaving my phone at home on walks and limiting myself to only 10-15 minutes of social media per day, are both small constraints that made a huge impact on my well being. In the past, being in this sate would have triggered full-blown panic, but I feel surprisingly calm and accepting. Because no matter the constraints, there are always options, even if that means much busting out the ol’ aqua jogging belt again. #200miles #trailrunninglife #trailrunner #trailrunning #ultramarathon
200 Mile Training | Week 5 Recap ↟ᨒ I’m still dea 200 Mile Training | Week 5 Recap ↟ᨒ I’m still dealing with some CRPS symptoms but they’ve gotten significantly better (thankfully). The goal this week was to increase volume without irritating symptoms too much, and avoid pushing when I shouldn’t be (which is always harder in practice). I like to think I’m getting a little better at navigating early warning signs, but sometimes symptoms show after-the-fact, and feel out of my control (which sucks). This week, my coach and I were spacing out our runs/not pushing for back-to-back days. We included a bit of light hiking in the mix, and built additional load with walking. My first 50k training race is in 3.5 weeks and I’m not feeling ready at all lol, but we’ll see how the next few weeks go! One of the highlights of the week was poppin' in to @tacofinolovesyou after a relaxing trail run in one of my favourite places ever (Squamish) to pound back a few of their insane yam tacos🤤🌮 5 weeks down, 15 more to go 🤙🏼 #200miletraining #trailrunninglife #trailrunner #ultrarunners #tacofino
200 Mile Training | Week 4 Recap ↟ᨒ Good news! Af 200 Mile Training | Week 4 Recap ↟ᨒ Good news! After taking a week off running, my symptoms began to resolve and I was back at it (conservatively) on Friday! My flare was very triggering mentally and brought back all the horrible memories from 2024. But instead of defaulting to full-blown anxiety, I accepted where I was at, was honest with my coach, and turned my focus to recovery mode. CRPS can be triggered by stress, so reassuring myself that I’m safe, and trying to stay as calm as possible, is essential for recovery. My girlfriend surprised me with an overnight trip to the Scandinave Spa on Monday, which was perfect timing. I took a few days off work to relax and recharge in beautiful Whistler. Light walking in the trails, a nice dinner out, and a slow morning with coffee in bed & a fireplace roarin' brought my anxiety from a 10 to a 3, and with each passing day, my symptoms began to dissolve. I’d bet money that most of us runners get mild anxiety when we feel a niggle or a few days of mild pain —injury cycles are literally the worst and don’t just affect our sport, but our entire lives. Fitness for many of us is a tool that’s often vital for our mental health. While this may not necessarily apply to you, what I’m finding helpful to reduce stress and improve my chances of bouncing back quick, is developing my own ““flare kit” comprised of: • A calming playlist, eucalyptus candle, epsom salts, and a luke-warm bath • Booking a foot massage • Deep breathing multiple times a day • Gentle walks without my phone • Cozy, comfy clothes and a mint tea • Re-reading journal entries that remind myself that I’ve been here before, but will get out of it • Strength training / doing what I can physically • Immersing myself in nature: walking or forest bathing A big roadblock like this so early in my training is scary as hell, but I know from experience that rarely does training of this caliber go smoothly. I know what to do next time this happens because I've been here before, and am beyond grateful to have bounced back so quickly🤞🏼 #200miles #ultratraining #runninglife #trailrunning #ultramarathon
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