I've used this image before, but it just seems too appropriate to pass up. As the clock nears 1pm, I realize that I've been up for more than 9 hours; for 3 and a half hours of that time, I was running. Not too shabby, huh?! My long runs are now more about time than distance. In case you're wondering, though, I got 25.14 miles done. The weather was great, the run went well, and my pace was impressive. If I could hang on to that pace for another 1.06 miles, I'd have a BQ (Boston qualifying) time on my hands. That's well & good...for a marathon. However, that kind of pace is not doable for January's 6-hour ultra. Let me explain what I mean...
This was part of Hans' last email to me: "Funny thing about running 6 hours, it seems like so much more than a marathon, but for many people it takes nearly 6 hours to
run a marathon anyway! For people like you and me, we just need to slow down enough to keep moving for 6 hrs and we'll end up with distances far beyond 26 miles." Did you catch that part? The one about "for people like you and me?" I seriously do not belong in the same category as Hans! Comments like that make me chuckle and think to myself, "Gosh, I've got them all fooled! They think I'm much better at this than I really am!" Hans is right, though; I've got to slow myself down. Easier said than done. That's the crazy part!
However, today was one of those days where even 45 minutes into the run, I was saying to myself, "Yup, I could keep this up for a loooooooong time." Given reasonable weather and enough forms of nutrition, I think if I slowed myself down to maybe a 9 minute per mile pace, I could run for most of the 6 hours. Perhaps that's what I'll try next weekend. My goal today was 3 and a half hours, so I didn't pack enough energy gels to reasonably (and safely) aim for much beyond that. Could I have stretched it another 10 or 15 minutes? Probably, but what's the point?
As the days go by, I am getting more excited about this new adventure. Grandma's on board with this, guest blogger extraordinaire, Judy, is set to make a return appearance, and word on the street is that Christmas will bring some cool running-related gadgets. If those three things aren't enough to get you saying, "You got this," check out what's below.
I will admit that this may be one of the crazier things I've done (lately), but I got talked into signing up for an individual 6-hour ultramarathon. By "talked into to," I mean that a friend asked me, and I said "sure, sounds like fun!" Clearly there was a lot of arm twisting going on there, huh?! For anyone wondering, an "ultramarathon" or simply an "ultra" is anything longer than 26.2 miles.
Here's how this craziness got started. You know Hans, my teammate from the first Keys100 relay team and Ragnar. He's an incredible runner, so it's not surprising that he signs up for a 6-hour ultra! Morgan, his girlfriend, was on my Ragnar relay team and did the SoMo marathon with me back in October. She's an amazing runner too. Get this, she's going to use this 6-hour event as a "training run" for her upcoming 100k ultra in February! (Do the math on that! 100k = 62 miles! Yeah, you read that right!) So Hans & Morgan get back from doing back-to-back weekends of marathons in Athens & Istanbul. (Have I mentioned what insanely good runners they are?!) Hans texts me and says "Do you have any interest in doing a 6 hr ultra on 11 January down here in Weston? Look up Vista View 360." Ok, that got my attention, and I looked it up. Cool - there's a 4-person relay option. That must be what he meant. I text Hans back to say "relay, right?" Uhhhhh, no! Haha! His response was that he was doing the individual event, Morgan was too, and they were doing "1 man relays." Hysterical! I forget what I wrote back; it was probably something along the lines of "I appreciate your confidence in me, but I don't know if I can do it!" Hans' reply? "You don't have to go fast! Consider it as training for the Keys50." (In case you're wondering, I am not considering doing the Keys50. There are other plans in the works for a kick ass Keys100 relay team.) Back on topic: I started thinking about it that evening, and by the next morning, I had pretty much made up my mind. Tonight, I made it official & signed up to do the 6-hour individual ultramarathon on January 11th! This is a quick summary of Vista View 360: it's a 1.24 mile dirt/mulch trail loop course around Vista View Park.
Runners complete as many loops as they can within the 6-hour limit.
Yes, I must've lost my damn mind, but I'm super excited about my next "adventure!" Hope you'll follow along and enjoy the fun! Who knows, maybe my fabulous guest blogger, Judy, will document the happenings on January 11th!
How insane will it be to be able to say this (below)? Tell me I wouldn't slap that bad-boy on my car window!!!
