Getting Back At It

YOU KNOW YOU’RE HOPELESS when you’ve just finished a long run or bike ride on a beautiful day, you’re heading home with your well-deserved coffee and pastry, you see someone running, and you think to yourself, “I could be doing that right now.”

Never had that happen, you say? Consider yourself fortunate.

Me? I experience it way too often. As in constantly since I restarted regular training following this crazy, fucked-up summer (*). Which means I’m getting back into life as an ultrarunner, with all its associated thrills and foibles.

It’s definitely time. I’ve had the urge to run an ultra for weeks, since my foot healed enough to allow me to run double-digit miles again. And my base is still there. The loop pacing Robin at Run Woodstock felt great, and I could have easily done another to complete a 50K. So assuming my foot holds up, I’m physically ready to run an ultra. Mentally and emotionally? Only the next race will tell. And since I have two BHA (**) target races in 2025, I’d better find out soon.

At January’s Mid-Maryland Trail Fest, where I set a 50K PR. I had big plans for this year! And then…well, if you read this blog, you know what happened.

One way I prepare for long ultras (***) is to run shorter ones. They’re both challenging (and fun) in their own right, plus they count as dress rehearsals. Gear, pacing, and fueling plans that don’t work for a 50-miler aren’t going to work for double, or four times, that distance. Better to find that out ahead of time, for sure.

So last week I pulled the trigger on two races to work me up to them. Here’s the general plan:

Mid-November: NYC Trail Mix 50K
Late December: Oakwood 24 (goal: 50 miles)
Early February: Rocky Raccoon 100 (BHA race #1)
June (The really big shoe): Tahoe 200

In between Rocky and Tahoe? Something, just not sure yet. But creating the plan is part of the adventure.

And then there’s the regular ol’ training. Long runs, speed and hill work, and punishing sessions at the gym will prep me to crush the trails next year – if I do them right. Fortunately, I have great support from my coach, Ryan Miller, and Skip at Body Specs who keeps my entire body in top shape. I’m counting on them to keep me in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ so I don’t overdo it despite my aforementioned ‘running envy.’

So, yes, running ultras is hard work. Training for ultras is hard work. Getting motivated for training can be hard work. So why do them? And why, after completing a long run or hard workout, do I feel guilty for not doing more? Why do I feel undertrained if there’s still light left in the day?

The best answer I can come up with is this: In an ultra of 50 miles or more, I do run all day, and sometimes into the night, and sometimes into the next day. And at the Tahoe 200? Likely 80 hours out there on the trails. So it’s the “ultra mentality” at work. And if I want to run ultras, that’s a good thing.