The last major run I completed
was the Sylamore 50k. I have logged consistent miles from 40 to 50 a week
and have felt great. There have been little pains here and there, no
swelling, just tender muscles throughout my training. Feelings I always
get when I am days from a race are sensations such as pain in a knee or a foot,
or I feel somewhat burnt out from my training.
I never take it as I am injured or hate running, I have learned that it
is my minds way of giving me one last chance to back out of running for 9+
hours. Of course I can’t take it up on
that offer because then that would make me a normal person. There is something about an Ultra Marathon
that lures me out of the day-to-day marathon/city/thousands of people
mindset. It is the feeling of escape and
isolation from society at its finest. It
is a chance for a day to freely pursue something that I truly love to do
EATING!..HA no, I mean running ;).
My brother-in-law, Ted Herget, and I will both be running in
the Ouachita 50 mile officially two days from today. This is my third time to run this race and
will be Teds first. He’s going to kill
it no matter how bad of shape he tells himself he is in ;). He is a secret professional athlete, who
thinks he races at a normal, if not slow pace.
He doesn’t. Whether he wins or
not does not matter. The fact of the
matter is he is going to either win, or make the winner earn his keep come
Saturday.
As for me, I’m competing with myself. My first year I ran the OT50 in 11:29. Last year was 10:09. So this year I would like to run a 9 hour pace. It is going to be hard, considering I feel
undertrained, but hey, race days are meant to promote complete potential
success out of each and every participant, so I’m feeling pretty confident.
