Wanna Be

I wanna be training. I wanna be an Ultra runner.



Work dealt a considerable blow to training this week. Unplanned work tasks ("Fire-fighting") and long hours consumed about 60 hours this week, not counting this entire weekend I'm spending at work making up for the work I didn't get done! Everyone is getting a piece of me and I'm trying not to freak out about the loss of running time ( one 2-hour run at 80-95% max HR, including the warm up and cool down). Boo-hoo, Billy Boy.

It may be a blessing in disguise as my high hamstring has been considerably more sore since last weekend. I spent almost 6 hours at Murphy on September 12th on the hilliest section, according to the Martiskos(markers 1-11 on the park map). It honestly seemed like about 80:20 hills-to-flat ratio. I had planned on 6.5 hours but blisters on both feet cut me short at 5:40:00. I was so pissed off as I had the steam to go another loop. I'm sure the terrain is what aggravated my hamstring, but I think the silver lining was actually being on the worst part of the course I'll run on Halloween. The flats on the back portion of the loop will be heaven on race day although that part of the course is closed currently. I had to "navigate" (jump) two fences just to run the portion I was on. At least I know what to expect for hills. God willing, I still expect to run a 7 and 8 hour long run, preferably at Murphy, before I taper for my first Ultras. Life is so stressful right now and although I'm generally OK being a solitary person, always running and training alone has been difficult. The only contact I have with other runners is through MNDRS, when I ask others questions and they are generous enough to answer. I'm sure it's irritating for some of them dealing with the paranoid questions of someone they've never met. I never expected the solitude to be a problem and I look forward to actually meeting some of the people I have only "met" in hyperspace. It's frustrating not feeling plugged in or connected to anyone in the Ultra community when everyone else seems to know and run with each other. Maybe that will change as I actually start to show up at some of these things and put names to faces. Right now I'm only a third-party. An ambitious spectator.