Ultra Runners are the 1%

I don't mean that we're above the general population or other runners in any way. Well, except mileage... But I digress.

If you read my last post then you know I'm up to my eyeballs in stress. However, I don't react like a 'normal' person. No! I sit through a 2.5 hour meeting on a Tuesday wondering just how sick I have to be to leave early. Doesn't mental health count for something?



So after the meeting I rush back to my desk with 20 minutes until lunch break. I bang out every email, every letter and phone call and still have 10 minutes left. I spend them trying to figure out the best way to let my bosses know I'm going home without them asking too many questions. I finally settle for "I don't feel very well and I've decided to go home. If you have an urgent need please call my cell." That's the thing about we ultra runners, we don't waste a drop of energy if we don't have to. Not even to write an excuse for work.

I head home feeling uplifted and enjoying the weather. I'll probably never see 60 degrees and sunny on January 31 in Pittsburgh ever again! I know there's a lot of things I could be doing with my suddenly open afternoon. I tick off the list in my head: homework, laundry, writing a blog post, playing with my dogs, etc. But there's not even a question in my mind of Priority Uno. I'm going running! The only question is, "How many miles can I fit into the time I have?"



The answer to that turned out to be 10. On a 'normal' day I might have banged out 12 or more. Today wasn't normal because I did an extremely leg focused weights program yesterday. On top of that I was extremely under-fueled having eaten only a Clif bar and coffee in the last 12 hours. I decided it was perfect testing conditions for my Umstead plan. (Because that's how ultra runners think right? RIGHT?!)

I tucked a Peanut Butter GU (YUM!) and some Margarita Shot Bloks (Double yum!) into my SPIbelt and took off. I didn't even take a handheld with me (because I couldn't wait another second to fill up a water bottle before I hit the trails)! And this is why I love distance running....

First mile, I'm okay but my legs HURT. I can feel my quads groaning. I'm pretty sure a mutiny is in the works. Second mile, the quads are starting to say, "Okay, okay! We give!" Miles 3-5 I'm just cruising (slowly). I take a few walk breaks and pop my GU (now I wish I had water!) and then a Shot Blok. I turn around at mile 5 even though I'm entertaining thoughts of just running until I know my husband is starting to worry and then calling him to come get me.

Mile 6 I'm cruising again. My breathing is steady, my heartbeat even. It's the closest I'll ever feel to being a machine. At 7 miles I start to wonder what people think when they see me out there. Do I look like I've lost my mind? Can they see the sheer happy stupidity that is radiating from every cell of my body? From the sideways looks and cautious waves I believe that they do. Miles 8-10 I'm just pushing to get it in now. I know I don't have fast in me today but I feel good knowing that I'm probably as depleted as I'll be 50 or 60 miles into Umstead (calorie-wise and muscle weakness-wise) and I'm still cranking out 11 minute miles and optimistic. Where else do pain and pure bliss come in a single package except for ultra running?

Once home I shower and return to 'normal' life seeing just a hint of a glow around everything now, like an aura. My outlook is just a little brighter, my mind just a little less occupied. I can be more patient with my kids. I can NOT chase down the kids that ding-dong ditched us just as the baby fell asleep (more to prove that I can catch them rather than actually being mad). I help my older daughter with homework, I help my husband with dinner, I fold laundry, and then I work on homework. After all of that I sit down to write this post. It's amazing how productive and happy that 2 hour break from life made me. And that's why ultra runners rule!

But just in case you need more convincing:

You know you're an ultra runner if:

-You don't think twice about eating food off the floor

-You can say (or apply!) Body Glide with a straight face

-You have actually eaten salt (not as a seasoning but on it's own!)

-You run a warm up and cool down for a marathon

-You run your age in miles on your birthday (or birthday weekend)

-Your runs are limited by how much time you have rather than your fitness

-You have run with a light strapped to your head

-You have at least one black and/or missing toenail

-You carry running clothes to work or wear them under your suit

-You rotate your shoes more often than your tires

-You drink from a water bottle at the dinner table

-You leave work early to run!

Have a great night everyone and keep being 'different'! (It is what I love about you!) I'm off to check off my last to-do: rest! Don't forget to enter the charity giveaway/raffle before midnight! I still need to raise $240 to meet my goal! You can donate here!

Sometimes things just click...

I've been having the best couple months of my running life ever this summer. I don't want to jinx it but I don't want to pretend it's not happening either. Maybe it's the fact that I've been doing CrossFit and other cross training on a consistent basis now. Maybe it's the fact that I've met some other ultra runners in real life and they're encouragement is feeding my enthusiasm. Maybe it's the fact that it's been almost a year since our youngest was born (really?! How did THAT happen?!). Whatever it is, I am loving every minute of it.

Just 9 short days ago I was finishing my first 100k and first 100 mile attempt(read about it here: Secret Race Report ). I thought I would be wrecked for weeks. Probably barely able to get off the couch for ice cream and not able to put shoes on without help. Yet, only 2 days later I went for a 5 mile run. I was slow, I was sore, but I was victorious! It was amazing to me that I could do that and that I WANTED to do that still. If anything my thirst for running has only increased since the VTU. I jumped back into CrossFit a little too quickly. I went to the box 4 days after VTU and attempted a simply deadly ladder workout my trainer devised. My quads were a mess for two more days from that alone. I took those two days off and worried and fretted about the planned trail run I had with a fellow ultra runner over the weekend.



Saturday morning I got up at the crack of dawn and drove an hour and a half to meet my friend (and her hubby) that you may remember from the Hell Hath No Hurry 6 Hour Trail Race. She's seriously a rock star! See?!



We met up with two other runners and drove another hour and a half to the trail head of the Baker Trail in Cook's Forest where I'll be running my 50M next month. My friend's hubby is also running the full 50 and the rest of the group is running the relay. We had originally planned on doing a 12 mile out and back for a total of 24 miles. The guys decided that an 18-ish mile point-to-point was better so we parked one vehicle at a road crossing with the trail and the other a half mile from the trail head. If we had only know what would happen from there!

The guys went out faster than the ladies and it wasn't more than 100 yards onto the trail before they were gone for good! Our group of gals managed to get turned around twice, run out of water twice, spot a giant bird, climb a fire watch tower, and generally induce more mayhem than necessary into trail running! I loved every minute of it! When we finally found the end car, 22+ miles later, we were ever so grateful that the guys were faster. They had chairs and food and bevies (the new word for beverages apparently!) ready and waiting. It turned out to be an awesome way to spend a Sunday! Oh, and I found out that Newton was a Red Eft, or a juvenile salamander/newt. How cool is that?!



Fire Tower. Yeah, we climbed that!:


I probably should have been recovering Monday but I took advantage of my husband and I both being off and we headed for Kennywood, the local amusement park. It was really fun but my flip flops rubbed some gnarly blisters on the tops of my feet! I won't make that mistake again!

Today I checked my friend's Facebook page and saw that she was looking for someone to run with in the afternoon. I couldn't pass up another opportunity for hilarity and we met on a rails-to-trails trail for a quick run. It turns out that, while our trail pace is perfectly compatible, I have some work to do on the flat! She held me to just over a 9-minute mile for the first few and then let me slip a little on the way back. We ended up with 6 miles at just barely over a 10 minute-mile pace. For 1PM in almost 90* heat with high humidity I am super happy with that. If I keep running with her I should be setting PR's in no time! I'm going to try to drive up for one of her running group's runs in the near future. You can never have to many 'solemates' as I've come to call my trail BFF.



All in all, I don't know how long this good running can last. I don't know if going from 80 mile months to 100 mile months to 120 mile months is going to burn me out over such a short period of time. But I do know that I'm going to take in every minute it lasts and enjoy it thoroughly. All I can do is hope that running continues to be such a source of joy in my life for years to come and that I continue to meet such amazing people who push me to better myself in every way!