So I did something…I did it a few months ago but I’ve been hesitant to tell too many people. I was waiting to see how I did running the marathon (well, what turned out to be two marathons) but I’m not even sure why. It is not like running poorly in the marathon was going to make this thing go away.

Well, what did I do? I signed up for my first ultramarathon. On July 11, I’ll be tackling the Skyline Challenge in the mountains of Virginia. It is a 50K (31 miles) of trails, out-and-back.

Ever since I signed up I have been at times excited, doubtful and scared, and some times even all three.

Since I just ran two marathons, I am going to use the endurance I’ve already gained and try to simply maintain my fitness through July in order to survive and finish the ultra. I am found several sources that says that running a 50K a month or two after a marathon is actually a great way to train so that is encouraging. My plan is to continue recovering from the marathon and slowly build up my weekly mileage back to the level I was running before Nashville.

At the same time, I am going to be doing something slightly different for the weekend long runs. Rather than focus on hitting a certain mileage I’ll run/walk with my focus on time on my feet and trying different foods to see how my stomach handles running and eating (this I am not worried about). I am taking the advice of most experienced ultra runners and will be walking up every hill no matter how small and when I can run, doing a 5 minute run/1 minute walk ratio. I’ll be practicing this on the weekends as well.

The other thing I am doing to prepare that is different from marathon training is walking. I’ll be hitting the gym during the work week for practice walking up hills and strengthening those muscles.

It’s funny, as I’ve been telling more and more people my doubt has been slipping away. I’m still exciting and scared but in a good way. I am starting to believe that I’ll finish it but I’m still scared that it is going to chew me up and then spit me back out.

Daily Dozen:
Walking – treadmill hill workout @ lunch hour