Ruminations

I suppose it has been a while since I have posted, but not a whole lot has happened so I'll recap, look towards the future, and ramble on about a few things.

Running wise, post-ankle injury I was clicking off 30 mile weeks with 12 mile long runs for about 4 weeks straight with an average of 1.5 days off per week (average...). I was content at that mileage since I can still feel myself adjusting to the more minimal shoes I run in now (New Balance MT101 and Asics Hyperspeed 4) and I have been too busy with school work to run much more. It is somewhat refreshing to sit in class all day, go out for a quick afternoon run, and then sit back down in the lab or the library and get some more work done. I suppose most people who studied as much as I do would feel overloaded and stressed out but I feel like I am adapting or something like that... Either way Thanksgiving/Winter break is rapidly approaching. As my mom said, "Only a few more weeks until Thanksgiving and then a few more weeks until Winter Break!" Where has the semester gone? I'll never know but that is one of those mysteries of life I suppose.

I did have a brief setback or perhaps a blessing in that this past Sunday I walked the Mount 20 in my Vibram Five Fingers. I should probably mention what exactly the Mount 100 series is. The director if intramural sports and the outdoor adventure club had this crazy idea over the summer for an endurance-hiking event on the wonderful trails around the University. In the end they decided to have 10mi, 20mi, 30mi, and 40mi "events". I ran the 10 mile event (I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy but that's ok). It was in the Catoctin Mountain/State Park system nearby and it took me about 2 hours. In reality the distance was about 10.5 mile, and because I was actually ahead of the aid stations/course marshals I missed several turns and got lost a few times so I probably averaged 10 minute miles. Considering the vertical gain on the course I am happy with that. The Mount 20 I didn't really feel like running. It takes place on the C&O canal, a pancake-flat "trail" running along the Potomac River. Instead I decided to wear my VFFs...

In hindsight this was a poor decision. I have previously walked around all day in my VFFs so I figured I would be ok but I was grossly mistaken. Where I could have run this easily, hiking it was actually quite challenging. My hiking muscles are atrophied and I could feel it from mile 4 onwards. The bottoms of my feet also took a beating. I don't recall the Canal having as many pebbles as it does... In the end I have been unable to run until to day (4 days off) because my upper-inner calf muscles were so incredibly sore. Today they were not as sore and since the running muscles are different from hiking I managed to do all right in an easy 3 miles. I'm looking forward to enjoying what is left of this beautiful fall weather and training some more.

Given all the free time running I have to ponder things I have definitely considered this ultramarathon running thing a good bit. I know I plan to do some 50K trail races in the spring/summer with a plan to peak for the CAT 50K but what else? 50K is only about 32 miles, not really much further than a regular marathon. How about 50 miles? 100 miles? The latter of those is the most intriguing. Can you even begin to fathom running 100 miles? Something about the distance seems so alluring to me that I can't shake it. I've heard that 100 miles is not twice as hard as running 50 miles, it is about three times as hard. I have also heard that you don't really discover who you are until you run a 100 mile race. Maybe some day, we'll see. Until later, train well!

Quote of the Day:

"Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any" -Anthony Bailey