Respect for Running

I have been thinking all day today about a recent conversation in respect to ultra running and the Ironman.

It got me thinking about my first 50 miler that I am scheduled to run this May.

At first, I built myself a rather aggressive training schedule, including two back-to-back marathons within a 48 hour period which would both qualify me for marathon maniac status and make me feel exceedingly prepared for the 50 mile ultra.

I had lots of time to take a closer look at this training plan while taking this past week off because of pain in my shins and knees.

I began to realize there was a big discrepancy between where I am now and where I want to go in my training.

You see, I've been feeling really proud of myself over the past five months.

After nearly five years of calling myself a runner but feeling guilty for all the time I was not running, I have finally become a consistent runner. This is making a noticeable difference in my running and in how I look and feel.

While giving myself full credit for this accomplishment, it only makes me a beginner-intermediate runner at best.

I have not yet earned my place in the running hall of fame or anything like that. It hardly even gives me the base I need to start training to run an ultra four and a half months from now.

So I realized I have two options, other than quitting before I start.

I can train intensely for my first 50 miler and hope I don't hurt myself before I even get to the start. Or I can build my mileage moderately, have a good time and have a place to build from for my next ultra.

I call the second option training smart, and with a little patience and humility. I tried this yesterday.

Instead of running as fast as I could for as long as I could and then coming home beat and worried about getting injured, I made myself keep the pace between a 10-11 minute mile for one hour.

The great thing is, a year ago this would have been a fast pace for me. The fact that after five years of running, I am finally getting faster is a huge first step in the long road to becoming the runner I want to be.

It's days like this that I think of my friend Tara who earned her respect in the art of ultra running, completing her first sub-24-hour 100-mile ultra marathon this October. She also just became a marathon maniac this year, after years of having already earned the title in my mind.

In her race report, she noted that "Running takes patience."

Having witness her second attempt at completing the sub 24-hour 100 miler on a concrete course in Philly this hot July, I can attest to this.

Yes, ultra running takes patience, humility and respect for running. I have a feeling I will be learning a lot about these in the months to come.

I Have Super Powers

Hi, my name is Anna and I have super powers.

Most of the time, I'm pretty boring and fall short of the person I would like to be in so many ways. I am always trying to be better. I want to be a better mother, a better friend, a better so-many-things.

But when I put on my running shoes, I suddenly have super powers. I can fly through the streets, I can see more clearly, I get all kinds of wonderful ideas, I know how to be a better person, I become a better person.

I fight all the villains of my day while I'm running. Sometimes I fight inward villains like lethargy, anger and moodiness. Sometimes they are outward villains.

The running shoes do not always activate my superpowers.

Some days the batteries are dead and they need to be recharged. On those days, running can make me feel worse instead of better. It's as if I go to fly and my wings don't work so I fall flat on my face. That usually takes some recovering from.

But I know I'll recover, I'll recharge my batteries and my super powers will come back.

Then I will go flying through the streets once again.

Running is a pretty cool super power to have, but it's not the only one. We all have super powers. Sometimes they take a while to figure out. I know because it took years before I even knew I had this super power.

What's your super power?

Reality Check or Cop Out?

I am really looking forward to all my running plans next year. I've really picked up the running and been doing it consistently and built a good base since August and now I've signed up for a 24-hour race in Philly in July and I'm planning on signing up for my first 50 miler race in Key West in May.

After my 10k PR last weekend, I was feeling a little burned out. I trained really hard for it and exceeded my expectations but when I finished I was so tired and sore and put down by the fact that my best hardly even makes it to average.

After a week of dealing with sore shins, knees, feet, Achilles tendon (that always scares me the most) and a new thing for me, sore hips (although I suspect that's not from running but rather from carrying 32 pounds of E-man all over this city), I started thinking that maybe this goal of running 50 miles is a little far-fetched.

There are two reasons that I'm thinking this.

1) Will my body hold up?

If I'm falling apart during 10 mile runs, how in the world will I get through 50 mile runs? Now I've run 26.2, even 30 miles, but I did it real slow and with many walk breaks.

Now I'm starting to wonder, is my body made for real running?

2) Where will I find the time to train?

I'm a working mom of a toddler. I work about 30-40 hours per week. On top of that my toddler keeps me quite occupied. He has a lot of energy and likes for us to do things together so it's really hard to fit in 30-40 hours of work per week alone (not including housework, etc.) while taking care of him.

Gym time is actually really good for both of us, but we have a 2 hour limit.

This morning I found a temporary solution to problem one, I had a great run.

I don't know if it was the accidental day of rest I got yesterday or if I just run better in the morning, or if the freezing, damp temperatures acted like an ice bath during the 10 minute walk to and from the train station or maybe it was the compression socks I was wearing.

It could be that I just have my best workouts to Johnny Cash. Whatever it was, I had a great run this morning and boy did I need that!

After this morning I told myself there was no reason to question whether I could do this, I should just give it everything I have and as long as my legs are working, I'll keep running.

But problem #2 keeps popping up. If I can barely find the time to fit in 8 miles of running, what will I do when I have to run 20 miles two days in a row? Am I insane?

Running makes me a better person, but do I need 50 miles of it to be a better person?

At what point do I cross over from running to be a better, healthier, saner person and become obsessed with running?

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Apparently the space button on my keyboard is telling Google that I want to translate my blog into another language.