24 Hours

OK, I registered! I think this will be an epic journey!

The Urge To Go TOO Far

In celebration of my 25th year from my first marathon, 1994 NYC, and after 106 marathons in all 50 states and DC, 8 ultras, 45+ half marathons, countless other races, and training runs covering approximately 27,000+ miles, I still have the urge to go TOO far.

I have pretty much run all distances between 1 mile and 50 miles, some successfully and some not so successfully. I know that I can run the marathon distance quite well or maybe I should say comfortably hard because I am not likely to win an age group award in the marathon, although I have in half-marathons; my recent endeavors have been solid finishing 4:01 in the 2019 Flying Pig at age 59, this, only 3 weeks after Blue Ridge Marathon, touted as America's Toughest Road Marathon, the optimal word being 'road'.  Blue Ridge felt sort of like an ultra to me, managing the ascents and descents, enjoying the aid stations, views, and other runners, and just having a fun time, before, during and after the event. A month prior to that was the Umstead Trail Marathon, which also had an ultra feel to it, 6 miles of single-track trail and 20 miles of hilly bridle trail, the same trail as the Umstead 100. With those two races, an early 25K at Salem Lake in Winston-Salem, really good training runs, and a desire to break 4 hours for the first time in 9 years, I went into the Flying Pig, my 6th, feeling positive. I just missed it having an ill-timed cramp after mile 25 that required the dreaded curb stretch. But, I came away from that race and the winter-spring season of running confidently that there still could be a sub-4 hour marathon, once again, waiting for me.

But my urge is to run TOO far! I was a sprinter in school -100 and 200 meters (or yards in those days) and I thought running anything more than a mile was just stupid. Call me stupid because, with the distances I have run over the last 25 years, none have been 100 or 200 meters unless I am chasing my dog who is chasing a UPS truck (yes, that happened!) So how far is TOO far? I have never DNFed a marathon but I have DNFed a 50K, 50-miler, and 100-miler. Some DNFs have been time constraints (missed cutoffs or in the case of the 2008 JFK 50, finishing the 50 miles 10 seconds after the 12-hour time limit and being an unofficial finisher and in this case 1st loser) or distance constraints (just not my day and can't go the distance.) This leads me to believe that the ultra-distance can be TOO far. This intrigues me and when I came across this quote by T.S. Eliot, I thought, "How far can I go now? When will I know it is TOO far?"  Well, I won't know until I risk it.

I titled this post as "The Urge" not be confused with "The Purge". The urge that I have is to register for some ultras at varying distances and time constraints. Two distances that I need to run are the 100K and 100 miles and the time constraints that I need to run is 24 hours. Would this make a complete running resume? Every distance between 1 mile and 100 miles and also a full day (no matter how many miles) of running in circles? No, not really as I have never qualified for Boston, but then, even with that, does that complete a running resume? No, it doesn't. A running resume to me is being able to have a lifelong running journey, experiences while enjoying the diversity and joy of the sport in the people who run but in the multitude of events that grace the calendar every weekend. Am I ever going to win a race? No. Win an age group? Maybe, now that I am approaching 60 (although there are some seriously good runners in these later age groups.) But, what other sport gives one the opportunity to toe the line with the best? I can go to a 50 or 100-mile run and cross the same start and finish lines as Jim Walmsley or Courtney Dauwalter, maybe hours later and many miles behind but experience the same course and challenges.

For me, management of the course in an ultra is key, the course, my energy, my pace, my nutrition to get to the finish and ironically not have the distance be TOO far. In previous ultras, I don't think I ever managed these areas well and I have never fared well in any distance greater than the marathon. Yes, I have finished 8 and DNFed 4; 66% is a D. But is this the point, to risk going TOO far to find out how far I can go? So, let's try to go TOO far again and see where it takes me!