Ultra considerations

Last week: 26 miles (4/4/4/5/9)

Tuesday: run 4 miles

The nine mile run went smoothly on Sunday and I am feeling ready to train for the marathon distance. The schedule is written out on a piece of scrap paper and the only thing that remains is to sign up for the marathon. And yet I hesitate. Not because of the distance or shortened training, but rather because I want to test the waters out and see how my training goes. I would hate to sign up only to have an injury surface. But I am also hindered by the fact that I do not know when the race will fill up (and it does).

I have also found another race which has peaked my interest. For some time now I have been toying with the idea of running an ultra. Not a 50 miler or a 100 miler, but rather a 50K. It seems like a nice distance. Often during mile 20-24 of a marathon I think about what it would be like to have to keep running after the 26.2 mile mark. What lies beyond that threshold? Does that mean I'm ready for it? I don't know. But I do know that as a runner I have always wanted to run a marathon. One day I signed up for a local marathon, trained, and ran the distance. No thought process other than just get out there and do it. Is that how I should approach the 50K? Don't think. Just run.