You might be an ultra runner if (sung to the tune of "you might be a redneck"):
- You wonder why they don't make all running socks a dusty brown color.
My feet after the Ultra
- You postpone your wedding because it will interfere with your training. (I thought of Amber on this one; she did not postpone her wedding, but she DID train for a marathon and plan a wedding at the same time!)
- You don't recognize your friends with their regular clothes on. (or this one should be that MY friends don't recognize ME!)
the party dress that got all the comments
- 6am is sleeping in
- You're tempted to look for a bush when there's a long line for the public restroom
- Your ideal way to celebrate your birthday is to run at least your age in miles (almost did it!).
- You can recite the protein grams of each energy bar by heart
- You know the location of every 7-11, restroom, and water fountain within a 25-mile radius of your house.
- You rotate your running shoes more often than you rotate your tires.
- You walk up the stairs and run down them.
You can find more here. And now, I want to specifically comment on a couple of them:
- Your crew tries to keep you motivated by saying, "You're in second place and only 6 hours behind first with 25 miles to go!"
This kind of happened to me on Sunday. I was told I was the 5th girl and the girl in front of me was ONLY 10 minutes ahead. I thought the guy was joking. Now I am not so sure.
- The start of a marathon feels like a 5K and you're wondering "Why is everyone in such a rush? Where the ##@@**!! is the fire?"
I found this one funny for two reasons. (1) I have a marathon in two weeks and I only hope it feels like a 5k. I doubt it will, although I did try to do the ultra first, so it would seem "shorter", and (2) It's kind of true in regards to pace. I can only imagine, since my 50k (which is the shortest of the ultras) was done at a pretty easy pace compared to marathon pace. I bet those 100 mile runs are pretty "slow and easy wins the race" kind of attitude.
An actual recap of the ultra will be up later in the week. For now, here's the low down on this week's training.
Week 1 - 4
Week 5 - 8
Week 9 - 11
Week 12 - 13
Week 14 - 15
Week 16:
Monday: Rest / 6 mile walk
Tuesday: 4.5 miles @ 8:47 pace / 5 mile walk
Wednesday: Rest / 3 mile walk
Thursday: 10 miles @ 8:13 pace / 2 mile walk
Friday: Rest/ 2 mile walk
Saturday: Rest / 2 mile walk
Sunday: 31 miles @ an undisclosed pace :) (you have to wait for the recap!)
I have been walking every day, both on running days and rest days. This week was a little strange, as I only ran 3 days, because I wasn't sure about how much rest I should have before the ultra and I was pretty tired most of the week, so I decided not to overdo it. I walked instead, to keep some miles, but to take it easy a little. I am glad I did, because I am not really sore today! I may even go for a run this evening!
Total Miles: 45
Miles This Cycle: 648
According to RunningAhead, those miles were completed in 102 hours, giving me an approximate average pace per mile of 9:22. This week I have a pretty easy taper week ahead of me and then next week, it's "Take It Easy" time and then...marathon weekend!
Do you do a lot of walking? Do you have any "you might be a runner / ultra runner / marathon runner if..." jokes? Do your friend's recognize you if you wear a dress (or slacks if you are a boy)?
