2016 Race Season Is Here

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One of the top questions I’m asked by family and friends (aside from, “Did you eat all the chocolate yourself?” and “Do you really think that’s an appropriate thing to blog about?”) is “What’s your next race?” 

I recently saw some social media post from Eventbrite where they were asking runners about their upcoming races and what they liked best about racing and if they would ever consider designing their own race.

 [Answer to the last two questions: What I like best is being done and eating free food at the finish line. And any race I design is going to be rigged so that I win everything. Duh.]

 But regarding that upcoming race thing, I’m in a weird place. For almost 10 years, I’ve run two marathons a year. I would pick them out at the end of the calendar year, target them, train for them and knock them out. But something odd and more than a little scary happened to me a couple of years ago.

I got tired of racing.

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Unexpected Gifts

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My favorite gifts are the unexpected ones. A friend going to an Elie Wiesel book signing in Boston and sending me his memoir with a signed dedication to me. Another friend stitching the name of my next cat book onto a running visor. Blair sneaking Krispy Kreme pumpkin spice doughnuts into the house and surprising me with one for breakfast. And a friend gifting me the most awesome workout tank ever.

Here's how that last one came about. Last Saturday I headed up to Virginia to the 24-hour Crooked Road Run to help pace a few friends through some miles.

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My First Ultra

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Time spent on course: 10.75 hours

Laps: 55

Miles covered: 53

Okay, so I didn't even come close to making the 24-hour mark, but I'm still super-proud to be able to call myself an ultra-runner! I ran 50 miles in just under 10 hours (as in, 9 hours and 58 minutes) and, for the most part, felt great. Here's a quick breakdown of how the day went:

How much stuff do 2 girls need to run an ultra?Pre-run

Sole Sister Cindy and her husband Dan were at my house by 6:30 am to drive me to the race. We felt intimidated as we unloaded our stuff onto a picnic table underneath a shelter as we'd brought so much stuff. However, we later learned other people had their cars there. Dan dropped us off and came back throughout the day, so we had to have everything out. 

Speaking of stuff, I waaaaay overpacked. (Shocking, I know). I bought $100 worth of food and didn't eat one bite of any of it. Not one. The race had plenty of food. I brought a bunch of clothes and didn't use half, although I will say if I had stayed the night, I would have used a lot more of what I brought. 

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24-Hour Ultra - In Or Out? I Can't Decide...

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Some of you may recall that back in July I signed up for my first ultra. A 24-hour race on just under a 1 mile loop trail. People said I was crazy. I scoffed.

I'm not scoffing any longer. The race is next weekend and I am FREAKING OUT. So much so, that I called my sole sister Cindy (the only person who signed up to do this race with me, btw) today and told her I couldn't do it. I was out. Back in July when it was light until 10 pm and there was no biting wind at night, it seemed like a good idea. Now, it just seems stupid. I gave her my list of reasons for bailing: 

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