A Time for Change

Well, it has been nearly three week since the big half marathon that most of my previous blog posts were leading up too. The race went fairly uneventful so I didn’t feel a big need to sit down and write about it. From start to finish things went flawlessly; I started out at what I thought was a nice conservative pace (I didn’t see a mile marker until about mile 3) and tried to hold that pace for the rest of the race. I tried to push on the uphills, cruised on the down, and maintain on the flat and this is what I did throughout the race. I was by myself nearly the whole time except for the last two miles where I managed to pass two other guys. In the end, it was actually a boring race to write about but I did run a PB of 1:20.47 and was happy to see all of my hard work pay off. That was defiantly the best I had felt racing in a long time. It was also great to see Erin achieve her goal of 1:35 as well.

Since the race, I have spent most of my time just getting out and running. Not worrying about mileage, workouts, when I am going to run or what effort to run at. When I have time, I go out and run; that’s it. I have also spent a great deal of time trying to decide what I want to do next running wise. I know I have touched on this in previous posts but it has been hitting me really hard lately. My basic three options came down too: 1) train for something on the track in the spring, 2) Try my hand at a spring marathon, or 3) get ready for some ultra trail races. After about three weeks of debating with myself I have chosen option 3.

There is something about ultra trail running that really speaks to me. I like the idea of getting back to basics, just getting out and running. I love the thought of putting in lots of easy miles without pushing the pace. There is also nothing like getting lost on a backwoods trail; the scenery is beautiful and everything is so quite. No more rushing cars, people screaming ridicules things at you and people getting ticked off that their road to McDonald’s breakfast is blocked due to the stupid race you are running in. Don’t get me wrong, I will defiantly still jump in a few road races here and there 5K-Half Marathon but that is not going to be the focus of my training.

So, I am on my way to training for some ultra’s. I have a pair of brand new New Balance 100’s on the way as well as a nice running pack so that I can start running to and from work to add up the weekly mileage so as to get my legs use to going for long periods of time. I have also been reading anything I can get my hands on about the sport and would love to hear from anyone out there that has some good advice to offer. I am also interested to see how long it takes Erin to get that extreme competitiveness she has going and want to run some ultras as well. As of now, she still thinks they are crazy but I don’t see that lasting to long.

I think that pretty much sums it up. I will probably have a lot to blog about with my new endeavor in life and I am sure there will be plenty of interesting storys to tell. If I don’t get a chance to post before Thanksgiving, happy holidays to everyone and get out there and do a Turkey Trot!