Ultra-Season Nearly Upon Us (or Me)

As always, it seems when I'm not blogging, that means I'm running. And if I'm really not blogging, well then I must be really running.

The weekend long runs have now reached 5 hours. Last Saturday's topped 30 miles. My last 30 mile run 18 months ago was about half a mile further, but it was in January, and this was August, when the temp was close to 90 when I was done. All of which goes to say I think this build is going better, but it's hard to say.

And of course all of this running isn't just to run, but to race. And over the next 2 months, I've got a pretty cool calendar planned:

1.) Labor Pain, September 2 - This 12 hour event will be my first timed race. I've had my eye on this one ever since it started 2 years ago, but we generally are out of town for Labor Day weekend. Not this year, and so this one is on the calendar. Ironically, the course record for this one is owned by my Team Type 1 teammate, Ryan Jones, who went 72.5 miles in 2010. Given the terrain, that's not in the cards for me. From evaluating results over the past 2 years, I'm putting in a realistic goal of 55 miles and a stretch-if-everything's-going-my-way goal of 60 miles. Either of these would put me solidly in the top 10% of the field and should give me a chance at an age group award, which would thrill me.

2.) Trails 4 Tails 40 Miler Ultra, September 22 - This one's not definite. It's the smallest race and a bit of a drive from my house. But the reality is I need to go really long that weekend anyway, so why not have the excitement of it being a race? Assuming I'm healing well from Labor Pains, it's on the calendar.

3.) North Face 50 Mile Endurance Challenge, Oct. 13, Atlanta, GA - This is a Team Type 1 race, so my hope is to be as sharp as I can be for it. It's the most technical of the courses, and I've shifted my training a bit, focusing more on overall endurance than a lot of technical running. Hopefully, that won't bite me in the butt.

So 3 ultras in the next 2 months should be fun, assuming of course I don't break anything.

Aside from my usual goals of top 10% finishes and age group placings, I'm also planning on fine-tuning my blood sugar control as much as possible. I've had some awesome long training runs averaging real close to 100 and it's been fun trying to nail the perfect blood sugar. It'll be fun trying that when the runs get really long.

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