Saturday, March 23, 2013

Volunteering at an Ultra Run

Impressed. I am so impressed by the runners I saw today running the "Mt. Tammany 10!", a 10-loop, 40-mile race up and down a rocky, icy, muddy mountain, that was put on by Athletic Equation. I've been interested in ultras, and helping out at the aid station today has really made me want to try one out myself. I realize that the longest runs I've attempted have always been road runs, and they've always been according to distance: "I'm going to run ___ number of miles today"; instead of time: "I'm going to go out and run for 3 hours." Part of this is because I don't want to end up injured or too tired to run back to my car, which is probably smart, but I can start thinking about it differently. The runners I saw today were not being easy on themselves. They didn't take it slow and gradually. They jumped in and pushed, and every one of them put up impressive performances. I have some odd twinges and pains that keep popping up, especially after jumping into hard runs, but my base fitness is close to the best it has ever been, and I think that I can be smart about listening to my body and still reach some new boundaries. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to help out today, and I look forward to some long runs this summer that will prepare me for some very different running experiences. Congrats to all of the awesome runners of the Mt. Tammany 10!