Dec 2 2011
From 5K To Ultra Marathon
“Some men see things as they are and say, ‘why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw
When I tell people I am going to run a 50 K Ultra Marathon Trail Run. I typically get a few responses.
“Why would you want to do that?”
and
“How far is 50 K?”
or
“You’re CRAZY!”
Let me address all of these questions and comments.
Here are the reasons why I signed up to run an Ultra Marathon
1) Having a race on the horizon is a great way to keep up motivation to train like a crazy person. You would have to be crazy not to train for an event like this.
2) I love the challenge. When I don’t feel challenged there is something missing from life. There is nothing worse than feeling like you could do more than you could.
3) I’ve never attempted this distance before. I believe most limitations are self imposed. If there is a limitation I believe you must push past it.
4) I get a free T Shirt and I get a coaster. Nuff Said.
Race Details
50 K is about 31.25 miles. A full marathon is 26.2 miles. 50k technically qualifies as an Ultra Marathon but most Ultra Marathoners would laugh at this distance. (they are known to do 100k or even 100 mile races). I recently watched a documentary were distance runners ran across the whole Sahara Desert! What I am doing is really miniscule in comparison to that. The race I’ve signed up for is the Chabot Trail Run on 2/25/2012. What seems more daunting to me is the elevation of 4,243 ft. , not the distance. In addition to the fact that this is 5 miles further than I’ve ever run before this race is also entirely on trails. In the words of Emit Brown “Where we are going we don’t need roads”. This completely changes the game, running a trail is much different than running on flat roads. Wait, what were the reasons I wanted to do this again?
You’re Crazy
Yes, probably. But in a good way.
Running is a valuable lesson for life. You have to start small. Small things add up and compound over time. You don’t start out running 26.2 miles, it’s not realistic to wake up and run that distance out of the blue with no training. You start out running a 5k. Gradually you move up to 10 k. Gradually you move up a Half Marathon. Then you gradually move up to a Marathon Distance. You could use this same principle for almost anything. The more you do something the better you get at it.
Running Resources
Here are some resources I have used. I hope you find them useful in your running pursuits!
Find A Race
Here are some places you can start to look for races. Sign up for one!
Pacific Coast Trail Runs – (California Only) – For you California residents, this is a great resource for trail runs in California. The runs are reasonably price. No $120 to run 13 miles. My 50 k was only $65!
Evergreen Trail Runs – (Washington State Only) - I haven’t used this site but thought I would include it for all my friends and family in the Seattle area.
Active.com – It seems like almost every races these days use active.com. They have thousands of races nationally.
Documentaries
Nova Marathon Documentary - This is a very interesting documentary about novice runners and their journey to running a full 26.2 miles. You can watch it online for free on the PBS website.
Running The Sahara Documentary - This was free on Netflix until I canceled my subscription. This is insane! Check it out. Plus it is narrated by Matt Damon (In the Team America World Police Voice).
Books
4 Hour Body - This book is great! It’s a resource guide to becoming super human. The only thing is you actually have to apply this knowledge you can’t just read it.
Born To Run - This was an amazing an unbelievable book. It provides a snap shot into the world of ultra marathon runners and a tribe that runs 70 miles at a time for fun. This is probably the big reason why I decided to try out an ultra myself. A note of cation, if you start reading this you will feel compelled to run!
News Articles
Interesting Article On The New York Times About Aging and Exercise - Really interesting read about working out and old age. Never stop running is the lesson here. See you at your centennial party!
Magazines
Runners World Magazine - I believe if you sign up for a race through active.com they have a promotion where you can get 12 months of this magazine for really cheap.
Trail Runner Magazine - I am not subscribed to this trail running magazine but I hear good things.
Blogs:
A Trail Runners Blog - I stumbled across this trail running blog when I was trying to figure out how hard a 50 k was. It’s got a lot of great resources and interesting posts about trail running.
Zen Habits Post On Trail Running For Beginners – This is a good place to start if you want to pick up trail running but have never attempted it.
4 Hour Blog - I can’t recommend this blog enough, there is so much great information here. Not a ton of material specific to trail running or ultra marathons but I highly recommend it!
Thanks for reading and Happy Trails!