My ultra days may nearing an end but my running and racing days are nowhere near over. I think I may just not enjoy going long anymore. I've been slowly realizing this over the last year or two and have been hanging onto being an "ultra" runner. Well, 15yrs is pretty darn good at the age of 54 I'd say. It really has become a chore to do anything much over a 100 mile running month or a 15 mile training run the last several years which pretty much spells doom for running ultra's.
This all comes up after my 2nd ever DNF at the 50k distance yesterday. Yes, there were plenty of extenuating circumstances, a really bad weather forecast, very, very busy life and emotional circumstances lately, nagging, niggling injuries etc. Life has gotten in the way of consistent running lately but I've felt good on the runs I have had. Yesterday I felt great on the 1st loop and #1 I wanted to finish to get another notch on my "gunbelt" (ultra finish) but a big #2 was outrunning some torrential downpours that were predicted all over central and near east Texas. My 1st loop (7.8 miles) was just a shade over an hour and a half and I was able to maintain that pretty well and come in at 25k in 3:09. All in all a darn good 15.5 miles. But, I was toast mentally and physically and decided to cash it in.
Over the last month or so I've been looking at the Trail Championship series. There are two categories, one ultra distance and one sub ultra. I've been thinking of doing the ultra but am now thinking very seriously about doing the sub ultra series. After doing some investigative work it looks as if I may be able to do well in that category. It would be something to get excited about and do some faster running too. The idea of getting done with a trail marathon in 6hrs or even some 25k races is sure appealing. At least right now it is.
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