MINDSET

The Foothills 50k Frenzy took place Sat, Oct 5. It's been a week, and I finally feel like I can start to put the experience into words. This event was both exactly and nothing like any event I have done before. On one level, it's very simple. Do the work, day in and day out, then show up and run. On another level, it was very profound to experience the culmination of months, even years, of training.

It's sometimes difficult to pin down a watershed moment. I can't quite recall precisely when or how I learned that there were folks who ran farther than a Marathon (26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometers). Within a few weeks last summer, I heard about Dean Karnazes and his running exploits for the first time, and learned that my buddy Rich had signed up for a 50 kilometer (31 mile) run called the "Vaquero Loco" (aka "Crazy Cowboy")!  All I know is that instead of instantly thinking, "That's insane!" I thought, "I gotta try that!"

Welcome to my Blog 2.0

I started this blog in 2008 as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, primarily with updates about The Girl.  Then, I joined Facebook, and it all fell by the wayside....  Now, thanks to running, I have resurrected my blog! Thank you for accepting the invitation to view it. (I just have to actually post to it! haha)  One thing I have done to populate the blog for the last 5 years is copy my "notes" out of Facebook and put them in here.

Every blogger worth their salt has to have a catchy name. I came up with one by accident. This is the story: We have magnetic letters on the fridge. Our latest game is "Word of the Day" in which we spell out things that happened in the day, like "hawk" if we saw a hawk, or "pancake" if I made breakfast for dinner.  Well after my run, I spelled ULTRA.  Then I was randomly inspired to add "M O M" to it ... ULTRAMOM!  And thus, a name is born.

Race Report ~ Weiser River Trail 50K

Race Report: 

Weiser River Trail 50K Relay and Ultra

04-27-2013

Most of you know this story REALLY begins either 20 years or 2 years ago when I started running the first and second times. But, we don't need to go back that far. How about to five months ago when I decided to train for a Marathon? To train, I used the Plan provided by my Run/Walk group and stuck to it. Week after week, month after month, logging the miles: building a base, increasing mileage, working in recovery weeks, then the taper.

On New Year's Eve, I ran 14 miles, which was my longest run yet. Then, a few weeks later I went for 16 miles. Then 18. Then 21 ... 23!

Somewhere along the way, I sent a message to the directors for the Marathon I had chosen asking about the route.  I wanted to drive it, bike it, and run segments of it before event day. This is when I discovered that the event I had so *carefully* chosen had changed from a loop all the way around a lake to an out-and-back. I was so disappointed! I didn't want just to run a Marathon, I wanted an *experience*, and now I wouldn't have that caché of saying "Yeah, I ran around the lake".  So, I decided to find another event within the same time-frame that fit my criteria, and discovered the "Weiser River Trail 50K Relay and Ultra".

Marathon Madness

(I doubt this Note will be of much interest to anyone but me;

but I have to get this out of my head and Husband is sick of hearing it!)

As I have heard from many and varied sources, training for a Marathon will take over your life. I accepted this as fact; but, academically, the same way that everyone told me having a kid would change my life. Also in the same way, I am discovering the reality is so much more than one can ever know beforehand!

My Run/Walk coach says, "We train using a textbook plan, but we don't lead textbook lives."  As my training plan progresses and the weekly long runs get longer and longer, I am realizing I will not be able to do my long runs on Saturdays. So, I am reevaluating my plan to figure out when to do my long runs.

An Open Letter to Slacker Radio Regarding Recent Advertising Practices

An Open Letter to @Slacker Radio Regarding Recent Advertising Practices.

Dear Slackers,

I have two advertising-related complaints.

1) PLEASE tell me you are not responsible for the full-screen ad (or something) that appeared on my android screen this evening while I was listening to Slacker Radio. The window came up saying something to the effect of, "Congratulations! You are the first US listener selected for a free gift from moblinks[dot]org. Click OK to claim your prize!"