There are some instances in life where I try to go through the motions and get things done with out spending too much time thinking about the end goal. This is how I am when I am training for an ultra. If I think about it too much it starts to become unweildy in my mind.

It was my third or four day on the job and I got talking to a client who is training for Pittsburgh marathon just as I am. We were talking about how long our longest runs had been so far and I told her what I’ve been doing, but said I was training for something before Pittsburgh. So she asked and I answered. It sounds so stupid coming out of my mouth “I’m doing a 50 miler in April”. So the cats out of the bag at work. My boss was very excited. She wanted to know why I didn’t tell her I was an ultra marathoner.

The clients have really enjoyed this information, they are an excellent group of people and love to joke around. I’ve had all kinds of comments from “Why” and “Don’t you have a car?” to “wow that’s amazing”.
It’s exciting to have people look at you like you are crazy tough, but then again all the pressure scares me. I have a ton of new people that I have to perform for. All I can think about is running 50 miles and how much less prepared I am for this one than I was for Baker. I’ve been running much higher weekly mileage, but I had the marathon, 50k and 6 hour race before my first 50. This time I’ve done three 20 milers and some shorter long runs. I never doubted myself once during Baker or leading up to it. I know that visualization and just knowing you can complete an ultra is so important. So I’ve got to get my head in the right place, and quickly.

This is my new mantra. An ultra is truly about the journey and I’m going to visualize myself rocking it, or at least slogging along.