Ultra: June Edition
I was slow as hell today, but I got my ultramarathon done for the month!
I like running in Bowness/Bowness Park, especially when it’s NOT 3 AM and pitch black and full of weird animal noises.
Vroom.
Age of ULTRAmarathon
May’s ultramarathon COMPLETE!
I haven’t done this route in a long time (not since late last spring, I think); it’s nice if you’re not doing it too often. It gets old pretty fast, though, which is weird ‘cause it’s a nice flat route with not too many people once you get past the Bird Sanctuary.
I think the path grading past there is a little weird in a certain spot, though. It always throws me off a bit.
Also, I’m slow as hell.
Leeeeeeeeet’s ULTRA!
Today was PERFECT running weather so I ended up doing a 50k.
I think the plan this year will be to do at least one ultramarathon (50k+) per month, weather permitting. I missed February because weather did not permit, but I think I got January and I know I got last month.
So yeah.
Let’s Run
First ultra of the year!
It’s pretty sad that it took me until March to do this, but January = tons of foot pain because of bad shoes and February = too cold to go outside and there’s no way in hell I’m running that far on a treadmill.
Anyway.
Running Swag
I got my Calgary Marathon stuff a while ago, but I waited until my mom was here to open the package. Behold!
Shirt image:
Medal:
It’s too bad they’re not going to be doing the ultra distance anymore after this year. The marathon’s going to be the longest.
Run, Calgary, Run!
So remember that really horrible day that I ran my 60K for the virtual Calgary Ultra Marathon?
Turns out I could have picked a worse day to do it: the day of the actual marathon.
My day was windy as hell, but was otherwise not too bad.
Today, the day of the actual marathon, was also windy as hell but came with a bonus hour and a half of POURING RAIN.
I don’t mind running in rain. But when the downpour hit, it was around 8:30 in the morning. Based on when the ultra started this morning, I estimated that I’d be about halfway through the race by that time. Which would mean another 18-ish miles of either getting rained on or running in soaking wet clothes/shoes/socks.
So yeah.
I’m okay with my virtual decision now. I was really regretting it for a few weeks there, but at least now I am blister free and not lying on the ground at the finish line in pre-hypothermia mode like I’d be if I ran today.
FUN!
Sixty
It’s done, yo!
My first 60 kilometer (37.28 mile) run.
This was NOT The day to do this. I was not in the mood to run today, I felt like garbage this morning, I got up later than I wanted to, and I ran approximately 18 consecutive miles into 30 mph headwind.
(Hence the terrible pace)
But I did it anyway because I’m stubborn like that.
So this is currently acting as my virtual ultra for the Calgary Marathon. Will I do another one of these? Possibly, if for no other reason than to overwrite that terrible pace.
But the distance has been accomplished at least once, and that’s fine with me.
Running Worries
So my ultra marathon is in like three months and I have barely been able to train for it at all because the weather’s been ass. I don’t train like a normal person because my body is truly weird, so my training process is “increase the long run mileage by one mile each weekend until I hit the desired distance of 60K (37 miles).”
Right now I can run a marathon distance without much trouble (I run one every weekend I’m able to run outside), so I’m going to need about 11 weeks to hit my goal.
BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT
Part of the problem is that yes, I have a treadmill, but there’s no way in hell I could ever run that far on it. I can barely do 14 miles and 18 (my treadmill version of my weekend “long run” when I can’t go outside) is really tough.
So I won’t be able to work on increasing my distance until I’m able to (consistently) run outside.
Like…last weekend was great! 27 miles outside, no problem. But this weekend is too freaking cold (and snowy) to be doing anything outside,* so I had to do a short “long run” and not work on increasing my miles.
It’s just frustrating. It also doesn’t help that I was just really lucky with the weather last year this time and had no problem ramping up the mileage to hit marathon distance prior to the end of May.
*I walked the 1.5 miles to North Hill after running and I felt like I was in some sort of Antarctic storm simulator.
Ultra
GUYS, I DID IT
I ran an ultra-marathon!*
50K (31.1 miles) to be exact. It took me five hours, but I did it. Got a badge on my Garmin, too.
Turns out breaking through that marathon barrier is much more mental than it is physical (though I kind of figured it would be).
Now…any other year, this distance would be sufficient. But because the Calgary Marathon is celebrating it’s 60th year next year, the ultra-marathon distance has been increased from 50K to 60K. So I need to tack on another 10K (6.2 miles) to what I ran today. That’s another hour-ish of running.
Can I do it?
I guess we’ll see!
It’s so nice, though, to have this distance accomplished.
*I guess any distance longer than a marathon is technically an ultra, but 50K is the generally accepted “shortest” ultra distance in most cases when it comes to actual races.
TWO THINGS!
Item One: I reached my year-long streak with French on DuoLingo! I’m really enjoying it. Duo definitely helped with the vocab when I took that French class last semester; hopefully it’ll help with the next one as well.
Item Two: I am now officially signed up for the 2024 Calgary Marathon’s ultra marathon!
Time to freak out, hahaha.
HYPE
This article’s got me HYPED UP, DAWG.
Oh my GOD I want to be able to run an ultramarathon. That would be such an accomplishment, especially for someone like me who is not “naturally” a runner.
WOOOOOOOOOO
New goal!
SO.
Running.
It’s basically my personality now, so of course I’ve already looked up if I can register for next year’s Calgary Marathon.
When I was reading about the ultra marathon earlier this year, I saw that the ultra marathon distance (50k) was being retired this year (I mentioned this a few days ago). That sucked, since I was going to make it my goal for next year.
HOWEVER.
Next year will be the 60th anniversary of the Calgary Marathon, and they’ve added a special 60k ultra marathon for next year only.
So THAT is going to be my goal.
60 kilometers is approximately 37 miles, which is quite a big step up from 26.2 miles. But if I approach it the same way I approached training for the marathon this year (26.2 miles is about 10 miles more than my typical run distance, so I just needed to add 10 miles to my usual run), maybe I can psych myself up for it.
It’s all much more mental than physical, anyway.
LET’S DO IT!
WELL HELL
Despite not actually running the Calgary Marathon yet this year (though I’ve done three marathon distances so far), I’m making next year’s goal an ultra marathon.
The Calgary Marathon has a 50k ultra (and it sounds like 50k is a pretty typical length for an ultra), so I went to go look it up this afternoon to see what the route was if I were to do it in person.
And of course, with my luck, this year is the LAST YEAR they’re doing that distance.
Balls.
HOWEVER.
I googled “virtual ultra marathons” and discovered this site, so now I think I’m going to use it to sign up for practically every virtual marathon I can find.
Because I’m that kind of loser.
Eigenblogger 