Monday Wrap Up: Crowd Sourcing Race Advice

In the month since the Chicago Marathon, I've said to quite a few people that, if I never ran a faster marathon, I'd still be happy and content. Sure, I might not feel that way 2 years from now, but in the immediate aftermath of the race, rather than thinking about how I could have gone 3:10 if I'd eaten better/slept more/worn shorter shorts, I'm mostly thinking "damn, I am really psyched with that performance."

That said, I don't intend to retire from the marathon anytime soon. I'm registered for Boston in April already, and see no reason why I wouldn't also run a fall marathon next year, as I'm in the habit of doing.

But as someone who's motivated by goal setting, and who finds the most satisfying part of distance running to be the chipping away at a training plan en route to those goals, it's somewhat unsettling, when people ask if I'm going to try to PR in Boston in April, that my answer is "no." I want to have something to work towards, but right now, another marathon PR isn't it.

Naturally, of course, I've been thinking about ultras. I've long said (haha, distance pun) there's plenty of room for improvement for me in ultras; my last ultra, 39.3 miles through the Irish countryside, was not the race I hoped it would be. And both of my other ultras have been afterthoughts following goal marathons. I'd like to take some time to train specifically for an ultra.

I haven't made any firm decisions yet (don't freak out, Mom), but I've done a little research into races that might work for me, considering my travel schedule, my role as permanent wedding guest, and the fact that I have a boyfriend whom I'd like to be able to see from time to time. I think I've targeted a 50 miler in May that fits the bill, and I've talked it over with TG, who alleges he won't break up with me if I add a long run to my weeks on Sundays in addition to Saturdays (on the plus side, he anticipates his squash game will get very good). The race in question is the week after Boston, which means I wouldn't be dragging out my race season either.  Basically, I have Ultra Sign Up open in another tab as we speak and am just trying to work up the nerve to register.

On the one hand, 50 miles sounds like SO MANY MILES. That's nearly twice the length of the marathon! On the other, it's less than 11 more than I've already run (with a broken foot), and the training plan I found isn't really that much more running than the 60-70 mile weeks I put in for the Chicago Marathon.

Anyone want to try to talk me into or out of this plan? Take to the comments, please.

Number of Miles Run This Week: 44. That was an accident. I ran longer than I would have otherwise on Tuesday, since I had the day off work, and then I ran both Wednesday morning and Wednesday evening.  It's unclear if I'll ever run again, though, since this morning the doorknob fell off my front door and I'm currently trapped in here with Dorito... 

Number of Beers Consumed This Week: 6.

Types of Beers Consumed Last Week: Bell's Best Brown Ale, Bud Light, Dale's Pale Ale, Shipyard Monkeyfist IPA.