I decided to postpone my Tuesday night swim until Thursday, when it is supposed to be up to 37C/99F outside. So as an alternative I decided to ride my bicycle, but alas the poor bike had a flat – I guess my 55K ride on Sunday was too much for it. So I spent half the night fixing the flat. Now normally it doesn’t take so long to fix a flat, but I its been like 25 years since I've done this, and of course I didn’t have a repair kit at home. So first I had to go to the local bike shop and pick up a tire repair kit. While there, I decided I would just buy a new tube, then I could pop it into the tire and be done with it. But of course they had every single tube size except the one I needed, so lazy Jack had to fix the old one. In any case by 8:15 p.m. my bike was up and running.
Where are the Ultras?
I am amazed at the general lack of ultra-distance runs in my area. I have been looking high and low for any ultra that doesn’t require multiple hours of driving or an overnight stay, and the only one that I have found is a 50K in October. I have decided that I live in an ultra-poor region and need to move.
To be fair there are a few ultras in the area, but I need to be a faster runner to participate. For example, in October is a 65K/40M group run, but they require that you are capable of running a 4-hour marathon - still too fast for me, though maybe next year.
There are also several ultras in the spring, e.g. March to June, but this doesn’t help me this year. I'll keep looking though, the main problem is I need to keep costs down - life is always a compromise...
Ultra Withdrawal
So I guess I am getting ultra-frustrated. Or is it a form of post-race depression, ultra-fever, or something similar?
I decided that I am going through an art ultra-withdrawal. I’ve tasted the fine wine of ultrarunning and I am no longer satisfied with the cheap stuff. I have been doing a lot of shorter races lately (e.g. 10K), which have been fun, but somehow they don’t lift me up like they used to.
I think I have become a running addict, I am searching for the next ultimate high, the short races don’t give me the rush they used to, I need the hard stuff. And like an addict I have to find a way to finance my habit.
p.s. Outside of booze I have never tried illegal drugs – my analogies are not derived from personal experience. I just though I’d add that before anyone gets the wrong idea.
Welcome to the dark side....
The only 10K race I have run this year was on trails!
I ran lots and lots of races last year, and the only thing on the calendar right now are the marathon and longer races.
I think I read in the paper that your wife bribed some local ultra RDs so they'd disappear for a year. We chicks are sneaky!
ultra-withdrawal lasts, then comes down, then up again...yep, it sucks. i am going through one right now. keeping costs down is going to be even more demanding point next year, so i better get used to no much racing.
You think it's bad in Germany? There is just one ultra in the whole of Ireland that I'm aware of!
La-la-la-la, I'm not listening! I don't want to know about this, I really don't. My husband ran a marathon in '99. He swore never to do it again. He did it again in 2003, and now has 14 under his belt and two on the calendar. He ran a 50 miler last year and said that was it. Guess what - 50K in April, 50 miler next week. This must be the darkside of which Olga speaks! I've already watched Rob go through withdrawals...now you.
Repeat after me: 10Ks are fun, half marathons are fun, marathons are fun...
withdrawal, yikes!
so maybe you can savor the winter months as a way to build up your strength and speed, so next year you can do all of them ???