Road to 100 Mile Ultra Marathon

During the spaghetti dinner the night before Ironman Florida, one of the speakers was discussing the idea of conserving strength during the race.  Her analogy used a full balloon to represent the amount of energy at the beginning of the race, with the idea to slowly release the air throughout the day until the balloon was finally deflated by the finish line.  For most distance athletes, endurance and the ability to travel longer distances while using the least amount of reserves possible is of the utmost importance.  I'm sure everyone has either experienced it or has heard of the proverbial running wall, it happened to me around mile 20 during my first marathon. So why is it that some folks can bonk after a few hours while others seem to be able to run comfortably all day.  The answer is controlled pacing with a good aerobic base.  It's as simple as that.  A fair amount of beginner runners don't train and run in the proper zone and aren't using their bodi...

When I find a hobby I am interested in or set a goal for myself, I am kind of like a crack head, charging forward as fast as I can to get to the destination.  A few months ago when I was starting to discover the joy of running again and I was contemplating an ultra marathon, I was very close to acting like a dumb ass and handling this challenge the same way.  Then I realized what a colossal error that would be on my part and decided I needed an intelligent and well planned course of action instead.  First off, anyone treating a 100 miles lightly and not respecting the distance would probably be doomed to fail.  I am also 47 years old and my body would definitely need more time to adjust and prepare for that amount of miles. I have had my sights on a 100 miler before, but never have I set a date and come up with a plan of action to accomplish such a sizeable feat.  I also understand that something this important will probably consume three years of my life, a...

I believe I am finally ready to begin the monumental quest of completing a 100 mile ultra marathon.  It's something I have wanted to do for almost 20 years and have gone back and forth on the idea more times than I'd like to admit.  I'm not a professional, just an age group athlete that likes a good challenge from time to time.  It must sound crazy to a normal person, or to anyone that isn't into pushing themselves to unfathomable limits.  I'm being honest when I say that the thought of running for 24+ hours is overwhelming, but I feel drawn to the suffering and mystic surrounding such a difficult task.  So why do it?  There’s no actual or comprehensible reason I can explain in words.  All sorts of cheesy phrases come to mind, but probably the best one that represents me is, "because I can." For starters, I have been a runner for a good portion of my life, at least since I was a sophomore in high school.  Back then, I used to jog to stay in s...