Friday, September 7, 2007

Danger is the new black

I still don't get why we humans behave the way we do. Buckle up when we drive but will pay money to jump out of a plane.

Danger is something that we seek right next to security. Do we need both to become happier humans or is it only the brave that attempts to have their cake and eat it too? I have a strong need to belong with my usual running friends, the marathoners but I secretly dream of racing ultramarathons. I pour though my Trail Running magazines and fantasize about all the ultras. Is the dream, the hope that you are going to do something that is dangerous but you are somehow going to come out of it victorious.

I don't consider myself a risk taker, but somewhere down the line, when the days become long and the tasks at hand become tiresome the dreams of escaping the monotony is the only thought that gets me though an other meaningless yet necessary task that I yet have to fulfill, like doing laundry. I have decided to race the Death Race, not just to finished but to actually race it. I spend my days calculating my game plan to get me there. There is a lot of information about running marathons but not a lot of running ultramarathons and climbing mountains at the same time, all I am going by my experience in my last Death Race. I didn't get passed on the flat surface, and very seldom on the incline, it was on the downhill where I lost most of my time so I am keeping the training to about the same distance, between 55-80 miles per week with speedwork and core training but adding hill training.

It should not add to any more time that I am already committing between 10-18 hours a week depending on how early I am on the training because all I have to do is to replace one of my easy runs with hill training. Other change that I am making is reversing my plan, concentrating on speedwork now and adding mileage later as suggested by Dr.David Martin from the Elite Athlete performance lab.

My favourite thing this week? My Asic Nimbus, great on the trail and the road.

I definitely feel very Lara Croft in Tomb Raider when I think about doing something so daring so bold. If you come over on a Saturday night and I am doing laundry don't be surprise if I am actually enjoying myself, I got plans of my own, plans of someday breaking out of this mold and turning into a butterfly.

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