To Be Disappointed or Thankful...

A couple friends of mine are running their very first ultra tomorrow, the Bimbler's Bluff 50k.  Awhile back, they asked me if I would join them.  As tempting as it was to be able to run my first ultra with friends, my inner coach easily won this battle due to the proximity of the race to my double this past weekend.  I hoped that I'd feel awesome after the double and be able to run, but wasn't about to take the chance of being injured and push myself through something that wouldn't exactly be a smart decision.

Then this past Thursday came and I had an AWESOME track workout.  We did 6x 800m repeats, one repeat ever 4:45.  I went out just to loosen up and run by feel.  Turns out my body felt like running sub-6:00 pace.  There were a few kinks still to be worked out, but I had bounced back very well.

Yesterday evening, the thought creeped back into my head...

"Maybe I can run this 50k.

I wonder if they're still taking registration."

All I remembered was that there was no race day registration.  As I pulled up the website, I was secretly hoping I could slip into the race last minute though I had no idea what I'd bring since I hadn't purchased a hydration pack yet and wasn't training on trails at all this year.  But who cares!  If I can do a double, I can do a 50k!

Thankfully, someone up there saved me.  Registration closed on October 5th.  So... no ultra for me tomorrow.  My inner athlete has been disappointed all morning, but I know it's the smarter decision.  Ah-well.

But on the brighter side, I had an AWESOME run today!  I ran with a couple of my half-marathoners this morning.  They got 5 and 6 miles in respectively, and we had a great chat; where to go in Beijing, preferences on smooth vs. crunchy peanut butter, what to do on a 13 hour flight, and our breakfast experimentations.

It's hard to beat the trails in the fall!

And then once they were done, I headed back out to finish up my goal of getting 2 hours on my feet for the day...

Happy to be feeling good 1 week post-double!

I got in 12 miles today and am pumped to be scheduling in some time on the real trails over the next 5 weeks leading up to the JFK 50. 

Ok.  I'm done writing.  I need to shower so I can get to cooking some pancakes (yes... shirtless J)!!  I think I'm going with plain almond today.

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Questions
1.  What is the latest you've ever signed up for a race?
I once ran a race without signing up.  Does that count?  We thought there was race day registration, but there wasn't.  Since we were already there, we ran anyways.  Haha.  Other than that, my Sprint Tris are always race day registration, and I signed up for Newport just a month beforehand.

2.  How long do you take off after a race before racing again?
I know this year has been a bit packed (that's an understatement!), but as far as endurance and simply finishing, I truly believe I can run a 50k tomorrow.  I just don't know where my "peak" is.

3.  What did you have for breakfast today?!
I need some more ideas!


DREAM.  BELIEVE.  ACHIEVE.