The Need for Speed
In 2013, I ran my first ultra, the Leona Divide 50 miler.
Gone were the days of trying to cover the race distance in my training but I did feel like there was a need to set a new high watermark for running. Prior to that block, the most I’d covered on foot while running was 26.2 miles. When I started my preparation, I had some general ideas of what I wanted to accomplish and I felt like I need to peak with a long run of 35-ish miles. I can’t remember exactly what I ran but I believe, 38 miles -- it wasn’t pretty. I started out too fast, ended too slowly and I recall a lot of walking in those last 8 miles. I finished my preparation, Leona Divide came and went, I had a successful first 50 miler under my belt and I was hooked on ultras.