I’ve said I wanted to run an ultra for quite some time now.

I’m guessing that thought started swirling in my mind about 3 or 4 years ago. I was falling in love more with trail running. Road marathons were nice but I didn’t love it.

More aptly, my body didn’t love it.

I’ve had my eye on one 50k since then. This year, I finally thought it was going to happen. We were planning on a trip to Michigan to visit family around the same time that the Grand Island 50k was happening. It was all too perfect.

Well, not really. Sadly, the race was off the table for 2019. Scheduling wasn’t going to work.

So then I started looking for another race.

I wanted something that wasn’t too late in the fall.  Once September rolls around, kid fall sports starts up and that means Ron and I having to divide and conquer on the weekends as we shuttle kids around.

I wanted something that was not loops. I knew if I had to run past my car at multiple times throughout the race, it would give me the opportunity to take a DNF and tag out.

I wanted something that was mostly trails, jeep roads and a little technical but not super crazy technical that I’d be setting myself up for a broken ankle.

The Vermont 50 sounded good.

I marked the date that registration opened on May 25th. On that day, I sat down at my computer to register and I froze.

Could I really run an ultra?

Lots of doubts started to flood my mind.

It’s been 2 years since I even attempted marathon training. My longest long run in the past year has been maybe 15 miles? Will I have time to get to the trails to run long? Do I want to spend my summer weekends running long? Why do I want to run an ultra? Is 5000 ft of elevation gain too much for your first ultra?

I pushed away from the computer. I couldn’t register. I talked Ron’s ear off about what I should do. He was super supportive, telling me to go for it. I consulted ultra running friends for feedback. I asked my coach if he thought it was doable. Everyone was onboard.

But my doubts were overtaking everything.

After a few days of contemplating, I decided NOT to do it.

I’d find another race or wait to do Grand Island in 2020.

Even though I decided not to do it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the race.

Why was I so afraid?

About two weeks after registration opened, I was scrolling through the camera roll on my phone. I found a picture I took a screen shot of back in 2016.

Guess what it was?

                                               photo credit: Vermont 50

The Vermont 50 logo.

I took that as a sign that this was the race for me to do.

I sat down at my computer and registered.

Of course, I texted Ron right before I hit submit and asked, “Are you sure I should do this?!?!?!”

Vermont 50 training will officially start in 2 weeks. My coach has given me a down week next week before transitioning to ultra training. I’ve seen the next 6 weeks of my training plan and it doesn’t look too different than what I’m doing now – just longer long runs, obviously.

I’m letting go of expectations for my first ultra. I’m prepared to hike a lot. I know it’s going to s-u-c-k at points. These next 12 weeks will be about not only prepping my body but also my mind for the duration. I’ll be picking the brains of all my ultra friends to figure out what the hell I got myself into. Hahaha!

I can’t wait!

Linking up with Coaches Corner.

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