Headed In A New Direction

So many of you (mostly the people I know personally) are saying "huh?" to my latest race registration. (Especially since I just posted this for my 2013 Goals) For those who may not know, I "retired" from marathon running. I said I didn't know if I would ever run another marathon, I have ZERO desire to run one. Honestly, 26.2 miles of running on the road just doesn't do it for me. Many people love a road marathon (yes, Jamie, I'm talking about you!) but me, I could not get excited about it even though I'm super excited for Katie to run her first marathon this year. I thought maybe I would try to train and run that one with her. Nope. Still couldn't get excited.

Yesterday (New Year's Day), I registered for the Playin' Possum 50k. It's NOT a marathon. At least I stuck to my word on that one.... However, it's an ULTRA marathon. (For any non-runners, an Ultra Marathon is any race distance that goes farther than 26.2 miles) Yes, I'm running MORE THAN 26.2 miles, in fact it's something like 31 miles.  WHAT?!

See, I love running trails. I love the relaxed feel to trail running. Sure, some people run fast. Ok, most people run much faster than me on the trails. I'm slow and I don't care. Since starting trail running last January, I've thought of a 50k. But, I didn't have many trail running friends and since I'm a huge klutz, it didn't feel smart for me to run solo. However, I've been meeting more trail running friends and our local Fleet Feet has started hosting trail runs a couple weekends a month.

Still, I wasn't going to do this in 2013. I was going to concentrate on shorter distances (sorry Jeff!) I was going to try for a huge PR in the half marathon distance. But for some reason, that didn't have me excited. I was searching for something to get me excited for 2013.

Then a friend posted that there was a 50k coming to one of the local state parks. Uh oh. I started looking into it. I found their facebook page. I followed their facebook page. (you can see where I'm going with this, right?). I saw this on their site:

Registration is now open for the Playin’ Possum 50K trail run, the Columbus area's first trail ultramarathon!  Located in the beautiful, Delaware State Park, the Course offers a variety of scenic terrain, which is very runnable and less technical than some trail ultramarathons.  This race is ideal for both first time and veteran ultra runners alike!

How was I supposed to say no to that? An "ideal for both first time and veteran ultra runners" 50k that isn't far away? No over-night stay needed. My family can come and go as they want. Plus, I got $10 off my registration for signing up yesterday. I am committed to my first 50k. (or maybe I should BE committed? Hmmm....) Maybe for me, I need the challenge of something new instead of just faster.... I don't know. I do know that I'm excited about this new challenge. I am (mostly) not intimidated by tackling a new distance. Not quite sure WHY I feel compelled to try this after I had my mind made up for this year. Regardless, here I go!

So, I'll apologize to my family and friends for saying that I was done with marathoning.... I'll apologize in advance to my wonderful husband for the time I will spend running these next 5 months.... And I'll beg you, my awesome readers, for ANY advice you have for training for an ultra.

Now I just need to find a training plan....

Have you run an Ultra Marathon? What plan did you use? Any tips for me as I start on this new journey?