So Much for No Plans

2012 started with no races on the books other than a half-marathon in DC in March that admittedly is more an excuse to get back to DC for some quality drinking time with one of my best friends.  I’ve been happily bouncing between running, cycling, swimming, and lifting, with no real targets other than maintaining some base fitness and not getting hurt.  Possibly/hopefully even lose a few pounds along the way.  With a few innocent mouse clicks, that all changed quickly.

I’m now part of a 12-man relay team that will be running the Palmetto 200 in April in (hopefully fairly warm) South Carolina.  Signing up for this got me thinking about getting a little more serious with the running part of my fitness routine, since I don’t want to let my team down and be the “slow guy”.  Still, this relay didn’t put me into full training-plan mode.  Then I talked to a running friend at work, and found myself signing up for the OBX 50k on May 5.  First-ever staging of the event.  Only 35 runners.  Suddenly things have gotten much more serious.

This will be my first foray into the great unknown beyond 26.2 miles.  One might think that when making the move out to 30 miles you might want to keep things fairly simple.  Well … I did keep things flat, but the interesting thing about this run is its 1.6 miles on the road, followed by 29.4 miles on the beach.  Subsequent research has indicated that 30 minutes of running on sand feels like about an hour of running on pavement.  Perhaps I should have done some of that research before I signed up.

I’ve now shifted my mentality back to that of a runner, and am working on a training plan focused primarily on running, with cycling, swimming, etc. still included but truly used as cross-training alternatives rather than equal-time pursuits.  Not really sure how to simulate the running on sand part of the training.  Time to find some good trails nearby with loose soil.  I’m envisioning the whole new kind of sore I’ll be facing after finishing this one, and I’m glad I’ve got a jumbo-sized dispenser of Biofreeze already purchased.

Game on.