I think I spent the entire weekend running........

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Well, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes you just need to put your head down and barrel through the tough times as though it doesn't affect you. Humans are very adaptable and capable of putting up with much more than we give ourselves credit for. This year, I think I have had to become very good at pushing through the tough times and being adaptable. But it this very attitude that is allowing me to pursue my first 100 miler.

This was a big week for me as far as mileage goes. I have run nearly 80 miles in 7 days, which is more than I have ever run in one week in my entire life. Several weeks into running 60-70+ mileage range during a given week, I can feel the changes in my body. My appetite is obnoxious, and I feel my body is craving more sleep. I have become used to running at a semi-decent clip, without it feeling like much more work than just walking. Graduate school seemed to take away my abs, but they are finally coming back. I am just so fascinated with how adaptable the human body and mind are when it comes to running, and this weekend was a big testament to that.

Last fall I decided my plan was to BQ and PR in my half marathon, and the Indy Mini was supposed to be my place to do the latter. Well, needless to say, my goals changed drastically over the year with several ultra races being at the top of my priority list. Lots of people BQ, and I think I can too. But I just don't think a BQ is going to test me the way I want to be tested right now. I want to see if I can push myself past pain, fear, and the most extreme limits of physical endurance. I want to see if I have what it takes to run 100 miles at once. I just want to see what I am truly made of.

So the Indy Mini was a big shocker to me this weekend....so much different than the types of events I have been running lately. I was running the race with my running partner, who is also an ultrarunner. She was planning to run it in around 2 hours, and I was planning to stay with her. My half marathon PR is around 1:35. Now granted I cannot run this time right now with no speed work under my belt, the former road runner in me did have the urge to pick up the pace. I am so glad I didn't. Not only for the fact that it was just the beginning of many more miles this weekend, but also because I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We finished in around 2 hours, both feeling like the race was a nice easy warm up and a fun spectacle just to be a part of.

So for the rest of my miles this weekend, I moved on to dark side of running...literally. Being back in Fort Wayne on Mother's Day allowed me to run with some old friends which was awesome. And of course we had to keep things interesting by starting the HUFF course at 4:30am in the pitch black darkness. I woke up at 3am to get ready and be there to start by 4:30am (good practice for sleep-deprived running). I would just like to point out that 3am is a completely obnoxious time to wake-up to go trail running. However, for the 100 miler I will be running all night after running all day so I just better get used to it. Mud, water, getting lost, peeing in the woods, and two loops of the HUFF later, we found ourselves at about 22+ miles for the morning. GREAT training run! After all of that this weekend, I find myself sleepy, but my legs are just fine after about 37+ miles of running in 2 days. Interesting and amazing how adaptable the body is. Maybe just a year ago, I would have been incapacited by such a feat. However, I will be running at 6am sharp tomorrow...quietly working my butt off so I am prepared to test my limits in June.