Sometimes You Just Have To Say What The Heck

By now, you've read or heard how rough marathon No. 5 was. It wasn't a pretty race. It drained me, and running was not as much fun as it used to be. While I took it nice and easy during the race and enjoyed the journey, that marathon took a lot out of me physically.

Coming back from Greenville, S.C., I was looking forward to recovery and taking a break from running. Not running for a week really appealed to me at the moment.

In fact, I ended up taking nine days off.

And it was glorious.

It was rather nice to run without any pressure of a race coming up. Just lace up the shoes and run for fitness and for the enjoyment of it.

But then, something changed.

Chris, my running buddy, has been in a running funk for months. Ever since he ran a rough and demanding 50-miler back in March, it seems his heart hasn't been into running.

He had been looking for something to help snap out of it and get the running bug again when he decided running a 50K would help do the trick. In particularly, the Pistol 50K in Aloca, Tenn., on Jan. 3.

Off and on, Chris and I had discussed running this race. I thought I could possibly do this race as my first ultra since I'll still be in good fitness coming off the marathon. But that was all before things didn't go my way at the Spinx Carolina Marathon. I was drained.

But as I kept looking at the Pistol 50K, the more I thought, "what the heck?' After all, I was in marathon form already, and a 50K is a little over 5 additional miles. And since there is a 100K and a 100-miler also at this event, the time limit to finish is the same for all 3 races - 30 hours.

Thirty hours to do a 50K? Totally doable.

So, on Nov. 15 - after an entire week of Chris pestering me into registering, I took the plunge and signed up for the Pistol 50K. (Side note: I signed up before Chris. After I registered, I pestered him for the next 24 hours to make sure he did as well. After all, that's what friends are for.)

While I had hoped to run my first ultra in 2014, that will now come at the start of 2015 on Jan. 3.

I go into this race with no grand illusions. No goal time. No mission other than just to finish.

Sounds crazy to those who don't run, but this 50K will be just for fun.

One of the things I love about running is seeing how far I can go and push myself. After conquering 26.2 miles five times, it's time to go to the next level.

Let's do this!