Training Talk, Part 1 - A Hacker's Approach

This blog is named "The Running Hacker" for a reason.

The reason is that unlike a lot of people trying to run ultras, I have no background in running.  No experience.  I came to this knowing pretty much nothing about training for endurance.  A lot of people figure they should run a marathon before even thinking about moving up to ultras.  Many in the sport are long-time marathoners or triathletes.  Many are former high-school and college track competitors who have been running all their lives.

Me?  I'm a life-long non-athlete.  In high school I was in the band.  My only history with running is that I ran everywhere when I was a kid (think short sprints, not long slow distance) and later in life I always gravitated to running during my brief periods of 'getting in shape.'  I never ran much in terms of weekly mileage, and I never kept it up for long.

Unveiling the Monster

All the way back in October in a post I called "That Sinking Soaring Feeling" I talked about the race that I was seriously considering making my goal race for 2012.  I called it a 'monster,' and the idea of entering it both thrilled and frightened me.

Well, I'm in - and here for the first time (for my massive reading audience) I am unveiling the monster!