Ultra Races-Am I crazy?

I see the issue with running a marathon.

You either hate it and never do it again (my cousin’s husband said this-he did one, that was it, won’t do it again) or you love it so much you can’t get enough.

I fell into the second category. I’m training for san diego in june, which will be four months after the first, and then hoping to do long beach in november.

Yet I’m beginning to think of even loftier goals, like running a 30 miler, or trying a tri (well, I’m already training for this, but I’m thinking could I ever do ironman?)

What is up with that? I wonder sometimes why I want to do more, and further, and what sets someone apart who loves that type of pain from someone who does it once, says no way, and stops?

My cousin’s husband still runs. Don’t know the length of runs he does, but it isn’t 30 mile races anymore.

I think part of it is ego. Maybe that’ s it? Are long distant runners trying to prove something?

I believe so, but only to ourselves. I dont care what other people think. in fact, if you tell someone that you ran a marathon or that you someday would love to attempt an ironman tri they will look at you like you have two heads.

They can’t comprehend that distance, and they can’t comprehend why someone would want to do that kind of distance. What provokes a person to run 26.2 miles? That is a long damn way!

Ego, I guess, but only for ourselves.

You see, I know I can do an ironman. Or at least, I know that I can train and then try to d o the ironman. And I know myself well enough to know I’ll be lying on the floor bleeding from my eyeballs before I will ever stop, once I start that race. My first marathon was under really nasty weather conditions, and I had no desire to quit. I was going to finish it. I had trained, and I would finish it.

This next marathon, I understand that it is a long distance, but I already know that I can do it. You see, I’ve done it already. Now, for some reason, I feel the need to prove to myself that I can go further, faster and stronger than before.

Just wondering how many others of you out there finished that first long distance race and while you were busy congratulating yourself and beaming about the accomplishment were also thinking, “Hm, what would it be like to run 50 miles?”