From 0 to 50 in 9.67 Months

On January 1st of this year I stepped out of the house to run for the first time in 3 months. I had been sidelined with back pains and took some time off to recover. That first "run" was a quarter mile jog around the block. I repeated that "workout" two more times during the week, then went "all out" for a 1/2 mile jog on the weekend. 

If you had asked me at that moment if I thought I would be running a 50 mile ultra before the end of the year, I would have asked you to pass whatever it was you were smoking(to alleviate my back pain). But that's just want I did...in a little over 9 months I went from running 1/4 mile jogs around my block to a 50 mile race on the Des Plaines River Trail.

I couldn't have finished it without my support crew.  Surprisingly
my legs felt good enough to squat down for the photo!

So how(and why) did I decide to do a 50 miler? I mentioned before how I wanted to do some different events this year rather than standard road races. I was thinking of trying to find an event to do around my 30th birthday to commemorate the occasion.

One of my friends, who is a personal trainer, invented what he calls the "birthday workout." The birthday workout is simple: Whatever age you are turning, you have to do that many reps of each exercise. My original thought was to take that concept and map out a 30 mile route to run on my birthdays.  Later on, I decided since I was going to put in a bunch of time training that I might as well find an organized event.

I searched the internet to find a 30 mile ultra around my birthday. My research revealed that 50 mile races were a lot more common than 30 milers, so I decided "If I'm going to run 30, I might as well do 50!" It seemed logical at the time, but now that I'm typing it, I realize how stupid it sounds.  I finally found the perfect race:  it fell on my 30th birthday, was withing a day's drive of home, and was run 100% on a scenic trail.

I began training for it and signed up.  The day of the race finally came and I completed the full 50 miles. There were many struggles along the way(which I will discuss in upcoming posts), but I firmly believe that I would not have made it without changing the way I run.

As it turns out, injuring my back last fall turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Since I was starting from scratch in January, I began running in minimalist style running shoes and completely revamped my running form.  I changed from a long, bounding stride to a short, light stride.  I changed the way my foot hits the ground as well, going from a heel strike to a midstep foot strike.

Since I was being cautious with my back and running short distances in January, the new running style didn't give me too many pains and discomforts.  I had tried using minimalist running shoes once before and gave up, because I was getting a lot of pain in my feet and ankles.  I had tried to run too fast and too far.  But this time around, my back issues kept me from being tempted to make the same mistake.  Gradually, as the year progressed, I was able to increase my mileage and get back into my normal running routine.

My new running style was much more efficient than how I ran before.  It was a lot more natural motion and didn't take as big of a toll on my joints as my old way of running.  Therefore, I was able to run for long periods of time without getting as many aches and pains in my feet, knees and hips.

If there is one thing I could take something away from the whole experience, it is that God seems to have a way of making good things happen even when it seems like we're in a bad situation.  I've found that He has done many times in my life, and this was just another example. 

Several people have asked questions about how I trained, how long did the race take, what I ate, how did I go to the bathroom, how did I feel afterward, how does it compare to a marathon, etc. I'll answer those questions and more in a series of posts I'm calling "50 things you need to know(but may not want to know) about running 50 miles."  I'll share many stories, experiences and tips I picked up along the journey from mile 1 of my first training run to the final mile of the race.