My motivation & upcoming schedule: Running Marathons, Ultra's and Training

The JFK50 miler led to a small running injury. It is my first injury since I fell pretty hard and twisted my ankle in my first JFK50 miler. Perhaps this race brings me bad luck:-(

I am still working on my race report but also am trying to keep up with my professional and personal life. And of course in my rehab (which involves nothing except stretching and ice) I have been getting ready for 2011. I am excited about my race calendar and of course that I will be sharing a bunch of races with a bunch of friends. And of course I know I will run into friends at most if not all of my races. Some of my running companions are seasoned marathoners/ultramarathoner and several are my friends who I have coerced into running with my enthusiasm and statements like "Running is FUN!".

Training, while not "fun" in the strictest sense of the word, I do enjoy. It gives me time to think, reflect and just enjoy being in the moment. I do frequently listen to an Ipod Shuffle but frequently I just listen to sounds of nature (if I am on a trail), chat on the phone (sometimes the only time I can squeeze out of a day is on my run) and sometimes I am fortunate enough to run with others frequently these are fun runs at my local running store: Fleet Feet Gaithersburg.

My husband and I are fortunate to have the funds to allow for frequent traveling around the country. And I am always delighted to share a rental car, hotel or carpool with friends. This of course makes my running "slush fund" go farther.

Running marathons, ultra's and even shorter distances which I can extend by running the course backward (if I finish early enough), make runs go even faster. Time flies when you are having fun and in my world chatting, learning about others and experiencing new places keep running fresh and interesting.

And of course my events do have purpose. In the next few weeks I hope to run the California International Marathon and the Rehobeth Marathon. These will be my final train up runs for the Across the Years 48 hour (ATY 48) race in Arizona Dec. 29-31! This will be my first 48 hour race. I had hoped to come into the ATY 48 in better shape but perhaps all my training throughout the summer and fall will help me. My goal is to run 100 miles in the first 24 hours then run an additional 35 miles in the next 24 hours. I am not sure what I can accomplish but I figure I might as well set a pretty lofty goal!

And of course I plan to have FUN!!