50 Shades of Crabby – Gordon McKernan Trains for 50 Mile Run
It’s a touchy time for me, as I’m training for a 50 mile run. You see for some runners, once you have mastered the marathon, you think to yourself, what’s next? You may have heard vague details about something called an ultra-marathon. By definition, an ultra-marathon is any run longer than 26 miles, 385 yards (or 42.195 kilometers). Presently in the United States, these standard events comprise a mix of English and metric measurements: 50- and 100 miles, and 50 and 100 kilometers. The most common of these is the 50-miler. It provides a good basis for comparison of individual performances in different sections of the country. Also, since 1966 it has been a national championship distance, the longest footrace with a US title at stake. After doing multiple marathons and half-marathons, I’ve decided to train for a 50 mile run.
I started this week off by first apologizing in advance to my wife and then to my staff for the possibility of being ‘crabby,’ short, or inattentive with them over the next few weeks as I continue my training for my first ever 50 mile run or Ultra-Marathon!
My plan is to run The Carl Touchstone Memorial Mississippi Trail 50 on March 2. The race is held in early March each year on the Longleaf Horse Trail in the De Soto National Forest just south of Laurel, Mississippi. The race was moved from Leland to Laurel in 1996 by Carl Touchstone, a local dentist and accomplished ultra-runner. The 2013 race will be the 17th anniversary of the race in Laurel, and the 12th that commemorates Carl’s untimely death due to cancer.
With this intense running training program I’m doing to prepare for the race, I feel like all I’m doing is running, running, running. I run a regular marathon this weekend as part of my training and then will continue to run, run, run. This blog today is mostly just about putting my apology in writing to my amazing loved ones and supportive staff! Thank you for putting up with me during this difficult training time and while I complete this exciting adventure and intense goal of mine!
