!!!

So I feel rather presumptuous posting twice in one day, especially since this is a running blog (mostly) and I barely jogged 15 minutes today, but too much pixel pushing has led me to sign not only myself but my husband (with his enthusiastic consent) up for an upcoming local ultra.

The people running the ultra I semi-crashed yesterday were sooo nice and friendly that I checked out their FB page, and found out that they're throwing another party next month.  It's on the weekend before the one I was tentatively allotting to my next monster run, but bumping it up actually could work better in terms of fitting in with exams and studying.

It's on one of the many horse farms around here, and my first thought was that the "trails" would be torn up sand, like the bridle paths I run on regularly, but the pics look tight.  Dirt, not sand, and well-packed and clear apart from a bit of grass, and relatively flat.  Picture a utility road that a farm-only vehicle runs up and down a few times a day between fields = pure bliss.  This is my favourite type of surface to run on, I think. I've really loosened up on army post semi-abandoned depot and training roads in the past.  Gnarlier trails are more engaging, for sure, but they afford fewer opportunities to just stretch out and tune out.  I'm really pumped.  I'm going to hand off my brains and tune out and coast for hours.   Won't even have to pick up my feet!!  Shoot, I can tap into years of girly horse-loving prepubescent fantasies of being a Horse and galloping around with the wind ruffling my mane and all.  That might kick in after mile 40.  I get damn stupid after 30 or so...40 will be new terrain.  I'm hoping for ultimate pain wrenching me from my body and lifting me into a new effervescent realm, leaving my ache-wracked corporal existence behind.  I doubt this ever happens late in the game, but I keep hoping for it.

Anyway, it looks like I will be doing a race this year after all!  I had been considering the Philly Marathon up until recently.  3rd time's the charm, eh?  The first time, it was my very first marathon, and I bonked at mile 11.  The second time, I bonked at mile 15, decided to chill, had beer in Manayunk (nobody else was stopping!), stopped for a few minutes to help a fallen runner, etc, and subsequently found out that my gluten intolerance was making the traditional pre-race pasta/carbathon a VERY bad idea.  I was geared up to give Philly another go this year, but the problem is, running on roads kind of sucks here.  I got a good route that has a nice shoulder most of the way...point is, I'm mostly on grass/sand/pine needles/horse poop/etc/???. * The last time I've run more than 5 miles straight on asphalt or concrete was in August during a few runs back home.  This has benefits: I haven't had to buy new shoes this year.  But it also means that I've become unused to impact.  My doubts about a road marathon increased.

Instead, I started putting all my eggs into a January ultra basket that I'm actually still on the waitlist for and might not actually get to run.  I'm cool with the uncertainty though.  Plan B was picking another date and running for a long time on my own. 

Sorry for the novel; I've regressed to a past habit of knocking out school essays with the help of EtOH.  30+ pages a night with some SoCo was a breeze.  I'm actually not drunk, just at the better focus stage which I'm hoping to maintain for a couple more hours so I can lay down more "exquisite" line art.  MAJOR LOLZ.  Disclaimer, I'm presently illustrating a new edition of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, which means drawing Mr. Darcy, who has apparently been the alpha and omega of panty-dropping beguilement for two centuries (this year exactly)...a lesser hack artist such as myself has to resort to such props as digitally editing, driving trance tunes, a bit of booze, and the grounding fatigue of long runs to pull this off.  He has got to be squeeeeeee.  I've just clicked a new layer over a pic where Elizabeth meets him at Pemberley for the first time, when it's his last ditch attempt to be extra-charming to win her over and "look at my historic estate and all my shit, gurl".  Time to lay some pipe.  The evening has just begun in earnest.

Long story short, I've recently paid to cover 50 miles in one go next month!

* Talking about poop, I saw a choice specimen in the annex forest today with the dog.  Nuggets alongside a bit of cloth.  Dog owners will understand this.