First, thank you for even pulling this blog up. This is day one of RunningForDays and I know it is kind of barren around here, but I will change that.

Why “RunningForDays”? Starting last November I began a daily running streak while preparing for my first 50 mile race, The North Face Endurance Challenge DC. At the height of my training I was putting in 15 miles on Friday and 25+ miles on Saturday. On my rest days I was running at least a slow mile to keep my streak alive. In between running, I was slightly obsessive. I was reading books about running, tailoring my food to benefit my running, changing my schedule to fit my running schedule, finding and following other endurance athletes on Twitter, and I drove out of the way on business trips to run strange new trails. In other words, everyday was based on training to complete the 50 mile race. It was the most fun I have ever had training and it helped me to better understand myself. Also, a huge shout out to my extremely supportive fiancé for allowing me to be this insane. So it is “RunningForDays” because thats what I felt I was doing at times. I was just running.

“RunningForDays” also fits because my end goal will probably have me running for a period over 24 hours. In the Fall of 2013, I plan on attempting my first 100 Mile ultra. I am eyeing the Pinhoti 100 Mile Trail Run (www.pinhoti100.com) for reason I’ll explain in a future post. That is if I don’t have any more set backs.

In June I completed my first ultra at the North Face. It was awesome. And I can say without a doubt that ultrarunners are the best community of athletes I have ever been around. I finished the 50 miles in just under 11 hours. I would like to think I could have done a little better if it had not been for the mud. Hitting waist deep water at 5:30 am did make the race a little more special though. My biggest and most humbling learning lesson came four weeks after the race. I had taken two weeks down time to rest then ramped my mileage up. I was on track to run more miles in the month of July than I had in any month this year. And then I got out fitted with a cute little boot and told I could not run for 6 weeks. My very first stress fracture (sadly I am sort of proud that I ran until my foot broke). The Run Streak ended at 235 days.

Being stubborn I immediately found pfitzinger.com, where Mr. Pfitzinger not only offers a deepwater jogging program but also a return to running program for those suffering from stress fractures. I have spent the last 5 weeks in the pool with an Aqua-jogger wrapped around my waste watching everyone in the neighborhood run past the pool. Know that if you have run past my pool, there is a chance I was in it staring at you. I was picking my pace up a little imaging that I could catch you, and wondering if you had any skittles in your waste pack. The whole experience has been torture and it has focused on how much this lifestyle means to me.

On August 30th, I should be cleared to run again. I will be taking my time rebuilding based one Mr. Pfitzinger’s program then gradually bringing myself back to where I was. It is going to take time and patience on my part. But I can promise you, I’ll smile every time I run past the pool.

Prior to my injury I had ambitions of running Umstead as my first attempt at 100 miles. My injury forced me to rethink my running plan for 2013. I took to the internet and Twitter in search of a 50 miler for April. What I have found is the inaugural Leatherwood Mountain Ultra Run (www.LWMtnUltraRun.com) and an extremely helpful co-RD, MR. Tim Worden. Set in the foothills of the Appalachians, it will provide me with challenging trails and also give my fiancé and I a nice little vacation. From Leatherwood till Pinhoti, I should have enough time to back my mileage down and rebuild. The point being to avoid this damned boot.

RunningForDays is going to be a weekly project that will track my training and progress towards completing my first 100 mile Ultra marathon. I will also post a few book reviews and commentaries that are running related. I used to think of myself as a bit of a writer, and I am excited at the prospect of combining two of my passions. On the way to competing my first 50 miler there were many blogs (ashwalsh.wordpress.com is a must) that I read for inspiration and to grab a few kernels of knowledge from, my hope is that this does the same for a few others. So thank you reading this far, and please stay tuned.