O Dark Thirty Running

Weekdays mean we’re out the door running at O Dark Thirty. That’s military speak for middle of the night or some other ridiculously early hour in the morning when normal people are still sound asleep.

When my alarm clock goes off at 3:30 in the morning, Sarah and I make our way downstairs where I have a quick cup of coffee before lacing up the running shoes. And Sarah has come to know that when I sit and put on my shoes, it’s her key to run to the front door and wait for me to grab her leash and take off running.

I’m now entering that phase of training where I want to build my weekly base for three great ultras I have planned for 2009…not the only, but three I’m looking forward to.

The first is the North Face Endurance 50 on May 9th at Bear Mountain, NY. This is a brutal race, whether you do the 50K or 50M. Technical single-track, long ascents, and running through boulder fields…make that running on boulders the size of small cars.

Then on June 6th, there’s the Pittsfield Peaks Ultra, another brutal course in the Green Mountains around Pittsfield, Vermont. At 53 miles, you climb and descend, climb and descend, only to climb and descend again.

Finally, there is the 20in24 in Philadelphia on July 18th and 19th. There are several distance options, but the ultra one is to run as many laps of an 8.4 mile loop as you can in 24 hours. Sponsored by the non-profit Back On My Feet, it’s a flat loop, but in July, Philadelphia is hot. With a race start of 10:00 a.m., you can expect temperatures in the high 80s at race start. But the cause is worth it as this nonprofit uses running as a way to help motivate homeless men and women to get healthy, enroll in job training, find a job, and become self-sufficient. As runners, we have found so much for ourselves in our running. What else could be better…give back through your feet what your feet have given to you.