New Adventure (goal) for 2008

Last year, my goal was to go out and tackle a triathlon. Mission accomplished as I trained for and completed 2 triathlons (1 sprint distance and 1 olympic distance). I had a lot of fun doing those and certainly want to do longer ones in the future (i.e. 1/2 ironman and full ironman). However, training for the longer distance triathlons (even the olympic), take up a tremendous amount of time. Since the boys are still very young, and are quite a handful, I need to give my wife a break from the extra training (at least in the beginning of the year). So for this year, I've set a goal to complete my first ultra - a 50k!

Inner-Mike: Hey Mike. You do realize that training for an ultra takes a lot of time?
Me: This is true. However, the main concern here is the running. With triathlon training, I have do that plus the swimming, biking and weights. I can run anywhere and at almost any time.
Inner-Mike: Isn't it true that you've never even completed a marathon?
Me: Yes. Next question.
Inner-Mike: Isn't it true that you've never run more than 10 miles?
Me: Yes again. I'm working on that.
Inner-Mike: What in the hell are you thinking?
Me: Um. I don't know.

As you can see, there are some big problems to overcome. The target race that I've chosen is the Ohlone 50k, on May 18, 2008. That basically leaves about 16 - 17 weeks to train for this thing. So how do I go about increasing my mileage without subjecting myself to injury? Good question. That's the issue I'm dealing with.

Going forward, I'll post my training logs and other info as I progress towards this race. Also, I'll share with you some of the influences and further reasoning for attempting this. Do I think I can do it? Absolutely. Am I worried about getting enough mileage in without injuring myself? You bet. In the end, I think this will be one of the most rewarding achievements that I've ever done.
Stay tuned.