I Know This Isn't My Running Blog But...

As my training increases, particularly within the next month and half, I am becoming increasingly run-centric. Meaning that you will be seeing less of me and I will be staying home being good more often. As boring as that all may sound to everyone I enjoy the structure and the feeling of accomplishment that comes after I finish a long or a hard run. I just feel good.
That being said I have decided to raise money for charity for this marathon. I have never done this before because I dont particularly like asking for money. When I was a kid, selling candy bars was torture. I thought the added motivation of training in order to raise money for a group would help me to remain committed to my goals though. In particular if more people know what I am doing, I will want to do my best because I am accountable.
The charity that I have chosen is Girls on the Run©, a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. I get discouraged with the role models that young girls have today and I know first hand how beneficial running and athletics can be in a girls life so I think this program was perfect to raise money for. I have to raise a minimum of $262 which I hope I can surpass but expect for me to ask for your help. I know we aren't exactly made of money and we have other important expenses but any amount can help and I would very much appreciate it.
I will be sending out letters as well as a link to a fundraising wesbite I will be using to track donations and follow my progress in the near future.

In other running news, I have been hearing a lot about Urban Ultramarathons lately and kind of have a little bit of an urge to do one. This is pretty crazy though and I am not even sure how you would go about training for it. Here is how they work, big cities host these running events (ultras generally refer to a distance of over the traditional 26.2 marathon length and can also take place over multiple days). Usually these are held away from cities, the most famous and infamous being the Badwater Ultramarathon which covers 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA (CRAZY!!!). Anyway Urban Ultras are held in the heart of large cities and instead of a point A to point B race, they take a loop and just do it over and over again for a stipulated amount of time, 12 or 24 hours.
I came across a series of videos that a woman who is an editor of Runners World made as she ran her first Urban Ultra, and here is the first installment:

I will post the others over the next couple of days just because I find people like her inspirational. Once you get over the mindset that your body can only do so much, you would be amazed at what you can train it to actually do.