20in24 Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon

After several months of contemplating it, 1 semi-serious ankle injury, 6 solid weeks of mileage increases that took me far beyond anything I have ever been close to before, and a nice rewarding 2 week taper, the weekend of the Stroehmann Back on My Feet 20in24 Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon (hence force to be referred to as the 20in24 Lone Ranger run) finally came.

To break that name down a bit, Back on My Feet is  a great charity that “promotes the self-sufficiency of homeless populations by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.” Each year, BOMF puts on the 20in24 series of races as a fund-raising event.  The event consists of a number of relays and races in addition to the 24 Hour Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon.  Stroehmann was the official sponsor this year.  Here’s the recap of the event and how I did in the Lone Ranger Ultra Marathon.
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So I’ve got two updates this week.  This week I peaked on my mileage build-up leading to the Back on My Feet 20in24 in mid-July. For the first time ever, I ran 100 miles in one week (more on that later).  Immediately following the 100-mile week of slow-paced, repeated longer runs, I jumped right into a 5K.  Makes perfect sense right?  The 5k was Race #7 in the West Chester Downtown Grand Prix, put on by the Chester Country Running Store, the Fatiha Khattabi Freedom 5k.  My legs held up pretty well, and despite the recent heatwave hitting the East Coast this summer, I put up a pretty decent time.

The Race

The Fatiha Khattabi Freedom 5k was started in 2009.  The race honors the mother of one of the local high school’s cross-country runners who succumbed to cancer.  It was started by several senior members of the team as a high school senior project, and the proceeds go to the Cancer Center of Chester County.  This year, Fatiha’s son spoke at the start of the race, which really made the cause very real.  This race was Race #7 in the Downtown Grandprix, and it was exactly what I had come to expect after running the previous 6: on the small-side, low-key, but very well run. (more…)