I've noticed an increasingly common trend in the running world as of late: going from zero (i.e. a non runner) to running ultra marathons seemingly overnight. For whatever reason, new runners feel compelled to immediately jump into longer and longer distances as soon as possible, almost as if they are quickly and feverishly checking race distances off of a scavenger hunt list along the way. My gut reaction is to always tell these people that perhaps they are rushing into these longer distances too soon. After all, there is a lot to be said for physical and mental experience acquired over years of running and racing at shorter distances. But then again, what constitutes "too soon"? There's no one timeline that fits for every runner. So, today's topic for me to ramble on (and on) about, at length:
