Whittling Away at 30

Running a marathon is nothing to sneeze at. Yet while many runners top out at 26.2 miles, some just keep going and going... and then going some more.

These people aren't crazy; they're just ultra. And when you're ultra, you run ultra marathons, which are longer than 26.2 miles — 30-, 50-, 100-mile races. There are also timed events, like 12-hour runs, 24-hour, 48-hour, and even multi-day events.

Ultra-runners are really a different breed — different from me and another one else I'll ever know. Ultra takes a level of discipline and organization I don't think I'll ever touch. And if I had been brought up differently by different people with different values, I would probably try to kill these people. But for now I'll just admire their strength and be content with the 3.5 miles I ran today (and 1 mile I walked).

The month's total: 5.5 miles. At this rate, I should just barely finish mile thirty before midnight on Jan. 30.

I'm running 30 miles this month. Make your resolution.

That is, if I hadn't received my Nike+iPod kit today. Apparently I can calibrate the thing to understand my running vs. walking, arrange for a "PowerSong" to play when I need some bounce, get spoken feedback, and set up a variety of workouts.

Good music is necessary for my running. When I bought my iPod last July, I assumed I would play with the thing for a month and then lose it in a closet or the mess of my gym bag (knock on wood). But it has really become my lifeblood when it comes to running.

One of my first tasks when I bought my iPod: create a running playlist. It's at least 50 songs long, mostly popcorn, and today I ran to the following segment (click the song titles to hear samples):

• "It's All Been Done" by Bare Naked Ladies
• "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce
• "Fighter" by Christina Aguilera (that's right)
• "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows
• "Ants Marching" By Dave Matthews
• "Independent Women: Part I" Destiny's Child
• "Stutter" by Elastica
• "Honky Cat" by Elton John
• "Come to Me" by Elvis Crespo
• "Sugar We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Boy
• "Shadowboxer" by Fiona Apple
• "Radiation Vibe" by Fountains of Wayne
• "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra
• "Over My Head (Cable Car)" by The Fray
• "Jenny from the Block" by J.Lo.

(Special thanks to Neo for his supramusic collection.)

I try to sprint or at least kick it up a little bit in the middle of my runs. It's not only to work on speed, but also to tired myself out and learn to keep on running. I have a feeling that the last leg of the triathlon is not exactly a relaxing trip to the beach. So, it has been some good conditioning.