Brian Oringderff has been training hard. He decided back in May that he wants to attempt an ultra-marathon, so he signed up for the Chattanooga Stump Jump 50K on October 6th.
“I then started a 16 week Hal Higdon marathon program to get me somewhat ready. Keep in mind I have only been running since January so this is a pretty good size jump in distance, considering my longest race was 13.1 miles at the ING in March. I am only training on the trails, mostly down at Kennesaw Mtn, running 4 days a week. I have run just over 500 miles in about 14 weeks. I have just completed my longest training run to date, last week, of 28.21 miles. It took 6 hours and 45 minutes and was really tough. I made it, though, and hopefully it gave a taste of what to expect in the Stump Jump. If I survive, I am going to attempt a 50 miles race on March 8th, 2008 in Laurel, Mississippi. http://www.ms50.com/index.htm My goal is to run that in under 11 hours to qualify for the Western States 100 in June of 2009. They won't let you apply for the Western States 100 mile race in California unless you have run a 50 miler in under 11 hours.
So, that is basically what I have been doing. Long, slow runs in the woods. I have run a couple of really cool races, the last one was the Springmaid Splash 10K in Spruce Pines in NC. It was labled as the toughest 10K trail race on the east coast; it was a trail race that had 4 full water crossings that were at least knee deep, a ton of climbing...it was very tough, but a blast.
Denise has been training hard with me also, and will run her first half marathon in Raleigh, NC on November 4th in the City of Oaks Half Marathon.
I hoping to finish primarily, but barring injury, to also do so in under 7:30:00. Keep your fingers crossed. I am a bit nervous as I have not ran a marathon before, but I have trained pretty hard for the past 15-16 weeks and feel I am as ready as I am going to be at this point. Whew! I have my work cut out for me for sure. Wish me luck...my 50K is in 6 days.” – Brian Oringderff.
