First Brian the Sociologist International Ultramarathon

Training plans are, in my opinion, schedules that tell you what real life has deviated you from. With summer coming close and the ultramarathon looming relatively near, I thought I would check the training plan I devised earlier this year and see how close I am. The bad news is that I am a little behind and that my weekly mileage has been below what I had hoped for. That being said, my long runs have been going well and I should still have time to get the runs that I feel I need for Burning River. Before Haliburton, I peaked with a late night 50 miler. If I can get a couple 50 milers in I should be in good shape.

So why did I titled this post "First Brian the Sociologist International Ultramarathon?" Well, if I follow this training plan I will be attempting one of my long runs, specifically my first 50 mile run, while I am in Beijing doing a preparing for a 2010 study abroad trip. The logistics of this are a little daunting as I won't have my full set of running gear, resupplying with water and food may be problematic (dumpling stops?), and many parts of Beijing are crowded enough so as not to be running friendly. I'm also not quite sure how I will fit it into my already busy itinerary. However, I think it is worth the effort as there are few better ways to see the city, if I can really get my act together I could do the whole thing on the Great Wall or someplace similarly cool, and with my GPS it is really pretty unlikely that I will get lost. Anyway, I posted on the ultrarunning listserve that I will be in China, but didn't hear from any Chinese ultrarunners so if anyone out there reads this post and has suggested routes or just advice, post a comment!