Ultrarunning Races

I have long been of the opinion that if day-to-day running is the meat and potatoes of the sport, then running a race is the dessert.

It's the fun time--and also the anxious time--when all the weeks of training and hard work are put to the test.  It's a day when the clock and the measuring wheel rule, and the truth will out.  You're either adequately prepared, or you will struggle...or worse.

Entering a race has an added benefit, one that I certainly need right now: motivation.  The day you send in that application,, you've officially pulled the trigger.  A threshold has been crossed that has an element of chance, of commitment, of magic.  A date has appeared on your calendar, a hard calendar entity, that now exists in the real world.

You must prepare, for in a sense you've burned a bridge--that of commitment--and there's no going back (of course you can bail, and I have, but by and large you are committed).  Which reminds me of some inspirational words I kept in mind from 2010, and posted about, when I was preparing for the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

Commitment: Pulling the Trigger for a Major Event

Well, I have committed to run the 24 hour Sole Challenge on 24 May 2014.  My goal will be to get as close to 100 miles as I can over repeats of the 1.5 mile macadam path near Chambersburg, PA.

I will be there with my good running buddies Jody and Keith.

The year 2013 found me eating and drinking too much and exercising too little.  So, being a believer in the power of commitment, I've entered this 24 hour race to force myself to train hard over the next 5 months.

As always, whenever I think about inspiration I turn to other people who have already said something better, stronger, more succinctly, etc., and a quote attributed** to Goethe comes to mind, one that I once had posted on my desk:

Photo credit Rolf Hicker Photography

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

**Note: the source I cite makes a strong case that Goethe is not actually the author of this quote. Regardless, the words are inspirational and I will take them to heart.

The Difference Between a Jogger and a Runner

It's been said--and I'm pretty sure that it was by Dr. George Sheehan, the so-called "running philosopher" that I grew up reading as a young runner back in the early 1980s--that the difference between a jogger (a term I despise, by the way) and a runner is an application form.

As in a race application, which separates the sheep from the goats and the "serious" runners from the, well, not so serious.

I just entered the Fire on the Mountain 50K, to be held later this month in western MD on 27 Oct 2013.  I am ashamed to admit this, but this will be my first Ultra in 2013.  Events, calendars, but mostly a lack of motivation have conspired to make this so.

But...having sent in my app (although in today's world, I entered online), I feel strangely liberated, excited, motivated...you pick the adjective.  The words of Goethe come to mind, about whom I blogged here:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

Although my training has been fairly low mileage, I have a secret weapon, because I'm an old guy: the advantage of "muscle memory."

That is, I have always had the almost uncanny ability to train little, yet still be able to pull out a decent enough performance on race day.  That's why I call it muscle memory--decades of running have apparently instilled a deep measure of fitness into my body such that I can go long--VERY long--on any particular day without any particular preparation.

That said, I did crank out an easy 10 on Wed (and Friday's post will reflect some meditations about a local cemetery that I routinely stop at) that went quite well.  This weekend or next I will log a 20 miler, and voila!  I will be sufficiently prepared for the 50K.

Such is the beauty of muscle memory.

 

Running an Ultra This Fall?

Back in Jan 2010 when I was 2 months away from toeing the line at the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Race, I posted about the need to commit and embrace the challenge.

Well, it's late July and if you are running an ultra this fall--be it 50K, 50 miles, 100K, or 100 miles--right now is pretty much do or die time.  Either you are in or you are out, and the watershed moment facing you is that of commitment.

Here's what I wrote back then, and the words are pretty relevant today for a fall event:

The race is in 2 months. That sounds like a decent interval from now, but then when I think of it instead as being 8 weeks away, suddenly I feel a great sense of urgency. At any rate, I am now formally committed. Before--when I was on the wait list--I kept up my training but it had an air of unreality, that I was just going through the motions, that in the end I may have invested a lot of training effort, only to be told, sorry, maybe next year. But now I'm Committed with a capital C.

Photo credit Rolf Hicker Photography

As usual, whenever I think about inspiration I turn to other people who have already said something better, stronger, more succinctly, etc., and a quote attributed to Goethe comes to mind, one that I once had posted on my desk:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

In the immortal words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise:

  Make it so.



 

 

Packing my Bags and Heading to Umstead with Goethe

Well, just heard from the race director--I've been accepted into the Umstead 100 Miler on 27 March!! That's North Carolina, near the state capital of Raleigh.


Back in September when entries opened I didn't get my application in early enough to gain a slot initially, but I was early enough to be placed on the waiting list. Then as registered runners dropped for whatever reason, the race director was able to offer entry to the wait listers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the nitty gritty of such a race, here's the play-by play:

The race begins at 6:00 am on Saturday 27 March.  I (and 250 of my closest friends I have not yet met) will run by flashlight for about an hour, see the sun rise at 7:08 am, run the rest of the day, see the sun go down at 7:32 pm, see the nearly-full moon reach its zenith at 11:32 pm, run the rest of the night, see the sun rise for the second time at 7:07 am, and finally finish running prior to the 30-hour cutoff time of noon on Sunday.

The race is in 2 months. That sounds like a decent interval from now, but then when I think of it instead as being 8 weeks away, suddenly I feel a great sense of urgency. At any rate, I am now formally committed. Before--when I was on the wait list--I kept up my training but it had an air of unreality, that I was just going through the motions, that in the end I may have invested a lot of training effort, only to be told, sorry, maybe next year. But now I'm Committed with a capital C.

Photo credit Rolf Hicker Photography

As usual, whenever I think about inspiration I turn to other people who have already said something better, stronger, more succinctly, etc., and a quote attributed** to Goethe comes to mind, one that I once had posted on my desk:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.

**Note: the source I cite makes a strong case that Goethe is not actually the author of this quote. Regardless, the words are inspirational and I will take them to heart.

Now, lots of things to do before the race:

--Develop a weekly run plan for the remaining weeks, to include two 30 milers as the long training runs, with 10 milers on the "off" weeks, then a 3 week taper going into the race.
--Execute same!
--Develop race plan for tentative split times (the course repeats a 12.5 mile loop eight times).
--Develop drop bag plan (weather-dependent) for what running clothes I expect to need at different times of the day and night..
--Lose 5 pounds.

Stay tuned!

Addendum on 8 March 2010:  Sometime after I posted this, I noticed that the RD, Blake Norwood, also includes some Goethe references in his How to Train For and Run Your First 100 at the Umstead 100 (see here). I think this is an example of two people independently having the same thought at different times, but I feel I should credit Blake just in case I subconsciously channeled him.