Racing, Training, and Burnout

     I have been working on preparing for my upcoming races and considering going BIG! My next race is The IronMasters Challenge on April 28th at Pine Grove Furnace, a 50K trail race. I am excited about this race for several reasons. There are a number of friends that have signed up for the other distances, most of whom are either running their first ever race period (not just trail race). Pat Fahey is running the 15K (9.3 miles) along with Mike Gallagher; for both of them this is there first race ever!!  SO cool! My old buddy Kyle Valkenburg is running the 20M distance, his longest run/race ever and first trail event! I am running the 50K solo as of right now, but I am really hoping Don Gidusko joins me...  Regardless, having a great group of guys there who are new to the sport of trail running all hangin out and supporting one another is just something really special. I am using the race to prepare for my longest run ever as will Kyle. (see below) Here's a glimpse of the elevation profile of a chink of the course. At one point it rises about 800 vertical feet in a mile - BONKERS for an east coast race as far as I'm concerned.

     On June 1st I will be attempting my longest run/race ever at The North Face Endurance Challenge at Algonkian Regional Park, Great Falls Park and the Potomac Heritage Trail in Washington D.C. I am nervous about this race, but I know I can do it. Kyle Valkenburg will be there, running the marathon distance. I am really excited for him. I know the course and the feeling of pushing myself harder and farther than previously thought possible. I can't wait to see him on the course and be there to see him accomplish this momentous achievement!!  He is going to do GREAT! We will be coming home with these:

50 Mile Medal

Marathon Medal

     This race just might be my preparation race for the Oil Creek 100M trail race in Titusville, PA on October 5, 2013. I have "pre-registered" for it, which means I signed up and they are awaiting payment via check. I am unsure if I can run the distance and do not have the money right now to pay, so we'll see if it actually happens. It seems like a great race and it sells out rather quickly, not nearly as fast as the 50K and 100K distances the same day though. The fact that it's a 100 mile race here in Pennsylvania makes it special and a great first 100 mile distance for me. Still, running (moving) for 24-30 hours is a mental and emotional challenge. We'll see if it transpires despite my mental and financial obstacles.

     The thought of not only maintaining my level of training by being required to increase it over the next six months is tough for me. I train alone about 90% of the time and I am currently training between 40-50 miles per week or about five hours of running alone each week. That would have to increase to about 75 miles per week over the summer and running seven or eight hours alone each week can really burn a person out. I was feeling that way going into D.C. last June when I ran my first ultra and swore the day before that I would never sign up for anything like that again. For the record, I was looking for another ultra the same day I finished D.C. I really need to see how I fair with my training leading into D.C. this year and if I want to throw in the towel at some point. 

     I love this sport and I really enjoy running in general. It has brought me a lot of self gratification and a real sense of accomplishment. I have never (and still do not) considered myself an athlete, and still I get out there and perform better than half of the people in just about every race I enter and often in the top third overall. I know that I will never win a race overall or even place in my gender and/or age group. That is not why I run, I run because I love the trails and the people I meet. I run and race because I want to know what I am capable of. I run because it makes me work as hard or very possibly harder than anything I have ever done in my life. 

I run beacuse when I am in nature I feel at peace with myself and truly alive.

A lesson in humility

     It's been a few weeks since I posted last, I guess it's time to purge my mind of random thoughts.

     So I started this year with a goal of running every day, whether it be a mile or twenty. I thought it would give me something to focus on and work towards. I wanted to be able to say, "Yeah, I'm running every day this year." THAT is where my flaw lay. My goal was ego based...I wanted to be able to tell people I did it. I know I could do it, there's no doubt about that. Heck I could run a mile in the shower! So if I already knew I could do it, there was no sense in trying. I realized that a goal should be for the person within and not to scream from the mountain tops and see who I could impress.
     Last year, when I set out to run 100 miles every month, I did it because I was unsure if I could do it. I had never tried, I don't know that I ever ran half that far in one year. I have always been a runner who goes in spurts, months of gung-ho running followed by weeks of almost no physical activity at all. I ran in the spring and the fall most of all, the winters and summer being my "off-season." You see, I needed that goal last year in order push me and break this bad habit. Let's face it, goals help us push on when we may feel that there is no harm in missing a day..or two, a week...or a month. I pushed to my goal and even extended it to 1500 miles when I realized I would get to 1200 quite easily. I finished at somewhere over 1600 I believe.
     So, for 2013, I need a goal. I know I do. It's what will push be beyond what I may feel I am capable of. So with that I guess 2013 would make a fine goal for 2013.