Sometimes fear can be a good thing!
So here I am, it is at the beginning of March in 2008. I have held true to this idea that I'm going to just workout and train throughout the year, no periodization, no "A" races, etc. My idea was to just drop in a race when I felt like it.
That brings me to next weekend. Next weekend I am going to run my first ultra run! It is a 60k run in the Land between the Lakes area of Western Kentucky. I am pretty excited about this race, but I am getting an enormous dose of fear.
The longest run that I've had since the Ironman last September has been the Rock-N-Roll Marathon in Arizona. It was a good day to experience what it would be like on my feet for a very long time, as I coached all the athletes from Kentucky to the finish line. But to be honest, I didn't feel like I was in great shape at that race and I am not in better shape now.
The truth is that I have less long runs than a person normally puts in getting ready for a marathon. I ran 15.5 miles last weekend and then this weekend I ran 13.5 yesterday and 19.4 today. Last night a friend of Nikki's asked her "Is that his taper"?
The thing with this style of training and racing is that it doesn't have a taper period. And I'm getting nervous enough about knowing if I can finish this distance that I wanted to put in a double long weekend to see what would happen. It didn't go super well. I am hurting pretty bad right now. I can move (and actually jogged a half mile with a client after) but by the end of today's run, I was hurting enough that I started having some second thoughts.
Fear. Sometimes we have fear about what is about to happen. I am thinking that at times it might be wise to have a little dose of fear before we get ourselves into a situation like this.
I'll let you know how it goes. I went and bought a digital voice recorder and a lapel mic, I plan on doing some updates during the run. I'll share them with you if there is anything interesting, funny or ridiculous.
That brings me to next weekend. Next weekend I am going to run my first ultra run! It is a 60k run in the Land between the Lakes area of Western Kentucky. I am pretty excited about this race, but I am getting an enormous dose of fear.
The longest run that I've had since the Ironman last September has been the Rock-N-Roll Marathon in Arizona. It was a good day to experience what it would be like on my feet for a very long time, as I coached all the athletes from Kentucky to the finish line. But to be honest, I didn't feel like I was in great shape at that race and I am not in better shape now.
The truth is that I have less long runs than a person normally puts in getting ready for a marathon. I ran 15.5 miles last weekend and then this weekend I ran 13.5 yesterday and 19.4 today. Last night a friend of Nikki's asked her "Is that his taper"?
The thing with this style of training and racing is that it doesn't have a taper period. And I'm getting nervous enough about knowing if I can finish this distance that I wanted to put in a double long weekend to see what would happen. It didn't go super well. I am hurting pretty bad right now. I can move (and actually jogged a half mile with a client after) but by the end of today's run, I was hurting enough that I started having some second thoughts.
Fear. Sometimes we have fear about what is about to happen. I am thinking that at times it might be wise to have a little dose of fear before we get ourselves into a situation like this.
I'll let you know how it goes. I went and bought a digital voice recorder and a lapel mic, I plan on doing some updates during the run. I'll share them with you if there is anything interesting, funny or ridiculous.
posted by gary at 1:13 PM
3 Comments:
Gary, Thanks for your great blog. I've been reading it quietly and thought I'd post a comment and say hi. I love the concept of endurance events and when I lived in California, I lived in the same town as Stu Middleman. Have you ever read his book, Slow Burn? He's an ulta endurance runner who's crossed the USA, run 572 miles in 6 days, etc, etc. He has GREAT insights into doing endurance work and feeling strong after. As he does a lot of multiday events, he can't feel hurt after the first 100 miles. Just thought I'd give you a head's up.
Gary,
Best of luck with the 60k. First I heard of it, although it's not in the cards for me this year.
But being only 50 miles down the road, I may have to give it a go next year.
-bill
@ William - I have heard about Stu's book, but I have not read it. It should be put on my list... so that makes it about 6 on my list right now. It's hard to keep up with all the interesting things out there.
Checked out your blog quickly, I'd be interested to learn more about your ministry... I'll have to spend a little time reading it in the future.
@ Bill - This race must be a pretty amazing and popular race, I haven't done it before, but they to have a full race and many more participants than I expected.
Thanks guys for sharing in this great journey of health, fitness and performance.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home