Lucky 13

Thirteen weeks until the gun goes off and this 100 mile race gets underway.  The butterflies are starting to flutter around when I think about how this time is going to fly and how much work I have yet to do to prepare.  The nervousness hasn't brought me to tears yet but, I bet it will before the big day gets here.

During my training I am experiencing runs that build my confidence and others that knock me flat on my ass.

Knock me on my ass run:  A couple of weeks ago a group of us went out to Kettle to run 20 on a Saturday morning.  I was very excited to go out and experience a 10 mile stretch of the actual course...until I got there and started running.  The trails were covered in deep snow, my water was frozen, the climbs were tough, the pace was pitiful, my attitude couldn't have been worse.  I felt terrible for Brian because he had to listen to me em eff the course for 10 miles until we met up with the others.  Turning around at mile 10, knowing that we were more than half way done, picking up some friends who were extremely positive and happy to be out there, really helped my spirits.  When we finished the run it was such a great feeling...great to be done...great that I finished what I set out to do...again, great to be done.

The lesson learned from this run is that my mind can make or break the big race.  If I go into KM with the attitude I had during this training run, there's no doubt that I will fail.  Something to work on over the next 13 weeks.

Confidence builders:  The good news is I've had more in this category than the other.  I had a weekend where I ran long at VA and then ran long on the IPP the following day.  Felt great - not a stitch of soreness.  I paced the Snickers Marathon while feeling under the weather and finished on target.  I've been getting in some hill work and following the schedule the coach set out for me.  The mileage is increasing and I'm excited to work hard in order to make this happen.  I can only hope for many more of these confidence builders in the coming months.  I have a great group of running friends whose company during these runs helps keep me on track and make the miles just fly by.

I think that maybe we are supposed to experience these difficult runs during our training so we can learn something about ourselves and reflect back during tough times in a race.  Though I hope that my good runs outnumber the bad runs by A LOT - I will make sure to try and find the lessons from  the bad and learn from them.