Catching up

I posted a goal of running 4 days/week and 1 X-training day per week on Sunday and I have to confess, I am a little behind already but I do have a plan to still make my goal this week, I just need to be a bit creative and do a 2 a day to achieve it. It seems like this has been my whole month, just a bit behind.

I am behind on listening to my podcasts, yes I downloaded some new ones and I still listen to the old runs but with runs not happening and runs not being longer, well my listening is suffering too (For clarity - I blame winter, I am just not a cold weather person). I have 86 podcasts to listen to and I can get, ok I am not sure what it's called but I just have to listen to them and I struggle to delete any of them without listening, must be my version of collecting junk. I am behind at work too as I have been doing two jobs for awhile. That hopefully will end soon.

So I think I see that light at the end of the tunnel with February coming and work returning to a new normal soon. So now I can focus on my running. I am pretty locked into my race schedule with the first race being Chippewa but I really would have liked to have seen it stay on April 24th versus the 10th. Wayne was tempting me with McNaughton but I have to pass now for sure. Although if there is snow (or any chance of it) at Chippewa, I really don't know if I want to do that again. Other than that minor issue, here is what I am thinking about, I need to avoid injuries, get in some training and make sure there are no family conflicts but other than those potential issues, I like my schedule.

April
Chippewa Moraine 50k - Sat 4/10
May
Journeys Marathon - Sat 5/8
June
FANS 12hr - Sat 6/5
July
Afton 50k - Sat 7/3
Turtle Trot Triathlon - Sat 7/17
August
?
September
Superior 50 - Sat 9/11
October
Surf the Murph 50 - Sat 10/23 (this date is not confirmed but it is what I heard somewhere)

I might throw in a few shorter distances to round out the calendar and/or find some races in August, November or December but for the moment it's time to train for Chippewa.

It's back

Great news - Chippewa is back on the race calendar, I just got the email from mn-drs group (Minnesota Dead Runners Society)

Chippewa 50k info

The cost is a little bit higher and the date is 2 weeks earlier, I am guessing Wynn forgot to mention what happened the first year to the new race director (Jeff at Vacation Sports). They also are having a 10k race for the first time.

So I think I may have to update my plans and push McNaughton out for another year or two. I also think I just discovered my race to motivate me to get out the door. Yes.

Time to get things worked out.

Well, it's that time of the year. What time is that you may ask, time to start getting serious about getting some consistency into my running. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, take a look at my January mileage and the days I run:

See the problem, no runs on Monday or Tuesday, only one run on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Only averaging 3 days/week of running. I would like to say that on my off days, I was cross training, that of course would be a lie. Now I have a lot of excuses, work has been stressful, it has been cold and dark and blah, blah, blah. You know none of them matter, the bottom line is I wasn't committed and therefore it didn't happen. So as I head into the last week of January, it's time to get things worked out and to motivate me here is what I need to mull over.

"Those who say it can't be done are being passed by those doing it."
Unknown

"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."
Aristotle

"Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."
Proverbs 16:3

Add in the following:

McNaughton - 11 weeks away - with a long run of 12, a 50 could be doable but I don't think it will be easy to get there (Wayne, now do you understand my 23% probability)
Trail Mix 50k - 12 weeks - very doable, if I get started this week (85% probability)
Journeys Marathon - 15 weeks - same as the Trail Mix 50k. (97% probability)

And it all adds to this, that this week, I have a simple goal, run 4 days, x-train at least once.

Challenge to Fail?

In my last post, I stated "I want the challenge to fail" and to do this I need to go longer. I think I like the adrenaline rush of potential failure in a race as once I do the distance 2 or 3 times, I don't consider failure a possibility. It's not that I want to fail and it's not that I won't fail, it's actually the opposite, I expect to succeed but I want to not know for sure if I will. The battle within, is the battle I want to have. Can my mind propel me through the ups and downs of the distance, the course, the day.

Since I have done one 50 miler, what do I need to do? Sign-up for another. Can I do it again? I think so but the only way to know for sure is to try again and then again. Once that is behind me, what do I need to do, sign up for a 100k, do back to back marathons, back to back 50k's, back to back 50's, 24 hour run, 100 mile events? Will I be able to do these, I think so. Now this will get a bit problematic in a few years but I think it will take at least 5 to 10 years as I don't intend to rush things and get the work-life-running balance completely out of whack. I can also do some other things to make the challenges harder, run in heat, run tougher courses, run in races that would be mentally tough for me (like FANS).

So here are my probable races for this year, I think they will keep me busy for the year.

99% probability of doing
Turtle Trot Triathlon - Too much fun to not do and we have a streak going
Surf the Murph - 3rd year in a row, got to keep my streak going

77% probability of doing
Journeys Marathon - running with my wife for fun
FANS 12 hours - 50 mile goal - I can't imagine running around Nokomis for that long
Afton 50k - Last year I dropped with an injury, to do so twice would be failure
Superior 50 - I hear it's a tough course, sounds like I might have some issues finishing so I have to try it

23% probability of doing
McNaughton - Wayne wants me to do it with him, he might convince me but could I do a 50 with my current level of training?

My guess is a few more will make it on the calendar and some of these won't work out.

Ok, I probably should admit it, one of my reasons for running ultras does come from my desire to push myself beyond what I am sure I can do plus I love the courses that ultras are run on and last, the folks who I have met at ultras have made me feel welcome, so I keep coming back.

Why do you run?