Randomness in the shadow of this weekend's Umstead 100-Miler in Raleigh, N.C. ...
• My Umstead PR is 21:57. I did that in 1998.
• It's 100 miles. Stuff is gonna go sideways. The Fun Factor will take some dips. Deal. With. It.
• I'm going with a 10 oz. FuelBelt Sprint. Totally tempting to punt that with all the aid at Umstead. Not carrying always blows up in my face. Every. single. time.
• This time, I'm bringing my own aid. Frito's corn chips. Chocolate milk. Nutella crackers. Feeling fairly certain that I'll grab here and there from Umstead's awesome fare, too.
• That famous Fred "Doom" Dummar quote is plain down truth: "The party don't start till the lights go out." Leave. some. running. for. later.
• Of my 10 Umstead 100-mile finishes, I have zero in the 22s. Or the 26s, 28s or 29s.
• On the 12.5-mile Umstead loop, it's crazy easy to waste gobs of time at both of the manned aid stations. Really, really easy to add 2 hours. Something to think about.
• In the first three months of 2010, I knocked out 42 runs of 2hrs. or more for 114:10. For 2011, numbers so far are 51 for 132:34. Feeling pretty good about those.
• I have gained 5 pounds in the past month. Happens when you add two meals a day. Strength is way up. Way way up.
• I see that I'm tied for fourth on the all-time Umstead finish list. Pete Lefferts should match Tom Sprouse's all-time mark of 13 this year. Louise Mason should get to 12. Alex Morton and Mike Smith will get to 11. With some good luck, I will join them. Bob Calabria, Fred Davis and Susan Rozanski are each poised to snag 1,000-mile buckles this time. Here's hoping that their respective weekends will be a magical as last year's was for me.
Another Umstead 100. Three more sleeps.
March 29, 2011
March 8, 2011
Why EVERY Day?
This morning's little 2-hour runwalk with Jack marked Day 1,477 in my current consecutive-day running streak, just a touch beyond four years. Thought it might be a good time for a few "here's why" comments that have been roiling around in my head of late.
• When I was in college, I put in a LOT of 130-mile weeks without a rest day. Now, it's more like a lot of 50s and 60s. Maybe I never learned how to train properly? Or maybe I did.
• Stubborn is good.
• "When?" and "how long?" are a lot easier to answer than "if?"
• It's a constant reminder that except for those rarest of days, "hard" lives squarely between your ears.
• My hearing's not so good any more, but I hear The Clock of Life ticking loud and true.
• Several days a week, I get somewhere between 20 minutes and as much as 6 hours ... all. to. myself.
• On about half the days of a given year, I get 23 hours, 30 minutes or so of non-running rest.
• I don't want to miss a thing, especially before the sun comes up.
• There's nothing like the flow that comes from getting inside your own head, and my best way to get there is on foot at 5-7 mph.
• When I streak, I own the quote, "There will be a day when I can no longer do this. Today is not that day."
• When I was in college, I put in a LOT of 130-mile weeks without a rest day. Now, it's more like a lot of 50s and 60s. Maybe I never learned how to train properly? Or maybe I did.
• Stubborn is good.
• "When?" and "how long?" are a lot easier to answer than "if?"
• It's a constant reminder that except for those rarest of days, "hard" lives squarely between your ears.
• My hearing's not so good any more, but I hear The Clock of Life ticking loud and true.
• Several days a week, I get somewhere between 20 minutes and as much as 6 hours ... all. to. myself.
• On about half the days of a given year, I get 23 hours, 30 minutes or so of non-running rest.
• I don't want to miss a thing, especially before the sun comes up.
• There's nothing like the flow that comes from getting inside your own head, and my best way to get there is on foot at 5-7 mph.
• When I streak, I own the quote, "There will be a day when I can no longer do this. Today is not that day."
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