2012 Three Days at the Fair

189.7 miles covered in 72 hours

221 laps of the .85whatever loop

7 more laps than last year

58 hours spent on my feet

12.25 hours time spent tossing, turning and sleeping

1.75 additional hours off my feet

1.5 hours, the rough estimate of how many MORE hours I was out there moving this year compared to last year, when I covered 183.5 miles.

78 reported high temp

39 reported low temp two nights. Next year, don’t pack like you’re heading to Nags Head in August!

8th overall place. This year’s total woulda been 4th last year

4 people I spent significant amounts of time with out there. Special thanks to Fred Murolo, Steve Tursi, Melissa Huggins and Bob Ring for all the laughs, convo, shared suffering.

23:00 The rough equivalent, says RD Rick McNulty, of my final 5K

0 inches of rain

1 more life-changing deal

So here's the thing ...

I have really, truly tried to do it. Be all bad. Be hard-nosed and tough. Set a goal and be serious about reaching it. Rock out and reach for the stars. Grab for the epic. Man up.

Three Days at the Fair is May 10-13. I've been saying 200 miles for awhile now. I've been writing it down. Tweeting it. Blogging it. Dreaming about it. Using it as a number during visualization.

Truth: When it comes right down to it, I got nothin'. Not really. Not like so many of my awesome, bad-ass ultrarunning friends.

I have been saying since this time last year that I really, really, REALLY want 200 miles. That I'm gonna work and toil and bust my gut and suffer like a dawg and do whatever it takes to push through the pain and misery and smack that 200-mile barrier square in the face and make it bleed red all OVER the place.

Reality check: I really don't care about 200 miles. Or even getting as far as the 183.5 miles that I did last year.

Absolute truth: I just want to have a good time. Laugh a bunch. Hear some good stories. Maybe tell a few. Push the pace every now and again. Walk sometimes when it's a bit too hot or when somebody needs a friend for awhile. Eat some yummy food. Take some great sleep breaks and then get up and walk a lap or two and then start running again. Surprise myself a time or two. Make a couple new friends.

Here's the thing: I want to totally embrace as many moments as I can stand from 9 a.m. next Thursday through 9 a.m. next Sunday. Run when I feel like it. Walk when I feel like it. Go until I'm ready to fall over with sleep, and then wake up when I wake up and do it all over again.

I'm about as fit as I can be. I'm stronger than I've been in forever. I'm running with more joy than I can remember. All systems seem to be poised on "Go."

OK, so maybe I have a goal after all — to soak in as much fun as possible.