Monday, January 7, 2008

40 Miles of Mountain Road...

It wasn't on mountain road but I combined two days of running to total 40 miles as I continue to prepare for Rocky Raccoon. On Saturday, it was 13 miles of local running on the slight hills of Millstone. On Sunday, I decided to run to the beach, better known as the shore in New Jersey. Belmar, NJ is just over 27 miles away. From my driveway to the Atlantic Ocean it is 27.03 miles. The idea was to get through 25 miles under 5 hours which I did with a couple of slow walks and a stop to eat something since I had to be self-sufficient. I reached the ocean (yes, I went the whole way to the ocean) in about 5 hours 15 minutes. Of course, with 31 marathons under my belt in the 4 hour or so range, this does not sound like a feat. However, it was a training run combining back-to-back long runs using a strategy to get me through 50 miles in a few weeks time. What will be different for me at Rocky Raccoon is that the run will start in the dark and end in the dark where I will need to use a light over rooty trails. The course is also a 3-loop course where running to the beach was point-to-point and easier for me. On the plus side, Rocky is on pine needles and even with the roots should be easier on the body. Of course, there will also be aid stations where I can refuel and change shirts. All said, I was happy with the 40 miles and when I touched my running shoes into the Atlantic, it was actually kind of emotional for some reason, maybe it was the vastness of the ocean, the smell of the sea, the quiet, or knowing that I accomplished something that I set out to do. It was the longest training run I had ever done. Left My Body on the Other Side.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Failure...

He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. - Herman Melville

I am not looking to be great but I am looking to learn from failure. It is only through failure that we learn the lessons to be better - a better person, a better worker, a better runner, a better whatever. The fall running season has not been great. It has been a Jekyll and Hyde kind of year having a great, fulfilling winter/spring and a disappointing, awful summer/fall. I recorded my first even DNFs in the Turkey Swamp 50K and JFK 50 mile. I ran some of the worst marathon times that I have recoded in the 31 that I have run. Through it all, I hung in there finished my 31st marathon in 20 states. Like life itself, one full of peaks and valleys, perseverance and endurance pays off as painful as it sometimes can be.

It is now time to reset. Push the reset button and readjust life as well as running. I don't make new year's resolutions but I did start the year today by running the Resolution Run 5K. I run few shorter distance races but I always enjoy the local flavor of them. The Resolution Run asked runners at registration if they had a resolution to share. I didn't share one but enjoyed reading the many that were entered - some funny, some deep, some with meaning, some with self-realization. Although I don't make resolutions, I do make goals that stretch me beyond the person that I am, not necessarily in running, but as me as a person. No doubt my running will play a role in that development as it always has. It will be with faith in God that I get out of the boat.

So this blog started as a quest for completing a 100 mile run in April. Although I have not written as much as I would have liked and my quest was somewhat derailed with the painful running experiences in the fall, I do believe that I am still committed at attempting and completing the run. My recent training sessions have gone well putting more distance into my daily runs. I have also committed to the Rocky Raccoon 50 mile in Huntsville, TX in February. I have 3 months until the hundred and have a solid base of 50 mile weeks which I will increase to 60-70 miles with long runs of 25-50 miles. The Rocky Raccoon will give me a peak into the hundred mile scene since the main event is the Rocky Raccoon 100. I guess you could say that I am running the "fun run" at 50 miles. It will give me a flavor of a 100 mile event in general. I still hope to complete marathons in 5 states this year bringing me to the half-way point in states run.

Maybe you could call my running obsessive, compulsive, an addiction but it is how I define me at the moment and how I hope to grow me and be a better person in life. Many things shape our lives, some negatively and some positively but if we work hard enough, have different attitudes and views, continue to have faith and hope, the negative things that shape our lives can be turned into positives with God's plan for our lives. I pray this to be the case for everyone.

Happy New Year to everyone! I pray for peace and love in your life through hope and faith in 2008. I hope to see you on the roads and trails!