A 100 Mile Race. A Beautiful Insanity.

To Run or Not To Run Rocky Raccoon 100

In 19 days, the gun will sound at Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Race in Huntsville, TX and I'm sitting here today deciding on whether or not I'll be there to hear it.  

 This race seemed like a great idea two months ago when the local BUTS (Birmingham Ultra Trail Society) crew were out having drinks reminiscing on Wingo's success and my utter failure at Pinhoti 100.  Kyle and John were both adamant that they'd help me get my first 100 mile buckle.  "Buckle or Toe Tag" I think was the slogan they coined for this trip, and honestly, I actually felt pretty good about it.  Pinhoti, in reflection, was a huge learning opportunity for me and really what goes on in a person's mind while running, or attempting to run a 100 miles and I was confident that I could take what I learned and go after that RR100 Buckle. 

The learning lesson I'm referring to, the dagger that finally brought me down at Pinhoti was simply my mind.  Physically, I had energy to keep going but the pain from my feet (nasty horrendous blisters all over both feet) ultimately controlled my mind and I dropped at mile 55.  As much as Ericka tried to get me out of that chair at Adams Gap, I had actually decided two hours beforehand that I was dropping and there were no words that she could have said would have made me rise and run.  I was done.  Completely.  

At that moment, I was beyond good with the drop (as we always are) but as the days past, that feeling of failure was killing me (as it always does).  I realized that I should have kept my pacers that I had lined up instead of foolishly thinking that I could run self-supported.  Most ultra-runners need someone to help through those low points when the first thoughts of dropping start to creep in the mind.  A good pacer would have made me think of something other than shooting pain with every step.  They would have made me realize that I was actually running a very decent time and that I had plenty of time to slow down and recoup.  Ultimately, they would have yanked my weak arse out of that chair and pushed me down the trail towards the track at Sylacauga. 

So as we sat around that table talking about Rocky and what a great runnable 100 miler it was and yadda yadda yadda, I decided that if I have these two great guys willing to make the drive/flight out to Huntsville, then I'd go after that buckle.  A great idea and plan indeed. 

Until my knees and lungs decided differently.  

A stabbing pain in the lower part of my right knee sidelined me the entire month of December and just when that stopped, I caught an upper respiratory and nasal infection the first week of January which put me down for another week and a half. 

So, here we are.  19 days out.  The knees are good and lungs are a bit better and I'm trying to decide if I give this beautiful insanity called a 100 mile race another try.  I know if I'm not at 100% come race day, it's insane to even try.  But that's 19 days away and isn't it always insane to try a 100 mile race?  Can my lungs fully recoup in 19 days?  Can I get back to pre-Pinhoti condition in 19 days?  Can I get back to 80% but still with the help of great pacers and my very lovely and supportive wife and family crewing, finish Rocky Raccoon 100?

Can I make a decision?

 

   2014 Miles: 44

Consistency-The Ongoing Struggle

I'm not entirely sure what it is. It plagues me on a daily basis and quite frankly, it's what has held me back in many areas of my life. In business. In family life. In my running life. Life in general. It is my Ongoing Struggle.

My complete and bewildering lack of 'consistency'.

What keeps me from having it? Is it DNA? Can I use the go to for everyone, ADHD? I like that one. When I say I have ADHD, it actually feels like it relieves me of any culpability.

Or, is it what I actually fear it is, a simple lack of continuous conscious focus? A failure to have a set system of the right repeatable steps.

I'm not quite sure if the word 'ironic' is correct or if I'm just being Alanis when I use the word but whatever...I digress, I think it's ironic that I train people to be highly effective B2B Salespeople and I harp on The Right Repeatable Steps yet I can't seem to latch onto this in my own life. I find it simply astonishing that when I was in sales, I managed to become the #1 Salesman in the country for three straight years with the highest recorded closing percentage ever but I was, and unfortunately still am, the most inconsistent guy in the office.

I despise doing the same thing over and over and over again. I hate systems. I loathe calendars. Charts make me mental. Recording stuff? Are you kidding me? I never take notes. Ok, that's not entirely true. I take notes but I NEVER refer to them again. I have note pads full of 'words' that have never seen the light of day again once the page turned.

I'm the guy that will go 1000% at something until I reach that point of slight boredom or if something else catches my eye or interest. Like this blog. I actually started off really enjoying recording my training but then I hit some point in time to which something else got in the way. So, I stopped. It's been just about 15 months since I last wrote anything. I know, right?!?!?! You have been waiting with bated breath for a new post. ;)

"So Dan, then why the key strikes now?" Well, I need consistency in my life. My training is terrible and I've gained too much weight. I need consistency with my running and eating and I need to find a way to find consistency. If that makes any sense whatsoever.

If I Google the word Consistency, there are 29,600,000 results (in .18 seconds, which when you think about it is quite impressive there Google. Almost 30 million hits in less than a quarter of a second. Again, I digress)

Point being, EVERYONE has a way or idea or plan to become consistent but I don't have time to read 29M articles to find this thing. But I am fairly intelligent enough to know what works for me and what doesn't and for me, I have to keep it exciting. Boredom, not good when it comes to me and my insanity. I need and thrive on excitement. Hence the whole ultra-running deal. So, in order to keep myself consistent with my training and eating, I'm going to write about it and hopefully, make it exciting for both me and the 1.2 people who might read this.

I plan on writing to you 1.2 people at least once a week. I'll let you know what I've done and what I've not done. Miles and hours in the mountains and what I've plopped down the gullet. Hopefully, there will be more good than bad to report. One of my New Year's Lies, oh, Resolutions was to run at least 1200 miles this year. That might not seem like a lot when you consider ultra-runners can easily chart 100 miles in a week (or day) but for me, it'll simply come down to consistency. If I'm consistent with my running and training, I should blow past that around July-Aug. If I'm not, it'll be a battle until Dec. 31st. But either way, I'll chart that for you as well.

Where am I so far? Well, with an upper respiratory infection that completely sidelined me this past week, my annual total as of today is 27 miles but I plan on adding another 20-25 to that tomorrow which will help me get back on pace. Hopefully. At the end of the day, I enjoy running and I definitely enjoy eating so I simply have to make it a focus to find the time to both do it and to do it right. Easy.

So, I'll give this disastrous attempt at a readable blog yet another go and hopefully, I can do now what I've been unable to do for 42 years. Be consistent.

Happy Running.