1 Corinthians 10:24-27

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. – 1 Corinthians 10

On Saturday morning, we headed out early to go to New Orleans to the UNO pool.  Mason was going to be swimming the 1500m freestyle (mile) for the first time in an attempt to get a state qualifying time.  He already has 8 state times and he is only able to swim 6 events at state meet.  But if he makes the time in the 1500m, then it will allow him to choose 6 events in which he will be very competitive in and give him more chances to score points for the team.

Because he had never swam this distance, we were concerned about his pacing.  For 30 lengths of the long course pool, he will have to swim with no indication if he was going too fast or too slow.  He told me before hand that the people who hold the lap numbers in the pool for the swimmers will shake the numbers if you need to speed up.  For this race, that was Christine’s job.  I was at the other end of the pool timing for him.  He was nervous of course, but he was determined.  He just had to stay focused for the 18 to 20 minutes it would take him to swim.

As he took off, I started writing down his 100 meter splits.  If he looked like he was slowing down, I would signal Christine to get him to speed up.  This only happened twice.  Somehow, his internal pacer kept him on target.  When all was said and done, these were his splits:  1:12, 1:16, 1:15, 1:15, 1:16, 1:14, 1:16, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:16, 1:15, 1:16, 1:14, 1:09.  Amazing.  How he could keep his concentration for that long was impressive.  When he hit the finish pad he had managed a time of 18:46 for the 1500 meters which was almost 37 seconds faster than he needed to be.  His 9th state cut!

After driving back home and doing some yard work, I decided it was my turn to do some training.  There are two big training elements that seem to be prevalent in most training articles concerning ultras:  the weekend long run and running when you are tired.  I decided to combine the two.  I set up my “aid station” on the tail gate of my truck and decided to run four loops of five miles each.  This would give me a chance to pick up a new bottle every 45 minutes or so and eat a gel and salt tab.

I took off around 5:30 PM and it was frickin’ hot!  The one cloud I had for shade quickly evaporated leaving only blistering heat.  When I finished this loop, I quickly drank a good bit of ice cold water with my gel.  I was in this for the long haul, so I didn’t want to fade too quickly.

The second loop was much better with the sun a little lower providing some shade in a few spots.  Nothing very eventful on this loop.

By the third loop, I was feeling a little tired.  But I had been doing a 9/1 run- walk ratio, so overall I felt good.  I was using the walk break to stay hydrated and to keep my heart rate down.  And it seemed to be doing the trick.  About 3 miles into this loop (13 mile mark), my ipod bit the dust.  I sweat so much that even putting it inside a ziploc and my arm holder didn’t help.  So I yanked the ear buds and pressed on.  Of course, that was when I could hear the sloshing in my shoes.  They were soaked.

When I finished the third loop, my stomach was a little upset.  My nutrition attempt this week was alternating bottles of Gatorade and Ultra on each loop.  Somehow, I think I went Ultra, Gatorade, Gatorade, Ultra because I spent a few minutes dry heaving after this loop.  My nutrition plan still needs some work.  It was now fully dark, so I stuck my head in the door and told Christine I was heading out for another loop.  And this one may take a while.

I headed out and things were going fine until about the 16 mile mark when my left hamstring locked up solid!  And here I was about 100 yards directly across a field from my house.  Dilemma.  Dilemma.  There’s the house.  And there’s more road.  And then I thought of my new favorite training song.

And I pressed on.  I immediately started to hobble the best I could.  I found that the cramping would ease up the faster I walked.  At least faster in that “pre-lube job tin man being chased by flying monkeys” kind of way.  After a minute or two of this, I started running again.  And I was able to run for a couple of more miles before my right hamstring said “HELLO!!!!”  But I knew the game plan, so it was only a minor inconvenience.

By the time I was getting close to being finished it was fully dark.  And I looked up at the sky and saw all the stars.  If I had done this at 12 miles, it would have been “Okay”.  At 19.5 miles, it was like “WOW”.  At that started a whole thought process of how blessed I am right now.  Blessed to have my wife Christine taking care of me and sharing our lives together.  Blessed to have my over achieving kids, Lara & Mason.  Blessed to have my family & friends.  Even though I was in pain at the time, I still felt blessed.

And that is when I decided I would start each post with a Bible verse.  It may be interesting to be mixing the Gospel with chafing in my underworld area, but such is life.  And this is life.

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