From all the research I have done to prepare for this 100 mile race, one concept seems to be prevalent. Once I get to a certain point in the race, it will be all mental from there on out. Yay! That means my legs, feet, lungs, arms, abs, back and every other body part will stop hurting!
Not exactly. What that means is that most of those body parts will stop functioning on their own desire to keep moving forward and must be controlled by my brain and whatever mental cattle prod I can come up with. And a cattle prod might not be good enough.
When I have done long or painful workouts in the past, I often go to a Happy Place to take my mind off of the discomfort. And usually it works pretty well. I have thought about some of Mason’s swim meets and particular races he did great in. I have thought about Lara and some of her past running, swimming or dancing that she has done. I have thought about Christine and the 22 years we have been married and ………I will leave it at that. Remember, this is my happy place.
I have also thought about how the race will go and the possibility of feeling good and running strong. And that is a problem. One of the golden rules for 100 mile ultra running is that it is not if something bad happens, it is when something bad happens. Something bad will happen. I can almost guarantee that at some point either my calves, quads, hamstrings, biceps or forearms will lock up tighter than shit. Or possibly all of them at random times or at the same time. It is going to happen. And I have to prepare for that.
I have to prepare for my stomach going sour to the point where puking is an excellent idea. I have to prepare for the point or points where the concept of taking another step is beyond my realm of consciousness. I have to prepare myself for the possibility of prying my shoes off of blistered feet and then putting them back on again to keep running some more. I have to prepare for the worst.
Running down the road imagining Mason winning the 200 butterfly is great for a 6 mile run. Right now I am imagining doing a 12 hour pain induced death march through the middle of the night. I better start working on a whole lot of happy places.
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