Happy not really Patriots Day marathon Mondaily. Boston marathon being held today after a pandemic hiatus albeit during the fall instead of spring.
The usual 5 mile loop with Baker out at the birdsboro watershed yesterday. Cool and cloudy weather. Just a spritz of drizzle. It would have been a great day to tempo things up but my legs were not up to that so we just puttered around taking in the sights and sounds of the watershed. Similar weather today but a bit warmer later is the forecast. I will do something out at the lake this evening with Baker.
QOTD: What do/did you get out of running races, marathons, ultras, other distances? Besides getting sore and tired!
Not sure I can answer my own question really without rambling. My first marathon it was just an idea to train and finish well, but the feeling of accomplishment that day was awesome and stoked the fire in me to do more. Then it was chasing times, BQ, PR's, etc. A lot of misses on those PR's. Years and years of misses. I never felt discouraged about the PR misses though. I was always running right at the edge of my ability or so it seemed. It was somewhat of a non-event when I did finally get that PR time I had been chasing but I had transitioned to ultras at the time and it was more a matter of finally cashing in a time that circumstances had made me miss time and time again. I guess it comes down to a feeling of strength and confidence that the actual training gave me and not so much the races themselves. My favorite feeling was the week before a race that I really felt locked and loaded for with taper madness. Such a feeling of being alive, energized, and charged up. That was not the norm before all races, but several times for sure. When you felt that way it was like magic.... itching to run and race. Like a wound up clock.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Nothing for me. I may get in a workout after work . . . but then I may not. I slept so well last night. Nuthin' like sleeping in your own bed.
QOTD: The camaraderie since I mostly run by myself, the challenge of beating the cutoffs. I'm a solid back of the pack runner, so making cutoffs has always been an issue. Experiencing new running trails.
Leslie Living and Running Behind the Redwood Curtain -------------
Trail Runner Nation
Sally McCrae-Choose Strong
Bare Performance
I ran 3 this morning. I had a report to work on, and I didn't really want to do it, especially since all the information is available for the people who want it. In fact, they have access to all the information they need. I only have a portion of it. Whatever, it is mostly done now. I am just waiting for confirmation of some of the information.
QOTD: This may sound weird, but my favorite races/events were back when I was totally clueless. A lot of folks may say I am still totally clueless, and I don't know if I could argue with them about it. But I just really like trying to figure out difficult problems. Then, when I feel like I get them figured out, I don't mind if they come back and punch me in the gut to let me know I didn't have much figured out. I got great satisfaction with success, but I got even greater satisfaction after I made a critical error and came back later to correct it. It was fun, but I think my interest in super long events has run its course.
LB2
Fattozig - I've never experienced chasing a cutoffs. To me, that would really stoke a sense of urgency and would be a very challenging thing to experience and deal with.
LB2 - My first Laurel Highlands 50 I did have a locked and loaded training cycle but seeing it was my first ultra over 50 miles I made quite a few mistakes and was not prepared for a few things. Heavy rain and horrible blistering. I still remember sitting on the bed of a truck at check point 3 looking at my feet and wondering what the heck to do next. All I could think of was duct tape. I did not have any but some nearby did. Wrapped myself up and limped down the trail. Every ultra after that I always packed the tape. Chicago marathon in 2006. It never occurred to me that I could just slow down in a road marathon and still complete a race. My hamstring seized badly, so bad it felt like I had been shot. I nearly quit. The decided after a mental argument to at least try to jog it in, and it worked. By the last few miles I was down below 8 minute pace (I had started about 7 mm, my goal). It was quite a learning moment so I see your perspective.
Today's a SRD, but I will ride the MTB to log 10 or so miles in the relay.
qotd: When I first started marathons and then later ultras, it was mostly about going the distance and then trying to improve PRs. But also a lot had to do with having a race scheduled in order to get my ass out the door and train. But at some point it got a little turned around and the training, planning, logistics, etc. is the main part and the actual race is the confirmation of the training (as in. . . forget about chasing PRs !!!). This is especially the case when I'm doing the tougher mountain races, but I will say that these days the cutoffs in the mountain runs are getting much tougher!!!!
tbd.
running under the BigSky
7 miles this morning with Tiny Elvis, in the snow
strength train this afternoon- thanks to Columbus!
qotd: races were a good way for me to keep my training moving forward, but to be honest I was never super keen on races; my fondest memories of trail running were runs where a buddy, or a bunch of buddies, got together and headed into the mountains for a long run
2024 goal 2024 miles
2023 goal 2023 miles √
2022 goal- 2022 miles √
2021 goal- 2021 miles √