So, I have this little race in August. It is a multi stage/day running race in which I will cover 120 miles over 6 days with 20,000 feet of elevation gain. That is unless I cry and vomit and drop out the first day then it will only be 21 miles.
But I am not planning on doing that.
Why is the woman behind the man? Well at least she has better form.
Here's the breakdown:
Day One: 21 miles, 2,200 feet of gain. Buena Vista, CO to Railroad Bridge Day Two: 13.4 miles, 3,400 feet of gain (Hope Pass). Vicksburg, CO to Twin Lakes (Leadville) Day Three: 24,2 miles 2,700 feet of gain Leadville, CO to Camp Hale Day Four: 14.2 miles 2,900 feet Camp Hale to Red Cliff Day Five: 23.6 miles 4,100 feet Red Cliff to Vail <this day is going to kill me Day Six: 22.2 miles 5,100 Vail to Beaver Creek <-this day is going to kill me more That all adds up to some crazy shit.
The thing is - with any other race I've done from a stand alone marathon to an Ironman I've had access to a million different training plans and tons of people who had done such races before and could give me advice. However, when you tell someone you are running 120 miles solo over 6 days, you know what you get? Crickets. Chirp, chirp. No one, including myself knows what to make of that or how to prepare for that.
Most people just tell me how awful that sounds and change the subject.
The other weekend I was running with a bunch of people in a single file line over the hills, I met a woman who had done this race last year.
Can you tell who is me? Probably the last one.
Me: Can I have some advice?
Her: You'll be fine.
Me: Umm...well like how much did you train
Her: Not that much. 90 or 100 miles per week.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I don't even drive that far in a week (BAHAAA I know you've never heard that one before).
Me training that much per week is the funniest thing I've heard since that girl got tricked by her brothers when she had her wisdom teeth out and she thought it was the zombie apocalypse (true story. Funny as hell. Go watch it HERE. Pants! Funfetti!)
So that's about the time I started looking for training plans and I found one. Only one. There are back to back long run days and my highest mileage week is 72 miles. There will be lots of power hiking, high altitude training and EATING.
This is what I figure. Even if I suffer for every minute of the six days (that is 8,640 minutes), running is ALL I have to do everyday. I don't have to cook, clean, pick up dog poop, work, or yell at kids. I don't have to take out the trash, shuttle people places or ponder why it is so hard for anyone to put the dishes in the dishwasher. Nope. Just run.
So for now I will take it one day, one run at a time. I will remember that I can do hard things and that I've never backed down from a challenge. I will embrace the suck that can accompany tough training and hard goals and know that that is part of making it to the finish.
And, Heidi is happy to join me on the trails for a little morale boost.
Anyone ever done back to back marathons or multi day stage races? Advice please.
What is your next BIG goal. Don't have one? Why not?
SUAR
