Thoughts on the Run

I like the quote:

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Reading the quote it makes sense when you think about those that achieve great things like go to space, win a Super Bowl, or travel around the world. Starting with what they wanted in the end, they worked backwards to create a plan of what it would take to get there. That goal was their primary focus. No other distractions or responsibilities and all decisions heading in one direction.

At some level, us “normal folk” can apply the same strategy to our goals. If you want to complete your first 5k or marathon, start at the finish line and work backwards. Create the training plan and nutrition menu will help make huge strides toward achieving your accomplishment. I did this for my first marathon and it increased my confidence that I could accomplish a marathon. Fast-forward a few years to today when I’m running ultras, and I find having a plan even more important.

Then reality starts to set in. Work demands, family expectations, community involvement, consulting requests, and whatever else I seem to have projected upon myself.

I made the mistake last night of declaring to the family:

I am going to bed by 8p so that I can wake up at 12:30am and run to work.
(Imagine an echo as I stand at the mountain top)

That’s when reality really starts to set in for me. I’m not saying that kids don’t care about a parent’s plan, but kids don’t care about a parent’s plan. Remember those days when all you had to deal with in life was going to school and getting to choose what to do with the other 18 hours of the day? You know, do I play outside or go to a friend’s house or play Nintendo (the original) or roll down the side of hill. No pressures or responsibilities of earning money to pay for a place to live, car to drive, food to buy, or school debt to repay. Just live.

Wow that suddenly makes me sad.

I have been told that ultrarunning is not just the physical, but a way of living. If there’s one question I’ve received consistently over the years, it is how do you do it all? From raising 4 kids to working to training, how does it all get done. Well, it doesn’t all get done at the highest quality. Training 20 miles/week for a 50 mile race at high elevation certainly does equate to a quality experience on race day. There was a plan, I just couldn’t take the weekend off to go to the mountains for training. Reality.

There is an aspect of the physical. I’m not referring to the running part, but doing so much in life that it takes your body down a notch. After missing the run to work, I ended up with pneumonia. That sucks for running. You know how when you normally cough you feel your abs squeeze? I didn’t get the benefit of the core workout from this 2 week’s of sickness. The cough came from the chest.

Many times I think I should just slow down, but really I need to just focus. Be creative and flexible. Run at lunch, run to work, run in the middle of the night, short runs, long runs … imagine a time when there were no cars or cell phones.

Be simple.