Thoughts on the Run

So here’s my revelation of the year:
I signup for marathons and ultras, but run whenever the hell I feel like it.

What has brought this about? Glad you asked!

Leading up to the 50 mile ultramarathon, my longest trail run was 18 miles. That was only my 2nd trail run in the 6 weeks prior to race day. Before that, it had been 16 years since running on a trail. I tell people these facts and receive the “impossible” look. Up until this morning, that made me second guess what I was doing.

If I stop and think about it, it’s a really good point. How can someone complete a 50 mile footrace if training in the 3 months prior had a max run of 18 miles?

Now, I’ve completed 7 marathons, 5 half marathons, and plenty of 5ks. I have never followed a plan completely for a race. The reasons (not excuses) are plentiful:
– I have a wife and 4 kids
– I have a day job
– Sleep is not overrated

Not following the plan, hearing from “experts” on how to do it, and reading about how hard completing a marathon is, was still causing me some stress. So I was stressing about missing runs and not “doing it right.” That stress was making my running performance decrease along with my attitude towards running.

Done listening to people on how to do it. There’s a reason why there are thousands of books on running, weight loss, and parenting. Every person is different. If I am able to run a marathon or even an ultramarathon with very little training, then this opens up an interesting topic: mind over running

For me, running is 95% mental. As in life, don’t look at the entire road to travel, focus on the step you are on. Repeat. Enjoy each step, look at each step, and be in the moment. This will get you far in running … and far in life.