Brain Dump

I’m all riled up. Can’t focus.

Last night, we had a Leadville planning get together, for pacers, runners, and people who wanted to watch the madness. The race is next weekend. I'm pacing K from Fish Hatchery to May Queen.

The room was filled with people that have done the race, and people that have started but not finished. Most people have done some of both – that is, started the race say 10 times, and finished the race 5 times.

So word has spread that little ole me is going to sign up for Leadville. I signed the napkin. I got a lot of feedback on that decision last night, direct and indirect. I think I mostly appreciate the unwillingness of these runners to blow sunshine up my @$$. And maybe they even have insight into my psyche that a little doubt, a little skepticism can be a powerful propellant. Or most likely, they are just being completely honest. (I prefer the thought that they are giving me motivation.) They want to make sure I know what it will take to make a serious attempt. Because that’s all anyone can do for this race, it seems: come to the starting line prepared to make a serious attempt. They agreed that I would make it to the 50 mile point. After that, training and preparation will help, but it was said over and over again, that anything can happen to cut short the race – for anyone. (Can this be true? Do we all need a little magic to make it to the end? Analysis Girl is a little dismayed that there is no chart, no data, no agent-based computer model that will clearly illuminate the sure path to finishing Leadville.)

K has said that my slow cruising speed needs to get faster. (I think this is true. Makes sense: I’ll have to hold my slow, easy pace a long, long time. The faster that pace is, the better. Also, these runners that have finished this race…. Well, they’re all much faster than I am. So it would be wise to get faster. Plus, I think in training to go the distance, I will get faster. I got faster while training for Jemez 50K. Guess what? Work works.)
Tools:
* Tempo runs
* Uptempo longish runs
* Long run
* Hills (Stair-climber counts!)

K (the other K) has advised that really I just need to train to run the first forty miles. Then just survive the second half. (I think this is a road to disaster for me. First, it almost gives me permission not to train as hard. Second, this method bets that my determination will get me to finish the race. I can be very stubborn, but I don’t want to bet on this alone. Then, there would be 18 hours of pain and discomfort over the last half of the race that I think will be worse than if I train to get faster. I don’t have any experience on how well I can keep moving through that kind of pain. And I know the last half of the race, I’ll be running scared – in fear of not making the cut offs. I accept that finishing this race will entail plenty of pain and discomfort, no matter the method. )

J gave me great advice I think. And that is to treat everything as training. Just train. Do plenty of 50Ks, and run them as training runs. Recovery will be fast, and just keep training. J’s longest training run was 42 miles. On her advice, I’ll do Bandera 50K in Jan 2010, and then the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler in Feb.

In actuality, after the planning meeting, I think K’s advice, and K’s advice are similar. I’m never going to attempt 100 mi in training. I’m only going to train up to 40 mi or so. So doesn’t that mean I am only training for the first 40 miles? And I know that in training more, I’ll get faster. And I know that no matter how fast I get, only my determination will get me through the last (painful) half. So, onward and upward! Just train.

I think my penchant for planning (nice alliteration, huh?) will be the way I make it. I already have a general pacing plan – it will get more detailed. I’ll plan out the aid stops, solutions to likely problems, and a few motivating ideals I can hold onto late in the race.

The struggle for me will be to take all the good advice and distill it down to what will help me. Also, the constant sticking point for me, is accepting advice from people I know are worlds faster than I am, and yet trusting that it still applies to me. This is tough.

So I get home, and try to work some of this through with Co.

Me: “This is going to be really hard for me.”

Co: “What is?”

Me: “Finishing. Just finishing.”

Co: “Well, duh. You knew that. I knew that. It’s one hundred miles. ”

Me: “Yeah. But I think that I can run 100 miles, it’s the cutoff… Only 30 hours. It’s going to be really hard for me to make that cutoff.”

Co: “So, what – you’re not going to do it now? Because you don’t know if you can make it?”

Me: “No. I’m going to do it.”

Co: “I know – next year, while you’re out there, I’ll hand you my ipod, and you can listen to Stephen King’s “The Long Walk.” I’m sure that will keep you going!”

Wisenheimer.