Michael: Lowering Expectations

The vibrant yellow wings
Flutter through the garden from
Flower to flower.

Friday, January 15, 2016

One of my criteria for choosing an adventure is to finish before sunset. The idea of running, riding or hiking all day then trying to continue into the night just doesn’t seem to be an enjoyable prospect and exacerbates the perils of what’s already been an ambitious outing. This I know from a wealth of unwanted personal experiences.

That’s why a 100k race is at the limits of what I’ll attempt to do. I figure a race starting early in the morning and run on a moderate course, should be able to be completed in the light. And that’s why I chose the Sycamore 100k as my first, and perhaps only, ultra race over 50 miles.

But after Wednesday’s road run of 18 miles over a similar profile to the Sycamore course, I’m beginning to believe that I ought to prepare for the possibility of strapping back on the headlamp I’ll start the race with at 6:30 a.m. if I’m going to complete the race.

I thought running 8 miles per hour seemed reasonable, but on Wednesday’s run I was doing 6 m.p.h and I was pretty tired afterwards, and that’s less than a third of a 100k. So I’ve ratcheted down my expectated race finish time to between 11 and 12 hours. That’ll still get me in before dark if everything goes right.

If I were smart, I might even do a little running in the dark with a headlamp to prepare myself, but I’m too stubborn and/or not bright enough to do that. But now on my race checklist I’ll make sure to include a well charged headlamp.