Michael: The Nuts and Bolts

The stars are hidden
Yet their tears fall through a veil
Of unending clouds.

Tuesday, January 15, 2018

When my plan worked flawlessly but failed anyway, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate the plausibility of the goals I set for myself.

Fortunately, that wasn’t completely the case at the San Diego 50, so I don’t feel it’s necessary to do a complete overhaul of my lofty goals going into next month’s Sycamore 100k. In fact, even though I fell short, I’m very optimistic of reaching my slightly modified goals for next month’s race. Even better, because my plans worked so well, I don’t feel I’m going to have to put nearly as much time, effort and stress into planning for this race.

I couldn’t have been happier, with one minor exception, about my equipment, hydration, and nutrition choices. Little of that is going to change for the additional 10 miles of next month’s race. The minor exception is my choice of rain gear. The Adidas water/wind repellent jacket I picked up on sale wasn’t as water resistant as needed. I need a waterproof shell. That’s not Adidas’s fault. It’s a great shell and I plan on getting a lot of use out of it. I just need to make sure I have a waterproof shell in the arsenal as well.

I’m hoping that the weather will be better next month. I also don’t expect that I’ll have just finished fighting off a nasty lingering cold.

But even if those obstacles aren’t in the way, it’s a longer, hillier run and will require some pacing adjustments. I’d still like to believe this past weekend’s performance indicates I can attain my goal of finishing in the light and under 12 hours, but I’ll need to be prepared psychologically, physically, and equipment wise to handle the possibility of working through some dark - literally and figuratively - moments.

Fortunately, if I’m still on my feet after 5p.m. I’ll have an experienced friend there with me to help out. A pacer is something I’ve never been in the situation to utilize before. I sure hope he knows what he’s doing because after 11 hours on my feet, I doubt I will.