Where everybody knows your name... Cheyenne Mountain 50k preview

So.

There's a trail race coming up.

It's on Saturday, April 27th, 2013 at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Colorado.

There are several variants including a 50k.

I am signed up.  Again.

This will be the third year I have attempted it;  it is the third year of the race.

As has been well,  chronicled in previous blog entries, I am the two time defending D.F.L.  My goal?  Give someone else the crown.

The D.F.L. crown.  In my own mind.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Finishing a race, and finishing as the D.F.L.  is kind of neat.  The first time.  Even struggling through and suffering through a long day and finish ( twenty minutes faster!) and still winding up D.F.L. a second time?  No shame in that.  But finishing a race for a third straight time, and winding up D.F.L. again?  I'm afraid they might rename the award after me.

 THIS CANNOT HAPPEN.  

Now of course in order to reach this goal I have made thorough preparations.  The workouts, the plan?  Well essentially, my training has been impeccable.  my training has consisted of  numerous skipped workouts, lazy pacing, and generally apathetic running
I've done the physical preparations and trimmed down and lost the piano in preparation for the numerous hills.  Baldwin is still my sponsor.
And I'm mentally confident and ready to attack the course.  ready to give up many days in advance?

Right.  Should be a long day.  (I think the newly implemented cutoff was created just for me.  :)

All that being said it is a great race to do.  I stopped by Colorado Running Company and picked up my packet.  It speaks volume of the race and the management that they recognize me and are still willing to hand me a race bib when they know that means they have to stay on the course for many extra hours.  Andrea and her crew are great and so encouraging.  If you need a trail race on your calendar you really should be out there for this one!  I offered to carry a flag and lead the nine hour pace group.    Though they didn't take me up on it.

I'd love to finish in about eight hours, though considering I'm gassed after about fifteen minutes, that may be a bit of a challenge.

But don't we all need a challenge?  I have mine.  The D.F.L. is going down!

No time.

Spongeriffic.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don't have anything philosophical today.

Today was a blessing of life.

I chose to run some.  It didn't feel great.  In fact it felt quite awful for most of the time.  Random assorted pains,  stress about not being in very good shape, worry over a race that is a week away.  These things are like sponges that suck away energy and life and initiative.  

I really don't have the will to pay those debts.

So I'm not going to worry about how much I haven't run, all the things I failed to do perfectly, all the mistakes I made, the times I gave up, the slowness, the missed training plans, the goals that were never attained.

I'm just going to be thankful for being able to move around a bit today and be outside, and even get a bit sunburned.

There will be no worrying about tomorrow or yesterday or anything else.

Just savoring the blessing of today.

    

Quiet determination.

There will be no taunting today.  There will be no blustering, puffed up, blowhard-ery  (word? it is now.)  There will be no Mr. T references, no inspirational youtube videos, no chest bumps.  There will be no grunting, no screams, and I will not be performing the Haka for you today.  (OK maybe one youtube video.)    There will be no boasting, or trashtalking, or promises made in the heat of battle.

There is only quiet determination.  The unstated, unnoticed, exhausting, gutwrenching, sweat-inducing, overwhelming, work will be done. There will be no red carpet at the end, no spotlight, no award ceremony.  The work will not be broadcast on a regional public access TV channel, and there will be no interview.  It won't generate hits on my facebook page and I won't list it on my annual performance review.

But oh dear friends, there will be a reward.  There will be a reward.  Not today.  But it is coming.

Until then.  I run.  And I run and I run.

Wilma Rudolph at the finish line during a track meet in Madison Square Garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened."  - Wilma Rudolph













How are you running the race today?

Keep Calm and Run On

Keep Calm and Run On.  

I got a pretty nifty poster from my oldest sister the other day.  There is an outline of a runner and the above words in white on a blue background.  I think this is solid advice.  In many situations it does apply.

I suppose there are a lot of distractions.  From all of our goals.  Sometimes even the prospect of thinking about them seems overwhelming and exhausting.  I think the alternative is to just keep moving forward.  Not too high, not too low, just keep running.  

So that is what I will do.  Don't ask me about tomorrow.