I'm now one week out from the Tahoe Rim Trail Ultra: 50 mile Endurance Run. I am freaking out. Or rather, beginning to notice symptoms of panic. I will be sitting at my desk at work and suddenly realize that I can't breathe whilst dreaming about the race next week. I'm jittery and it's not from over-caffeination. I am so excited but at the same time horribly underprepared.
Last year I finished. I wouldn't say my time was fantastic, but I wasn't DFL. (Dead Fucking Last for those of you not familiar with Ultra lingo.) But I was also in it just for the experience and was happy to cross the finish line no matter the time. This year, I had a goal. Unfortunately that goal has gone out the window in the last 8 weeks and I may be looking at a repeat of last year... if I'm lucky.
My season got derailed first in St. George, where I had planned to run a nice long marathon and ended up with a 3 week taper followed by a nice long recovery week. So by mid May I hadn't done a long run in about 6 weeks. Then I hiked the Grand Canyon. Don't get me wrong, 50 miles is a good training day, but I ended up aggravating a previous injury and now have high hamstring tendinosis that won't quite go away. It's getting better. Slowly. So now it's been another 6 weeks without a long run. Not how I had planned to enter July.
Regardless, I am super excited to get back to Tahoe and the forests and lakes and the beautiful trail that feels like home. When I am on that trail, I am happy. Free. I know that the excitement of race day and the adrenaline will get me through. Unlike last year, I now know I can cover the distance. I know I'll make it through and I know how to take care of myself and not get behind on sugar like I did previously. My sister will be out there with me, covering the same distance. We've mapped out our pre-race plan and are looking forward to relaxing post-race in that everything-hurts post-race bliss.
Race day tracking is at http://www.trtlive.com/. Follow us next weekend to make sure we made it out alive. I've decided not to run with a camera this year, but there will be plenty of before and after pictures. Wish me luck!!
Tahoe or Bust!
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