Friday, July 13, 2012

Impending doom...

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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