When I put my name in the hat for the Miwok 100K race lottery back in December I knew my odds of getting in were slim.  But why not, there was no cost to enter the lottery.  When my name got picked I knew my training would have to kick into high gear if I had any hope of finishing the course.  But again, why not, I had a solid four months to train.

I had done three marathons and two 50k trails runs earlier in 2009.  Training for and then doubling my longest distance should be possible.

Then of course “life” got in the way.  I’m not going sit here and tell you a bunch of tails of horrible injuries that kept me from running.  Or about family or work issues that got in the way.  There wasn’t anything that really prevented me from running.  It was just laziness and enjoying life that did me in.  Lack of commitment perhaps.  A willingness to accepting excuse after excuse.  Why run today when you can put it off until race day right?

So here I am.  Race day is just around the corner.  And by corner, I mean 66-hours and 20-minutes…

No point in running now unless it’s running away.  All I can do is lay out my gear (like my new Garmin 450t hand-held GPS), figure out my nutrition plan, review the course and cut-off times, and, well that’s about it.

Looking back over my training log for the last 6-mounts I see that I’ve ran about about 135-miles total.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be a few runners at Miwok that have logged 100+ mile weeks leading up to this race.  I can think of a few that might have logged over my 135.

But there is the difference.  I’m not racing.  I’m going out to see if I can finish.  And what better way to test yourself than to jump in head first.  For me it will simply (simple does not mean easy) be a very long day fighting to continue my forward progress.

I know full well this is going to hurt.  Mind, body and soul.  But in some strange way I’m looking forward to the suck.

So here’s to the looooooong taper.  To not giving up just because your unprepared.  If you do you’ll never find out what you’re capable of.

-Shawn

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