Am I Ready?

After my last blog, a few people asked what goal I am working towards with regards to my current training program. About 2.5 years ago, I got serious about my health and started running. I had quite a few setbacks during my first year, but then I set my sights on the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, aka, the WS100. The farthest I’d run at the time was 6-miles, so it was definitely an ominous goal. However, it has helped me to tailor my training program in a way that has kept me extremely excited about running. My ultimate goal is to be healthy, but the WS100 is just the push I need most days to get into a pair of running shoes and head out the door.

Just last month, I qualified for the Boston Marathon for the first time. Most people think this was my ultimate goal. Although I’m very proud to be able to run in Boston this April, it is just one in a list of key milestones in my journey to the WS100:

• 06/2006 - 19 miles @ Hawthorn Half-Day Relay, Terre Haute, IN
• 12/2006 - 26 miles @ Tecumseh Trail Marathon, Bloomington, IN
• 12/2006 - 31 miles @ Sunmart Texas Trails Endurance Run, Huntsville, TX
• 01/2007 - 26 miles @ Houston Marathon, Houston, TX (Boston Qualifier)
• 04/2007 - 26 miles @ Boston Marathon, Boston, MA
• 05/2007 - 50 miles @ Ice Age Trail 50, La Grange, WI (WS100 Qualifier)
• 06/2007 - 38 miles @ Pacer for Western States Endurance Run, Auburn, CA
• 12/2007 - 26 miles @ Tecumseh Trail Marathon, Bloomington, IN
• 12/2007 - 50 miles @ Sunmart Texas Trails Endurance Run, Huntsville, TX
• 01/2008 - 62 miles @ Bandera 100k, Bandera, TX
• 06/2008 - 100 miles @ Western States Endurance Run, Auburn, CA

So, that’s my list of key races geared towards a successful WS100 finish in 2008. I also try to participate in any organized trail races near my home in Indiana, primarily the DINO Trail Run Series, and anything else that might help provide the experience, both mental and physical, necessary to complete a 100-mile trail run in the mountains of California. Am I crazy? Probably. However, I figure I have the ability to go for it now and I don’t know what life will bring later. I don’t want to regret not having at least tried something that seems so impossible.

On the trail to Auburn,

- Patrick

Are You Ready?

We’ve all experienced doubt and fear when it comes to training for a goal race, whether it be a 5k or a 100-miler. Standing at the starting line, it is inevitable to ask yourself, “Am I ready for this?”. It is important to ask the same question during training as a means of evaluating progress, but the main goal of any good program is to be “ready” on race day, not before.

In the running community, I’ve noticed there are two kinds of people. The first person sets a goal race, signs up for it as soon as possible, and then begins training. The second person begins training, but waits to sign up for a race until they feel they are “ready”.

The problem with the second approach is that we rarely feel “ready” while in the middle of training. We risk missing out on the joy of an accomplished goal, whether it is a result of self-doubt or from other circumstances like a key race filling to capacity. Nothing gives a training program more focus than selecting a key race and then working dilligently to reach the starting line as prepared as possible.

A good friend of mine was training with me for the Houston Marathon this January in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon in April, but by the time he got around to signing up, the Houston race was sold out. As a result, I’m now going to Boston alone and his job circumstances dictate that he won’t have another opportunity to attempt Boston for several more years.

Another person I know decided to take up running last year and immediately signed up for the Houston Half-Marathon. It was an impossible goal at the time, but it gave her running program a focus that would have been lacking otherwise. She found a training partner, slowly worked up to longer distances, ran in a few shorter races, and then successfully finished the 13.1-mile race this January.

So, set a goal. Pick a race, sign up, and start training! Do whatever it takes to be ready when race day arrives and then run with confidence. Don’t let life pass you by and miss out on the opportunities that are available now.

No regrets!

- Patrick