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