Dreaming Big
Goals for the next year
One thing that was both exciting and scary about running Umstead 100 was that it was going to be the furthest I had ever run, by a good margin. The course is organized as eight 12.5-mile loops, and after I finished loop 5, every step I had was setting a new distance personal best. It was exciting because it was a new challenge, and scary because I had heard many times that here be dragons, and the race really starts at mile 70.
I’d love to say that I faced those dragons and I slayed them, but my experience was more like the dragons never came. I remained focused on my goal, kept pushing forward, while ratcheting my effort down to keep the experience “comfortably hard.” And I feel like my subjective experience of the race kept getting better and better as the time went on until I eventually (slowly) ran up the steps to the finish and got my buckle. (I do hope to pull a longer description of my experience out of my head, but I will leave that for another day.)
In any case, finishing my first 100 and doing better than expected (my optimistic goal had been 28 hours and I finished in under 27!) gave me the feeling that I could do anything I put my mind to. This feeling has been tempered by getting a diagnosis of a likely stress fracture in my first metatarsal. (I am waiting for an MRI to confirm things.) But after a quick run through the five Kübler-Ross stages, I am now into planning again. So here are my goal races:
July 29, 2023: Never Summer 100K (State Forest State Park, CO)
The land of beautiful mountain vistas and meese! This was a race I DNF’ed last year after 50K, and I knew right away that I would have to return, both to take care of unfinished business and to experience these mountains again! When I first learned about my stress fracture I thought that I might have to sit out this year, but I think if I’m diligent about non-impact exercise to maintain my aerobic base and to strengthen my climbing legs during the break from running, I can still have a chance at conquering this one.
This race won’t be my fastest 100K, nor the longest I’ve ever run (either by distance or time), but, assuming I finish, it will hold the record at the most elevation gain I’ve ever had in a race, at over 14,000 feet!
October 1, 2023: Wineglass Half-marathon (Corning, NY)
In between ultras, I managed to set a few PRs over the last few years in shorter races. I came very close to setting an half-marathon PR at Monumental in Indianapolis last November, but fell just short. Afterwards I decided that I wouldn’t be excited about a PR of a few seconds anymore, so I set myself a goal of dropping my 1:58:18 PR down to sub-1:55. The Wineglass Marathon came highly recommended and so it’s a good place to run a half, and the timing works out.
October 13, 2023: Dots 48 Hour (Belleville, WI)
I volunteered at this race in 2022 and decided that I wanted to come back and run it in 2023. A 48-hour race will be a whole new ball game for me, and this race will offer a very supportive environment for it—the Ten Junk Miles crew is the best! My two goals for this race are to keep moving for 48 hours, running at least one mile each hour, and to spend as much time with friends, old and new, as possible.
November 26, 2023: Space Coast Marathon (Cocoa, FL)
After finishing the Chicago marathon (with a big PR of 4:15:59!) last year, I started dreaming about doing another marathon training cycle. The next logical goal would be a sub-4 marathon. If I manage a 1:55 half in October, this seems like a reasonable goal.
Granted, with the October 48-hour race I will not have a lot of marathon-specific training on my feet by the end of November. But with the ultra aerobic base, I might not need that much, and it’s only $10 more to sign up for the marathon, so I think I will do that and see how I feel by mid-November.
My wife is also thinking of signing up for the Space Coast half as part of her return to running this year, so we’re thinking of making a family trip to Florida Thanksgiving week.
January 2024: Marathon
I haven’t decided on a marathon yet (currently considering Miami and Houston). January will give me enough time to go through most of a marathon training cycle, even taking a few weeks off for the 48-hour race recovery.
March 2024: Three Days of Syllamo (Fifty-six, AR)
After the marathon, it will be time to return to trail races. I’ve been interested in doing this race since I first heard about it a few years ago. It takes place in the beautiful Ozarks and it’s a combination stage race / trail running festival. Everyone I know who has gone has really enjoyed it, and I think I can fit in into 2024. The race consists of a 50K appetizer on Friday, a 50-miler main course on Saturday, and for dessert a 20K on Sunday. Syllamo traditions include bathing in the cold creek while drinking a beer, how can you go wrong!
May 2024: Cruel Jewel 100 (Blairsville, GA)
This past spring break I decided to do a few training runs in the Blue Ridge mountains, exploring part of the course that is used for the Cruel Jewel race. I managed to cover 20 miles, with 5000 feet of elevation gain, in a bit over 6 hours, and I didn’t die! The race will be basically doing that 5 times in a row, in much warmer weather… but I will have 48 hours to do it. Hopefully the 48-hour race in October will provide good mental training for this part. And if I finish this race, I will fulfill my dream of running a Hardrock qualifier!