There are things that I really look forward to, sleeping in my own bed with clean sheets, eating a great meal that I cooked, taking a shower EVERY morning, spending time with people I love AND Running 100 miles. Yes I am sooo looking forward to do this, yet IT is also scaring the shit out of me. Yes I am fucking scared, but the truth is that like dying, running 100 miles is part of my journey. Running 100 miles is something that I have to do, not once, not twice by several times. I know it, I can feel it. Moab 100 is the beginning. Running an ultramarathon turned out to be a life changing experience for me. I have almost become a runner damn it.
Pablo Cohelo, one of my favorite authors wrote, “From now on whenever you want to find out something about something, plunge straight in” By not experiencing something fully, we deny ourselves the opportunity to really live at our full potential. Does this make sense? We spend so much time dealing with mind issues, in most cases we know what to do. In a way, the whole category or mind issues that can be dealt with one word, which is SURRENDER. Surrender means just let go, whatever it is that comes up between you, your heart and your journey. And give your best, just as Steve Prefontaine said once “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”. So plunge straight in and give your best. If your best is not enough then it is not mean to be, but you experienced it fully and that is what is important. And remember nothing is totally lost for ever and nothing lasts for ever, really at the end of the day even a stopped clock is right 2 times a day…
But back to what is important.. Holy shit 100 miles? A friend of mine told me a couple of days ago, you are a crazy F&*K, am I? And I guess I am… woohooo!!
The trail is imply amazing.. check out these trees... wohoo!!
So Moab 100 miles is in less than 3 weeks.. Holy Shit…
This past Saturday Janet and I went to do a training run on our own.. 50 miles in the trails of Woodside. It was freaking awesome.. For the last week Janet and I been emailing each other about this run, I was a little nervous, 50 MILES is definitely not 50K, it is a hell of a lot more. I was a little nervous cuz we were going to do this on our own and I was afraid that we were going to mess up somehow… not enough food, getting lost, getting sick and all the host of horrible things that happen on a 50 mile run.. you know what I am talking about.
This tree fell across the trail. And I wonder, if a tree falls and nobody is there to hear it fall.. bla bla bla bla..
Janet navigating through a fallen giant...
Words cannot express what I feel about running in trails.. It is amazing.. Do you think I am FAT?
Janet made the 8:50 am train to the station which is about a mile from my home.. I picked her up and drove to the start of the trail. We decided to follow the PCTR Woodside 50K route and then add another 20 Miles to complete our 50 Miler. It worked really well; we got lost a couple of times, but found our way back pretty fast. I personally loved this experience… I am simply elated..
Nutrition: Ha this is a good one, during our run Janet and I prepared a bunch of food, we pretty much finished the whole thing. A bag of Tostitos, a bag of pretzels, 8 peanut butter sandwiches, a bunch of bananas, two containers of sliced oranges, two litters of coke, two bean soups, a whole package of Oreos, I don’t even know how many cliff bars and some power gels..oh and I a bag of dried fruit (we did not finish this one). I wonder how many calories was that?
We stashed some food behind this tree.. Thank god no critters came and steal it away..
We started slow since our mission was to complete the 50 miles without much regard for timing. I had borrowed a garmin so I could keep track of the mileage. However we soon realized that wearing a gamin in the thick forest is not very accurate, when it loses the signal it simply triangulates so it was off a bit. Nevertheless the reason I wanted was because if we ever got lost, we could potentially use the garmin to find our way back. Thank God we did not need it for that. Oh and another thing, by the time we hit the 6:30 hour mark, the freaking Garmin was out of battery.. We outlasted the garmin thingy..
Sorry I don't have a picture of the Garmin... But here are two happy krazy kids!!
We started a little late because we wanted to run in the dark and test our night vision ;). As we reached our little aid station (my car) we got changed into dry clothes and got our flashlights. After running for six miles to our next aid station, I realized that my lamp was losing power or battery. It was getting dimmer and dimmer and by mile 12 of the last 20, my flashlight was gone. So we started using Janet’s for both of us, that one did not last long neither. So all of the sudden we were in the middle of the freaking forest and our lamps were definitely not going to sustain our way back to the car. So when we got to our food place, which happens to be close to a road, we decided to run on the road instead. We could have not made it back into the trails with our light situation. The last 3 miles we ran on the road in complete darkness, I will only fire my lamp for a few seconds if a car was approaching so the driver could see us.
51 miles baby!! Wooohoo!! and here could have gone further... I was feeling so good... next time we are bringing extra batteries... and more food... definitely..
This is definitely one of the best runs I ever had, we were not fast by any means, but this run gave me a sense of accomplishment, 50 miles is a loooong freaking way. Janet and I talked about the fact of how fortunate we were of being able to do this.
Lets see what else.. The trails are amazing, they were a little wet which reminds me I bought shoes the night before and I was planning to wear them for part of the run., but I opted to wear them for the whole thing.. I know this is something you are not supposed to do, but oh well. My new shoes went 50 miles in their maiden run..
This tree caught our attention.. It twisted around and around... How? Nature is simply amazing.
Ha!! By looking at the world a little different I realize how much I am thankful for. Many times we concentrate and focus on the ones that have it all, or the ones that have what you want. Couting our blessings is a ticket to being happier, when I consider the few events that happen last week, a friend’s wife died, a friend’s grandmother died, and another friend was diagnosed with Cancer. . Holy fuck… and here I am running 50 miles!! Wow!! What a blessing!! My family is OK, my best friend’s mom is back home after a few days in the hospital, I am healthy, I have a job, I have great friends and I CAN run… wohooo!!! Thank you GOD..
