12:33:31 PM: Went to the bank and did something at the $200 level that will have me sleeping on the couch for a little while when somebody finds out about it. It doesn't involve new sunglasses. Then headed to all3sports and saw Jason Schott while talking to the excellent mechanics team about the sad state of affairs that my bike has become. But all is not lost. She will carry me again. Boldly, if not squeakily. A new shifter and some (more) bottom bracket fixin' and I'll be back in business by Thursday (Pizza Ride?). Headed to Home Depot to look at some wood for the deck but realized I have a bunch of 2x4's in the garage that I can play with to figure out what I actually need. Back home now, plugged into this intertubes thingy again. I guess I have to work now or something.
05:23:45 PM: Terp reads the blog. Calls me up. She's guessing here and there, random stuff. Not all of her guesses would warrant couch time. So I focus her.
Me: What's the number one thing I could do right now to piss you off?
Terp (without hesitation): Sign up for another ultra event.
She then begins a veritable laundry list of things that I do that piss her off and asks me what "type" of pissed off it will be, citing a rich and terrifying taxonomy of possibilities. Now I'm very afraid.
05:32:02 PM: Terp: "I'm calling Leslie." Lol.
06:32:14 PM: Just posted a phonecam pic from this morning with the answer. Hoping that the intrigue of my "reveal" will distract Terp from the content of what was revealed. Probably won't. (Is this why I failed Husband 101?)
06:33:44 PM: I signed up for the Vermont 100 Endurance Run on July 21st, 2007. It was all part of the master plan. I emailed the race director earlier in the year and asked him if I could use the Mississippi 50 mile trail run as a qualifier for his race and he was kind enough to hold a spot open for me until March 15th if I did in fact complete the run. Many thanks Jim. As it turns out there are still spots available so feel free to join me!
Just like I searched high and low for a good 50 miler that fit early in the season to scare me to keep my run base over the winter, I searched for a 100 miler in the middle of the season that would re-terrify me into even more running. The Vermont 100 fit perfectly. It's in late July which is two months after my last early season tri and two months before my A race at the end of the year. Perfect.
I haven't done much research on the Vermont course except to note that the finish times aren't terribly high and completion rates aren't terribly low. It's not one of the hardest 100's and that's exactly what I need for a first. We'll leave things like Leadville and Western States for later years.
Going down to the Mississippi 50 miler this past weekend I have to admit that I wasn't sure I'd actually take the VT100 race director up on his offer. But the trail run thing is really sucking me in. I've always enjoyed long runs and it's great to find a group of like-minded people. Plus, where else is a tall, skinny, goofy-looking kid gonna fit in? As I was driving home it became clear that I should sign up for my first 100 miler.
Expectations? None. Much like before the 50 miler I'll plan on full meltdown and suffering. Anything better will be icing on the cake. I have no business whatsoever attempting one of these things and suspect that there's a good chance I won't complete it. Just like my first few seasons in triathlon, my goal is to learn. To talk to the veterans and gain some perspective. To internalize the distance... let it slap me around a little bit. For me there's no better way to learn than just doing it.
It's important to note that I was able to complete the 50 miler only because I have four years of ironman base training in me. Ultra endurance is about energy systems more than it's about muscles. My body's accustomed to giving me energy for ten hours in training and racing. So 50 miles in 8:45 was possible. But 100 miles is way off my base energy system chart. 100 is a completely different ball game and I'll have to employ smart pacing, nutrition and thinking to pull it off. I'll have up to 30 hours to complete the run on terrain much more difficult than I encountered in MS. And in weather that's expected to be a good bit hotter. Expect a bunch of sniveling from me between now and the start of this adventure.
My focus is still on triathlon... I have a beef with Ironman Florida and won't let go until I put in what I feel is a solid performance there. Luckily, a massive run base complements that beef very, very well. It also gives me some room to avoid training boredom. I can focus on swim, bike, run. But I can also lean into cycling with Marc and Dana. Or I can strike out on some trail runs with the Georgia Ultrarunning and Trailrunning Society (GUTS). More room for my excitement to flow, but all serving my focused goal. And lots of great gear! I wonder if pure ultrarunners who see this will think that I'm "using" ultrarunning improperly, somehow reducing the integrity of the activity. I hope not. Use the comment box if you have any thoughts.
As time goes on I suspect that I'll gravitate towards the ultrarunning. I think I mentioned in a previous post that my long-term athletic plan sees me focusing on tris for maybe five more years, moving into ultras for ten or so and then doing some Himalayan action. Always doing all of them to some degree or another, of course.
Preparation plan for the VT100? Running, obviously. But I haven't really thrown up a plan. Long runs every couple weekends. More consistency on the base miles during the week. Lots of low-impact swimming and cycling. Need to do some night trail runs. Some more back-to-backs. More triathlon megaworkouts are in order. Need to learn more about my blister issues.
Another adventure looms on the horizon. I'm terrified by the distance.
Three Months to Ironman Florida 2007 Plan