San Diego 100

M, Nano, Me, Gazelle

After Slab City we went to the Mount Laguna/Cleveland National Forest area, and I ran the San Diego 100 Mile Endurance Run. I was hoping to break 24 hours. I did set a PR by a few minutes, but it took me 26:32. I ran the first half of the race quite well, having been well-prepared by my recent races and my desert hiking, all excellent heat training. I ran the first 50 miles in 10:28, and I was going back and forth with women's Wasatch course record holder Betsy Nye. But I wasn't eating enough and I proceeded to completely bonk. If I was ever going to do well in a race, it was this one. Nano was there running his first 100 and we ran together as much as possible, Gazelle paced me from mile 80 to the finish, and Tatu Joe caught up to me at about mile 84, so I was surrounded by friends, but there is no other way to say it--I f--king hate running overnight. During every 100-miler I have repeatedly had the thought: "I love running 50-miles. You can go home and sleep." Usually as soon as the race is over I start thinking about it more fondly, but this time, I might be ready to call it good on 100's for a few years and stick to 50's and 100K's. I have been accepted into Wasatch this year, but I'll be in Kenya in September, and although my boss will give me the time off, I'd have to buy my own ticket, and I doubt the race is worth the $1700 it would cost. I find all this hugely disappointing. I want to love the pain, but I really just hate it. Am I just weak, or did I not train enough? Obviously I didn't put in very high-mileage weeks, but I believe in training specificity, and I'm not sure I'm interested in training for running overnight by going and running overnight. Lame.

That said, mad props to Nano for completing his first 100-miler, and thanks to awesome crew M&M, Gazelle, Tatu Joe, and everybody else for the pacing and encouragement. The San Diego 100 was a high-quality event. The aid station crews were excellent and the social aspect of the race was one of the best I've ever encountered.

Comments

  1. Stick with what you love, not what you think you should love!

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