100 Day Countdown

My goal race for 2020 is now just 100 days away. I didn’t know that until I received an email from the race organization this morning. Now that I do know that, I suddenly feel the need to go run. I’m feeling mostly excited and a little nervous.

My goal race is the Lighthouse 50 which starts up near Torch Lake, Michigan, on May 30th. The course travels along roads and trails up to the Petoskey Lighthouse. It should be a lovely, scenic run, which I thought would make my first 50 miler memorable and enjoyable. Here are a few other reasons why I chose this race:

1. The course, as I understand it, is mainly on roads and rails-to-trails type trails. Since I have no sense of direction, this should be easy for me to follow and ideally keep me from getting lost and ending up in Iowa. Seriously, GPS is the only reason I get to places on a regular basis.

2. This race also allows runners to be crewed and I’m grateful my husband agreed to keep an eye on me. I’m also grateful to have two friends and their spouses joining me on this adventure. The more people, the more fun it will be, plus the less likely I’ll veer off course.

3. We have a very generous cutoff time because there is a 100-mile component to this race. We will start our 50-mile journey just a few hours after the 100 milers start, but we have use of the entire course until it closes at noon the next day. Essentially, we will have 24 hours to cover 50 miles, which is way more than needed. It’s really comforting to not feel rushed to meet a cutoff time and we can take our time at aid stations or as we get gear out of our truck along the course.

At this point in training, I’m mostly feeling confident. I’m confident it will be a true challenge and there will be many highs and lows. I’m know that I’ll enjoy most of the miles and will need some attitude-adjusting for some miles too. My body may break down and tell me to quit, but my mind is usually the enabler. With friends and family around me, I’m certain I’ll keep on keeping on. Even if there are tears and lots of cussing.

I’m looking forward to seeing some very beautiful places in Michigan and spending quality time with my friends. Our conversations are usually entertaining and it will be nice to catch up on each other’s lives. I think it will be fun running in the dark and hope my lights last as long as I need them. I’ll have back-up gear. It should be interesting to see what foods are available at our aid stations, though we don't have many. I’m looking forward to eating lots of food during the race and afterwards, as well as copious amounts of post-race beer. Champagne sounds like a good idea too.

The winning cards in my hand include my ‘why’ and I have two aces. One is the Fxck Cancer community for which I will be fundraising all year. These are some of the most courageous, strong people that I’ve seen doing some of the most difficult things that I can even imagine. They are motivating and I feel stronger when I think of them. Please support these epic people by donating to Fxck Cancer through my special Fxck CancerDonation page. Your donation will help spread the word about early detection and provide a wonderful VIP-style experience for someone fighting cancer. My other key ‘why’ is hard to discuss, so I’ll save it for another day.

I’ve been planning this goal race and training for many months. It’s occupied so much of my time and I can’t believe we are counting down to race day already. I’m excited that I’ve pushed myself toward meeting this goal and a little nervous about pulling it off. So far, I’m pleased with my training, not bored or burned out yet, and still looking forward to my goal race 100 days from today.

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