400th Mile Ran

I am giddy with anticipation, so excited for the upcoming Marathon in a little over a week. This will be the true test on the training that I have done and whether it is working or whether I need to re-evaluate how I am training and make some adjustments. I am in a very good position to evaluate this because a year ago I ran this Marathon with zero training and out of shape. It will be like I planted a seed and I now get to see how far I have grown. That, to me, is exciting. Progress, that is what does it and is what has attracted me to running so much, because how well I do in running depends entirely on how well I train and prepare.

As I hit my 400th mile for the year I couldn't help imagining my future races, one of which is about 5 weeks after the Marathon: Stevens Creek 50k. It is this race that I now am unsure about. Earlier in the year it was the Half Marathon, with the Marathon far off in the distance. After a lot of training and a few 13 mile runs, I slowly grew accustomed to that distance and am very confident with it. Not to say I run it fast, but the distance I am comfortable with. Then I was a little unsure about the Marathon with the Ultramarathon a distant possibility. But that, too, is now very accessible as I finished 400 miles for the year. I've logged in enough rubber to cement to begin to understand what I can do. And a Marathon I know I can.

The question then becomes, how well can I run it and how will my body respond? Because this will tell me on how prepared I will be for the 50k trail run. And who knows, if I do well in San Francisco, will the 50k then seem accessible with a 50 miler off in the distance? I sure hope so, but, ultimately, that will all depend on July 29th. The day that my giddy excitement will be unconstrained and let loose with wild joy.

This I know I can do. With proper training and confidence in one's self, anything can be done.