Friday, July 13, 2007

DESTINY


THE TAPER

Still have one week to go and I’m already a ball of nervous energy! I’m in taper mode now and not enjoying myself as much as I should be since I’m so crabby. The last few weeks I’ve been running outside during those hot and humid days to prep and test gear for Vermont. One thing I forgot to check was the daily air quality of Boston; I forgot how bad the air quality is during these hot temps. I’m overly sensitive to a significant amount of fine particles or pollutants and as a result spent this week dealing with an asthma flare up. This knocked the wind out of my sails, feeling breathless, tightness in chess, I get side stitches 2 seconds into a run and because my muscles lack oxygen I’m getting serious leg cramps…I feel like crap! But Vermont is not about speed so I’m not too worried about what effect this will have (if any) come race day. Still I enjoy these easy five mile runs asthma or not it helps to keep me calm and focused.

THE GOALS

Since it’s my 1st 100 my foremost goal is finishing with-in the 30 hour cut off time and hey if things are going well out there then I’ll make a push for the famous belt buckle (sub 24 hours) but right now it’s only added stress I don’t need. My race strategy is power walking all hills reserving my energy to run fast and efficiently downhill, staying in my comfort zone and keeping an even heartrate. Easy up, hard down letting gravity and momentum work for me, HOPEFULLY by not fighting the downs my quads should be good for the last 30 miles.

THE CREW

My dad, brother and friend Kevin GRACIUOLSY volunteered there weekend to crew/pace me and I’m very lucky and happy to have them all on board. Kevin a local runner is going to help pace me from mile 68 to the finish, I just received this funny email from him today saying “Zombie Runner is having a special this week on cattle prods for that late night pick-up-the-pace touch. Could put a little zip in your step”

RESPECT FOR THE DISTANCE

A few curious people have asked me about next weekends endeavor. One particular conversation got me thinking -

So I heard you’re running 100 miles? Is that over a three or four day period?
Well believe it or not I’m shooting for one day.
What? So wait!!! That’s like driving or in your case running from Boston to Cape Cod and then back to Boston!
I guess so!

What have I gotten myself into? I hadn’t thought about the actual distance in driving terms but I agreed that is a long way. Well there’s no turning back now, I’ve done the training, I’ve sent my goals, I have the support, and now it’s up to me to finish this journey.