Race Goals, and Phrase of the Year in Action
You guys… I’m so excited about my race. I mentioned in a previous post that it’s all I can think about, and the other day I found myself wishing that the race could just be TOMORROW. I’m ready! I don’t want to wait! Then I thought… do I really want to wish these two weeks away? EVERY DAY COUNTS. I took down my outdoor Christmas lights yesterday (finally!) and while I was doing it I had a flashback to the happy sense of anticipation I had while I was putting them up. When my kids were little and Christmas was a couple weeks away they would say “I wish Christmas were tomorrow!” I would always remind them that the buildup to Christmas is part of the fun, and we wouldn’t want to skip over it. This is an extra busy week- my daughter has MPA (Music Performance Assessment) with the high school jazz band, and also Solo and Ensemble, where she is playing a solo and two ensembles. Both these things require extra driving on my part, and will take up two entire evenings. At first I though, “Oh good! Being busy will make the week go by faster.” But… there will never be another week exactly like this one. My daughter will never be playing in these things as a freshman again, while I’m also getting ready for my first 50 mile race. I know at some point when the race is over things will seem flat and unexciting, and I’ll look back on this week as being extra-special. So I’m trying to lean into it and appreciate it while it’s happening… rather than only in retrospect. So what about those race goals? Well, “goals” may not be the right word. “Vague hopes” might be a better term. Some things, like the weather, are out of my control. I’ve never run 50 miles, and I’ve never run on this trail. So anything could happen! But I do have one hope, which is that I finish before dark. The race starts at 7 am, so finishing “before dark” would mean in about 12 hours. That seems reasonable- if my finish time is much longer than that, it probably means something went wrong. I would like for nothing big to go wrong, and I would also like to avoid being out on the trail in the dark. This race has a 100 mile and 50 mile option (I love that I’ll be running with the 100 milers! The first 50 miles is the same course for everyone.) Headlamps are required gear for both distances. I got a new headlamp- my little clip-on light won’t cut it on a dark trail- and I tested it out this morning. I hate it! But, I hate all headlamps. They either bounce, or if they’re tight enough not to bounce they irritate my forehead. If I were running the 100 mile distance I would have paid any amount of money to get a really great headlamp. As it is, I ordered one from Amazon that should be… fine. Especially since I’m hoping not to use it at all. So that’s my goal- to finish this race, uninjured, in the daylight. But I’ll take any finish. And if I have a DNF because of injury, I’ll take that too and chalk it up to a learning experience. I’m linking up with Jenn and Zenaida for their Tuesday Topics. Their actual topic for the week is “My Worst Running Habits” so if you want to read about that, check them out! Any headlamp suggestions for me? Are you looking forward to anything this month?