THE GOAL
Hey all,
I wanted to put this out there for a little public accountability.
My goal is to run and finish the Eastern States 100 in 2018.
The ES 100 is a 100-mile race held in August in the Pennsylvania Wilds (North Central Pa).
WHY 100 MILES?
The reason for this goal is to prove to myself that I can do more than I ever thought possible.
I think we all have these limiting beliefs that we pick up as we go through life.
Maybe it was something our parents said.
Maybe our teachers didn’t have high expectations.
Maybe we’ve just failed a bunch and feel like a loser.
Maybe we’re not really sure who we are or what we’re supposed to be doing.
We all have these things we’ve been conditioned to believe about ourselves.
Challenging myself to do this is an effort to rethink what is possible.
I’ve never run 100 miles before. It is intimidating.
I’ve run 31 miles before. My legs hurt so bad and I wanted to quit. I walked more than I would have liked.
Do I have what it takes to more than TRIPLE that distance?
With the right training, I hope so.
I’m certainly not going to let limiting beliefs tell me what I’m capable of.
LOGISTICS
There are a couple hoops to jump through and whole lot of training that will go into this thing.
To even attempt this race, you have to qualify by first running a 50-mile race under the given time-cap. My plan for qualification is the Stone Mill 50 Mile Race on November 4th of this year. I have about three and a half months to get ready for that race.
With my eyes set on Stone Mill in November, here is a part of the plan to get ready for this.
Aug. 6th – 50 mile walk on the Schuylkill River Trail with Joe Homan
– Joe is tackling this for his 50th birthday and asked me to come along.
– Your lungs and aerobic capacity grow stronger and more quickly than your legs.
– This is a great way to put 50 miles on my legs in a single day without running.
August 12th – Eastern States 100 (2017)
– I’m volunteering at this year’s race to get a feel for what it will be like.
Sept. 9th or 16th – 50k or 31.4 miles on Schuylkill River Trail to Philadelphia
– Did earlier this summer, but walked more than I would have liked.
– See if I can do better than my first time = 6 hours
Oct. 13th & 14th – Back to Back runs
– A rule of thumb for training is to run your longest distance over two days.
– I will attempt a 25 mile day and a 10+ mile day to get me to 35 or 40 miles.
Nov. 4th – Stone Mill
– 50 dang miles!
Aug. 12ish, 2018 (date hasn’t officially been released)– EASTERN STATES 100!
Obviously there will be more training after November 4th, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
CHALLENGE
What is a limiting belief you have about yourself?
What is something you are scared to do?
I think you should give it a try!
Pictured above is the Schuylkill River Trail. I’ll be putting a lot of miles in on that trail!