Grindstone 2013

The race that almost happened!

It took me the better part of this year to get ready for this race.  It looks like it may take a little while longer to get used to the fact that we're not running it.  This is the story of an average runner who set his mind to run an epic distance, only to have the opportunity stolen away at the last minute.  Be forewarned, this post is mostly bitter and whiny and I don't care.  

I decided last year after MMTR in November, along about the same time that Alexis decided to run Hellgate and Western States, that I would attempt to run the Beast Series this year.  Mountain Masochist being my first 50 miler, that meant that I would be attempting two new race distances, the 100K and the 100 miler.  Of course, not in the logical order of shortest to longest, that would be too easy.

So I started off the year running all of the 50Ks in the series, Holiday Lake, Terrapin Mountain, and Promise Land.  Not that I hate any of these races, but doing them all in three months isn't ideal for training purposes.  I managed to maintain a sense of peace throughout these races, knowing that if I could finish Grindstone and Hellgate, and in doing so the Beast Series, that I wouldn't have to ever run ALL three of them again in the same calendar year.  

And that satisfied feeling brought me into May and the beginning of my Grindstone training.  

In the early part of the summer I ran a lot of easy miles.  This was the 'base' building part of training that I have heard smarter and more accomplished runners talk so much about.  This wasn't too hard, coming off of a spring full of 50Ks.  This portion of my training was punctuated by me pacing Alexis at Western States.  That whole story is here, and here.  But I must say that what I learned at WS, just being there and seeing the runners, helped me enormously in preparing mentally for the 100 mile distance.

When we got back from California, I set myself to mountain running, heading into the wilderness whenever I could get the time.  I became better friends with the AT this summer, often running back to back long runs in the same weekend.  I was managing to get more and more miles every week, and was able to maintain this level of effort and distance without too much pain and suffering.

I guess I peaked my training out at the end of August and early September when I ran half the Grindstone course one weekend, then Iron Mountain 50 miler two weeks later, the Odyssey Train Rampage 40 miler the week after.  After that I still did a couple of back to back mountain long runs, ending with a Priest and Three Ridges run where I felt great.  And the I started to taper.

I had managed to run harder and farther than I ever had before without getting injured or burnt out.  I had my crew and a solid race nutrition plan all lined up.  Pacers ready. Drop bags packed.  I was at the Aid Station making a last minute purchase on the Tuesday before the race, when in walked Clark Zealand RD, and he hit me over the head with a baseball bat.

Well, not really, but he might as well have.  

And so, I spent an extra week "tapering" and trying not to go completely crazy.  And now I am floundering and unmotivated, and unsure about how much or how hard I really want to run.  It takes a lot of time and energy to prepare for a big race, and even though it is over in a day (or as close to one day as possible), you get to take away a sense of accomplishment that lasts forever.  Or at least helps to motivate you for your next run. 

But not this time.  This time I am left feeling empty and cheated.  I feel like I have wasted a good part of my summer, and neglected other aspects of my life.  I feel like it is time to reevaluate.

-Todd