Respect The Distance

   I recently came to the conclusion that I have been depressed over my lack of money, and that it was likely going to make it very difficult to repeat a trip to do the Epic 250K. I have been wracking my brain trying to think of how to make it affordable. I thought maybe if I can scrape together the money for the entrance fee, then worry about the cost of the trip later this summer, that I might be able to swing it. Maybe. I decided to see exactly what the race fee was and came up against the even more depressing obstacle: The event has been CANCELLED.  Yes, you heard me right, Cancelled, with a capital C. Holybaldfacedpalomino, Batman, Cancelled? That really hit me where it hurts. Yes, I was beating myself up over the fact that it was going to be a major financial strain if I entered. But g'damn it, I wanted to get a decent qualifying time.
     So, after already being pouty over the financial aspect, I spent more pouting over the cancellation. But I had already been trying to formulate a backup plan, just in case. For starters I will enter the Best of The West half-Ironman again this year, which is in September. I did this 18 months ago, and the swim and bike were easy, but the run was particularly brutal since I started having leg cramps at mile 4. My goal is to repeat the event and beat my time by at least an hour. Now, the downside of doing this event is that in reality, I don't consider a half-Iron to be enough of a challenge. I know I could walk out the door tomorrow morning, do the event, and get a PR. But the run course on this event is brutal. There is no level section. None. All uphill and downhill, every damned step. So therein lies the challenge: swim smart, bike strong, run tough. And always Respect the Distance. I could do it tomorrow, but I can kill it in September (at least for me). So I will train as hard as I did last summer, but dial in my focus on speed.
    By doing the Best in The West, that also frees me up to do the Firefighter Stair Climb again. I had to skip it last year because it fell on the same weekend as the 250K. Fuck yeah, 40 flights up the Bancorp Tower in full bunker gear and SCBA. Yes, it kicks ass, and will kick your ass.
    Now, with those two weekends solidly locked up, I have the whole spring and summer open before me. I have decided that this will be the Summer to Race With My Friends. I have only done one event with someone else. All my other events I have attended and ran solo. Since I need to work on my run strength more than anything, the best way to do it is to partner up. Well, at least make it a point to have at least one friend run each event with me this summer. Last year I was training so hard that I only ran one other race, the Buck Mountain Mudslinger in late winter. This year I am going to try and hit at least two races a month, more if possible. I am going to find fun runs that will appeal to a wide range of fitness abilities. Trail runs, road races, adventure runs. I already have a handful of friends that I have thrown the gauntlet down to, and they are eager play.
    Finally, here comes the insane part, I am going to start training for the Double-Iron that is held at Hagg Lake. Yeah, a  Double, as in 2 x 140.6 miles = 281.2 miles. How fucked up is that? This could be a total pipe dream, but now that there isn't an Iron distance in the state, the Double is the next step. Honestly, I had been kind of eyeing it already, thinking that maybe in a few years I could be ready. Now I can have a solid 18 months to train. This almost works better since I won't need to take as long a recovery time after doing 70.3 like I would after the 250K. After the race I can pretend that it was just a long, brick training session. Leading up to it, and during it, it is not a training run, I will respect the distance. This will be a race. A full out, balls to the wall, I wanna catch you motherfucker, race. Now that I know I have the endurance, and have learned so much more about pacing and nutrition, as well as smart training, I think I can really push myself.
    So here is to a plethora of races, long and short. A long season, full of adventures to share. 5K to 70.1 miles, every race I will Respect The Distance, and give it all I've got.