In 1997 I signed up to run the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, as part of a fundraiser for the Leukemia Society of America's Team in Training program. When I sent in my registration I had never run, other than short stretches in summer karate classes and at the annual karate camp I used to attend. Training for the Anchorage Marathon was TOUGH. The long runs were difficult and painful, and by the end of most of them my toes were so badly blistered that each step felt like hot knives being jammed into my feet. But, after my final long run, a 22 mile exercise in utter torture that took me over 5 hours to complete, I was confident that I could complete the race. And not only did I complete it - I had a great time - the best long run I had ever done!
In 1999 I signed up to run the Nipmuck Trail Marathon, and came down with a nasty stomach virus four days before the race. In 2001 I signed up to run the Adirondack Marathon, and decided not to run it on the morning of the race, after a night of very little sleep (noisy neighbors!) and, realistically, knowing that I really wasn't sufficiently prepared to run a marathon.
When I began training seriously again in 2005, on some level I knew that I was once again heading toward long distance running...
MAJOR RACES FOR 2006:
- Nipmuck Trail Marathon - May 28, 2006 (I'm finally going to run it!)
- Greylock Trail Half Marathon - June 18, 2006 (only a half marathon, but it goes up and over Mount Greylock!)
- Savoy Mountain 20 Mile Trail Race - August 20, 2006
- Adirondack Marathon - September 17, 2006 (Another one I'm finally going to run!)
- Pinnacle Challenge Double Duathlon - October 15, 2006 (5 mi road run/6 mi mountain bike ride/ 13.5 mi road bike ride/ 3 mi trail run - way cool!)
and the "finale" - either the
- Mendon Ponds 50K trail run - early November 2006
- Stone Cat Ale 50 mi trail run - early November 2006 (my money's on the Mendon 50K)
And of course, a few shorter events in between the longer ones...
I had originally hoped to do the Escarpment Trail Run at the end of July... but now I don't think my legs will be in shape for that kind of mountain running this year. Maybe next year (or maybe if Nipmuck and Greylock go REALLY, REALLY well...)
So now all I have to do is train and stay healthy and uninjured!
It should be a challenging year...
JMH
Next Race: The Northern Nipmuck 16 Mile Trail Race - TOMORROW!
2006 event totals
snowshoe – 3 miles, 59.5 min
running – 7.1 miles, 1 hr 17 min
riding - 12.4 miles, 1 hr 1 min
