So, back in early December, Andy and I did a thing.  It’s something I said I would NEVER do again and Andy has never even contemplated doing. In fact, I would go as far as saying it’s never even been a blip on his radar.

We signed up to do the Outrun24 Ultra together at the beginning of May.

I know…

What were we thinking?

What was I thinking?  I know better.

Well, you know there is always context to these things and this is no exception.  So, let’s start with the bullying I received from the unofficial crew chief, Johnny Armani.  Some of you might know him as G’s husband. He started sending me text messages that I would refer to as bullying and manipulation, but he would most certainly call, encouragement.  John has a way of needling you into things all while making you think it’s your brilliant idea.  He just gets under your skin and then you can’t stop thinking about this thing.  It’s a very annoying trait.

Also, after having done 3 ultras and only having one “good” one  under my belt, I had a little voice in my head asking me, “what if?”  What if I reimagined the whole thing and went into it with a different mindset?  What could happen if I focused my training on nutrition, getting stronger, gaining endurance and on getting miles in the form of walking before I worried about running?  Was it possible for this whole process to be more enjoyable?  What if I used the race as a milestone in my year rather than just a weekend that I needed to endure?

The first time I did this ultra was 10 years ago.  If you have been around since the beginning, you likely remember that we ran 50 miles for G’s 40th birthday.  Just to be clear, yes, we each ran our own 50 miles.  We didn’t do it as a relay or tag team with a total of 50 miles between us. 

Now that I think about it, it’s interesting that John’s bullying tactics increased this year when G is turning 50.  Coincidence?  I don’t think so.

As I was saying, I did this race for the first time 10 years ago and it is still one of my greatest accomplishments.  It was such an amazing 24 hours filled with joy, pain, endurance, tears and pride.  I did something I wasn’t sure I could do.  It was one of the most difficult challenges I have done and to have accomplished what I set out to do felt incredible.  

Subsequently, I signed up for two more ultras over the years.  They weren’t fun.  They were just hard.  Yes, I endured them and completed 32 miles each time, but there wasn’t the euphoria of really doing what I set out to do.

This time I want it to be different.  I feel the need to finish on a higher note than my previous 2 ultras.  So, I decided I needed a training partner.  This is where Andy comes into the picture. I talked up the race, made it sound fun, life changing and like any good team building exercise, it would bring us closer together.  Andy caved and we both registered.  It may or may not have been the bottle of wine I poured while I waxed poetic about how fun it would be to do it with G and Johnny.

It was so exciting. We sent text messages to G and Johnny with screenshots of our registrations.  There was shock and awe and then, 24 hours later…it snowed.

Reality set in, once again, that we would have to train during the long, cold, snowy, Colorado winter.

Why?

Why do I do these things?

Perhaps I should have my head examined?

Or maybe signing up for repeated ultras is like childbirth.  You say you will NEVER do it again and then you finish the race, recover, and you think back on it with rose-colored glasses and remember you are a badass and you can do anything and maybe this time you will do it better and BOOM…you’ve signed up for another race.

Then the closer it gets to the big event your brain begins to remember the pain and you wonder how you let yourself get into this situation…again.

So, here we are friends.  It’s mid-February and I told myself I wanted/needed to have covered 10 miles more than once.  I have accomplished this first task.  My goal is to be comfortable with 20 miles by the end of March.  Time will tell.

The weather has been cold and snowy.  Cross training in the form of skiing, snowshoeing and weight training have not only been beneficial, but necessary with this weather.  I don’t know what Andy’s training plan involves.  He just keeps reminding me that he has never run more than 5 miles in his life.  He hikes 14ers though.  He will be fine.  His mind over matter is impressive.  He can make himself do anything.  Mine is not impressive. When my body begins to think it can’t, my mind immediately is like, okay, cool, you want to go get tacos?

Anway, Andy is running on the treadmill and getting all sweaty several times a week. I have zero doubt he will do great unless he decides to bail on me.  No, he wouldn’t, right?  No, I’m sure he will do it.  I mean, I’m pretty confident he will follow through with the race.  Our marriage?  Not so sure.  Get back to me on May 6th.

Stay tuned over these next few months as we share our training successes and debacles.  And if you have a good marriage counselor you might want to forward their information.  Just kidding, it’s all good.  I’m sure we will look back on this with rose-colored glasses any day now.