Summer Planning: How Much Do I Hate Myself?

I have a rare opportunity this summer which is also the terminus for a major chapter in my running career. I'm currently a graduate student in New York City and will finish school in May. I'm also fortunate enough to have a good, though demanding, job lined up to start sometime this Fall. That means I'll have more time than a normal person should have for training in the Spring; as much time as a vagrant during the summer; and less time than a political prisoner in the Fall and then after. Most of my classmates in similar positions will spend the summer traveling and seeing the world. I know myself well enough that I wouldn't be satisfied with this passive enjoyment of my Summer. Seeing isn't a worthwhile use of my time, doing is.

Thus, I have a ample block of time to do something big, and a desire to do something hard. On my 'Running Bucket List', I've made some good progress in the last few years:

• I ran what I judged as a 'perfect race' in the 2008 Rock & Roll Arizona Half Marathon
• I won my age group in another Half in 2010
• I finished a 50+ mile race in July 2010
• I qualified for the Boston Marathon 2 weeks ago at R&R AZ 2011

I'm very happy with and proud of these accomplishments; but I'm also far too young to call it a career and retire. I feel I can still add noteworthy achievements to this list. On top of that urge to do more, I'm going into these next two seasons with the assumption that I probably won't have time to adequately train for a marathon once I start my new job, let alone an Ultra. That means it's now or never for my greatest ambitions.

In figuring out what to do next, I'm trying to weigh what I want to do with what I have the desire to do. I want to do something phenomenal that makes people question my sanity and makes me smile when I reflect on the grit and heart it took to accomplish. However, I'm not sure if I have the appetite for what would be self-induced 'death by a thousand miles' that would be the requisite training. Realistically, if I want to finish one of the major trail ultras, then I'll have to train with 100-mile weeks, and I've never come close to that kind of volume.


As a trial, I spent this past week pushing myself to see what kind of volume I can handle, mentally and physically. I did 9-12 miles each morning, then tried to tack on a few extra in the afternoon just to keep from getting too 'fresh' before the next day's run. The final tally was 80 miles, and I think I emerged in decent shape. Physically, my legs are worn and my feet hurt, but nothing a rest day won't fix. Mentally, I came to accept the redundancy and routine of my 'morning 9', and was able to bounce back for more in short order. Short-term, I was fine. I just worry about the long-term toll it will take on my body and the limits of my mental stamina.

With all of those considerations, I've thought of a few possible goals. I just need to figure out which pursuit or combination of pursuits to choose. 

• Gold Coast Marathon (Gold Coast, Australia - July 2nd) - Probably the only place in the world I'd make an exception for on my 'no passive vacations' rule is Australia. I don't know why, but I feel for Australia like a sixth grade boy feels about the Playboy Mansion. I'm not entirely clear with what goes on down there, but I just gotta go check it out. The idea with this race would be try to lower my marathon PR (maybe down to 3:00), then take a few weeks to explore the land and figure out what makes Kangaroos so awesome and see what Vegemite tastes like. 
• Midnight Madness 50 Miler (Tulsa, OK - July 1st) - On the upside: I did this race last year, it's an easy course, and it's in my hometown. On the downside: I did this race last year, it's an easy course, and it's in my hometown. While the comforts of home and a flat route are nice, I think I want something more ambitious. That's not a deal breaker, though. This race is early enough that I could treat it as a training run for whatever I end up doing later in the Summer. 
• White River 50 Mile Endurance Run (Crystal Mountain, WA - July 30th) - A distance that's tolerable and a race that's respectable. WR50 would be a memorable trail experience around Mt. Rainier, and is a hard enough obstacle be worthy of 7 months of focused training. I could do this race and be happy with the way I spent my summer, and maybe with how I close the book on my Ultra career. 
• Leadville 100 Trail Run (Leadville, CO - August 21) - I could say everything I said about White River 50, and that's just on the outbound leg of this race. This one is the legend. What's more ambitious than 100 miles of trails and 13,000 feet of elevation change, all between 9,000 & 12,000 feet above sea level? And what race in the U.S. is more esteemed among runners in the know (other than Western States and Badwater)? This race offers challenge like BP oil rigs offer risk. 

It most likely comes down to a decision between White River and Leadville. White River would give me plenty of accomplishment, and wouldn't be as demanding during the prolonged period of training. Additionally, I have to wonder if my life is really incomplete if I don't run a 100 Miler? Probably not. In my mind, these are all great reasons to run White River and not subject myself to the suffering of 100 miles. On the other hand, and I can't put this any other way: White River just isn't Leadville.


I put a poll on the right sidebar. Let me know what you think I should do.


-John