Relentless to 100: Week 25 : Insane Running

Relentless to 100: Week 25

Here we go!!! This is the official 1st training week. The past couple of weeks were just warm-up with casual running to get the legs moving in preparation for the upcoming relentless effort during training that I hope will culminate with a successful completion of your 100-mile event. Part of training for long-distance running and a key element is to find and have a clear why? A clear reason. From now on, every training run and event will serve as a great opportunity to test many elements of tackling the distance of the ultramarathon. Understanding the reason you signed up for this challenge, the purpose, and what it is that carries you through the miles will be key when tackling the darkest hours of the training and, most importantly, the event.

This is part of a series of posts regarding how we prepare, plan, and train to complete the 100-mile Ultramarathon Umstead 100: Relentless to 100. For all the ultrarunning series, here is last week’s post, In the Relentless to 100. For additional ideas, follow the link. Training for a 100 .

Here is where overthinking could start messing with your brain, and your willingness to push forward at key moments could be affected. You might have some decent reason, or maybe you were not considering all the implications of signing up for an ultramarathon. Even if that was the case, that does not mean you are doomed to a bad performance. Sometimes, you might pick or find the reason(s) and the why along the way during training. The bad news is that you already signed up for the event, so you will now need to dig deep for those key reasons. The good news is that you signed up for the event, so now you will be able to test the boundaries of physical and mental limits during this relentless journey.

Assessment:

It is time to reflect not only when you were in front of the computer or on your phone signing up for that Ultra. But also, the weeks before, your running career, the visualization you were doing when considering running and signing up for the event.

All the thinking you have been doing during the past couple of weeks of initial warming-up training. The doubts might be creeping in, the OMG what have I done? Or on the other hand, the sounding foundation of realizing you got this, you feel ready for what is coming and getting a clear view of how you are going to tackle every situation. Every reflection, review, learning, and opportunity really allows you to solidify your reasoning and purpose.

Planning:

Time to reflect on the following questions,

What do I want to accomplish here? What are my personal reasons?

Who am I doing this for? For me? For someone else?

How did I get here? What do I have to prove?

What will it mean if I complete this challenge? What will keep me going?

Write it all down, or reflect well on the answers. These short but key responses must be handy when digging deep to keep moving and pushing forward.

This week’s actual numbers: