My Goals
In priority order……
- Arrive at the starting line healthy.
- Officially finish.
- Enjoy the ride.
The above goals are in contrast to my goals for 1994 and again 1996 - [where I DNFed both times]:
- Finish under 24 hours.
- Finish under 24 hours.
- Finish under 24 hours.
Of course I was a neophyte in ultrarunning 15 years ago and full of vigor and blessed with excellent health. Aside from some pain in the upper hamstrings due to over training (which was quickly corrected with deep tissue massage), I don’t recall much else went wrong back in those days. And after being taught how to use 
a heart rate monitor in 1994 by one of the pioneers and a close friend, Sally Edwards, my times consistently improved as each month and race went by. I went from a 9:50 fifty miler to a 7:24 (AR50); a 4:05 marathon to a 3:05 (CIM); a 6:30 50K to a 4:09 (Jed Smith) and a 52:15 10K to a 37:50 and so on. Even in psudo-decent shape I was able to grind out a decent finish (21:09) of my first - and only - 100 mile ultra at Vermont in July, 1997. [See my ultra races and times]
After 1997 I went on an “ultra-sabbatical” to help Marcy raise Patrick and Drew. After all, next to golf, ultrarunning has to be one of the most selfish sports. Many a marriage or relationship has been destroyed by the ultra-tryst between the runner and the trails. Marcy has always been 100% supportive of my addiction (or is it affliction??) but we established ground rules the evening after I got into WS94. Part of that agreement was my willingness to retire after completing Western and if I wanted to return to ultras, to do it after Drew graduated from high school (2006).
So upon my return I was immediately greeted with the reality of two cruel and unavoidable phenomenons of life: aging and gravity! My mind picked up where I left off in 1997, my PRs still at the forefront of my thoughts. Funny thing was during my time off someone snuck into my life and stole the body I used to train and race with. And left me with the carcass of an “older gentleman” who could neither run distance or with any pace. Who was this impostor and what happened to that body my head still thinks lurks beneath?
So, as the injuries, maladies, pains, etc. began to mount, I began to question the sanity of a “come-back” and took up golf. If only I hadn’t switched from playing right handed to lefty, I might still be out on the
links, tearing up (literally) the course one lost ball at a time. But instead, I persisted at the notion that I could lick the injury at present, and that all would well - return to the days of yore - after that. I should have laid off the Kool-aide.
So my WS09 goals are based upon the wisdom I’m supposed to have gained and the realization that I
‘ve never going to see that body I had ever again (it’s probably running scrambles in Europe and RAID runs in the Himalayas and Australia :-). The simple logic goes - if I’m healthy I stand a much better chance of finishing and being healthy and finishing will make the ride enjoyable and worthwhile. The pain is no fun. If I attempt to train for WS09 like I did for WS94/WS96, which was to run ~3,000 miles, an average of 75 miles/week, I will arrive at the starting line with a walker. The mileage on this old body is too high and can no longer take the beating of running the downhills hard, powering up the inclines and speeding along the flats.
My 2009 plan is to mix in cross training (cycling, yoga, circuit lifting) with fewer days running (4-5 max/week). I’ll go through three phases of 12 weeks each: Phase 1 = building a healthy, strong base, Phase 2 = increasing strength and endurance and Phase 3 = maintaining and peaking.