BHAG – A 50k to end the year.
Do you have a BHAG? A Big Hairy Audacious Goal?
If it excites you and scares the crap out of you at the same time, it probably means you should do it. – Jack Cheng.
I have a BHAG that I’ve alluded to on the interwebs and to friends but am just now blogging about it.
I’m going to run a 50k – my first ultra distance event. My ultrarunner friends think that’s just precious. Everyone and their mom is doing 50k’s apparently. Perfect. I am signing up for the 2012 Over The Hill Track Club High Desert 50K Ultramarathon. It’s December 2nd. Of this year.
Can you guess how I feel about this?
I would like to take a moment to point my finger in blame toward Mr. Seng of Paws in Motion LA. He’s great if you need your dog taken care of but be careful when he starts whispering about ultra running.
To say that I’m training for another marathon again is one thing. To say that this marathon will include an extra 5 miles at the end…is another thing. To say that I’m doing this without my team (Team In Training) and all the support of long runs done with a group and coaches by my side…is an altogether out-of-this-world entirely alien thing!
I am scared to train for a marathon alone, let alone my first 50k. However, I am 100% completely convinced that I am not the same woman I was when I trained for my first marathon with Team In Training. Since then, I have learned SO much from TNT as well as developed a good base of running, and in the past few months have propelled my level of fitness to new heights with CrossFit. I am totally capable of doing this. But am I ready? I am already 2 weeks behind in training for this event. I should probably work on being a faster runner before I tackle an ultra distance event.
But the truth is I could come up with a number of reasons not to do something that I’m scared of or insecure about. And ya know what, the worst thing that can happen is that I have to write an “I failed this time” post and some of you think, “Aww, poor gal should’ve known better”. And honestly? That is not worth worrying about. I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for me. If I don’t make it to the start line for some reason, or if I do but I don’t make it to the finish line for some other reason, I will probably have learned something and then I will be better equipped to go for it again.
Dear RD, the check is in the mail.
The Power of “I Will”! – This is a post I linked to a while ago from A Veteran Runnah. The man makes a very solid point about going all-out for your goal and not giving yourself the caveat of, “But see, I’m just “trying” to do this and so if I don’t quite get there, well, I still get an “A” for effort, right?” NO! You do it or you don’t do it. You get an A or you don’t get an A. You make your goals happen or you let them die.
The Power of Memory: After a month of CrossFit we had level 1 testing. We knew the workout and what we’d have to do ahead of time. We had 11 skills to do and had to pass 7 of them. I tested myself the weekend before to see how many of them I could do – I could only count on 6. Well, testing came, and one of things I failed at the week before…I actually completed. I got my level 1 band. These are the kind of successes I have to remind myself about. I am capable of more than I am currently aware. Never be afraid to test your limits.
Ridgecrest OTHTC High Desert 50k: This event may be on the list of super-friendly, flat and fast ultras that are great for beginners…however the distance should be respected.
As I have grown accustomed to, I have a list of goals that are placed in an order with the highest priority/most basic at the top and the lowest priority/only-if-everything-were-going-perfectly-my-way at the bottom:
- Finish it. Smile. Appreciate it. Shuffle if you have too. Time shmime. Just finish.
- Keep the pace of your best marathon to date – so finishing around 6:30.
- Go sub 6. Even if you have to listen to music to get it done.
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