No doubt you've been following both mine and Kara's fascinating 50 mile race training. Well, while we are both running 50 mile races on the same day, they are not the same race. I'm not running the "famous" JFK 50 (famous, meaning, a few people who aren't ultrarunners have actually heard of it), I'm running a much smaller race called Stone Mill. Luckily for me, Lily will be running with me, and Perry, who is in Kara's running group and has trained with us a bit, will also be running it. I also just found out that the incredible ultrarunner Shelly, will be starting out with us.
So, we've been virtually training, and we'll also be virtually running, which is significantly less fun than actually running together.
To highlight the differences between our races, the JFK 50 is so famous it even has it's own bumper sticker. Not famous enough for the bumper sticker to turn up on Google images, apparently, but still, if you've been on the East Coast, maybe you've seen it. There's even a lottery to get in.
Here's a direct quote, cut and copied from an email I received from the Stone Mill race director yesterday.
"Please, please do not urinate or defecate in the parking lot at the school. The toilets in the stadium will be open in the morning. We want to use the school again.".
I think that says it all.
Can you tell the 50 miler is just beginning to take over my brain?
One of the reasons I wish Kara was running the race with me is her way with words. She described my feelings perfectly by saying "I felt ok after Baltimore, but MCM has killed my will to live".
Sunday I was supposed to run five miles. Not only was I completely unable to run any miles, even after watching the exciting NYC marathon finish, but I couldn't even be bothered to do any laundry, or get off the couch, the entire day.
So here's my other secret - I'm really lazy at heart.
You know how some people are like "Oh, I just can't sit around, I get bored, I need to be moving". Well, my hat's off to them, but that statement confuses me just as much as "I couldn't finish that dessert, it was too rich".
Middle school to college - I love them all.
I have managed to leave the Garmin at home and gone on two easy five mile runs this week. I'm not trying to break any records (don't even know what they would be) at the 50 miler, so I'm following Jessica's wise suggestion of just running for fun and not worrying about speed until after the race.
Which person are you - the person who can't wait to organize their closets, or the person sitting beside me laughing as Zack puts on past Mr. Belding for the 756th time?
I'm totally with you on catching up on TLC shows when I have a day off. Cleaning? Yeah, no.
ReplyDeleteI almost wish I was running a race that told me where not to poop. When Perry ran it before, he got really lost, so don't let him lead you. I think he ended up running well over 50 miles by the time he got back on the trail. :)
Also, he'd probably make you find a neighborhood to run in that has cul de sacs. :)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, my day would be half and half. I would get the guilty feeling eventually. Even on Saturday and Sunday Mike's on me about how I haven't showered and it's 11am and I'm wasting the day away. Sorry. It's the 2 days that I don't have to get up and be productive. I'm taking advantage of that!
ReplyDeleteCleaning is definitely left for spare moments, not fun snow days!!
ReplyDeleteI'm fairly new to your blog and just figured you were doing JFK as well. Have fun at Stone Mill though! I tend to have a lazy streak in me too but I end up feeling too guilty about it!
ReplyDeleteI always assumed you guys were running together too. What are the odds that there are two 50 mile races on the same day?
ReplyDeleteI'm fifty/fifty with being lazy. A typical weekend day either has a long run(and then a bunch of nothing) or some cleaning (and then a bunch of nothing). Saved by the Bell is a must though!
I'm completely lazy, but also OCD. I don't WANT to clean closets, but I'm compelled to. Then I sit on the couch for hours and do nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to run with you guy in December. I'm starting to get racing withdrawal!
I totally didn't know you weren't doing the JFK! How did I not know that? I tend to have two speeds nowadays...Stop and Go. There is no in between.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to be lazy and end up thinking about all the things I need to be doing and then fail at being lazy. Plus, I don't organize closets. I only have one closet that's mine and it's not organized.
ReplyDelete24 days til the 15k!!
I take time to organize my closet but it only lasts for about a week. Then maybe a month or two later I try to organize it again. I am one who dreams up big ambitious plans for my days off then when the day comes I run and then I'm generally lazy for most of the day.
ReplyDeleteWell, i have never heard of the JFK race (which means absolutely nothing), but 50 miles is 50 miles!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm a total lazy (fat) kid at heart - SBTB will never get old.
I guess I just assumed you were going for JFK 50 too. My mistake! Too bad you won't be together - the race pictures are always entertaining!
ReplyDeleteI hear people say they don't sit well too and I wonder why not. I am always deeply into this computer on the couch to do any other things. I have a long mental list of things that need done but do I do them? No & then I write about a failed staycation........yup, that's me. Blogging about my laziness.
I'm another in the camp of either "stop" or "go". I always joke that I'm the laziest endurance athlete out there. When I'm not spending my time sweating, I love to lounge and watch stupid sitcoms :)
ReplyDeleteI love saved by the bell, I love being lazy, I love devouring all things sweet and tasty. people are weird. We're awesome!
ReplyDeleteI have been beat since my 5-mile race, and I suspect the real cause is the MCM weekend training -- training through it, and then running it hard enough to tire myself out. Well, this is what taper is for, right -- to give us recovery time...
ReplyDeletePS: I did not get lost last year at this. Don't listen to JFK-snobs.
i can't sit still. when i have a free day i love to knock stuff off my to do list. but at night, all bets are off for productivity. probably because i'm tired from running around all day.
ReplyDeletei'm glad you rested on sunday :)
I'm definitely like you and while we are confessing I work from home and after my half marathon this Saturday I intend to do absolutely no work for at least Monday & Tuesday of next week and watch TV to my heart's content. I have really lazy days and then I'm "balls to the wall" running around cleaning like a crazy woman and transforming our house back into somewhere that I can sit and see things that need cleaning. That was rambling, sorry!
ReplyDeleteHow did I not know you weren't running the same race? I figured if she suckered you in to it, it was to keep her company. And I'm with you on the lazy! I would park as close to where my long runs started as possible, do my run, get in my car, and go home to lay in bed. Saturdays were my long run/lay in bed catching up on tv days because I used my little energy on my run. I really gotta get less slackery!
ReplyDeleteOh that email was so blant and honest! But it does tell me we are in for a great down to earth "real" trail ultra (minus the 2 miles on asphalt to get the Muddy Branch trail). I'm so excited!...(read sick to death for race day!)
ReplyDeleteEven though I like to be active on a snow day I'd be the one getting up early to go play in the snow and then dumping all the snowy wet clothes in the laundry room, grabbing snakcs, curling up under a blanket and watching discovery, TLC and trash tv the rest of the day. Oh that would be awesome!