So... we have officially started fundraising for The Cindy Lynn Sherwin Memorial Playground and have already raised $2355.00 towards the playground from so many generous people. The support is really overwhelming. Also the reality is setting in for how much of an undertaking this run is so I am doing a bit of reflecting on how this all came to be.
Why 100 miles?
2 1/2 years ago I became interested in ultra distances and running trails. I'm kind of an all-or-nothing personality and I wasn't really into the marathon distance and would get bored out of my skull on the road. When I was training for my first marathon in 2007 I had seen some videos of these guys running distances longer than a marathon. That seemed so crazy to me, not because of the distance (which of course seemed impossible) but because so many people would talk about this "wall" that lived around 26 miles and how your body could only store so much glycogen, etc. etc. so I wondered who these ultra people were and why their bodies were different. I then learned that ultras race were all over - and normal people were running them.
That was all it took - I had zero interest in every running a road marathon again. I already knew I could do that, I wanted to see what happened after 26.2. During marathon training it almost sounded like at 26.3 miles your legs would fall off and the earth would implode. I tucked ultras in the back of my mind.
In 2011 I was doing a lot of obstacle races, crossfit-type training, Tough Mudders, GoRuck Challenge... but despite the excitement and good feel after these races, the ultra was always in the back of my mind. I skipped the 50K and signed up for my first 50 miler in March of 2012. The 50 miler was a blast - in fact - the best race day I ever had. I felt incredibly strong and mentally clear and so grateful to be able to be running in it. I loved every minute of it - other than an IT band issue at 40 (which resulted in a weird limp/run for the last 10 miles) I had no real trouble at all. We were camping in an RV on the side of the trail and after the race went to hang out in the RV and relax. My mom and sister who had done their first trail marathon that day fell asleep pretty quickly - but I was kind of elated and didn't feel like going to bed - but too tired to move I just lay in the RV and looked out the window. That is when the 100 milers started coming in and they kept coming all night long. I just watched them, totally fascinated. They would shuffle in, all hunched over - not to fanfare like at a marathon - but just to a couple of people standing there ringing a cowbell. Every once and awhile throughout the night I could hear/ see a hundred miler come in. How could they go that far??? By that time the soreness had kicked in and I could barely stand. I was totally sucked in. I went home so excited - about my finish, but also knowing in the back of my mind I was heading back there at some point to attempt the 100 mile distance.
A couple years later and I'm on my way back to give it a whirl. They say the first 50 is run with your body, the last 50 is run with your head. I believe that is probably true... I want to see what I'm really made of mentally... How will I act when everything in me is telling me to quit? Will I even be able to think straight? What if I get injured? There are so many unknowns.
Keep up the good work!
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