High Five By 55

I’ve gone silent here. Actually, I’ve gone silent in with any writing, really. I had a rough spring of waves of getting sick and then recovering and then almost immediately getting sick again. Four or five big waves. It was not fun. It put me in a real funk for many months. It’s not what led me to DNFing at Bighorn 100, but it certainly contributed. I was not as well trained as I would have liked to have been, which was in my head from the beginning of the race. But alas, I want to get back to writing. Writing is rewarding to me. I don’t need anybody to read it, I just need to write. Though when people read and comment positively, that makes me feel good, too. I want to get back in the practice of writing daily. Today I begin taking a stab at that. I’m thinking a theme in my next bit of writing is to explore some basic truisms or tenets of running, in particular mountain ultra running, I can lay out for myself to lean on when things get bad. What do I mean by this? I’m not sure. An exa...

This weekend was my big kick-off training weekend for the Bighorn 100 ultramarathon. I spent a week in Rapid City for work, and would be spending the holiday weekend there. That gave me the opportunity to get into the mountains a bit for some big training runs and hikes. And, boy, did the weekend deliver! I had initially planned to make the 250 mile drive to the Bighorn 100 course and spend a couple days recee'ing sections of the course. In particular, I was going to take on the big first 4,000 foot climb and then possibly drive out to the second 4,000 foot climb if I could figure out how to get there. However, when I arrived last Wednesday, it had started snowing. The snow forecast did not call for much snow either in Rapid City nor in the Bighorn mountains. But the forecast proved wrong, and the snow continued for 36 hours. What was expected to be just an inch or two of snow ended up closer to 10 inches. After much deliberation and speaking with more winter mountain experienced f...

As I've turned my attention to Bighorn 100 in June, I have wondered what to make the focus of my preparation. I had decided early in this project that I wanted to give each Hardrock qualifying race a very specific purpose, some area of weakness or lack of knowledge I could build on while training. I have not been quite sure what I wanted to make the focus of Bighorn 100 and had even kind of decided just to make it a kick off to the project without any real focus. Just do good training, plan well, and have a good day and night out on the course. I think I'm going to scrap that plan. Of course, I'll still do all those things. But I have such a glaring area to begin working on that I think I'll make it not just the focus of Bighorn 100, but of 2024 in general. Nutrition. Both race day nutrition and general training nutrition. The Miami Marathon experience of a week ago really drove home how much I need to work on this. At marathons, I'm struggling with GI distress. At ...

My Miami Marathon pacing experience has put me in a place I have rarely encountered since beginning running in 2016. I am completely and totally devoid of motivation to run. I'm so bummed by the entire experience that I just don't feel like heading out the door right now. This is not an uncommon experience for runners as I understand it, but it has been uncommon for me. In fact, I can't remember a single time in at least the past 5 years when I've felt this way. Sure, a day here or there where I didn't want to run crept in. Or a series of days where I wasn't super excited about it, but still mostly wanted to go. But this time is different. This time I really don't want to go run. So I'm going to just go with that for a little while...sort of. I have a dog that needs his exercise and loves running, so I'll run with him daily. But I'm not going to do any specific training, at least for a few days, perhaps even a few weeks. I'll let the funk be ...

I seek adventure. I seek journeys. I seek experiences. A big reason I do any of this running from 5ks to mountain ultramarathons is this pursuit of adventure. And yes, a 5k can be an adventure. An internal one. But an adventure nevertheless. And in some respects, among the hardest I've tried since it's just me against myself. But mostly I'm seeking adventure in grand places, preferably with pleasant company. Though I very much do also like to spend time alone. This High Five By 55 idea is really the pursuit of the grandest adventure and journey. It's not about completing any single race. It really is about the journey that prepares me to get to that race. And that race my never happen. Who knows. The ultimate practice I want to take out of this project is remaining focused on the journey instead of any discrete step. I wrote about Bighorn doubts yesterday. That's focus on the discrete step. It's okay. I should have doubts. A mountain ultramarathon is never easy ...

I can't say why. There's no good reason for why. There's plenty of time to get ready. Yet I find myself with deep doubts and misgivings about being ready for Bighorn 100 in June. Once I'm done pacing Miami Marathon this Sunday, the training will very much focus on being ready for Bighorn 100. And I'm not racing the event, not trying to meet any time goal. I just want to go to the race, finish the race, practice being challenged and trying to remain comfortable in discomfort for a long period of time in the mountains. Yet, I'm really apprehensive. More apprehensive than I was the second time I prepared for Ouray 100, a significantly more challenging race.  Perhaps it's because I will not have run a 100 miler in nearly 2 years by the time Bighorn rolls around. Maybe it's because I'm using a lower mileage training plan, though that's also what I used for Ouray. Maybe it's because I've kind of taken a lackadaisical approach to planning for th...

As I really begin to dive into this project, into this entire idea, I'm wondering what to focus on for this year. There is lots I know I have to figure out, and lots more that I don't even know I need to know and figure out. But for 2024, I think I'll keep it simple. Focus on fitness. Specifically focus on getting stronger. Both stronger as a climber and descender, and building a stronger body overall. And stronger from a muscular endurance perspective. And stronger from a recovery perspective. I think I've pretty much picked up the vast majority of the aerobic capacity my body is capable of building. Sure, there's always more, but I have a feeling I'm in that area on the diminishing returns curve where the amount of effort needed for even minor gains is so lopsided as to make it a total waste of time. So, I'll just work to maintain my current aerobic capacity with the minimal amount of work required to do so. And that will open up time to work on strength i...

Bighorn 100 registration opened yesterday. I am now registered for Bighorn 100. In my mind, this registration is the unofficial official kick-off of my High Five By 55 project. From the first moment I began thinking about this project, Bighorn was going to be the first race I'd participate in while chasing a Hardrock 100 entry. It's not the Bighorn 100 is the Hardrock qualifier that most excites me. It isn't. But it is a race I look forward to participating in. I had planned to run in 2020. 2020 didn't exactly go as planned. It's a race I've heard is absolutely gorgeous. It's a race that I've heard is plenty difficult, but not totally off the charts like Ouray 100. Unless it's a muddy year. Then Bighorn becomes much more challenging. And muddy years aren't all that rare in that part of the country (as I learned at Black Hills 100 50 miler this year.) But more than anything, Bighorn 100 is very convenient. I travel to Rapid City, SD several times ...