This last weekend was the Wasatch 100. Once again I had the opportunity to run the last 25 miles pacing for my son Josh. He had a bit of a rough day, however with the lack of training he had due to injuries this year, he still ended with an amazing time of 28 Hours and 37 Minutes. He definitely pushed through some challenging times during the race and finished remarkably strong. I was very proud of him for getting through to the finish and happy that I was able to spend that time with him.
On September 28th is the Bear 100. I am having a difficult time getting my mind around doing a 100 mile race. My training has gone well over the last couple of months. I have completed my schedule generally to the mile. I have completed a 35 miler as well as a couple 25 mile runs over the last month. All that is left for long runs is an 18 miler this Saturday as I begin to taper my mileage for the race. I can say with confidence that although I am questioning what I am doing and my ability to complete this race, I have stuck to the training schedule all year long.
I have looked through some of the times and splits over the last few years for the Bear and believe that if all the planets align I can complete this race in 32 hours. However I do want to state that my goal is simply to finish the race under the 36 hour limit. Heat will play a big roll in how I do in this race. Unfortunately heat always has a significant effect on me. I do heat training and spend quite a bit of time in the heat, but it still significantly zaps my energy whenever the temperature is at all high.
My goals for the Bear 100 are as follows: My primary goal is to finish under the 36 hour time limit, if I do this I would consider my race a success. My secondary goal would be 34 hours. This is where I would expect to be if I have some small problems and the conditions are not ideal. 32 Hours is where I believe I can finish if everything falls perfectly into place, things would have to be near perfect for me to achieve this time. At this point Josh is planning on pacing me from Tony Grove to the finish, almost 50 miles. Hopefully he will be recovered enough from Wasatch to do this. With Josh's help, a bit of luck, and good weather, I truly believe I can hit the 32 hour mark. We shall see how it all works out on the 28th and 29th.
