What Matt Said
Posted by scott on April 6, 2010
Ditto what Matt said about race week and the shadow. This line in particular – the mind and body starts playing tricks on you. All insecurities come to the forefront. Too true.
Photo courtesy of stuant63 on flickr
I generally feel confident about my training, even though its not a traditional approach. I sure enjoy it, anyways. But that goes out the window about 2 weeks ahead of an ultra, especially this time around.
I make the mistake of reading what everyone else has done that’s so different from what I have done and it sinks in. I keep thinking that I should have done more, should have done different. Those insecurities take deep root, and I try fight them off with the more accurate rationalizations: there is no playbook for ultra training; what works for one can ruin another; I trained in a way that matches our overall family lifestyle, and addressed the things I think are most critical for me. Like another commenter on Matt’s blog said – the hay is already in the barn.
One of my favorite race reports ever was Julie Berg’s 2008 Javelina Jundred report. It contains the best single piece of ultra advice I have heard: Quit thinking about the problem and begin to think about the solution. That is my race strategy in a nutshell. For everything that seems to go “wrong” I remind myself of something that is going great, and stay positive.
No matter what, the Zumbro 100 Mile Endurance Run will be a blast. I have an awesome crew. It might be a training run for Superior 100. It might be my first 100 finish. My optimistic son even asked “what happens if you win?” Not too worried about that. 😉 Either way, I will have learned something new by Saturday afternoon.
Run Like Monkey 
Kel said
Good luck Scott! Sounds like the weather will be great this weekend 🙂
Matthew Patten said
I will tell you more about the story of the shadow tonight or tomorrow. I actually stole it from someone (in sales).
My kids always ask if I am going to win. When they have had the opportunity to watch 100M finishers, they have said “I could have beat him”. (They said that about Duke and Wynn 3 years ago at Sawtooth).
Good plan. When you are in a “funk”, priority #1 is to get out of the “funk”. Sounds obvious, but most people just push through and hope it will pass.
MP – out
Ryan said
Scott, I had a blast running with you at Zumbro. Your twitter thing about your time–39 hrs–is nine hours off! We were both under 31!
If ever we can manage it let’s get some miles in. I’d love to join you on one of your 30+ mi training runs. You’ve got a great pace and an excellent attitude.
scott said
Yeah, duh, my Tweet was way off… fat fingers and slow brain the day after Zumbro. Yeah it would be great to have company on a 30+ sometime. I would probably slow you down, but I promise to smile, nod, and make supportive comments during your stories!! 😉 Ha! Good times.
Race Week! Chasing Away the Shadow « Run Like Monkey said
[…] wrote last year about being chased by a Shadow during the week leading up to the Zumbro 100 Mile Endurance Run. This time I am the one doing the […]