Heading to MO with my "Crew"

     I am up and moving around getting the last minute items together before I take off for Cape Girardeau, MO. Since the course is a looped course and I will have a support crew (okay just my Mother, but I will get into that in a bit), I have spoiled myself I am bringing everything I could possibly need on a run because I will not have to carry my pack.  This will prove to be very nice when I am exhausted and unwilling to continue, on the other hand there is my support “crew”. I use this term loosely not only because it is one person, but especially because it is my Mother. This will be the first race that she has ever watched of mine, better yet the time that I am pushing myself through the 24 hrs pleasant pain that I will endure.  I rarely if ever have any support crew, but I am really not sure about having my Mother there… not only will it cramp my style if there are some beautiful ladies there (okay, we all know I have no style), but I know she will begin to freak out when I look like crap, feel like crap, and start just shuffling my feet until I catch my next wind.  Needless to say this is going to be an interesting ultra in many ways. There may be many new factors involved in today’s race, but one factor will stay the same- I am the one running and I will control myself, persevere when times get tough, and accomplish the goals that I have set for me. I have placed a link at the bottom of my blog that will give you live updates of my race if your bored between watching the National Wrestling meet or National Basketball gamesJ. Thanks for following and I will post some post-race pics and a video documentary afterwards.

How many miles are in 24 hrs??

It is the beginning of another week of “training” and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead of me. As many of you may know I am heading to Missouri on Friday for my first 24 hr Ultra ~ just how many miles are in 24 hrs? I will be happy with reaching the 80 mile mark, but 100 miles is my true goal. I will use this weekend to figure out how my mind and body feel and/or react to the different, new, and exciting challenges that I will endure throughout this time frame. I need to learn what it is like to push myself through complete exhaustion, severe aches, pains, and cramps, and how to control my caloric intake to sustain a healthy body for that amount of time. As I put training in quotes earlier, this is just that, a training run and an opportunity to strengthen and build my endurance prior to my 100 and 200 mile events that are further down the road. Over the past two weeks I have not had the best training runs to date, but I cannot dread on the thoughts of injuries I have sustained or whether or not I am prepared. I want to become the best runner I can be and it is time to start now. I will not spend the rest of my life wondering if I can do this, run this far, or overcome the obstacles I will face. Please follow my blog as I continue down this path in life with relentless forward motion. I will blog pre and post race with pictures and a video documentary of the 24 hr run.

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body."
-Lynn Jennings