The hardest part of a 100K Ultra-marathon?
Some would argue the decision to do something is the hardest, but I disagree. A lot of things can be said to provide temporary relief or shine. I argue the first active step into the void on the cliff of fear is where the true journey begins. A person can pack bags all night and never start the journey. The hardest part of any endeavor. The first active step, where physical momentum intersects the streets of mental drive and reality.
So tomorrow. My journey to 100K begins. Five months of training. Five months of preparation to endure roughly 62.2 miles, 5000' of elevation gain, across hard jagged granite trails, through sandy washes, in the desert of Arizona at McDowell Mountain at the annual legendary Javelina Jundred.
And tomorrow scares me.
See it's the training where the race is made, not race day. It's the pain through the training that makes the pain on race day bearable. It's the lows through training that makes the lows on race day endurable. It's the pain before the pain that numbs the pain I undoubtably will feel.
It's insane. I know. But it is so fucking exciting to venture out beyond where I'm comfortable. Hell, I DNF my last attempt at an ultra distance and I'm jumping right into the pool going for the next to longest common distance in ultra running; the 100K.
There's the saying "Have the courage to start, the dedication to continue, and the tenacity mixed with insanity, ignorance, and arrogance to finish!"
There will be a lot of late nights, early mornings, and extreme sacrifice as I undertake this journey. A lot of lost moments and a lot of disillusion. You can even suspect some delusions.
I don't fully know the person that will emerge on the other side of this journey but I hope to live to meet him in dark of the night or early morning in late October after 14 - 18 hours on the trail as he's handed that belt buckle on the other side of the finish line of the Javelina Jundred! I'm eager to meet that guy.
Let the journey begin.
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