Race Envy
I’ve got it. Big time.
I decided in March that I wasn’t going to race at all between Brazil and Badwater. There was a point before I made that decision where I was looking at 50 and 100 mile races all over the country to see if I could fit one into my training schedule, life schedule and budget. In the end, I decided that I’d rather focus on solid training and not worry about taper or recovery or the travel time or cost involved in racing. I was also still mentally recovering from Brazil and work was particularly busy so I wasn’t sure that I wanted the stress of doing a race to occupy any of my mental energy.
But then, in late March and all of April, every time I opened Facebook or ran with a friend, I saw photo after photo and heard tons of stories about the races they were doing and I’m rethinking my decision.
I’m certainly fit enough to go out and run 50k, 50 miles or even 100k (and probably could suffer through a 100 miler). But just because I can, I’m not sure I should. At this point, knowing how I race and recover, running 100 is out. A road ultra would be good preparation for Badwater, but there aren’t very many of those. And if I’m going to race at all, it has to be soon. Like in the next few weeks.
So… should I race? And if so, what and where?
I have some ideas.
To be continued…
Comrades.