Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Whole Lot of Crazy Out There

Set a goal, get sick...that's been my pattern of late. After deciding I would run the 50-miler, I got sick the following week. I recently decided to do the Strava 100-Mile Challenge and boom, three days later, I'm sick and sitting here on a Saturday morning writing this post. The cool thing about being sick is that it makes you really appreciate when you are healthy and to not take things for granted. It must be the Universe's way to keep things in perspective and keep life balanced. Big woop woop to Beth Shutt for taking the leap and going pro next year, well earned and well deserved, you have my full support Beth! And big woop woop to Libby Bergman for gnawing on the endless possibilities out there for her next endeavor post Kona. Can you tell I've been catching up on blogs? Well, back to the title of the post.

Post 50-miler, I'm starting to learn that there is a whole lot of crazy out there, crazier than ironmans. A friend emailed me a couple of days after my 50-miler and reminded me that I had qualified to throw my name in the Western States 100-miler, and she encouraged me to do it. I immediately thought of this quote from a movie, "Go sell crazy somewhere else, we're all stocked up here". I started to do some research, and well, there's a whole lot of crazy out there...and I'm not sure I'm quite ready to be that crazy...yet. The first crazy I found was a guy who raced the Leadville 100 in sandals: http://lunasandals.com/blog/14-Leadville-100-Trail-Run-in-Luna-Sandals. Just in case you don't feel like reading the entire article, I thought I would extract the best part from this read:

There's some debate at Luna whether miles run can be "junk miles," and after my experience I definitely believe in running the minimal amount necessary to get ready for an ultra. I'd like to take it one step further and say that there are not only junk miles but also "harmful miles," and on the flip-side, "golden miles."

Harmful miles are the ones that you don't want to be doing, the ones where you wish it were over. These miles will actually hurt your future performance, especially running in an event. Running with negative thoughts in your head is only going to make the negative thoughts come more easily next time. In an ultra, negativity will stop you faster than a brick wall. Golden miles on the other hand, are exactly the opposite. They're the kind of miles you spend running with your best friends, or alone on a trail feeling like you're flying through the forest, or where the rain won't stop coming down and the smile won't leave your face. These miles are worth millions. I strive to make all of my miles golden miles. Even though my training may average 5 miles per week, you'd be hard pressed to put in a better 5 miles than I do.

However, I would like to add one caveat to his golden mile philosophy. Golden miles can HURT. The term golden miles can be misleading and give an impression that all miles should be fun and feel good. But recall that he tells us golden miles are void of negative thoughts, you can hurt and still be golden as long as you don't have negative thoughts. Thus, keep doing those mile repeats at threshold or race pace minus 10. And keep doing those looooong runs of 20+miles, all the while, keeping them golden and void of negative thoughts.

The second crazy I found was a bit more inspiring, a trailer for a documentary on the Western States 100. Enjoy.

9 comments:

Beth said...

I want to see that movie!!!

Oh Kiet - I'm excited for you! I can't wait to see what kind of crazy you get into next. Guaranteed it will be epic! :) Hope you are feeling better first though.

And thanks for the shout out and for your support. Means very much to me!

Molly said...

VERY cool video! Sorry you are feeling sick and I hope you feel better soon! There is definitely even more crazy out there than IM...funny how you do them for a while and they seem normal but other people still think we're crazy :)

Jennifer Harrison said...

AWESOME video is right!!! I hope you feel better !!!!! :)) We are all crazy!!

Michelle Simmons said...

I love that idea of 'golden miles'. I feel like I've had a bunch of golden miles this week. :)

Start following this guy. he just ran his first 100 miler in Boulder last weekend and writes about it in an interesting way for sure. :)
http://georgezack.blogspot.com/2011/10/thursday-102011.html

mtanner said...

Go for it! Continue the crazy! Enter the lottery for WS----

Libby said...

DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
why not? its going to hurt anyways and who is ever ready to run 100 miles?! (says the girl who has never done an ultra).
I think that belt buckle would be the ultimate bad ass accomplishment. you keep going in this direction and you may just pull me with you :)
so stoked for beth!!!!
feel better and listen to your body. sometimes I secretly like being sick just because there's no excuse for doing anything but resting.

Teresa said...

What about this crazy ironman! Excited to hear what you have up your sleeve next. Love how you continue to challenge yourself, discovering new things, and learning more about yourself along the way. So inspiring!
http://blog.discoversd.com/san-diego-restaurant-blog/iron-man-and-woman-challenge-at-broken-yolk-caf-.html

Matt said...

great post and interesting views on miles as well!!

Killer video!

Kim said...

Loved libby and Beth's blog and this is a pretty cool one too.. hey.. I DID think IM was crazy till I heard about the double IM and the triple.. I was like.. SERIOUSLY? You people are nuts.. oh wait.. I guess I am a little too! Can't wait to see what's next my friend!