Something went wrong around mile 70 and he had to quit the Leadville 100. It would be nothing to me if I did not know how hard this man worked to get ready for this race. His personal sacrifice and energy for training coming back from injury says something for his efforts and the cost of the DNF. I however, hope that he has the same fight i had when i failed to finish the Pony Express last year. I reviewed my failures and studied my body. Most important, I just did not give up. I took the time to change my training to reflect my bodies needs and then discounted the real value of the race. The primary point was not the race and never is. The primary point for me is getting up every day, running, seeing nature, feeling the power of the planet i live on and staying in top conditon so my body and mind can meet any challenge life might throw my way.
Tony is still my hero. He is unplugged from the system, does what he loves and is his own man.
My training is going well. I keep blowing through shoes like they are free water. My last pair of shoes lasted no more then 150 miles before they split top front. Amazing damage my guess from running over something super sharp.
The right leg which is what did me under last year is doing super well. The key is the body and its ability to install, create and enlarge blood vessles in the right leg so the circulation of blood is much better. I look down at my right leg and see tons of new vessles that did not exist last year at this time.
My times are getting stronger and the distance is moving over the 100 miles per week which is amazing given work is doing all it can to make life difficult. My primary goal this year was to reduce the amount of fat in my legs. My legs are lean but not as lean as they could be. This will be an issue.
I hope to reach 420 for the month of August and see 130 mile weeks for September. Tough goals but goals none the less. I will taper down first of October to 60 and 70 mile weeks with at least 1 super long distance.
If i can run the first 50 miles in 10 hours that is good. The last 20 miles is the point of this type of race. How much energy do you have left to run that last 20 miles? The more the better chance you have of doing well in the race.
Example: The top runners last year managed to get to the 50 mile mark around 10 hours. They then spent almost 14 hours on the last 50 miles. This means slow running / walking the last 50 miles. I hope to do the same except in the last 20 miles. That will be interesting to say the least. The plan may fail but the point is trying.
As I run i also ask myself how many more years can i keep up this level of training and racing? Not sure. But i do know that a move out west would be a good first step to keeping up this insanity because so many of my running friends live out west. Something about the west that lends itself to running long distances.
In closing: Fight Tony. It is really the only thing we have in a tough and insane world.
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