We had a long great day in the mountains, and physically I felt lethargic most of the day. I even had TZ manage half the drive home while I zonked in the back of the van (before this, we got out towards Lost Park … a region I expect to explore some more). 
In the evening, I managed an easy four miles with JZ – as he did a checkout bike ride before his “Biking and Birding” camp tomorrow. I contemplated tacking on another hour on this run, just to round out weekly mileage, and just to tough it out. But I bagged, rationalizing little benefit, while doubting that was true. The stomach dropping out sealed the deal.
Week was 74 miles, but 62 came on days not starting with S. Not a great week, but not a bad one. 11.5 hours for the week. 247 miles on over 35.25 hours in June. 1979 miles over 314 hours on the year. The weekend in the mountains just did not set up well for miles (this time). Had thoughts going in of the Decalibron, but ended up playing at a campfire instead. In any case, it was 8800 feet of vertical, mostly off of three runs. Got some good climbing, and some turn over.
Looking over results (Mount Washington, Mount Evans, San Juan Solstice to name a few) and I can’t help but noticing both some great finishes by some, and others not meeting their own expectations … a theme I am all to familiar with. In fact, I am reading more reports of disappointment than success from this weekend. That either means I am attracted to reading about failures, people who fail, or we are more likely to fail in these endurance events than succeed. I believe it is the last, but I still remain a bit befuddled at how some guys run at the top of their game nearly every time, but the most of us encounter the mystical random “bad day” that throws our entire game for a loop.
In fact it drives me crazy.
Bobby talks about it a bit. The one thing that few of us ever want to face is the truth behind what holds us back.
Yea I see more reports from thid wekend where expectations were missed than made...I think part of that is where the expectations were set in the first place. In endurance events, small hiccups add gobs of time.
ReplyDeleteBut that is why we do it. A bad day in a road 5k might add 20 seconds. A bad day in the high mountains can mean 30 minutes, 3 hours, or a DNF. If this stuff were easy there wouldn't be much of a reward.
Even folks with impeccable training and preparation have off days (see TonyK and MattC Leadville) through seemingly no fault of their own. It makes it that much more emotional and exciting when folks break through. For those of us that have more downs than ups, we appreciate and respect the commitment and dedication that much more...
very well said Brett!
ReplyDeleteGZ, do you all have 2 "cabins"? Or is your family's cabin and the ABC the same thing?
ReplyDeleteIt is a compound with a moat.
ReplyDeleteWhich means. . . .
ReplyDelete