How do you run a 100 mile  running race?

      The first response to that is; why would you want to do this and what will I achieve from doing this? Few people at the time in the 80’s when I was running crazy shit races, even contemplation of running beyond the marathon, much less 50 or 100 miles was an inscrutable  question. Regardless of pace, you are going to be running for a whole day or less, if you get your ass in gear.  Even the most Special Forces don’t run or ruck continuous for 24 hours due to the insane need to have that kind of mental or physical endurance.  Forcing a military soldier to run or ruck for 24 hr. without stopping is programming madness.

                During the Gulf war in the early days, a group of  British SAS warriors had to extricate themselves for over 300 miles in hostile environment.  Only one can tell the story of that adventure, and it’s add to the mystic of the SAS for surviving a distance few would ever think it was possible to traverse.

                This is the point. Most look at a number and rationalize that this cannot be achieved only in extreme situations, like war and survival. However, we all have a survival key within us, so regardless of the number that has to be met, we can do what is necessary.

                Back to my 100 mile adventure.  One thing I learned on any long race I attended, there was a starting line and finish line. The starting line sometimes has a banner indicating the race and distance. The finish line sometimes was in a separate place like the JFK -50 trail run. President Kennedy at the time used this event to show the extreme of military fitness in the early 60’s to get special forces members. However, all the military participants came in hours after I did as my resolve was based on my standards and not someone else’s. Don’t get me wrong, they did not have the type of training I had to achieve the results I was able to achieve.   

                 In that 50 mile race, I started off with 375 others and after 3 miles, I never saw the competitors in front of me or at my rear. I was alone with my thoughts and motivations for 8 hours. At the finish line they told me I was done, so that part of the mental process was taking care of.   I did well for my first 50 mile trail run, on hiking trails so I rationalized, that I could go much longer as long as I had a reason to finish regardless of distance.  Because once you run for 10 miles, the pain and discomfort is the same a 20,30,40,50 miles. Therefore it’s just a matter of dealing with an uncomfortable situation to achieve an objective.

                At hundred mile races are like I described as a distance to be internalized by those who run it. I know everyone in the race and we were all not there for the awards because, finishing was a like “the sound of one hand clapping”.  So on that day, you can you be all you can be, just keep going!  After 40 miles, I was in pain and mental discomfort, and questioned my resolve from that point on. It sounds like a weak thread in my system, but I really have to deal with it to move continuously on to upper levels of mental focus in that situation.  At 90 miles I knew that the goal was in my grasp, but you continuously go to weakness instead of your “happy place” of success.  The last 5 miles of a 100 mile race seems so significant, that it did not matter that I may die at the end.  I did finish in less than 16 hours, but that was my standard and not some outsider s evaluating my life.

                My wife was accustomed to my physical achievements for the number of sports I participated in. However, when I ran 100 miles, she finally said to me; “you surprised me by doing this as I was so fatigued from watching you that I could not visualize myself doing that”!  

                Goals are needed for formation of success. But they have to be on your terms and not some outsider’s standards.  It’s like our education system today, is totally obsolete!  The standards are too low for the distance and training for the distance is not based on individual achievement.

Ken

 

 

Today training:

Landmine “Fran”

What to hell is a Landmine “Fran” ?  21,15,9 reps of land mine(hinged to squat rack) bar squat, push- jerk, then pull-ups,  like standard “crossfit Fran” I have bastardized “Fran” with Kettlebells, dumbbells, and even sand bags. WTF, I don’t have a crossfit gym, it’s just me. I am always looking for variations of all routines as I love the chaos of training.  “Crossfit Fran” is a cool compo, but it can get stale if you don’t improvise your effort.