Dreams and Sacrifices

I officially have less than one week left of training for Burning River. After that I have three weeks of taper and then I cover 100 miles on foot in 30 hours or less (preferably much less). It's surreal, to say the least, trying to wrap my head around what I have accomplished and what I still have left to do.

My training has been better than ever before. I have averaged 35 miles per week over the last 26 weeks. I have run over 900 miles so far this year. My peak weeks have been between 55 and 80 miles. My longest runs have been around a marathon in length with plenty of back to backs of shorter distances (13+ miles per day).

I have done crazy things, like driving 3 hours out to the course and running from 10PM to 3AM with some other crazies and then driving 3 hours home and staying up for another whole day. I put a light on my head and water in a pack on my back and wandered the woods in the rain through calf deep mud.

Crazy night runners

 

New shoes, meet mud.

I have missed out on trips, fun, and social events so I could spend hours running around in the woods. I have been short tempered with my kids and my husband from sheer exhaustion. I have taken time off work to focus on running. I've spent long days at work on my feet wishing for a desk job because every step hurts. I've sacrificed a lot following this dream to run 100 miles.

Midnight selfie

So will it be worth it? I guess you'll have to ask me when I'm holding my buckle on July 28!