I ran 57 miles the other day, Saturday the 18th of April, 2015. I was participating in the Desert Rats Trail Running Festival Double Marathon put on by Gemini Adventures. You may be wondering why I ran 57 miles when the race was only supposed to be 52.4 miles. The leaders decided that they would take us on an extra 5 mile loop, and so we got a glorious view of the colorado river from the edge of the canyon that entraps the flow. A funny thing has happened though. This race being my first race over the distance of a marathon, I endured a lot of fatigue and suffering as expected. I began to feel sore, beat-up, and exhausted by the half-way point, and progressively became mentally drained. About 49 miles in I was nearly paralyzed by the continuous exertion and began giving myself a speech. I believe it went something like this: "Pain is temporary, victory lasts forever. The only thing that can prevent you from continuing is yourself. Winners never quit, and you, Kevin, are a winner. You can do it!" I was able to talk myself into moving forward no matter what, and there wasn't really any point in which I thought about quitting. I felt that I was very mentally prepared.
Anyway, that funny/weird thing that happened, when I look back at the experience, I have no recollection of how painful it really was. I know that I was in a lot of pain, and I know that it was really difficult mentally to keep myself moving at a descent rate. My body is 90% recovered already and I will be jumping right back into my 100 mile training plan starting tomorrow. I've been telling myself that the 57 mile race was easy though. When I think about the race, all that comes to mind is how fun and enjoyable it was. I guess I expected myself to hate myself a little more after running such a great distance, but I'm psyched that my experience was so great, or at the least seems to have been great looking back on it. While my time for the Desert Rats race was 10 hours and 53 minutes, I'm expecting the Kettle Moraine 100 Miler to take over 20 hours. My plan is to continue with my training plan for the next month and a half leading up to the race and to continue building up my mental strength and attitude towards running endurance races.
I guess that's all,
Thanks.
-Kevin P. Geisen
Anyway, that funny/weird thing that happened, when I look back at the experience, I have no recollection of how painful it really was. I know that I was in a lot of pain, and I know that it was really difficult mentally to keep myself moving at a descent rate. My body is 90% recovered already and I will be jumping right back into my 100 mile training plan starting tomorrow. I've been telling myself that the 57 mile race was easy though. When I think about the race, all that comes to mind is how fun and enjoyable it was. I guess I expected myself to hate myself a little more after running such a great distance, but I'm psyched that my experience was so great, or at the least seems to have been great looking back on it. While my time for the Desert Rats race was 10 hours and 53 minutes, I'm expecting the Kettle Moraine 100 Miler to take over 20 hours. My plan is to continue with my training plan for the next month and a half leading up to the race and to continue building up my mental strength and attitude towards running endurance races.
I guess that's all,
Thanks.
-Kevin P. Geisen