Update #2

Still going strong at mile 15.6!

Update 1

Looking fresh & strong @mile 3!!

It is imminent

I'm waking up in 5.5 hours. Then, I run. Katie will be posting updates on my blog tomorrow.

100 Miles of food

That's what will be fueling me this weekend.

Strangely enough, I'm completely calm about the weekend..  I don't know if its that I've gotten to a point where I'm no longer nervous before races, or that it just hasn't hit me yet.  Less than 36 hours until "go" time.

Rocky Raccoon

Next week at this time, I'll be in a great deal of pain or I'll be asleep.  Perhaps both.  I've kept it pretty quiet up until now.  I'm running the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler next weekend.  The reason I kept it quiet is that I've made multiple attempts to get to the starting line of a 100 miler, but I've ended up injured each time.  I don't feel like I've put in the kind of miles that I should have, but at least I'm getting to the starting line this time.  After that, it's all about just moving forward.  My only goal is to get across the finish line before the cut-off.

The Mind of an Endurance Runner

Two weeks before a 50 miler: Another race, can't wait
 A week before a 50 miler: Another race, should be fun
A day before a 50 milers:  I should have put in more miles, but I've done more on less.
Morning of a 50 miler: Oh man, this is going to be a LONG day, I should have trained more.
When the starting gun fires of a 50 miler: I'm just going to have fun, let's take it slow.
1/4 of the way through the a 50 miler:  Man, I'm feeling good.  Maybe I can PR this distance.
1/2 way through the a 50 miler: No way I'm going to keep this pace to PR, but I'll still easily put down a good time.
3/4 through a 50 miler: I think I'm going to die.  Why the hell am I doing this?  There's no reason to run this far.  I hurt, I'm tired, and and this sucks.  Maybe this is enough.  Not sure I want to do another one of these.  I don't even know if I can do the 100.
Near the finish of a 50 miler: Thank God, I'm almost done.  I hope they have beer at the finish line.
After the finish of a 50 miler: Where are my flip flops?  Get these shoes NOW!
An hour after the finish of a 50 miler: Whew, long day.  That sucked, but it wasn't too bad.
The day after the 50 miler: Holy crap, I can barely move.  I can't believe I ran 50 miles yesterday.
Two days after the 50 miler: Meh, the 100 shouldn't be that bad.

Yes, I did a 50 miler two days ago.  And the above is a VERY succinct play of the past couple weeks.  Every long race, I ask myself why I'm doing it.  I never have an answer for it at that moment.  But I keep coming back.

Another 50

I've been battling motivation issues lately.  I've been putting in a bunch of miles, but not the volume I need.  Now that I'm only a little over 2.5 weeks out from my next 50 miler, I can't really afford to be missing runs.  I've got a 50K training run on the schedule for this weekend, so that'll give me a lot of insight on how to structure my attack plan for the 50 miler.  The cooler weather has made it much easier to knock out the higher mileage, so I'm hoping the lower temps stick around.

Pouring on the miles

I've been a bit lazy with blogging since IMWI.  I took a couple weeks off from training, but I'm back on the road putting in mileage.  My weekly mileage is currently in the mid-50s and heading north.  I still feel slow, but the endurance is there.  The plan is to keep increasing mileage and add in some speed work one day a week.  Additionally, I'm attempting to supplement with some swimming, cycling, and light weight training, although I've been lazy on those thus far. 

I've been running 6-10 miles on my weekday runs through the hills of northwest Austin.  The runs are slow because the hills are ridiculously steep, but I'm starting to feel stronger going up.  Last night I got back in the pool for my first swim since IMWI.  I took it pretty easy, but it did feel good to get in a short swim.

I've got a few targets drawn on my calendar for upcoming races, but we'll see what exactly I end up doing.

Deaths in Triathlon

I survived IMWI, so I'm alive to post this article.  Some facts about deaths in triathlon (and a couple marathon figures).  It also dispels a few misconceptions.  Straight from the article:

We can dispel some common misperceptions:

• This is not a problem of beginners and is not a problem with swimming ability.
  
  
• The fatality rate has not increased in more recent years. The number of fatalities has paralleled the growth in participation rate in triathlon.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to using/not using a wetsuit.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to the type of swim start (mass, wave, time-trial). No particular start method appears to be safest.
  
  
• The fatality rate is not related to the length of the race.