― Epictetus

“First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.”
― Epictetus

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
― Epictetus

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
― Epictetus

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
― Epictetus

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
― Epictetus

Epictetus

I also plan to run the Bull Run Run 50 miler as a tune up race and volunteering at the Seneca Creek 50K for the 8 hours service hours requirements.

Saturday’s snowy run 16 miles
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143480873

Sunday’s run 14 miles
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/143705837

6 months and counting

Never forget who you are, for surely the world won’t. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you. – Tyrion Lannister

Here are my armor pieces in no particular order

- I am 29 year old and I still live with my parents.

- I’ve never had a girlfriend

- I am still very immature

-  I dropped out of college during my sophomore year

- I cannot cook

- I am financially irresponsible

- I make bad decisions

The list goes on and on but these are the few things I am willing to admit for now.

I was truly in awe watching the male lead pack made their way through the looped course cruising at sub 5 minute mile. The women’s race were equally phenomenal. I’ve been a fan of Desiree Davila since her gutsy performance at Boston in 2011. True to her mantra and work ethic she kept the race honest and was the workhorse leading the lead pack to record setting performances.

All the men and women in the trials have proven themselves. Each men ran at least a 2:19 marathon and each women a 2:45 to be there. One can only imagine the training and determination it took to get them there.

My take away from the race is that regardless of age,color, nationalities etc… if you put in the work you will be given the chance to achieve your goals. In this age of cynicism and faltering beliefs in the American Dream its rare to have such an inspiring story that truly encompass the ideals that made this country so great.

2012 U.S. Olympic Team - Marathon: (Left to right) Desiree Davila, Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman, Shalane Flanagan, Meb Keflezighi, Kara Goucher

Download MP3

On the day of (1/6/2012) I set my alarm for 3:05AM for at 4AM start (same start time as Vermont 100). I had a hard time picking a trail to run on without having to do loops. I prefer an out and back so I finally settled on Carderock, Great Falls heading toward Alexandria. The reason for the early 4AM start was to acclimate myself to running so early in the morning so I am not in too much of a shock come 7/21/2012 when I venture into my first 100 mile race.

I didn’t actually make it to the start until 4:30ish since my hydration pack sprang a leak but luckily I have a whole case of gatorade in my car. I  also had to wait for my Garmin to acquire an GPS signal. There’s no way I would do this sans Garmin. I need proof so I can brag about it on Facebook afterward

It was quite and adjustment running so early. It was pitch black and I had to rely on my headlight to navigate the trails.  There were a few cars on the roads parallel to the C&O canal towpath. With my ipod shuffle blasting techno music I was off to Alexandria. It was deathly quiet on the trail and at one point I had to run past a white abandoned house. It was my fastest mile yet as my imagination got the better of me. I took my first break at Fletcher’s cove, about 8+ miles out.

Since this was a solo run there was no on course support so I made every effort to load up my hydration pack with everything that I would need during the run. I packed 6 packs of gu packets and filled up  the pouch with 3 gatorades.

I took a 2nd break near Thompson’s boathouse, just a little after White Hurst Freeway. The views of the Potomac at 6am was definitely surreal. The real eye candy were on the Mount Vernon Trail where I got to see the DC monument across from waters glittering with lights from nearby buildings and structures.

Parts of the Mount Vernon trail was actually icy. By this time daylight was out so I packed away my headlight and continued on. There were surprisingly a lot of bikers on the trail.

I made it to Alexandria and turned around as soon as my Garmin said there were 14.5 miles left. $hit got real as I came to the realization that its mostly an uphill climb all the way back. By this time my legs have already started to feel the effect of my non training. My quads were screaming as I shuffled up the hilly parts. Making it back to Thompson boathouse was a task in itself as I had to cross a 2 way freeway during morning traffic hours.

Slowly I made it back to Fletcher’s cove. By now my legs have feel the full effect of all the combined little hills on the Mount Vernon Trail and CCT. With about 8.5 ish miles to go I loaded up on gu and took a few sips of gatorade and marched on. The elevation changes on the towpath was even worse then the other 2 trails. From mile 20 on it was truly a death march as I just wanted to finished and kept asking myself what the hell I was thinking when I figured this was a good idea.

Throughout all this there was a song playing on my shuffle that really suit my situation. The lyrics kept repeating “where have you gone” to the unce unce techno beat. For some reason I felt the need to answer but all I could say was “I don’t know“. At this point all I knew was to put one foot and in front of the other and keep moving. “Relentless forward progress” as most ultra runners are keen of saying.

I finished in 4:53:59 just in time to meet 2 of my friends at Hanabi for lunch.

As far as next year goes I am not sure if there’ll be a 30:30 Resolution. Then again I have a short term memory and by then I’ll think its a good idea to do it again.

Its over. Thank you Jeebus.

The mile splits are available at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/139396520

My life have definitely been one of consumption. To a point that I am now numb to all the simple pleasures that I used to partake in. In an effort to change I will limit my input and focus on the things I like to do. Like following through on a certain project I’ve been working on.

- Steve Prefontaine

Pre