Since this weekend is Mother’s Day, I’m going to share with you what my mom always tells me whenever I feel any ounce of nervousness: Don’t Worry.
And that’s my approach to the Miwok 100K. I’m not going to worry. Even with rain in the forecast.
With any race we do, regardless if it’s an ultra or not, there are elements beyond our control – weather, course, time limits, etc. All we can control is, what we’re eating, what we’re wearing, what we’re thinking, and what we believe. I’m sure there are a few others in there.
My mindset and perspective will determine the experience I have at this race and I am truly very excited about it!
I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about a race before! Seriously! It’s actually been a while since I’ve done a trail race where I didn’t know anybody else running it, but I don’t really mind that. I enjoy solitude and I love how the trails allow me to get a piece of that.
As I packed for the race, I prepared all my reasons of why I’m running it, and I thought of more beyond what I mentioned in Episode 15 of the Ultra Ordinary Running podcast, and no I’m not going to share them here. If someone is reading this and all of a sudden is thinking “I want to run Miwok or (insert race name here)!” well, they need to come up with their own reasons. And if the first reason that pops up is “because everyone else is,” then I’d suggest doing a little more soul searching. And that’s what I did.
Soul searching and knowing all the reasons why I’m putting my body through this in the first place because there is no doubt this may hurt in more ways than one. And I’m gonna have to rely on those reasons when the pain sets in. Hopefully it doesn’t set in early, but ya never know.
This race is definitely going to be a learning experience for me and I’ll probably find out the things I did correctly, and also the mistakes I made. Every race is like that. So I’m not going to worry about it.
I’m going to show up.
I’m going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I’m going to think about everyone’s good lucks and well wishes and energy and kind inspiring words, which I’ve so greatly appreciated.
I’m going to relax.
I’m going to support my fellow runners.
I’m going to thank all the volunteers for their help and generosity of time spent out there.
I’m going to enjoy the experience that is before me.
I’m going to take in everything I can about this race.
And above all, I’m going to be grateful for this opportunity to run some beautiful trails near a city I absolutely love.
Until next time…
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!
Best of luck out there! Go get ’em!
Thank you for that Jesse!