vermont 100 mile endurance run preview

can a year have really flown by? it seems like we drove up for the vermont 100 mile endurance run only yesterday! i just finished re-reading my 2007 race report and really can't believe i signed up to do this again - ha! for the record, the 2007 race was simultaneously one of the high and low points of my race year! it was a high because i accomplished my goal of doing a 100 miler! it was a low because i seemed to have made every running mistake in the book - and even a few new ones!

this year, once again, my primary goal is to finish. my second goal is a sub-24 hour finish. but, failing to come in under 24 hours, any time faster than 28:30, would make me happy!

this year, with the lessons of last year still fresh in my mind - i cut back the number of races leading up to vermont dramatically. my last long run was the unisphere 50 miler june14. in 2007 i ran the finger lakes 50k 3 weeks before vermont (which, itself, capped off a string of 9 marathons and/or ultras over the preceding 6 straight weeks).

this year, regardless of hunger - i will not gorge myself on mcdonald's burgers and fries, then polish off dinner with a friendly's ice cream sundae, as my pre-race meal!

from last year's race report:"

"We had planned on having dinner at the site. But the long dinner line was probably the only low of the weekend. Dinner was slated to start at 5:30 and by the time we got there the line stretched entirely around the tent. We stood in the same spot, without moving an inch, for 20 minutes. Since we were all hungry, and still had to check into the hotel, we decided to skip what seemed to be an excruciatingly long wait and make due on our own. That decision had an unpleasant consequence on my race the next morning because I didn’t eat until almost 8. My dinner consisted of a McDonalds Quarter Pounder with cheese, two regular cheeseburgers and two large fries, capped off with an ice cream sundae. Hunger can lead to bad decisions."

i had to deal with the consequences of that meal when i woke up, at the start, and for the first 20 or so miles of the race! lesson learned!

this year i will do a much better job planning and organizing my drop bags. last year, without a crew to fall back on, i had to deal with hassle after hassle for want of an item in a drop bag - or a drop bag itself. while it wasn't a big deal in the first half, miscalculating where to have my headlamp and flashlight caused one problem. and then, lack of proper clothing in another drop bag created a yet another hassle.

again, from my 2007 report (at camp ten bear, mile 70.1):

"Between sips of coffee and bits of sandwich, I searched my drop bag for a dry shirt - which wasn’t there! Neither were the spare batteries for my headlamp. My long-sleeved shirt and extra batteries were in the drop bag at mile 88.6 (Bill’s). Ugh. There were fresh batteries in my headlamp, but the spares were for emergencies."
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despite those negative memories, i'm totally psyched for the 2008 edition! once again i'm driving up friday with pat and katie. but this time around katie's summer camp kicks off later in the week - so pat won't have to spend saturday driving katie over to new hampshire for camp drop off, then head back over to vermont to help me. also emmy is running this race, last year she paced me for the last 30 miles. rob will be at mile 70 to pace me or emmy (or both of us if we manage to reach camp 10 bear together).

in addition, a partial roll call for this weekend includes: phil, admas, grant and nick (all fellow b.u.s. members), scott (we missed seeing him at nipmuck last month), wayne, adam, sarah (all 3 last spotted at pineland farms), john (who i last saw at li greenbelt trail), doug and christine (both of whom last spotted at wurtsboro)....

plus: anthony will be there to pace wayne and barbara, who was planning to run it, will volunteer instead, since she's been sidetracked by injury.
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some photos from 2007


all set to start!


but one last hug from my best girl, first!


done! but i kept asking myself, "is it really over?!"


at the finish: pat and me


at the finish: me and emmy.
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last, but not least, check out emmy's pacer's report (which ran in the hi-tek newsletter).