Incredibly, that quote came from Terminator III, “Rise of the Machines”, one of the worst movies ever. But that saying is wonderful. Here I’ll paraphrase:
“Leadville runners. It is time.”
T-minus 12 hours. The day is flying by, and it’s nearly time to “toe the line” as they say.
I’ve got a huge contingent of family crewing for me. This required a lot of planning and a lot of buying of goods, but it’ll be fun for everyone, and mean I don’t have to screw around with anything at any aid stations, barring disaster.
A ton of gear, sufficient for two vehicles. Hopefully all our bases are covered!
The crew is amazing, they’ve got team shirts and hats, and are doing a great job of taking charge. Hopefully they’ll have a great time during the race. I think everyone is really tense, but I know that once things are underway it’ll be a great. I suppose the same goes for runners!
The crew minus my girlfriend, and my slutty dog revelling in the belly rubs.
My bro and the g/f are pacing me at night, so I sent them off to May Queen for some headlamp trials. My sister demonstrating the full “LeCrew” outfit, with neon yellow accessories.
I’ve got my timing chip, and my bib number, # 635. Pretty exciting.
Shit just got real.
I’ve decided to run the Johnson splits (per my previous data analysis) to Winfield. It’s a bit slower than my previous plan (Peterson Plan) but ultimately I still believe that for my first race, being slightly more conservative is the key. Anywhere between 10:30 and 11:30 at Winfield is totally ok, and then we’ll see what I’m made of after I turn back and head for home.
I won’t allow myself to come into aid stations early by any more than 5 minutes (per aid station) on the outbound… Which means the earliest to Winfield should be 11:09 – 25 minutes = 10:44 hrs. On the way home, it’ll be whatever it’ll be. Obviously I’d like to believe I am a superstud who will negative split and run sub-22, or even split and run sub-23, but my Winfield time, if I fall into “the average runner routine” is more than sufficient to break 25 hours. I definitely 100 % have the fitness to sub-11 at Winfield… I cannot fuckin’ wait to hit that return trip, and test my mettle. Bring the hurt. I am ready. I am Gandalf, fighting the Balrog. I want to emerge from the other side purified and reborn, Mitch The White.
Essentially, there’s nothing left to say.
“Go to it, to your purpose. That is… ‘Yamato Damashii’.”
Mitch out.
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.”
– Walter Elliot