Friday, December 17, 2010

Skipping Races Can Be Awesome

Maybe I'm getting wiser in my old age.  I am so thankful that I decided to skip four recent races: Tecumseh Trail Marathon, Da Deer Run 8K, the new Hawkeye 50K, and the upcoming Across the Years 72-Hour Run. I was seriously considering doing three of these four races.  Tecumseh was plagued by snow and ice and they had to reroute the course into an out & back format that ended up slightly short of 26.2 miles.  I don't need that!  The Deer Run 8K and Hawkeye 50K were on the same day (Dec 11) so I had to select between them...and I chose neither.  The weather once again smacked those two races with snow, sleet, and wind.  I don't need that!  At the end of this month, the Across the Years 72-Hour race will occur (along with the shorter 24-Hr and 48-Hr versions).  I was "lucky" enough to be selected in the race lottery this summer...but decided to pass on the opportunity.  I'm sure the weather will be fine in Arizona, but I'm still thankful that I won't be running for 3 days straight for the new year.  I don't need that!

All of these four events are fine races.  I may do them in the near future.  For me, this year wasn't the time to commit to them.  And the weather has made my choices seem splendid.  I wish all of the ATY racers success.  It's an enormous feat to run for 24, 48, or 72 hours straight!  I still have that race on my "bucket list" of cool races to do before I die.  I may start with a simpler, closer 24-hour track run before heading to Arizona for 2 or 3 days of running.  See, I am getting wiser.  Skipping races can be awesome.

2 comments:

Tracy Thomas said...

No! You are getting WIMPIER!!! You need to join us in AZ... It was YOU that got me signed up for this race 5 years ago. Now, I'm addicted and YOU still haven't showed up! Dang you!

Chris Ⓥ said...

I hear ya. I'll be there in the future. Good luck at ATY.