Next Race

Alright. Promise breaking time.

I had told myself, after the Umstead 100, no signing up for races until July, June at the earliest. I didn't want to have a training mindset. Well, if I sign up for a race, but don't (/can't) train for it, that's still in the "spirit" of that promise, right?

A few days after Umstead, I made the silly mistake of emailing the race director for a race, asking if there was a waitlist or any openings. I really wasn't expecting for there to be any. That is until last week, I got a reply from the race director, saying there IS an opportunity I can use.

So the race? May 16/17 is the ThunderRock 100. It's a trail race in the mountains around/near Chattanooga, TN, held by as part of a race series called Rock Creek. It's not quite like the Lynchburg/Beast Series where you strive to complete every race in the series; it's just a bunch of races, with an overall point series. One of the really cool parts about this race is that it's the inaugural run.

This is mainly meant to be a fun experience, but of course there will be some challenges. Even though the race series has several ultras under its belt, as a first go, there's bound to be hiccups. A video from a training run, shows VERY technical sections of the course. The race starts at noon of Friday, so I will HAVE to be running throughout the entire night. And likely, I'll be attempting it without crew or pacers. I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that I met many other ultra runners who have done races without much support because of travelling long distances.

That race is only three weeks away. I'm still in the recovery phase from Umstead, and it's been steady. Nothing crazy, and if I am doing this ThunderRock, I won't be pushing anything. By the time I could get a longish run, it'll be time to taper back down. I'm too worried about that, and I'll play it by ear.

I'll be interviewing with Wake County EMS just before I go to the race. Wish me luck!

Soundtrack:
Breath Again - by Red
Last Night - by Skillet