I've been so busy this fall, it's hard to believe it's almost here- only 2 days until Icarus 24 Hour. I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself, but this is such an important race to me. Right now it looks very unlikely that my 133 miles at GSEC in May will be enough for a place on the 24 team. I am going for broke and trying for 140+ miles this weekend, which is scary and intimidating but also possible. I don't feel ready, but then I never do.
After Chase the Sun I took a bit of a recovery week, then had 4 tough training weeks before tapering. I ran 65, 70, 50, and 65 miles over those weeks, the last two of which also had me on my feet for 3 12-hour clinicals each week. I had several 2-a-days, back-to-back 20 milers, and intense speedwork. I did several short night runs after all-day clinicals, which will hopefully help me to run fatigued. My last long run was on Monday October 27, and I've barely run since then. I'm generally a believer in "over resting" instead of over training! Unfortunately I haven't been sleeping well, but I hope the relaxation will be enough.
Alec will be crewing me again, and I plan on basically following the same strategy I've used in the past- eat something small every hour (real food if possible), alternate water and Tailwind, minimize aid time, start out at a moderately fast pace and slow down gradually after dark. I shouldn't have to worry much about weather- forecast is 80 and partly sunny during the day, 60s and clear overnight. I hope to reach 80 miles or close to it in the first half, to allow a decent buffer in the second half for slowing down.
I'm really, really nervous. I'm trying to remind myself that I can sign up for another 24 hour race in early January if needed, for one last shot at the 2015 team. I just hope it doesn't come to that. This is the race I've been training for for months, and I think this is my best shot. No matter what the outcome, I plan on leaving everything I have out on that course. Wish me luck everyone...let's roll!
