Know your limitations

This one’s tricky. 

But knowing your limitations can lead to great things. 

I finished my 100-miler on my sixth try a couple weeks ago. Three of these were hammered by the weather, but two others were because I could not finish in under 30 hours. That’s the standard cutoff for 100 miles, and it’s one that nearly all 100-milers follow. 

I made some changes to ensure I could finish 100 miles. I lost weight and trained harder than I ever had before, but I also found a race, the Viper 100, with a 41-hour cutoff. This race not only gave me the time to finish, it prevented me from having any sort of out. 

In the past, I’d quit, even if I reached 70 miles, because I didn’t think I could reach 100 miles under the 30-hour cutoff. But 41 hours gave me no excuse. I had to commit to being out there until I was done. Sure enough, quitting never entered my mind, and I finished in just under 37 hours. 

Knowing that 30 hours was nearly impossible for me helped me look at my strengths. I have grit, a high pain tolerance and an ability to keep my mind a blank slate, almost a meditative state, for a very long time. Those are all really good tools to have, and they weren’t tools that had anything to do with 30 hours. Finishing in 30 hours meant I had to have speed, really tough feet so we weren’t spending time patching them and an ability to eat on the run. Instead, I needed just a little extra time at aid stations, maybe a little more walking time than some and a race that would allow me to run 50 miles at, basically, a little over 4 mph before we have to make the other 50 miles happen. 

As a coach, I don’t want my clients to just accept perceived limitations on themselves. I’d rather they try races and DnF first. DnFs are a part of our sport, and you can learn a lot from them. I learned a lot every time I DnFd a 100 miles. I think there’s beauty in trying really hard at something, even if you fail, and then trying again. 

But at some point, you also have to look at what’s causing those DnFs and make adjustments. This may mean eating more, drinking more, focusing on foot care, taking dirt naps, finding the right crew and pacers and adjusting your equipment.

It may also mean giving yourself more time, like entering a 12-hour race to finish a 50K, or a 24-hour race to finish a 50-miler. I’m more impressed when runners can pull that off instead of the talented badasses who can run a 100 miles in under 24 hours (and I think the fast ones are incredibly impressive too). Sometimes they even go farther than their goal distance, stunning themselves and their support team. 

It shows incredible spirit and grit to grind until you reach the end. That’s what this sport is all about.