Day 3,918 —Prepping Starts Today: 6 Runs until the Shippey 100!—

I want to stretch at least once today for 20 to 30 minutes and take a salt bath.

I went to buy stuff for the race today. Thinking I would try to get some shopping for the race complete today and tomorrow. I got some drinks and some vegan candy, but that was it. The drinks usually take a while to get; I always like having little cans of ginger ale, so I bought those today. I am tempted to buy the Zevia brand, but I don’t like the normal can size. It is so much easier to down the tiny cans at the aid stations.

I have been checking the weather for next weekend throughout the day, but not much has changed, it isn’t great, but still not as bad as last year. I keep telling myself I cannot control the weather, so why am I thinking about it so much? I just realized the SLUG Club annual holiday party was last night, and I didn’t even consider going. Last year I wanted to go and see some familiar faces from the races, but I was so sick after the Shippey it took me almost a month to recover.

The snow is all melted on all the paved surfaces, but there aren’t a lot of sidewalks to run on. The snow looks pretty, but I found myself taking far fewer pictures today. Instead, my thoughts were focused on next weekend and wondering about all the things like how the trail would be after all this snow on the ground. Will it be muddy? Will two pairs of shoes be enough, or should I bring 3?

It is good to have something to focus on and feel prepared and healthy. I could have trained harder, but I took an approach down the middle and focused on staying healthy as opposed to doing the longer trail runs that I considered. It is too late now to do anything different, but that doesn’t bother me. I feel good about how much I was able to run in December. It wasn’t my best month but considering what my motivation was, it was one of my best efforts.

It is weird to think about how when I just started this running streak, there was so much to accomplish—considering how I would feel after my 10th anniversary was something to think about wistfully. Now, I am in my 11th year, and I am more accomplished than ever, yet I feel more insecure about my abilities. I find myself consistently questioning my decisions and making myself worry about things I would have never considered before. I am not saying I always feel like this, but it is so odd how when I first do something and first get into something, it represents me so much in my mind, but when that thing truly is so integral to my identity, I somehow stop thinking about it.

This is the year, that I go into every ultra with more than enough hydration and go hard to be healthy before every race.

I am drinking decaf coffee now and got some half caff too for this week! I wonder where the Shippey name comes from? I am looking forward to starting the race all bundled up while smiling in the dark with my new headlamp.