Day 4,018 —11 Years of Streak Running Today and the full Potawatomi 200 Race Report and Video are Complete!—

 

It feels good to run 11 years and to complete a 200-mile race, but it feels better to hear my two-year-old correct adults who call him “birthday boy.” He looks at them and says, “No, dada’s boy!”

         It is funny how other people view your accomplishments. When I first got into ultrarunning, people seemed more impressed with my 100-mile run. Now that I have done 200 miles, I hear people going out of their way to not be impressed. They talk about the walk time or how much break time there is. If they ever did anything like running 100 miles, they would know just how silly they sound. But I am guilty of the same thing; anytime someone does something that I am jealous of, I want to think that somehow I could do that too if only circumstances were different. I go out of my way to not be impressed with something incredibly impressive. Now, I see how insecure that makes you. The need to put someone down or assume knowledge about an accomplishment that you have no context for.

         People who are vegan always get made fun of for telling people they're vegan, which is a weird kind of insult. Are they suggesting vegans should feel ashamed of being vegan? Or, the joke about marathon runners is that they tell everyone about the race. Why wouldn’t they, if they’re proud of themselves, share?

It is strange how your accomplishment can make someone else feel insecure. I wish people could just be happy when someone else is happy. Why cannot people rejoice in each other’s accomplishments?

I hit big 11 this year, and it feels pretty good to get 200 miles done right before this anniversary.   

I am so happy with how the video turned out and the race report for the 200. It is longer than my usual write-ups, but the race was also twice as long! I know now there are even longer races. I read somewhere that people are doing a 340-mile race now?! I cannot say I will never go longer than 200, but it is an insane amount, and it took a lot of planning, and I am only feeling recovered now. I want to do the Vol State 500K one of these days. Maybe next year, I will be able to sign up in time. It is more miles than the 200, but a lot of road miles. I also just like the idea of not having a lot of things figured out ahead of time for that race. You got to make do with gas stations and convenience stores. 

 

11 years down might seem like a lot, but I feel like it is only the beginning of my running journey. 11 years ago, I was unhappy with my most recent marathon time of 3:28 and was looking to try something different. Now, I have not only improved on my marathon time, but done things I never imagined I could do before. My only hope for 11 years from now is more of the same. I want to run more 100-mile races, more 200-mile races, maybe even a 300-mile race, but more importantly, I want to keep trying new things regardless of the result because that’s what life is all about.

Let me know if you like the video and race report.