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Friday, July 10, 2009

Countdown to 200 Miles: 1 Day

You know that sinking feeling in your stomach you get when you’re watching a movie and something really bad is about to happen. You know it coming but you’re just waiting to see it play out. That’s the feeling I have right now. I drove by the U this morning where in less than 24 hours we will be well on our ride. Right now, the anticipation and unknowns are the least pleasant part right now.

Last night I boiled the potatoes, got everything ready for tonight and did a little packing for the ride. Right now I’m just trying to lay everything out, walk through it all in my mind of what I might need, and if something did go wrong, what would I need. It’s a lot.

Last Friday I rode my the longest ride to date, 90ish miles. Minus the knife stabbing pain in my right knee at about the 20 mile mark and the throbbing pain in the lower back at around mile 65, oh, and the 90 degree weather…I felt really good. Mom drove the support vehicle stocked with cold water and food which was a life-saver. As we were pushing through the last 18 miles of the ride, I was thinking to myself, “Self…you’re totally effed.” So, how am I going to do it? While I’m not exactly sure on the specifics, but I have a plan:

At this point, physical training is pretty much obsolete, so I’m deferring to mental will power to get through. When I used to do spinning at the gym, the instructor would always say, “Your mind will give up before your body will.” I believe this. I have to for survival purposes.

One of the motivational techniques I learned while training for other ridiculous events such as these is to break down the course into increments. Because I’m also a generally lazy person when it comes to doing things for myself, the next step is critical to the success of this motivational technique. So, if you assign each increment to a person/idea/thing that is inspirational/motivating, it becomes a great motivator and distracter. I’ve broken the race down into 8 segments, averaging 25 miles and assigned people and ideas to it. My list is as follows:

1. Miles 1 - 24 – KENT (REI stop): Davie’s Sobriety Anniversary
2. Miles 24 - 53 – SPANAWAY (Spanaway Junior High): My Health
3. Miles 53 - 71 – YELM: My Dad
4. Miles 71 - 99 – CENTRALIA: Ilsa/The Farm
OVER NIGHT REST STOP WITH LOTS OF PRAYING FOR NO RAIN
5. Miles 99- 136 – CASTLE ROCK MINISTOP: The Future – In every sense of the word
6. Miles 136 - 151 – LONGVIEW BRIDGE: Friends – you know who you are
7. Miles 151 - 176 – ST. HELENS (St. Helen’s High School): My mom
8. Miles 176- 202 – DOWNTOWN PORTLAND - Because I can’t quit now

My next post likely won’t be until Monday barring any major catastrophes or personal injuries. Thank you everyone for your well wishes and prayers.

Catch you on the flipside.

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