Thursday, April 17, 2008

50k with wicked leathers

About a month ago I got an email from Jason. Jason ran 50 miles at Sunmart in 11 hours and something and his email stated that he wanted to run 50 miles in under 11 hours and Rocky Hill Ranch would be his last chance before the end of the summer.

I thought to myself, “Go Jason!”

Then in the next line he said he didn’t want to go to the race alone and me and the other guy he sent the email to were the only two people that he knew that were currently running enough mileage to finish one of the races. There is a 50k and a 25k race that same day.

I gave it a lot of thought … about 2 seconds worth and told Jason that if the family calendar was clear that weekend I was in. I checked and things fell into place nicely for me to run. Jakeb is going along for moral support and to ride his mountain bike.

The responsible thing to do would be to sign up for the 25k. I could run that one in my sleep. But as EQ has stated on his blog, you only live once so I did the irresponsible thing and signed up for the 50k. I am not trained for a 50k. I will not finish it well but I will finish.

Jason and I made our plans. Due to his son’s evening baseball game we will not leave until 8:30pm. We plan to drive to Rocky Hill Ranch, set-up a canopy and fall asleep in a field under the stars, wake up the next morning semi-rested and run a long way.

Two days ago the race director sent an email saying that in an attempt to book as many activities as possible Rocky Hill Ranch is having a Bike Night. A local motorcycle shop called Wicked Leathers is sponsoring an event at the Rocky Hill Ranch Saloon with a live band and music and free RV spots and camping.

Oh great. Bikers and loud music and drunk people trying to find where they put up their tent mixed with runners trying to get some sleep the night before one of the longest races of their life. Not that I have anything against bikers or loud music or those who are drunk mixing with runners. I just think the combination works out better for the former group rather than the latter.

We could go find a hotel but if you read my last post you find in my case that may not be any better. I really didn’t know that the TIR weekend with its lack of sleep would be training for future races. This should be interesting.