In every training cycle, I reach a low point and I am now at that point.
It typically happens right about the time that my training begins to “take”–when mileage and recovery are happening without too much complaint from both brain and body. But that time tends to correspond with feeling tired and a creeping feeling that I will fail. I begin to worry that my mileage is too low to succeed and that I will not be able to finish my goal event. I have always been able to finish, but I still worry.
As my goal events get longer I am also wrestling with the idea that eventually I will DNF. It seems inevitable, judging from the experiences of ultrarunners, and I know I should accept it, but it’s hard. I’ve been able to get by on patience and stubbornness, if nothing else. Hopefully those two things will serve me well the further I go.
Five weeks from taper…