Too nervous to try?

It's been a while since I expressed my thoughts on this site. I have been busy, as have we all, as the warmer weather arrives. It's hard to believe Grandma's is just days away… and Afton is less than a month… 12 weeks to superior! Don't I need to start training sometime?

I have been riding a bike but have been running a little. I am frightened that the knee will hurt. I have run a few times with pain here and there, but nothing terrible… yet. Why do I have those doubts? I have been logging 15 to 20 miles a week for a few weeks and biking over 125 miles a week this month.

These past five weeks have been filled with tennis. I officiated the NCAA Regions, then a whole week of the NCAA Championships, then a junior event all weekend, and then off to Hilton Head, where I had my first chance to chair officiate a professional event. This was a treat. Some of the best players and officials in the world to officiate and learn from as I improve my abilities. Besides that real job, I have logged about 70 hours a week doing official tennis stuff and my real job.

Hilton Head was so hot. I did get a few runs in, but the 95-degree days were not that enjoyable, even on the beach. I was so surprised to see so many jellyfish washed to shore! I came home to 60 degrees and looked forward to it! I just finished tennis for a month and have time to train…

I still have the thought in my head that I will try the 100 again, but I feel so unprepared. I do have 12 weeks, but will it be enough? Injury is the reason, and hopefully not, why I failed a second time. Several have been excited about their first, and I think it would be fun to do it with them… Support on that day is important (both in remote parts of the woods and at stations.) We may be planning trips to the north to run the course as we near this date. I have a tennis schedule for those weekends, but I hope to get up there a few times to run that 55-77 mile stretch. (I recall this was the most challenging part for me last year; it could be from unfamiliarity.)

Tomorrow, I am going to do my first run over 12 miles since February. I will be at Grandma's next weekend. As I say at work, I have to go… This would be the 24th year in a row I finished Grandma's, and I can not stop. I figure it will take five-plus hours, but I can say I have been there and done that… Over the 23 years I finished, I ranged from just over three hours to just over six hours….

Carry on!