Ridin Solo @ Virgil Crest 100

Going into the VC100 my mind is wrapped on giving it my all. Digging deep inside myself and capturing the accomplishment of another 100. April 2009 the Umstead 100 Mile was my first 100 mile race. I finished the first 50 miles in under 11 hours then my left ITB went south. With the onset of seven blisters every mile became slower to the end. Finishing in 28:11 was the most painful experience I had encountered a that point in my life. A few months later I learned that I had pushed my body especially my kidneys so hard that I developed kidney stones. My doctor informed me that I should have been administered IVs on the course because of my condition. Well I passed the stones. When the pain was over a week later I passed another batch of stones. The pain was horrific. Still reflecting back I can justify it by completing the race no matter how much suffering I went through to achieve it.  The next two 100's were not nearly that painful. Then last month I reminisced on a different pain. The pain of taking a DNF at my fourth 100, Leadville.

Listening to the song Ridin Solo by Jason Derulo (lyrics below) hit home on so many levels and with the mindset that I will complete the VC100 no matter what is thrown at me.  In many levels I will be ridin solo in accomplishing it when all is said and done. I have several friends that throughout this run that will be pushing me through it in my mind.

I set an aggressive goal (a new PR by 1h 33min) of 22 hours. Will it happen? Not sure, but I will dig deep like that at Umstead and push my limits mentally and physically until I have nothing to give.



Lyrics to Ridin' Solo :


Yeeeeeyeeeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine,

I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky,

I'm solo, I'm riding solo,

I'm riding solo, I'm ridin solo, sooloooo.



Yeah, I'm feeling good tonight, finally doing me and it feels so right, oh,

Time to do the things I like,

going to the club everything's alright, oh,



No one to answer to,

no one that's gonna argue, no,

And since I got the hold off me,

I'm living life now that I'm free, yeah,



Telling me to get my shit together

now I got my shit together, yeah,

Now I made it through the weather

better days are gonna get better



I'm so sorry that it didn't work out I'm moving on,

I'm so sorry but it's over now,

the pain is goooone,



I'm putting on my shades

to cover up my eyes,

I'm jumpin' in my ride,

I'm heading out tonight,

I'm solo, I'm riding solo,

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.

I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine,

I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky.

I'm solo, I'm riding solo,

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.



Now I'm feeling how I should,

never knew single could feel this good, oh,

Stop playing miss understood,

back in the game, who knew I would, oh,

So flex how I spread my wings, loving myself makes me wanna sing, oh,

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,



Telling me to get my shit together

now I got my shit together, yeah,

Now I made it through the weather

better days are gonna get better



I'm so sorry that it didn't work out I'm moving on,

I'm so sorry but it's over now,

the pain is goooone,



I'm putting on my shades

to cover up my eyes,

I'm jumpin' in my ride,

I'm heading out tonight,

I'm solo, I'm riding solo,

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.

I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine,

I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky.

I'm solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo



yeah it's like S... O... L... O...

S... O... L... O... S... O... L... O...

Living my life and got stress no more,



I'm putting on my shades

to cover up my eyes,

I'm jumpin' in my ride,

I'm heading out tonight,

I'm solo, I'm riding solo,

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.

I'm feeling like a star, you can't stop my shine,

I'm loving cloud nine, my head's in the sky.

I'm solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo.

I'm riding solo, I'm riding solo, sooloooo



I'm riding solo, sooloooo,

I'm riding solo, sooloooo

Sole Searching

Last night around 9:00pm I started back into running and what a run it was for me. This month marks the anniversary of five years of running.




Sending my body into motion down the dark rolling country dirt road for a seven mile loop in complete darkness I was able to soul search. The sky was filled with heavy dark clouds that block all possible light from reaching the earth. Knowing the course I choose not to use a headlamp and just run on feel. The only light I would see over the next seven miles was from my Garmin that was set to only illuminate on the mile to provide a quick glimpse of my split. Each stride was in part me running with ground and brief moments I would draw upon what I taken away from running and how it had revealed my character.



Looking back at my relationship with running it was been very eventful. My first run/race was a 10K mix of trail running & mt biking. The run portion was about 4 miles for me and I recall in the second mile I shook my head at the realization of how hard running was for me. Over the years I have had other moments that tested me to my limits and that have been overwhelming incredible too. Running is hard for me; the shortness of breathe, the pounding of hills, the burn in my legs and the spurts of discomfort that arise through the journey of a run. Do I enjoy the pain that comes with it? Yes, I thrive on digging deep and overcoming it. I battle through a majority of my daily runs, especially on runs like this where it is just me. It is the moment the run/race finishes that I find an overwhelming amount of joy within the accomplishment.



The biggest thing I learned tonight was that I possess the ability deep inside to conquer any run while still enjoying it many facets. Leadville was very humbling and has been an experience I will never shake. Instead of walking away and being defeated I now see that I gave up momentarily, not forever. Within hours I knew that I will be returning in 2011 to compete again. What do I feel this says about me? That I don’t truly give up. Yes, I had a lapse in what I feel poor judgment, but I am not giving up on myself. In two weeks I plan to finish 2010 with another 100 mile feat. Heading to the Finger Lakes of New York for the Virgil Crest 100 mile. When I toe the line I know that this time I will be in possession of a new belt buckle when all is said and done. Whether I run, jog, walk or crawl I will carry myself the entire 100 miles and prove to myself that I have the determination to see this through.



"Running does not build my character it reveals it"