Those three words...

This post could alternatively have been called the Twelve Step Program or The Edge of the Cliff is 11 Steps Away or how about What the effing hell are you doing?

After my ITB issues at the Great Race I was left to make a decision about what to do this weekend over Leona Divide. Vacillating between yay and nay, I decided that a more scientific approach was needed to arrive a decision point and with all that in mind I did a extra little research on the race.

Firstly thanks to Motion Based I found that someone had run it and posted their run, here’s the elevation profile, (on the right), not to sound flip, while yes there are a some big hills in actual fact it's not that much worse than than the PCTR Pt Mugu 50k which had this profile, (on the left), in fact there is an extra 4000' of climbing over 19 miles and they are both virtually identical in distribution ; 42% ascent, 45% descent and 13% on the flat. You can see the MotionBased Leona Divide run details here. and the PCTR 50K here.

Secondly I looked it up on Athlinks and found a few people who ran it and emailed them asking them for any advice and got some replies, I did this on the Ultra List a while back and got some good advice about the course, Aid Stations etc.

Thirdly I still had a few questions so I emailed the RD this morning and within an hour had a response. Lastly I checked the weather and it will be almost perfect conditions with a low in the high 30s and a high in the mid 50s, sunny and clear.

So after a long and protracted, period of thinking about what to do carefully weighing the pros and cons and examining the pluses and the minuses. I have decided to put all the thinking behind me and exercise those three little words…Go For It!

Here’s the 12 step rationale, never accuse me of being rational!

1. My ITB seems fine at the moment, after last weeks 50 mile bike ride, where I usually have a few aches and pains I had nada.
2. I have virtually worn out my foam roller, and again my ITB seems fine
3. I can actually run with my Stick if I have to
4. While I have not run since the Great Race, think of it as extended taper, I ran a 50k with no running for the two weeks prior
5. I need a new back wheel for my bike, so without that I’ve nothing to do this weekend!
6. The thought of five months training, albeit in a haphazard fashion, down the drain pisses me right off no end!
7. The cut off time is 13 hours, that’s an average of 25:06 per mile, that I can manage
8. If I can finish under 11 hours I can enter the WSER lottery, that’s a 21.12 pace
9. You only ever regret the things you don’t do
10. If I finish this race (or not) I have learned a lot from this training cycle which will make the next one very different, more on that to follow
11. I can always DNF on the way round
12. I can’t really come up with any more so this one makes 12

So now I am set, I need to quickly think about some logistics, drop bags, kit, fuel etc but having made the decision a weight has been lifted and I feel really good about it. So now it's no pressure, all I need to do is keep moving forward!