Ready, Fire, Aim - Traprock 50K!

I have heard that phrase a lot lately.  On the lifestyle design and entrepreneurial sites that I follow, they encourage you to "Get off the couch/bench" and try something without planning out every last detail.  At the office in our very conservative corporate engineering environment, I heard the opposite this week.  We don't want to be in a "ready, fire, aim" situation.  We avoid risk to the point of missing opportunity.

What is the right answer?  I think it is a little of both.  Do your homework enough to avoid major risks, but don't worry about having all the answers before you jump in with both feet.

What does this have to do with ultra-running?  Well, the Traprock 50K is coming together nicely, and we expect it to be a success on April 17.  However, we didn't have everything planned out in advance.  In fact, we are still working out last minute details.  Regardless, we had a great run with 13 people this weekend at Penwood State Forest, and it would not have happened if we didn't announce our intentions to hold a race there.  The Goat and I have been talking about hosting a race for quite sometime, and it is finally coming together.  Just this week, we finalized details with the state park.  We received the bib #'s in the mail, and we have runners signed up.  Today, we investigated some potential changes to the course, and we still have lots to do before race day.  The cool thing is that it is coming together.  Would it have happened if we waited for every last detail to be worked out?  I think you know the answer to that question.  So, next time you are thinking of trying something new, remember "Ready, Fire, Aim!"

So, how was the run on Saturday?  It was awesome!  The crew was a unique combination of folks from our Reach the Beach Relay team, the Shenipsit Striders, and the CT Climbers and Mountaineers.  You gotta love it!  We had quite a diverse group of runners and I was a little concerned about how we would get everyone around the course without people getting lost.  Bruce, Scott, and Mark are training for 100 mile races, so they are running strong.  In fact, all the Shenipsit boys were running well.  So, I was wondering how this would work out.  I started out with the lead group and we had split into 2 groups before the 2 mile mark.  Uh Oh!  Goat waited for the RTB crew and I shot some video of everyone on the Stairmaster.  Great fun!  At the top, Goat and I switched.  It was good for him to run with the ultra crowd, since he is training for Vermont 100.  I had a chance to run with my old buddies and get their take on the course.  I also had a chance to get to know some newer faces in the crowd.  Mirela is running her second ultra, and we had a chance to chat while she tried to get her Nathan rehydration pack to work.

At the finish of the loop, we had coffee and confectionaries thanks to Paul D. and the Goat.

The ultra boys had gone over to Heublein Tower to get in more mileage and I could see Goat was ready for more. I sucked down some sugar and we headed over to the tower for more.  We compared notes on runner feedback on the course and enjoyed the sunny morning.  As nice as it was to run with the crew, it was nice to run a bit with just the Goat and me.  We logged another 11 miles on varied terrain and called it quits after 4 hours and 22 miles.  What a great day!

Hope you are all signed up for Traprock 50K.  You can run 1,2, or 3 laps...just sign up.  It will be a great time!  Sign up this week, so Goat can place the shirt order.

Weekly Totals:
Mileage: 40ish  (OK, 39+)
# of runs: 4
Strength Training: 2 workouts, but they were weak (at least I did them)
# of muffins: ZERO!

Have a great week everyone!

Steve

P.S. - If anyone has tips on uploading video to Facebook or Blogger, I could use the assistance.  Very frustrating as I don't even see the video icon on Blogger anymore.