Five days is a long time to run one race.
250 miles is a lot of miles for one race.
The enormity of taking on such a task can easily be overwhelming. As difficult as it is to think about beforehand, that enormity only feels bigger when you’re in a long race like that, especially in the early stages when pain and fatigue begins setting in and all you can think about is how bad you feel, and how many more miles you still have to go, and how many more days you still have ahead of you.
It helps to break it up and visualize the event in multiple components. So that’s what I’m doing as I think about the Infinitus 250-miler coming up in May.
The way I’m thinking about it is the first two days will be familiar territory. I’ve done 100 miles over two days before. The following days will be unknown territory. And I imagine days three and four will feel absolutely terrible – deep into the event and full of pain and suffering, while still being far enough from the end to feel sad and hopeless. Day Five I should have the end in sight, and expect to be able to feel motivated by that … or at least close enough where I’m confident I can white-knuckle the final miles.
To help visualize and mentally prepare how to cope with these days, I’ve created themes to focus on:
The Warm Up
Day One: Physical Warm-Up (Feeling fresh to start)
Day Two: Mental Warm-Up (The beginnings of physical deterioration mean I have to start tapping into those mental tools; but it’s still a place I’ve been before)
The Real Race
Day Three: Descent into the Valley of the Unknown
Day Four: Survive the Most Dangerous Day
Drop the Hammer
Day Five: The Home Stretch