Jed Smith 50 Km Orcas Island 50 K and Mental Toughness

"Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes."
– Washington Irving

On Saturday, February 1, I ran the Jed Smith, 50 km race. My goal was to run it faster than last year. Chris Turney accompanied me and ran with me for the first two laps. At the end of the first two laps, I was on pace to break the US 50 Km race record for my age group. I felt good and was running strong. Then, starting the third loop, I was joined by Susan Smyth, who was running the 30 K. I started to feel a little tired and ran a slower third loop. My fourth loop was a little slower and I was more tired, starting loop five. Chris joined me again at that point.

As I was tiring, I began to think about shorter-term goals and re framing. For instance, I thought about the distance to be completed and said I “ only” have about 10 more miles; I “only” have about five more miles to go. The keyword here is “ only “ as I wanted to minimize, in my mind, that distance. Running with a friend (affiliative), also helped as we had a chance to talk about many different things. I also paid attention to my body(mindfulness) to determine  discomfort as well as to my breathing and running form.

Having a goal, employing mindfulness, re framing and meeting affiliative needs is very important and assisted me in running this 31 mile event faster this year than I did last. These concepts are significant parts of my definition of mental toughness that I incorporate when needed. My second book will apply my mental toughness  concept to those 1969 University of Michigan football players that beat the Ohio State Buckeyes on that memorable November.

This Jed Smith race was sponsored by  the Buffalo Chips running club. Chris introduced me to some of his  compatriots  that I invited to be guests on “It Has Nothing to Do with Age or Gender”  TV show. Look for these runners down the road.

Tony called from Washington State after he completed his very difficult 50 Km trail run. He said he ran the first 21 miles well and then tired, climbing the mountain. He finished and predicted his time accurately. I’m sure I’ll hear more of his story this week. Well done Tony. I told him that Chris and I went to Baskin-Robbins for our reward  and he told me that he was going for ice cream too.

From Tony: I decided to do something more adventures and went to Orcas Island to do a 50 K. Had to be the toughest 50 K I have ever done. All I can say is I finished and had a great time. Rain Shadow Running puts on a great party and great run to go with it.
For inspiration here is a report from one of the other runners Edward Lychik I think you will find his story quite remarkable.

http://edwardlychik.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/orcas-island-50k-grizzley-bears-great-people/

On Sunday. Linda and I hosted another Super Bowl party and watched the Seattle Seahawks blowout.

 Remember to keep moving, smiling, laughing, deep breathing and appreciating while you can.