If you want to build miles, consistency is everything. I learned that in the early 1980s when we went from 1 or 2 ultras a year within driving range to 1 a month.
I thought all those long races would boost my mileage totals, and instead they dropped. Too much time recovering!
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Right now my training schedule precludes long days, but instead is built on consistency….8, 8, 8, 8…
Never skip a day. And it is paying off. I started out around 250th place, and the last three days i have been in the top 200. Everyone around me is doing some big mile days, but when they get into recovery i will grind on past.
Not that consistency will be easy this year. I already had the Strolling Jim day to contend with. Getting up at 0200 and rushing to the venue to start setup, and not finishing cleanup until 2330. But every time I got a break i used it to walk. Over the course of the day I accumulated 7 hard-earned miles….
I actually had a chance to go do one more to get 8 around 2100.
but i was just too exhausted to go out.
In a couple of days I will face a flight day. Have to leave for the airport about 0700 and wont exit until the next morning. In theory I will be able to log some airport miles during layovers, but anyone who has done the airport gig knows how fast layovers can evaporate.
I will be staying up until midnight the night before and doing a mile before bed. No matter what happens, I will not lose my inertia award! If there are layovers, i will be chasing that 8!
And it is not going to get any easier:
the Germany Masters, Faenza. Heart of the South, Vol State, Third Circle of Hell… I will spend much of my summer at races, figuring out how and where to get miles. This is going to be a challenge!
And if getting the miles is going to be a challenge, logging them may be doubly so. Thank god for the three day window. But, this is also a routine. If possible log as soon as I finish, then click on “more results” to check that I did not miss (or mis-date) yesterday. If internet access is not available, i will just have to plan the data entry out just like the miles themselves.
There is more to an inertia award than just getting out of bed every day!
And that’s the way it should be.
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If I finish the RAT this summer it will be an achievement.
But I hunger for more.
I want a top 200 finish,
and an inertia award.
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consistency will be the key.