What's an ultra marathon, you ask? You know when you finish a "regular" marathon and you wish you could run more (read sarcastically)? An ultra takes care of that.
Anyway, aside from running a boat-load of miles, preparing for an ultra takes planning. I planned and practiced everything from pace, to running in a variety of conditions, to analyzing how I would fuel and hydrate before and during the race. I had run every step of the race in my head numerous times and was prepared for practically anything.
Then race day came...
Mother Nature has a disturbing sense of humor. The skies opened and the rains came ... non-stop ... tenaciously ... for more than 15 hours before my 31 mile trail race ... on dirty. Well, it was originally dirt! By race time, we were running in ankle to shin-deep mud and puddles (well, more like small ponds) that went to our knees. In the end, 16 weeks and more than 400 miles of training, preparing and planning were shot. No one could have prepared for this.
My banking point? As we begin to look at planning season for 2012, remember that planning is vital to feeling ready and confident. Planning will make you prepared for 90% of your upcoming efforts. But planning must be flexible. You never know what's going to be thrown at you on race day. A major employer in your market may close it's doors (or open them), your community may have a flood, your CEO may save a child from a burning building. Good or bad, your business environment can change as fast as my dirty trail turned into a mud bog. Be ready to roll with the changes.
Take care,
Eric
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