Brazos Bend 100 Taper

With the taper period for the upcoming Brazos Bend 100 underway, I think it’s fair to say that things are getting real.

As well it should, being just four days away til I hit the trails on my 100 mile journey to continue raising awareness for Autism.

I’ve been training for this weekend all year, using other races and longer runs to build strength and endurance. Having done my first 50K and 50 mile training ultras to build up to this, so it’s not as though I just jumped on the 100 mile bandwagon without having put the work in to succeed.

But as the reality that in less than a week I’ll set out to run 100.2 miles in one push at Brazos Bend 100 sets in, nerves, and a slew of other emotions are popping up.

I’m already having dreams and laying awake in bed thinking about the momentous act in front of me. I feel more pressure than usual not to let down those supporting me and having worked so hard for months, I feel more pressure not to let down myself too.

This is normal for me before any big race, and thankfully, over the years, I’ve come up with ways of coping.

As we’ve all experienced, there isn’t much you can do about nerves like this. Most of what you’re nervous about can’t be addressed until you’re actually out there running.

But sitting around just makes it worse, which is why I like to go ahead and get things done. Focus on the rest of my training and preparing everything I can head of time.

With a race like a 100 mile ultra marathon, dealing and preparing up front is all that much more important. There will be several of my GTStrutters run family running various distances from a half or full marathon to a 50 mile or 100 mile in the same race. Some will stay to support the longer distant runners after they have finished their race while others will head home. I have a pace crew for this journey, and I want to make sure I have everything together not only for me, but out of respect for them as well.

I’ve got a finish goal of a sub 24 hour 100 mile and I intend to meet that goal full force. This race is dedicated to not only my son, but also friends and supporters who have loved ones affected by autism. They are my reason for doing what I do, the reason I RUN for Autism and the reason I fundraise for autism research. You can donate to my charity in honor of them or someone you know affected by Autism by clicking here and help us reach our goal.

Thank you to all the awesome parents of these wonderful kids for allowing me to run in their honor.

Stay tuned for the recap…

@AprilontheRun