I have a feeling that 2014 is going to be the year that I finally come into my own with the hundred mile distance. My first two races in 2014 were breakthrough races. All the doubts about being able to complete the ultra distances disappeared and I am ready to take on challenges that I feared just a couple of months ago.

After the absolute failure of the Nanny Goat 100, I needed to regain my confidence and know that the completion of a 100 mile race was not only possible, but probable. I still did not concern myself with speed and time (though breaking 30 hours is definitely something I wanted to do and soon). I needed to complete the 100 mile distance and know that I was GOING to complete the race. That’s when the Run D’ Amore 100 came in.

This race would be my first race since the Nanny Goat. And I was afraid. I needed to complete this race. For those who don’t know, the race is typically a two mile loop with no hills. This time, the race was going to be a four mile loop with rather steep hills on trails for the first two miles. This was going to be my first race since starting my new job and moving to San Diego. My co-workers were very supportive and spread the news that I was going to run this race. I was damned: No matter what I felt or what happened, I had to finish this race or risk the embarrassment of not finishing.  I ended up finishing the race in 32 hours. Time did not matter, I just wanted to be able to say that I had finished. I can’t even be sure that I KNEW I would finish.

In January, 2014, I decided to runt he San Diego 50. This race was going to be a bit outside my comfort zone. This race was going to be a trail race. As of yet, I had never run a trail race of more than 50K. But a catharsis took place: I knew I would finish it. And this time, my main concern was time. I wanted to finish it and I wanted to finish it fast. Outside of the periods of hopelessness and exhaustion where I spent the time walking, the race was the best I had to this point. I was confident and ran strong, finishing in 10:41. The time was not my fastest but I was dealing with technical trails and hills. I was proud of this race. The confidence was rising.

Three weeks later, it was time for another 100: the Rohring Around the Clock 100. And I had noticed that my attitude toward this race was completely different from that of any other race. I was going to finish. It was just a matter of how long it would take me. And I knew it would take me less than 30 hours.

This was another looping course of 3.15 miles. It was a very flat course. In fact, the race director touted that this would be the course that broke a lot of PRs for the runners.