I’ve made a couple of trips to California that included races on subsequent weekends. One memorable combination included running the Avenue of Giants Marathon in northern California on Sunday, followed by the Bishop High Sierra 50 Mile the following Saturday. It was an interesting experiment. I felt ready for a marathon PR (Personal Record), hoping to slip in at something under 8 minutes per mile pace. The course, although very scenic, provided my first real experience with The Wall, making the last 6 miles ugly and painful. A marathon PW (Personal Worst) was what I ended up with. After a few days of woefully painful “recovery”, I managed a 3 mile shuffle. It wasn’t looking good. I made my way over to Bishop, in eastern California, with some anxiety about how this experiment might turn out. If I fell apart at the 20 mile point, it was going to be a very long day! By Saturday, my legs felt OK at the start. I was surprised when I felt back to normal for much of the race. The biggest surprise of all was over the last 6 miles, which felt about as good as the last miles of any race have ever felt, and way better than the same portion of the marathon just a few days before. So don't sell yourself short. If you have race goals, go for it and don't look back.
See you out there, Martin
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