A step away from madness

Deep down, I hope that I inspire people to do things that they thought were impossible.

Most of the time however, people just shake their head at me.

"You're running how far?!"

"Are you stupid?"

"Run Forrest, run!"

I've come to believe that ultra-running does require some extra chemical in the brain that (1) ignores what everyone else thinks, (2) ignores pain and (3) ignores common sense.

This week I've been fighting that chemical and wavering back and forth on how badly I want to run the Coldwater 50k this weekend.

I feel pretty good after last weekend's PF Chang marathon yet with all the elevation of the Coldwater course, I have no doubt I'll be destroyed.

I hate (yes, hate) not fulfilling commitments - especially ones I've paid for! :) Yet at the same time, I feel so under-trained and sloppy that it seems like an exercise in futility to go push the boundaries of the 9-hour cut-off time on Saturday.

Even as I write this, I thought I had decided to run the full 50k...now, I'm not so sure.

"But I don't want to go among mad people,' said Alice. 'Oh, you can't help that,' said the cat. 'We're all mad here." - Lewis Carrol