I’ve been looking forward to this race in about a year now, gearing up and trying to train for the race. But several circumstances have come around, especially in the past 2 weeks, that made my decision not to attend this race in 3 weeks.
1) Two people from my crew have to withdraw. One of them found he has a family member with a critical health problem; the second has to be on a business trip the next day after the race.
2) I myself have to be in Maryland the Monday after the race. I have certain obligations that require me to be certain places every so often. I can theoretically do the race and go directly to Maryland, but I don’t think it would be prudent to just up and leave after doing a grueling 100 mile run.
3) Despite some successful weeks, my training is still not there. I haven’t shed my body weight to 185 pounds and I was sidelined for nearly 2 weeks with a severe toothache that prevented me from training as well as just about everything else.
4) Cash flow problems. The root canal that I had to get for my dental problem was more than $1000. The trip to Ohio, the payment for the hotel for 3 people and the trip back costs money, money that had to be spent on the root canal. With all the uncertainty about the economy nowadays, I frown on breaking my budget in general, so sacrifices have to be made. If I knew I had a great shot at finishing the race, then I would borrow from my savings.
I regret this, but it makes sense to delay the 100 miler to the fall, when I have the right training under my belt and a crew to go along with me. I am eyeing the Grindstone 100 Miler in Virginia as a possible fall race on October 2, a good, challenging race that would be great to aim for.