I was walking down the street. As I passed two people having a conversation, I overheard someone say, “You gotta draw the line somewhere!” The lady stated this in disgust. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I laughed in my head. It got me thinking about athletes and whether they ever say that to themselves. Why would they say it? Where do I draw the line regarding the events and challenges I add to my calendar?
One of the events I think will go way past my line is a “Last Man Standing” event. I’m pretty sure I plan to add that to my calendar for next year. This race will force me to draw the line on how far I go. It will test how long I can keep things under control. What will be the first thing to cross the line? Will it be my body or my mind?
A Backyard Ultra is a unique and grueling endurance race format where participants run a loop of a specific distance every hour, on the hour, until only one runner remains. The standard loop distance is 4.167 miles (6.706 kilometers), which ensures that runners cover 100 miles in 24 hours if they continue for that long.
Each year, you should review your proverbial “line in the sand.” As an athlete, that could mean the biggest distances, hardest events, fastest times, or newest challenges.
Who drew your initial line? Think about that. Odds are it was the sum of past experiences or maybe someone you admired. At some point, you thought, “Well, maybe I could do that.” Maybe you and a friend crossed the line together in a race. You both expanded what you thought was your limit. Either way, you now have a line in the sand, and that’s it. A limit was born. Each year, I return to my running era. I contemplate ways to erase or redraw that line. I want to make it slightly higher or different than last year. A new line that puts me in new or novel situations to experience life.
You should be near, above, or sometimes well below your line in training. That means you have easy days, on-target days, and days way over your line of what you thought was possible. That’s because race day does the same thing. If you are pacing it right, you will reach your limit on race day. Then, you will need to decide if this is truly your limit. Was it self-imposed the entire time—a fabrication of your sum of past experiences? The mind wants to know if there is an end to the suffering, but what if there is no finish line? I think that’s why I want to try a backyard event; there is NO DEFINED finish.
If you do ultras, people will tell you all the time that you’re crossing the line in these events. It will be way past where most people drew their line, which was at 10K, half marathon, or marathon. The term “ultra” encompasses EVERYTHING past the marathon. There’s no limit to the length that these races and events can be, and that’s a good thing.
“You gotta draw the line somewhere!” Or maybe you don’t. They keep making longer and longer events; 200-mile races are becoming the norm just as 100s seemed crazy a few years ago.
I am not at the 200-miler event yet; maybe I never will be. But I want to draw the line over 100, so that’s why I want to try one of these backyard events. I want to understand what happens mentally and physically as I cross OVER where I think my conceived limit lies. My furthest distance to date is 105 recorded at Rabid Raccoon. I can’t wait until my foot crosses over where I drew my line and I am in uncharted territory. That’s where the magic happens, outside of the comfort zone.
Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey. You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.