Pre-race Jitters

Guess who's back

Training in Puerto Rico in February

“The path to paradise begins in hell.”
― Dante Alighieri

Much to my great shame, I let the Haters win these last two months. Shortly after my last newsletter, now an embarrassing number of weeks ago, it got back to me that someone I considered a dear friend was mocking my running efforts at a party. Instead of laughing this off, I prickled in defense. I let my pilot light of insecurity and imposter syndrome erupt into open flame. Luckily, running is great for avoidance! And eventually, if you run far and hard enough your brain will dump a metric ton of hormones and chemicals into your sad-excuse-for-a-getaway-vehicle of a body and everything you’ve been trying to avoid will be released like greedy felons eager to pummel you with all the emotions and feelings you so carefully had tucked away until you cry it all out.

So, I have been running.

Nevertheless! We’re back! Literally, I am back in LA and I am back to writing. Ugly tears and all. Today after a shakeout run, my team, the Feral Angels, will head to The Speed Project headquarters for a safety briefing and then load up the RV. The solo runners have been on the course since Monday and have shared some harrowing videos running through flooded streets. Tomorrow, we set out at 4am PT.

Unlike other races, TSP has no central website and resorts to email infrequently. Instead, each year Nils starts a Whatsapp groupchat that all participants join. This gives a lot of credence to the narrative line that we’re “just going for a run with friends,” that is genuinely what it feels like. This year in particular feels special. In the past, teams have been secretive and competitive when it came to mapping out which course to take. This year multiple teams have shared with the group gpx files, full Strava maps and segment breakdowns, color-coordinated spreadsheets, and more to help one another out, newbies and vets alike.

And last night, all the participants were invited to a house-party style pop-up with beers and kebabs on the grill, for a special screening of WE ARE ALL PROTAGONISTS, a documentary project by Tilly GW which you should check out:

Gear talk and teasers

I have packed four pairs of shoes this year, up from three last go round. I logged just shy of 600 miles training specifically for this race, nearly doubling my time on feet compared to the 2022 race prep. The majority of those miles were in ASICS Superblasts, Nike Vaporflys, and thanks to Under Armor, I got to test out their UA Infinite Elite running shoes. In addition to those I have a pair of trail shoes, and it looks like they’ll get more play in the wet conditions on the course this year.

Over the course of training, I set a new half marathon PR, if this post gets one (1) like I’ll share the race recap that I am thinking about heavily editing because I was hungry when I wrote it and don’t think I was entirely fair to the race organizers as a result. I also traveled to Puerto Rico for the first time since living there through the 2020 lockdowns. If this post gets two (2) likes I’ll share what is now a time capsule of an essay (that was pitched to and rejected by no fewer than 24 publications when I first wrote it) of what it was like to quarantine and run on the island.  

Place your bets in the comments on if you think we’ll make it to Vegas in under 50 hours! There might be a surprise at the finish line…