First Race Excitement

My name is Joshua Pauley and I am excited to race.

So I have not written for The Long Run in a couple of weeks but it feels good to be back.  I have been very busy. But as of this post I am all caught up on everything – for the first time in over a month. And it feels good.

Internship over – along with a twenty-five page report assigned with it.  First piece for Endurance Buzz completed. And my homework is complete too!

Running has been going well. It has been consistent.  I ran 35 miles a couple weeks ago. And it was a bit of a slug fest and got sloppy towards the end. But I finished it with my pride held together.

The next week I was not as lucky at forty miles.  Ten miles in the liner of my tights was rubbing my man parts. By mile twenty I had begun to bleed! (How is that for a visual?)  I was so desperate for relief I was about to use peanut butter I had found in my car.  Luckily Mary had gotten my distress call and brought lubricant.  Crisis diverted…momentarily. As usual I had a workout within in the run and managed to smash that out of the park (that took me to mile 31). But after reaching 34 I was hurting.  The week of training was taking its toll and the stress of the run was being felt in my legs.  I continued on. I lost my mind at one point in time. I wondered what I was doing out there. Cried a little bit. Then I picked myself up and got back after it.

Someone had posted signs all around the lake. As I was beginning to catch a second wind I saw a sign that said, “Found the Energy.” I felt like this was oddly appropriate. I finished the run. I blew up over the last nine miles (4:43 total time). So I would say that it did not go great but I survived.

The next day I had 25 miles on the trails. I played it pretty conservative. But had a great run. It was a blast just to get to cruise along on the warm day.

Other exciting news: for the rest of the spring I will be pacing Kelsey Bruce through one of her workouts each week.  Kelsey is a NCAA national qualifier in both the 3000 steeple and cross country.  She has won several NCCCA championships as well. Also go ahead and toss in there a string of conference titles and school records. Needless to say she’s kind of the real deal.  Pacing workouts for her is mutually beneficial. The pacing she needs won’t be ball busting for me – but it will have me running faster than if I just ran by myself that day.  And it gives her someone to workout with – because she does not have anyone that can run with her. So I look forward to contributing to her continued success and mixing things up this spring.

Anna and Me

I also got another dog…well actually Mary got her. But I love her so much.  I also got to name her!  So I named her after one of my favorite trail runners: Anna Frost! Anna is a German Shepard and loves to cause trouble. I know we will have many adventures together!

This Saturday I will be making my ultra-debut at the Piney Woods Trailfest 50k. The course is basically a dirt road in the woods, pancake flat, and 2-3 loops. Pretty simple and very novice. I was originally going to use this as a training simulation and just treat it as a long run. But due to recent stresses in my life I have decided that I need to fight some demons – and there really is no better way than to push yourself to that point where you have to look deep within. I will be training through this race: hitting 120 miles in the process of this 50k. But on Saturday I will be taking the gloves off and hopefully getting a little dirty.

I am not sure what will come of this. Perhaps it will go well.  Maybe I will blow up at 25 miles?Who knows? But I do have some goals:

1) Glorify the Lord – even if this means failing then let it be done.  Win or lose, fast or slow, happy or mad just give Him the thanks and glory.

2) I would like to run quick here. It’s a flat fast course so it does not have the reputation of some of the other great courses like Rocky or Bandera. So if I can run fast then perhaps it will look good on a resume?

3) Lift others up. I would like to have a positive and loving attitude towards everyone I encounter – whether that be runners or aid-station workers.  We are all fighting a battle of some sort, so if I can encourage those that I stumble upon then maybe their battle will go a little better.

4) Enjoy the process

There is a chance of rain on Saturday. So I will be watching this closely and keeping my fingers crossed for no rain! But we shall see. I am very excited though. It is not every day that you get to race!

This past month has been rough.  This past weekend has been probably the worse that my family and I have had in years. But I just keep telling myself to keep moving forward.  And sometimes that’s all we can do. I thought of something on my run this morning and I kind of liked it. If you run long enough a mile is not that far. But if you live long enough a mile is not far enough. It is such a blessing to have a body that allows me to release stress and have quiet time by running. And sometimes running a mile is just not long enough. 

Thanks for reading. Keep moving forward.

~Josh