Training in the Shadow of a DNF… During a Pandemic

Part 1

Ronald Boos is a member of Team Ordinary and the United States Marine Corps. A whiz at trivia, he can be found frequently on our Early Morning Zwift Training Rides. This is Part 1 of a 3-part series.

The exuberance of inexperience:

The Lookout Mountain 50-mile Ultra is a race that weaves through the trails of Lookout Mountain surrounding Covenant College.  On December 21^st, 2019 I woke up at 4:30am in a little hostel in Chattanooga to get ready for the biggest single physical endeavor I had ever attempted. 

The athletes took the line on frosted tipped grass as the sun’s rays began to creep into the sky. Some brief announcements were made, and the countdown began. With excited anticipation hanging in the air, the starting horn sounded.    

Off I went on a grand adventure. Naturally starting a little hotter than planned, up and around the college on a paved road until eventually dropping in on a single-track trail.  I got my pacing under control, found my rhythm, and settled in for the long haul.  I didn’t know at the time how long, or more accurately how short, that haul would be.

“Why do you do that crazy stuff?”

2019 was a year of running for me.  A few months after completing a Spartan Ultra (50k) in 2018, I began a running streak of at least 1 mile every day for a month, which turned into 100 days, and then turned into a year.  I have an addictive personality, and while I have kept myself away from the trappings of life that would be negative if addicted to them, I tend to get really hooked on new things very quickly.

In 2017 when I rediscovered exercise and fitness, I made a goal to do a Spartan Race in my local area. This quickly became 3 races of longer distances within a month, which led to the 50k.  Noticing a trend here? 

The thing is, I’ve never failed a task that I’ve put my mind to.  Last year I signed up for the Marine Corps 50k in October on a whim.  Then I decided to run a mountain marathon in June as part of my training. This was my first, after which my running partner and I signed up for Lookout Mountain to cap off our year.  Everything was going according to plan, goals being crushed, until Lookout Mountain. It was there where I achieved my very first DNF (Did Not Finish).

I’m often asked why I complete long endurance events, always shooting for farther or harder distances and environments.  My answer has always been to find out what my personal limitations are.  People often joke during a hard race that they lost part of their soul on the course; I’d always joked about it myself because it’s common in a runner’s vernacular to express pain.  I thought I knew what kind of pain it was referring to. More than once I found myself hobbling across a finish line completely spent.  While I didn’t lose my soul on that mountain in Tennessee, I certainly left behind part of my spirit. 

I lost all desire to run after what I considered at the time to be my first failure. Along with that went some of the discipline that I had built over the previous 3 years.  I thought that I could take some time off, stop being so structured with my nutrition and have plenty of time to regroup and get on back on track with my training.  Certainly 37 miles wasn’t the limit that I was searching for.  But that was, and currently is, the high-water mark on my running career.  I was certain that I’d be back in 2020 for revenge, come hell or high water.  Unless of course the race got cancelled, but that would never happen.  Right?

To be continued…