This will be my fourth attempt to finish. Though I've run numerous ultramarathons and finished 100 miles twice, the furthest I've run at Leadville is 70 miles (where I missed a time cutoff).
To be honest, I often lack motivation in racing. Trying to win a race (or in this case, just to finish) is not terribly important to me. Racing for the sake of racing doesn't interest me. Sure, I want to accomplish this task and make myself physically stronger and mentally more confident. But I've been looking for more meaning in my physical pursuits.
So I've decided to team up with Coffee Kids. When I run in the Leadville 100, every mile will raise money to support the coffee farming families who work so hard for so little and produce coffee that we enjoy so much every day. I've set up a pledge form so you can give per mile I run. The race is 100 miles long, and I hope to finish this year - I've assembled a very capable team to organize my gear, give me support, and pace me the last 50. But even if I don't finish the race, we'll still be doing good for coffee families. Every dollar that you give will go directly to Coffee Kids for their various projects.
I plan to update this blog on a regular basis to tell you about my training leading up to race day and my thoughts and feelings about it all.
As I've done in the past, I'll also carry a digital recorder during the race and make a "jogcast" so you can hear (and feel) what it's like to run in the Leadville 100. You'll be able to find that after the race on the AA Cafe Podcast.
And if all goes according to plan, we'll have a page set up that will allow you to check in on August 16 (starting at 4a) and 17 (race ends at 10a) to see how I'm doing. If I can get a couple people to help with the continuous updates...
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