The mind should not be trusted.
Where to start? The Mid State Mile. A last man standing race that captured my attention when I saw an instagram reel of the first year finish. It wasn’t the effort of the winner that caught my eye but that of Greg Armstrong, the “assist” that year. We watched a man push his body to the absolute end, stumbling across the line in an effort to stay in the race and keep the competition going. This is probably a good place to pause and describe the race in case you aren’t familiar with the last person standing format. This is a race of unknown distance. When you start at the beginning of the day you have no idea how far the winner will have to run. There is a set course or loop with a specified time that it must be completed in. If you don’t make it back to the start in the allotted time, you are out of the race! If you finish the lap earlier than the allotted time, you can use it however you please. But, you cannot start the next lap until the predetermined time. Runners follow this format until there is only one person able to complete the loop.
At Mid State Mile the criteria is as follows:
Lap Distance: 1.1 miles
Lap Elevation: 340 feet of gain
Lap Time: 20 minutes
That 20 minute clock is what Greg was racing against when he stumbled across the line with seconds to spare immediately followed by picking himself up and heading out for another lap.
4 years later I found myself standing at the same starting line with 104 other runners. I didn’t feel the typical start line nervousness. I had spent countless hours training and planning. I felt strong and had a great crew with me ready to implement my plan of hydration and fueling and any other unexpected hurdle that might pop up. There were quite a few familiar faces. No one I knew personally but runners that had done well in previous years who I had most likely listened to on podcasts or their personal social media accounts. This didn’t deter me from my goal… I came to win this race! A bit audacious? Perhaps. But is there any other goal to have at an event like this? I don’t think so.
The day began as expected… crowded and hot! I allowed the group to take the lead and fell into the back of the pack. I had walked the course the day before and knew that I could finish in 18-19 minutes without running. The course runs in a figure 8 with two significant climbs so for the first few laps I made careful mental notes of how many minutes it took me to hit specific points on the trail. Within short order I had established a comfortable hiking pace and confidence in where I needed to be on the trail.
Crossroads- 3 minutes, the log at the top of climb one- 8 minutes, the old tree at the first descent- 10 minutes, the crossroads- 13 minutes, the root at the top of climb two- 15 minutes, the final descent- 16 minutes and then in the home stretch I would usually hear the 2 minute warning whistle. Easy Peasy!!
I managed to ignore the loop and distance count and just focus on staying in each section. As the morning wore on the crowd slowly thinned. There wasn’t much chatter in the back of the pack. I didn’t know the names of any of the runners but every so often you would notice the guy with the orange shoes or the lady with the green top is no longer with us. And so it went… all of us lost in our own thoughts. Not sure exactly when but at some point during the heat of the day, about half of the starting field had dropped out. I started recognizing the same people on each loop. Everyone would run ahead while I walked and then I would catch up on the climbs. So I start the typical small talk… what’s your name… where are you from… but not much more than that. It was HOT!
As the day wore on, runners that were struggling would join us in the back of the pack. You could sense the panic as the fear of timing out would loom. Still keeping an eye on my established checkpoints, I did my best to reassure them that they were fine… right on schedule and exactly where they needed to be. It was from this back of the pack position that I got to witness the same grit and spirit that Greg Armstrong had exhibited in year one. There were runners that I was certain were on their last lap and yet I would look over at the start of the next one and there they stood, ready to throw down again. True warriors, unwilling to give in to the pain in their body and the whispers from their mind telling them to quit. Eventually, though, the cruel 20 minute timer would claim another victim in spite of their best efforts.
And so it went. Day turned to night. The heat left but the humidity didn’t. At some point my confidence began to waver. My effort wasn’t needing to increase by much. I needed to run a bit to continue to hit my time markers but I still felt strong… it was my mind that was beginning to struggle. There were more laps where I didn’t have another struggling runner to focus on which left me with my own thoughts… and apparently that isn’t good. I also had started to not take in as many calories. This resulted in me feeling gassed on the climbs. I wish I could tell the story of how I dug deep, just like the amazing runners I had observed all day. That I pushed myself beyond what I thought was physically possible, channeling the spirit of Greg Armstrong, keeping my race alive as I stumbled across the finish line with seconds to spare. But that isn’t what happened.
Within a few laps of this energy dip, I listened to my mind, and timed out. I accepted the story it was telling. It said I had given my best and that I was just my turn to time out. And I believed it! Even when I finished I had myself convinced that I had given it my all. But as I reflect on this race and am honest with myself I know that, just like my body, my mind is not truly me. It is only an extension of me… one that should NOT be trusted! Neither my body or mind care about my goals or what I want to achieve. They only care about comfort.
60 loops, 66 miles & over 20,000 feet of gain. 8th runner remaining.
I am proud of what my body achieved while at the same time I am disappointed in how quickly I gave in to the whisperings of my mind.
But this is how we learn. Next time I may not be so gullible.