JFK - The 5yr Plan

“Tell me, what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”  ~Mary Oliver 

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~Unknown

Since this is a journal of my running life, most of you don’t know that I’m a huge JFK buff. My office wall is covered in JFK memorabilia. I was a teen when all of the JFK conspiracy stuff began. And it just so happened that my mom had a commemorative plate of John & Jackie hanging on our wall. We would watch the conspiracy investigations trying to decipher the mystery. FYI: The government did it. 

Now you're asking, what does this have to do with running?  We’ll, there’s apparently a race in Maryland in honor/memory of JFK. How did I not know? How can I not run it?!? 

I’ve been looking into it & this is the loose, abbreviated version of the story…

Apparently in 1963 John F Kennedy said that our military men should be able to hike 50 miles (taken from an old Teddy Roosevelt quote). The news media covered an event where handpicked military officers attempted to traverse 50 miles.  In turn, it spurred a fury of 50 miles hikes by the general public that year across the country. Then JFK got assassinated. Only one race kept going.  A group of high school runners had asked to continue it in his honor. They are now coined as being America’s oldest ultramarathon. 

I’m sure at this point you’re putting 2&2 together. I'm going to do it before I turn 50. I mean I have to... I have 4 years to train. I’ve laid out what I think is a solid plan. I ran the Pikes Peak Ascent last year so I added it on the front & we have the 5yr plan. 

2021: Pikes Peak Ascent

2022: Dallas Marathon

2023: 50k race tbd

2024: Pikes Peak Marathon

2025: JFK 50-Miler

Could I train & do it next year? Probably.  

So why the 5yr plan?

1. I’m already in Wk4 of Dallas Marathon training.

2. I had already planned to target a 50k next year.

3. The Pikes Peak marathon has been on my mind. 

4. Sept 2026 I’ll be 50 & the race is in Nov. 

That’s some runner logic right there. I’ll see you in Dallas & log a few more updates along the way.

If you’re not growing, you’re dying; & I plan to live forever. ~Me

It’s not called 75 Easy

"Your mind and focus are far more powerful than you could ever comprehend." - Andy Frisella

Here I go again.  Another challenge to stretch & strengthen myself. I had a great year last year as you know, but I’ve been coasting. I got discouraged after the marathon training pulled my pace down. I know… wah wah. (Not sure if that’s how you spell a baby cry) 

Anyway, I decided that I needed to refocus. I have dreams of running faster & further. In order to do that, I’m going to have to work on my head game. 

A couple of my friends had done 75 Hard. It intrigued me to say the least. After a month or so, I decided to go for it. I ordered the book.

What is it, you ask?  Well, it’s described as a 75-day mental toughness program. 

It’s rigid. No substitutions. No compromises. You complete the daily tasks no matter what excuse you may come up with. Sounds easy enough, right? Oh, and if you miss one task that day, you have to start over from Day 1.

Here’s a look at the tasks.

I finished the book & started the next day. The next several blog entries will be following my progress through the program. 

Thanks for tagging along!