1553. The Training Panic

Seven weeks out from my 100-miler.

The plan says I should be hitting 60-mile weeks. I’ve done 33, then 21, maybe 45 this week.

The voice in my head is screaming: “You’re not ready. You’re behind. You’re going to fail.”

Here’s the thing about that voice—it doesn’t know about my three previous 100-milers. It doesn’t know about my 50 bpm resting heart rate. It doesn’t know about the 65-hour work weeks I’ve been grinding through as an electrician and server.

The voice only knows the plan. And the plan assumes you live in a perfect world where nothing else demands your energy.

But I don’t live in that world. I live in the real world, where work explodes, life happens, and sometimes training takes a backseat.

The paradox? Experienced athletes panic about being behind because they care deeply. Novices blissfully follow whatever plan they can manage.

The thing is: Your fitness doesn’t vanish in three weeks. Your base doesn’t crumble. Your body doesn’t forget six years of endurance training.

What matters now isn’t catching up to where I should” be. What matters is building smartly from where I am.

The race doesn’t care about my weekly mileage totals. It only cares if you can move forward for 100 miles.

I can. I’ve done it before. I’ll do it again.

Trust the process. Trust my experience. Trust that sometimes the best training plan is the one that adapts to my life, not the other way around.