Final Western States Strategy? Oh, yeah, that...

Go West youn...um, older man!

Start of the Western States 100 which will happen in 5 days!

You think, with a long race like the Western States 100, someone like me has some sort of "elaborate" race strategy that will work 100% as planned and will get me to the finish line in great shape.

I hate to disappoint you, but as an older gentleman with a lot more wisdom than he has before, I already know that any "elaborate" strategy is doomed to fail.

This is 20+ years of endurance races talking here! And I'm not the guy who wants to set himself up to fail. Sorry.

But yeah, I have a strategy. It's really a simple one, and probably the best strategy I've ever embraced at all.

Once the starting gun goes off, I take a step, then another, and another...until I get to the finish line.

Too simple, huh? Well the strategy does work...100% of the time.

If I encounter a hill, walk it. If the course turns downhill, run it. Both involves putting one foot in front of the other. Other than allow only 3-5 minutes at each aid station, stopping is not allowed.

 In any case, I never try to think about anything further than getting to the next aid station. As long as I keep the water bottles and my belly full for the duration of the race, I should be fine.

That's it. Truly!

I guess I've fully adapted the "Type B" personality strategy after all. I would have NEVER thought that possible just a few short years ago!

Oh and just the fact that I will be having a heck of a lot of fun during this run and talking to people, enjoying the sights of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to keep my mood positive. If I do pick up a signal, I am hoping to put in some Tweets. The hashtag will be #ironpete.

The website also has an Athlete Tracker. If you click on this link you will be sent directly to the tracker. You'll see a whole slew of names when you click, but there is a search all the way at the top of the page. Just put in my Bib# (340) to get to my personal page.

I fly out on Wednesday, so I might have one more blog in me. There's a huge send-off party for 4 of us going to Western States in Manhattan, and I'll definitely write about that in tomorrow's blog.

If I'm not hung over that is...

(just joking, I'm definitely not drinking alcohol this week).

Tomorrow I will have time to make it to RVRR's Summer Series race at Donaldson Park in NJ. I might want to pick some peoples' brains about the actual course (Mr. Dixon and his crew that went there last year) and maybe even participate in the race itself, non-competitively that is.

Five more days until Western States!