A Week Full of Miles
With so many races being cancelled in 2020, folks are coming up with all sorts of clever ways to challenge themselves. Twenty-two years ago, Tiffany Sivco avoided a one mile run at all costs. Today, she can’t get enough miles.
“You’re not going to graduate,” my school counselor said while glaring at me from across her desk. “Why?” Was the obvious question; however I knew why. I failed PE. In New York State, you have to pass all quarters of PE, within your four years of high school, in order to graduate. I had failed PE the first quarter because I couldn’t (or maybe wouldn’t, that’s still up for interpretation) run the mile.
Failing PE, caused me to have to double up on the class for the remainder of the year. Luckily, running the mile, or in my case, not running the mile was already done and over with, so passing the rest of the year was a relative breeze. That was 22 years ago and I often wonder what ‘high school Tiffany’ would say if she knew ‘adult Tiffany’ ran not only one mile but 26.2, 31 and even 50 plus miles, probably something along the lines of “were you being chased!?!?”
Twenty-two years later, I run for fun and I run a lot. My weekly mileage averages from the mid-50s to the mid-60s. Like every other runner, all of my spring and summer races have been cancelled or postponed. The most disappointing among them was VT100. To keep myself motivated during the COVID-19 shutdown, I started with some small challenges such as running a 5k, 10k and 15k in a day. Then I decided, if I’m averaging sixty miles a week why not try for 100.
Running 100 miles in a week is daunting. Just simply doing the math gave me anxiety.
My goal was to front load my week with heavy mileage so that by Saturday I only had a few miles to do and Sunday could be a rest day. I started Monday with 16 miles and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all 20 miles spread throughout the day between work (from home) and meetings. Friday came around and I did 16 miles on my treadmill. This left 8 miles for Saturday.
After a dreary and miserable Friday, I woke up Saturday morning and it was sunny and bright. I ran my favorite lake neighborhood and took pictures with the swans, trying to get close enough for a good picture, yet far enough away so I didn’t get attacked; swans are mean! It was a perfect way to end a great week of running. All in all, I finished my 100 miles of running in under 16 hours spread amongst the week.
What’s next? This is the question I keep getting asked. The answer is, I don’t know. I’d like to run a 50k and a 50 mile in the coming weeks. I’m also signed up for “The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K” which starts May 1. My goal for that is to finish the “race” by mid-June and if I’m still going strong complete the ‘out and back’ option for another 1000K before the race ends in August.
The next races I have planned are Enchanted Forrest 6 Hour in August, Rock the Ridge 50 Mile at the end of September, and JFK 50 in November and ultimately Vermont 100 next year. Looking forward to racing again, but until then, I’ll keep pushing myself and my limits with personal challenges.
A bit more about Tiffany….
Tiffany is a School Psychologist in a small inner-city school district in upstate NY. She resides at home with her husband of thirteen years and her two whippets, Abagail and Rex. You can follow her running adventures at Tiffany Runs Ultras
