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Writer's pictureJanie Crouch

Fire & Ice Ultramarathon: WHAT IF...

(if for some reason you don't know, I'm running the Fire & Ice Ultramarathon Aug 26-31, 2019. Read more about the race here) This photo showed up on my Facebook news feed the other day:

My first thought was: that's pretty profound.


Okay, actually, my first thought was: where are the opening quotation marks?


But my second thought was, that's pretty profound. (Well...after wondering if that was actually the best picture for that quote? Is the guy about to jump?)


ANYWAY.


I discovered a large portion of my stress about this race has to do with not being able to prepare for all the possibilities.


I'm a mom of 4. Planning is my jam. It's the only way everybody gets fed, has clean clothes, makes it to all their various events on time, and generally survives without me losing my mind.


I have plans. Then backup plans. Then backup plans for my backup plans.


But with this race, I have to choose: being prepared vs. what I can physically carry on my back.


Is it going to rain? Snow? Will I get blisters? Chafing? Will I be able to sleep? Will I be able to digest these types of food for 6 days in a row?


What if my headphones break? Should I bring an extra pair?


What if my allergies act up? What if I chip a tooth? What if I get a yeast infection? What if I start to vomit? What if I get a hang nail?

Actual picture of Janie and her phone

And for the love of all things chocolate...what if my battery pack or charger cord fails and my phone dies?


What if... What if... What if...


Finally, I had to reluctantly accept that I cannot be prepared for every possible scenario I may face on this race.


Then I appreciated the guy up on the cliff even more. Was he about to jump because the stress over all the WHAT IFs?


At this point, both Megan and I are ready to do this. We're in the final stages of getting everything packed, getting ourselves to Iceland, and getting this race DONE.


And since it's officially after midnight here in Germany, I leave tomorrow.


I've prepared as best I can for what can go wrong. Now it's time to see what goes right.

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