Journal · Stories · Couch to 100 · Part 1
The couch
The idea
This story begins in Olympic Valley, CA, vacationing with family as the Hardrock 100 kicked off. We tuned in to the coverage to cheer on Arlen Glick, a friend of the family.
Inspired by the athletes, I decided that I wanted to do that. That I could do that. That I would do that. And I would do it in a year.
And that is how my couch to 100 adventure began.
The couch
I'm 41, and it's been 25 years or more since I last ran, but I still remember how much I loved running through the woodlot behind our house as a kid: 5 km there and back. A beautiful escape.
For the decades since, I've been fairly sedentary.
Two years ago, also while visiting family, I was destroyed by the Grouse Grind. I couldn't let that happen again, so I started hiking with my partner most Saturdays.
A few miles was all I could manage at first, but over time we built up to 10 to 12 miles and around 1,000 ft of elevation, with much of that time spent in and around Folsom and Auburn, CA. A beautiful, if very hot, place to hike.
So that was my couch. Next I needed to figure out how to turn 10 miles of hiking into 100 miles of running.
The plan
Still in Olympic Valley, I did a quick search and found a plan that seemed reasonable: 3 phases, with the first phase building a base and the habit of running. Speed work Tuesday, strength training Wednesday, easy Thursday, long back-to-backs Saturday and Sunday.
I'd start when I got home.
Home on July 12th, first 30-minute run on the 19th. I don't remember much about it, other than that I couldn't run for very long at all.
I did a handful more runs through July. I needed to know how far I was running, so I settled on the Coros Pace 4, which arrived on the 8th of August.
And that is when my recorded journey begins.
This series
This series will log my journey from couch to 100. I am currently twelve weeks in with 213 miles logged, so we have a bit of catching up to do!
Follow along as I try to figure things out on the way to Rio Del Lago 100 in 2027.
Next up: a tumble down the Zone 2 rabbit hole.