What's my Worth?

Hello everyone, I know I have been MIA for quite some time now. I still see what everyone was and is doing. Great job to those who have been doing well in their running this past summer and fall! I wish I could say the same for myself! I decided to take time off from the sport a while back. Since I had last posted, I was in the process of getting back in shape. I trained for 2 weeks straight, then one day I just decided to take some more time off. Thats where I am now. I just barely started training again after 7 months of doing completely nothing that involved fitness. Just sat on my ass pretty much the whole time. Just feel like my life has changed as far as priority goes. I am going to finish school in december, then I am getting out of Alamosa for sure. I've been pondering Colorado Springs a bunch. Anywho, that will come later. But during the time, I have gained weight, pulling way too much all nighters, Alcohol has gotten the best of me. Its been quite a transformation for me. I don't really like it, but in the back of my mind, I feel that I missed out on my college days being a crazy person. I also see and think about my wife and how much I have missed out on our relationship. If she was a runner, things would have been simple. I could go on with my life knowing she is on the same page as me.
Feeling like I have lived 2 lives, my running and my marriage. I have had to maintain both. sure some might say, thats easy... but, if you are in my shoes, my partner doesnt care for sports. she supports me, but one can only take so much.
Long Story Short..... I am showing her the ways of an athlete now, so she can see what it takes and I want to go back to kicking some ass!
So of course I won't be going to Nationals this year.... I have let you guys down, and for that I apologize.

More Stuff

It has been an interesting last several months, and while I am not a big believer in counting my chickens before they hatch, sometimes you've got to be an optimist and I think that the roller coaster ride of, "Um, I guess that run was pretty good" to "Um, did I really just drop like 10 minute miles for an hour and feel that bad?! Seriously? WTF." With no in between at all, might just be coming to an end! After a not-so-great chunk of training after the CC meet, the Rocky Mountain Shootout was a total wash (I'll spare everyone another self-deprecating story, it was really rough though). Excited as I had been to compete there, once the gun went off I was never even in that race. Well no, the brain was in it, but the body apparently not so much for whatever reason...maybe someone sent me some bad juju...I dunno. In any case, I finished a pretty dismal 20th. Prior to that day, I'd never thought of myself as a "choker" before, but that race left me wondering. But you can only accomplish so much by beating yourself up, and a race or two does not a season make. So I got back at it and thanks to some helpful advice along the way, I mixed up the training over the following couple of weeks and also quit doing most everything solo on the same routes. Okay, I still did most of the same routes--kind of a creature of habit like that--but sometimes I did them backwards or with no watch or at a different time of day or whatever. I guess that was just what the doctor ordered because the next week plus of training felt terriffic and my long run the following weekend was the best one I'd had in a couple of years, and at the Metro State Invite last weekend I actually competed instead of just survived. Even though I got out-kicked and it wasn't a "victory" on the results sheet, it was a huge confidence booster for a huge number of reasons and I felt more comfortable racing than I have in forever so I was extremely thankful for that. You have to enjoy all of the good races when you have them, not just the big ones. The meet was a smallish 6k collegiate race, but there was some very good competition there as with just about anywhere in the state, I really liked the course, it was a perfect day for an XC race, and the crowd support was awesome. Cross country meets are hard to beat.

Rocky Mountain Shootout


With any luck and a lot of work things will keep getting better from here. I think that they will. I feel like I have a ton of momentum right now and kind of just want to keep rolling out races every weekend, but also think I need a decent block of training to get things to the next level. I may jump into a Turkey Trot up in Denver or Fort Collins in a few weeks, but outside of that Club XC is the primary goal with USA XC couple months after, but one step at a time.

Anyways, great job to everyone who raced Chicago (Tera, Adrian, Robbie, Art, Paul, Greg, Tommy, Jason, and sorry to anyone I missed), Cow Harbor, and Tufts (Ali, Cassie, Amanda, and Wendy), keep up the good work. Happy trails.

marathon!

Every time I run a marathon I think.... why don't I do this more often? I LOVE the distance and last weekend in Chicago proved no different. I had a ridiculous amount of fun during the two and a half hours I was racing and I'm pretty bummed its over.
I was a bit nervous going in. I've been dealing with a foot problem for the last 2 months and didn't know how it would hold up. The morning of the race I was still trying to figure out what shoes, inserts, pads, etc I was going to wear.
I also don't particularly enjoy racing in the heat and was hoping for another 30 degree day like last year. It ended up being between 69 and 75 while I was racing. Not terrible but definitely not ideal.
I knew I couldn't do much about those things so I decided to stop stressing, try my best and have some fun. I felt fantastic pretty much the entire way. Normally in a marathon I'll have a bad patch or two but it just never seemed to come. I was really hot and very thirsty but never hit a wall or anything. My foot started nagging around 5 but thankfully didn't get really bad until after the race was over.
Now I'm looking at a nice long break to recharge the batteries and get my foot healed. Taking time off isn't my favorite thing but I know its good for me.