"Perhaps the genius of ultrarunning is its supreme lack of utility. It makes no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense."
- David Blaikie

Monday, June 4, 2012

Tap, tap tap... is this thing on?

Wow, 14 months since my last blog post.


The short update on the 2011 season: After my last post I went on to complete 3 loops at Barkley (the "fun run") before timing out, met some great people there, then got myself out to Colorado for Hardrock for my 2nd finish there in some of the toughest snow conditions they've had (18th, 35:59). Oh! And I won the masters category at the Rundola in Telluride! 

After July 2011 I went into hibernation for about 9 months, running a few times per week just for fun. I signed up for a few races including Mountain Massochist and Uwharrie 20M, but was focused on other aspects of life and just didn't feel like racing. My port side knee was also a little tender during this time and, frankly, I wasn't sure whether I was going to ever return to the mountain ultra genre that I like most.


So, here we are in June of 2012. I signed up for the CCC 100k around Mont Blanc a while back (sister race to UTMB) and now we're 13 weeks out (8/31) and on week 4 of a little base training ramp. Running an easy 12 miles per day right now just to get back in the swing of things. The knee feels fine now that I'm running on it more. Not doing anything fast or long yet. The plan is to pile on some miles and then switch into actual training with some more specificity in July. I'll be out in Colorado for Hardrock again that first week and pacing Adam Byerly from Ouray to Sherman (I think), so that should be pretty ideal training. 


So, that's it. I enjoyed some time away from serious-ish training and focused on some other things. Now feeling recharged and enjoying the structure of a training plan, goals, etc.

Oh, and I made the switch to vegetarian almost a year ago now. Feels great and I haven't been able to discern any impact on training.




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