Saturday, December 1, 2018

Still...A Pretty Good Year

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Fruita Trail Festival


Mid April I competed in the Fruita Trail Festival by Gemini Adventures. I raced the 50k with a fair result as well as volunteered the next day to help with the half marathon. Reid and his crew work day and night to make all their events special, and it shows.

I am a race pacer for Beast Pacing. You know- the runners that carry the sign for a target finish time or pace.- that's me. Its such a rewarding experience and a great way for me to give back to my running community as well as get a workout in! Early May I paced the Colorado Marathon with the 4 hour finisher group. Mid July brought me to "...a place where the beer flows like wine, where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. A little place called Aspen..."-Lloyd  I paced the Aspen Valley Half Marathon. I attempted to pace the 3:50 group at Boulder Backroads Marathon too soon after another race and had to pull the plug at mile 23 and hitch a ride to the finish. Luckily, no runners were impacted by my inability... and my last race of this season was Denver's Hot Chocolate 15k (9.3 miles) as the 7 minute per mile pace group. Its always a good time with the Beast crew!

I tagged another three trips up Mt. Sopris... That middle one was a bit sketchy as Thomas and I spooked a mountain lion out of a tree...otherwise, I just love this place...

I ran the inaugural Sunny Half- a half marathon in and around Sunlight Mtn Ski Resort with 3k vert total in late July.

I ran the Snowmass Loop and found myself face to face with a big cinnamon bear...

I tagged the new rerouted South Elbert trail this fall after our friends exchanged vows.

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Above the lake in Leadville
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Mt Elbert
The biggest of my athletic goal was the Leadman series. 5 races escalating in difficulty finishing with my favorite, the  Leadville Trail 100 Run. This was a challenging series and I found myself chasing cutoffs in both the 100 mile mountain bike race and 100 mile run. All in all I finished, not as high as I first had hoped but I still got it done.
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My new Leadman Pick Axe- Dig Deep!

We spent a lot of the summer in Leadville with my races, a family camping trip, and a wedding. We took a short family vacation this fall to Disney Land.  This was a quick drive to Cali with stops in Vegas to "get out and stretch the legs". One day at the park and the other spent at the beach. Fun was had by everyone!
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Splash Mountain!


I am on my third job this year-
I was working with the Recreation Center in Snowmass Village for a few years and left in April. I took a retail managers position at a local store selling shoes and left there in September. I am current getting paid to install solar for commercial and residential applications...
I have bounced around a bit this year, and not sure where I will wind up. Prior to this year I've had two jobs for 17 years, so not really a comfortable or common situation for me to put myself in. These are all great places to work. I guess I'm still unsure what I want to be when I grow up...

What I didn't do-  I didn't get a 4 pass loop in- circumnavigating around the Maroon Bells, I didn't get to stand on the top of a 14,000 ft mountain that I haven't done before, I didn't get to Moab for that desert trip, I didn't visit the San Juan Mountains, I didn't get the girls out to camp off the grid, I didn't leave enough time for that weekend getaway with my wife...

These things that I didn't get done will still be there for our next adventures, still there for the taking. The list ebbs and flows and inevitably will overflow as it does every off-season. With the completed and yet to complete... still... a pretty good year...

And so.., today is December 1st. The last month of the year, but more so- the beginning of my 2019 campaign. With almost 8 weeks off from structured training, I was able to put on 12-14 lbs...and I'm not too worried about it. Today was a 3.5 mile snowshoe and just like first days of most things, it hurt. I walked a bit, I looked around and took in the surroundings, and I even brought the dog who cant keep up when I am in better shape. It's not always going to be an easy and painless process. Regardless if I hit my target goal for the upcoming season or not, I always try to enjoy the journey...