My Active Adventures

Rocky Raccoon 100 mile Sub-24 hr Finisher's Buckle Well, I was trying to mostly keep it quiet until I officially registered, but I let a handful of folks know and my wife let a handful of folks know, so now lots of people know.  Might as well go ahead and post it and all my whirlwind thoughts on it.  On February 2, 2013 I will be running the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile!  It's been quite a winding road to get to the decision to go for this, but I think the processes that got me here is part of the reason I am confident that I can accomplish the goal.  It all started well over a year ago when I started thinking about doing a 100 mile.  Over time I kind of let that goal fall to the wayside due to a number of shortfalls and struggles I had during 2011, but I never completely let it fall apart.  I let it slip to the back of my mind a little. Me & my mentor Sherrie in March ' After a good run in my last marathon of 2011 and several good runs throughout the end of the y

So, there's this article that's been going around Facebook the last couple days and I've been asked about it more than a few times, so I thought I'd just provide my thoughts here in one place.  The article is called "Ultrarunning Is Dead" by Geoff Roes and appeared on IRunFar.com .  First of all let me say that I hardly have the resume to dispute anything Geoff Roes has to say!!  Heck, the course record at Western States is but one of his many course records at ultra distances; I've done 2 ultras total so far, so I definitely don't have the experience to contradict Geoff.  But as a blogger I get to respond pretty much to whatever I want so I'll respond anyway.  I highly recommend you read the article before you read my thoughts on it; I always sucked at book reports!! My first impression was of the title as a link on Facebook.  I was immediately hooked into reading the article because it seems to me that ultrarunning is as alive and well as ev

"Make friends with pain and you will never be alone"  - Ken Clouber (Leadville 100 Founder)   Lincoln Marathon shirt & bib  What a crazy weekend!!  This is almost not even a race report as much as a wild weekend report!!  It's hard to even know where to start with this one.  I guess I'll start with the fact that this was my 4th marathon so far in 2012.  I had already decided that after this event it would be time for a little break to let my body and mind recoup a little bit.  It's been a fun first just over 4 months of the year, but it's also been tough.  This weekend was quite a way to bring this first part of the year to a close and move into a nice rest, I earned it for sure!!  Let's start with Friday. Sculptures on the Kansas City Art Institute campus The race was on Sunday, but I took Friday through Monday off work to enjoy a nice, long weekend.  I went to the Roeland Park Aquatic Center in the morning for a good worko

 (R to L) Kristy, me, Ron, Lindsy & Bobbie at the Run For The Bridges Trail Marathon 3/17/12  Okay, fine, I'll do it.  I'll throw out the old cliche' because it does fit this post.  It's a marathon, not a sprint!  Last year when I set my goals for the year I broke it in half.  I planned to work on some marathons in the spring/early summer to get my base built up to where I want it and then the late summer/fall would be back to Ultras.  Then in February when I set a new biggest goal of the year, the Hawk 50 mile, I broke the year into thirds instead.  The new plan was several marathons in the 1st third of the year (Jan 1-May 6), having fun and building up training through the 2nd third (May 7-Sep 7) to finally be ready for the 50 miler followed by recovery and some fun for the final third of the year (Sep 8-Dec 31).  Well, that 1st third is nearing an end.  This Sunday, May 6th, I'll run the Lincoln Marathon which will be my 4th marathon of the year.  H