My Active Adventures

What can I say about 2013? It was an interesting year. I ended 2012 completely burnt out from too many races I didn't really run for myself, so I pretty much took a lot of 2013 off from organized training. I decided I wouldn't run anything more than a half marathon this year, and really couldn't see myself running anything longer than that ever again. In 2012 I had come to hate the long distance races. Sometimes you need a rest day, sometimes you need a rest week, sometimes you need a rest year. I was in desperate need of a year not running every race anyone suggested to me and just enjoying life a little. I took things pretty easy as the year started, basically working out when I felt like it and not working out when I didn't. No set training. I was working out most every day, but my workouts were generally shorter distances, weight training, and unstructured. I just mentally wasn't into it and the more time went by, the more I felt like I had no interest in runn...

Katya & me pre-race Right now, my activities are singularly focused on preparing for the Psycho WyCo Run Toto Run 50k on February 8, 2014. To that end, I signed myself and my Husky, Katya, up for the Alternate Chili Trail Run on December 14, 2013. This race is one loop (10.35 miles) of the Toto 50k course, so it is an excellent chance to get a training run in under race conditions. I've been running the loop each weekend, often both Saturday and Sunday, so although it is a tough trail, it is becoming more manageable for me. The first time I ran this loop this year I did it in 2:39:52 and over the weeks I'd gotten that time down to 1:58:04.  Another shot of Katya pre-race I was hoping to finish the race in less than 2 hours, but the day before the race it rained all day then the temps dropped drastically and it turned to snow overnight. That meant that more than likely, the trail would be icy and slick. Well, at least it's not knee deep mud! The fastest tim...

Well, it's been about 6 months since I posted here. Sorry, it's been kind of a different year for me. In 2012 I ran 8 "official" marathons/ultras and 2 "unofficial" marathons/ultras. That really left me burnt out mentally and physically. I needed to reassess how I do things. I needed a break. This year just became about learning to get my love of running back and to come up with different ways to go about things to prevent such burn out from occurring again. As someone who loves running, it wasn't a pleasant feeling when I hated every run I went on. That's a big part of why I've disappeared from this blog. I'm not going to give you a step-by-step update, but I thought I'd let you all know that I'm still around and doing well. I spent much of the year just running when I felt like it and not running when I didn't. It wasn't until September that I really started running and training on a regular basis again. At that one of my ...

I have expressed a number of times this year, and in the few days since this race that finding triathlons has really changed my attitudes on training and has been amazing for me. I hope that excitement and love of multi-sport events comes through in this post. First, I want to explain something that you will need to know as this report goes on, I will mention it a number of times. I have not run this race before, but I will refer to my course record a number of times anyway. This event is run on the same course as the Shawnee Mission Triathlon , which I ran last year as my first triathlon ever. There was one change made to the course for this year, though. Last year the run was 2.4 miles and this year it was extended 0.8 miles to a 3.2 mile run. Other than that, it would be the exact same course. Leading up to the race, I thought that was very exciting. I could really test what I could do know that I have really been training for triathlons and I have a better bike. Doing this same...

Well, it's been almost 3 weeks since the race, so I guess I better get my report out! For those of you that are not familiar with the Kansas City Corporate Challenge , let me start by explaining what this competition is all about. It really is a pretty cool concept. It is an Olympics-style competition for companies in the greater Kansas City area. There are MANY different events from the half marathon to a 1 mile walk to a track competition to a triathlon to golf to ping pong to disc golf and on and on and on. Companies pay for an overall entry fee and are slotted into divisions based on the number of employees they have in the area. Then the companies recruit their employees to take part in the various events at no cost to the employee. For any event an employee takes part in the company gets a point, also various points are given based on how the employees perform in each event. At the end of the competition, all of the points are tallied and the companies are ranked by their div...

"If there is one place that war doesn't belong, it's here. For 1200 years, from 776 BC to 393 AD, your fellow Olympians laid down their arms to take part in these games. They understood there was more honor in outrunning a man than in killing him. I hope the competition will resume, and if it does then you must not think that running, or throwing, or jumping is frivolous. The games were once your fellow Olympian's answer to war. Competition, not conquest. Now they must be your answer." -- Bill Bowerman (from the film Without Limits) Well, I'd have to say this was one of the two most emotional weeks leading up to a race that I have ever had. The other would be when we lost our Husky Dakota just days before I ran the 2011 Pilgrim Pacer Marathon. This time it was a strange but emotional week. It all started the Saturday one week before race day. I had been targeting a sub-2 hour finish for this event. The Saturday before the race I was scheduled for a 10 miler...