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