2012 year in review

Holy cow has it been a long time since I have been here. I guess sometime we do not feel like we have much to share or that we just feel like people do not care what we have to say. Either way I am back to review the my 2012 year. Now you might be saying to yourself man that seems like a lot to cover. I will give you the cliff note version.

Music:

This year like every year before it has had a soundtrack to it. Music in my life has always been very important, it's fill's the gaps. Cursing in my car, sitting by the computer, or gliding along during my runs. Music is a big part of it. That being said this is my top 10 album list for the year.

10.) Of Monsters and Men-My Head is a Animal
9.) The Avett Brothers- The Carpenter
8.) The Gaslight Anthem- Handwritten
7.) Silversun Pickups- Neck of the Woods
6.) Jack White- Blunderbuss
5.) Django Django
4.) Trampled by Turtles- Stars and Satellites
3.) Alt-J- An Awesome Wave
2.) Snow Patrol- Fallen Empires
1.) Linkin Park- Living Things

What can I say Linkin Park never fails to deliver for me from album to album. That being said it was a great year in music and picking my favorite 10 was no easy task.

Running and Races:

It was another ok year in running for me. I did have some fun and epic type runs but just overall a so so year. I think having my achilles being such a problem all year did put a damper on a lot but that being said all running is good running in my book. Some highlights would be...

*Watching my wife Sonya battle back at Fans 24hr for a great finish
* My winter trail miles with Paul, fun stuff in the snow
* The RV trip with Adam and Paul to Arkansas for Sylamore 50k
* Running solid at Chip 50k even though my foot was on fire
* Fun night run with Nick at Afton then the 40 miler in rain with Paul and Brian
*Pacing my friends Adam and Maria at SHT 100 miler ( Maria's first finish! )

So as I put a cap on 2012 I look forward to 2013 with the hopes of many more miles and experience with my great friends. As simple as it sounds I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and good things will happen!!

I will leave you with this fun video about Mike Foote. Man this might be a good way to live huh?

Why we run?

Lot's of us run. Lot's of us run races. Why do we run? The list could go on and on with reasons. I think the best part of running is that it is so simple and straight forward, it is pure. Here is two examples of what I mean. In one video we see the adventure of running where it is not about speed. In the other we see the racing at it's best. Man vs. man with 3 olympic medals on the line. Both beautiful in my mind.

Endless Summer from VPMedia on Vimeo. Check this out and then come join me next Wednesday Aug 1st for race number #2 for the Endless Summer Trail Series.

The never ending trip

My buddy Nick who is "real big" into traveling this world sent this to me and I thought it was worth sharing with you all. Enjoy!!

Back in 1989, as the Berlin Wall fell, Gunther Holtorf and his wife Christine set out on what was meant to be an 18-month tour of Africa in their Mercedes Benz G Wagen. Now, with more than 800,000km (500,000 miles) on the clock, Gunther is still going.

The German former airline executive has travelled the equivalent of 20 times around the planet in the vehicle - which he calls Otto. He says he has never had a serious breakdown. Recently in Vietnam, Canadian-born photographer David Lemke joined Gunther on one section of his epic journey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18910560

Wow two posts in a week

Crazy huh, two blog posts in the same week. So I have been trying my best to take my own advice and do the little things besides running to try and get back. I have done my extra core stuff 3 times this week as well as got some blood work done today to just be safe. I am happy to report that I have run everyday this week so far and have felt real good overall. Not that I am running far each day or fast that matter. Just getting out and trying to have fun! We will see what the weekend brings me but I will give it a shot.

So did you miss the videos? Here is a good one.....

Asleep at the wheel.

Good god has it really been a few months since my last post? Well I am sorry. You know it there has been many reasons for my lack of blogging. In the end I guess none of them really matter. A lot has happen since the last post but I will quick update version. Well as you might remember I got hurt back on Easter weekend. My Achilles never has gotten 100% even after all that time. Do not get me wrong it is much better but over all still a pain in the butt. I did do a few races. I ran the Chippewa 50k back in April. What a super race to say the least. I look forward to running this one many more times. Sweet single track all over!! I did run much better than I thought I would. I ended up 19th in 4:35. I also lined up a few weeks ago for the Black Hills 100 mile. This was not to be my day. I felt not so great going into the race but was looking forward the trip and the day in the woods with friends. Race day it was very hot out. It got up to the mid 90's very early in the day, not very much fun for running. Then I had this wicked superman fall early in the race at 18 miles. After the fall my body felt like crap and was never the same. I ended up dropping out at 39 miles. Dropping out was not a easy thing to do but was the best thing to do in many ways. It still eats at me that I did not get it done on that day but do not know what else I could have done. I was not up to pushing my body and mind that hard for another 61 miles. There are other battles to fight. Plus not being totally crushed made sight seeing with my family a much more fun time.

After just a few days at work I was off to the 2012 USA Olympic track trials in Eugene,OR as a guest of Nike. Man what to say other than Track Town USA is the place to be for something like this!! I was out there with my buddy and boss TC Running Company owner Adam and we had so much fun. I will be back in the future that is for sure!

Since the trials it has back to life as I know it. Working hard at TCRC, trying to be the best husband/dad I can be for my family, and trying to run some. Running has not been easy as it has been real hot outside most days. I also have felt real run down so I am going into the doctor this week to get some blood work done just to make sure. I guess better safe than sorry. Not sure what racing has in store for me this year. I hope to do something this fall, but if my body does not come around then I will be happy just doing what I can to have the best 2013 I can. Frankly I am very tired of all the crap the last few years and truly know I need to make some changes if I want to get back to the runner I once was. So here is to a great late summer of running and bring on the fall time baby!!!

Trying the MOTOACTV

As a running store manager and just plain old running geek I love being surrounded with cutting edge products designed to make my run just plain better. About a month ago the nice people over at Verizon wireless here in Minnesota aloud me to use one of the new MOTOACTV by Motorola to see what I thought. They paid me nothing, just let me use a unit to see what I thought. This is my findings so far.

My Overview:

To start the watch has a nice look to it. It is not to big but yet it is big enough to make the readouts on the watch the perfect size. The band on the watch is very comfortable which means a lot to me as being a ultra marathon runner I have my watch on for many hours at a time.

The battery time on the watch is pretty good. Much like the many other GPS watches I have tried the more stuff you have running the shorter the life of the battery. All in all it is on par with the other options out on the market as of now.

The music player is very easy to use. I found moving music from my iTunes library to the watch to be smooth and easy. In fact I love how I can not only have tunes on the player but different play lists no different than my iPod.

You have the option to remove the watch/ music player from the wrist unit and put a clip on it so you can wear it on your shorts much like a iPod shuffle. This was a pretty cool option I thought since I am not the kind of guy who likes the arm band option which you can also do. Now you could still listen to it while wearing it on your wrist but when running I think that is no good since I for one tend to swing my arms pretty good. I could see if you wear biking how that would work.

I thought the GPS signal loaded up pretty fast overall. Like other GPS watches I tend to just set them outside and let them load while I tie my shoes and stuff to I am not freaking out while looking at the watch wanting to run that very second. I did do many runs using this unit on one wrist while using a different company on the other wrist to compare the readouts on distance. On the roads the MOTOACTV was every bit as good as many of the other competitors, but on the trails I seem to always have it reading a shorter distance than what I was also using.

The post running run info on the MOTOACTV is very nice. With in seconds of ending the run you can see all your info, even every mile split!! Also the online info once downloaded is nice as well.

Conclusion:

Do I think it is a good watch? Yes most differently a solid GPS watch. Would I by it? Yes without question I think it is worth buying, especially if you do not have a iPod yet. To me that is the biggest selling point on the MOTOACTV. To have everything in one unit is a big plus and something to think about. I look forward to seeing what the next version is like but at the time it is one heck of a watch/ music player.