Pushing On

So lately I feel like I have had allot of people asking me "how do you feel"? That is a good question I have been thinking. In allot of ways I have been feeling good about my overall foot speed. I have been running most of my daily runs at a pretty good clip, but when it comes to my hill strength and overall long runs I have been feeling like I need much more work to be done. Now maybe over the last few weeks that has more to do with me fighting off this respiratory illness. I guess the cure is going to be a steady diet of hill training and some real solid long runs over the next few weeks!!

My friend Jeff Denney's son had a ski accident out in Utah a few weeks ago and lost his one leg below the knee. Jeff has been saying what a great attitude his son has had about it all and to me that is not shock to me as I think Jeff himself might be the most positive person I know. Running with him today we talked about feeling lucky that we have each day. Jeff is correct and I plan to think of his son as I train for this 100 miler and remember to always try to be happy for what I have and to remember to keep on pushing. It is sad that at times we need stuff like this to put it all into view. We are lucky to be alive on our planet.

ARC'TERYX Adam Campbell Chilcotins, BC Run from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

Sonya wins marathon!!

Yesterday my wife Sonya won the Modesto marathon. I am very proud of her as she is the hardest worker I know of. Going in her goal was a sub 3hr run as it has been a few years since her last sub 3 run but a win is a win!!

http://www.modbee.com/2012/03/18/2118369/video-runners-get-off-to-good.html

Bleeding for my sport

( Love his attitude towards the sport )

Where to start? Sorry for the long break between blog post. Things have been super crazy around home and the store. You can tell spring has hit and track season is underway. Crazy amount of people rolling in everyday, but hey that is why I love my job. The day in day out interaction with runners of all ages is what make my day.

I guess I should start with a little re-cap of the Sylamore 50k race some 4 weeks ago. Hmm well the trip was a perfect way to spend 3 days with my buddies Paul and Adam. Nothing like rolling along the highway in the TCRC RV listening to great tunes and talking, talking and more talking.

After the 12 hour drive we got all settled in at the Sylamore creek campground across the street from the start/finish area we got some grub and settled down for the night. Nothing big to report.

We awoke in the morning to a perfect day for a 31 mile trail run. It was like 38 degrees outside with some cloud cover. As we lined up at the start I saw my friend Mike Rush the owner of Rush running in Arkansas who I met a few years ago in France on a Salomon trip, it was so good to see him. I also saw Nick Lewis who I met a few years ago out at Leadville 100. He was second that year and was my pre-race favorite to win this race.

I was so happy to be back here in Arkansas and it was great to be back at this race after such a long time between visits. I knew I would not be as fast as the last time I ran here, that was ok with me. Being back here reminded me of coming to this race the first time with my then girlfriend Sonya before we where married. Good thoughts pre-race.

The race director said go and we took off and within like 5 mins Adam was gone and Paul and I wondered if we would see him later? At mile 1 we hit the creek crossing which always opens up the eyes with it's cold water that is almost waist deep. If you where not awake you are after the creek! Paul and I made our way down the trail together during the opening 10 miles or so. I was feeling super good and strong. I was seeming to pull away from Paul on the climbs but I knew Paul would always be right back with me. After the second aid station at like 11 miles or so I started to pull away from Paul and made my way to the turn around at 15.5 miles. I saw Adam coming back on the trail at 14 miles or so. He looked strong and when I reached the turn and saw that he had like 20 min's or so on me and that most likely the next time I saw him would be with a beer in hand at the finish line. Things can happen as I well know but I thought that was a safe bet.

On the way back to the finish after the turn I tried to be strong and pick off a few people along the way. While I did get some folks I also felt like I could not push as much as I liked on the rocky area's. That was going to be my downfall. Unlike me Paul is great on that type of ground and with like 2.5 or 3 miles to go he was right with me and pulled past with like 1.5 miles to go. My first thought was when I got back to the creek I could hammer and catch back up. When I hit the creek and did lower the hammer but I was to far back and finished 1 min behind him. My last mile was 6:30.

While I was slower than I hope, it was a good day. A good day with friends on a great trail! Still much work to do before the Black Hills 100 mile at the end of June. I will be there and ready to go. This was just one step in the process of getting there as I love this sport and will always bleed for it as long as I have a heart beat in my chest. Happy trails!