Three months.
Guess it has been a while since I've taken the time to write up anything here. You could say based on my year, it is a fitting. From a racing and training perspective, there have been patches that have been good and some that have been what we can say is not as good.
As I started writing this entry, my intentions was to do a play by play of those three months. However, with the way I am working to turn the page on the year and already look to 2016, I have opted to pop in for more of a reminder of 'Hey! I'm here!' To do a short summary, ES 100 was a DNF, SRT 74 Mile also a DNF and the SRT 20 Mile resulted in a big oops that added 1 1/2 hours worth of additional mileage. Steamtown Marathon resulted in a DNS decision on race morning. The last result there was made simply because knowing I could run 26.2 miles, my body and mind were not ready to RACE a marathon. Having tried to power through some of those other races (along with the other tough breaks from the year) I already knew what the reality was. Sure the timing was kind of poor and it likely cost me some payday, it was absolutely the right decision.
Not all has been bad. Some of the recent training has been nice. For the last week, it has been shorter (around an hour) runs on trails. Aside from a nasty spill, I took on Sunday it has been sheer joy just losing myself in the winding local trails a stone's throw from my house. Heck, some of the races have been fun. Winning the Alternative Half Marathon was a real joy. Especially since I got to run with my old friend Brian. Furthermore I got to see him PR! A victory at the Old School Trail Run was pretty awesome due to dropping the hammer on the first major downhill. I went all out like a madman moving from third to first with the move.There were a couple of other races but there is no need to rattle all of them off.
Sure more races are on the horizon. A few are scheduled but I'm not certain those are the races I will wind up doing. Why?
Following the decision to DNS at Steamtown, the biggest realization was that 2015 as a racing year aside from Umstead was a wash. Considering how life dealt a heck of a hand this year that definitely impacted my optimal training, packing away the expectations and just running for the rest of the year to establish a good base is the new objective. I'll do some races. I'd like to do some long trail races but at the same time, I want to keep the travel minimal. For the most part that is. I'm going to venture back up to Maine for some training before the calendar turns. Might even try another attempt up Mt Washington as long as it is not another day full of consistent 80 mile per hour wind.
All in all, from here on out it is about enjoyment. Being specific and sticking to a training plan is for the leap year. Right now, no need to take that leap right now. It is 2015, patience will shepard 2016 as it is meant to be.
