Ok, so I have been REALLY bad this year blogging. Maybe I should do transcription of my thoughts via plug in (If it was only possible.)
Certainly thought I would have written something in August or September following by European race debut. However, work muscled its was in to dominate everything since the time I got back from my Scottish vacation in mid-August. In fact, things got so bad that I took 3 whole weeks off in the middle of September. Yes, right in the middle of prime fall training and racing, I lacked the mental and physical bandwidth to run.
Consider also this, as I have anxiety and am on medication to manage it, yet, it looks like my dosage will need to be adjusted up. (Went on it finally. Probably should have addressed it YEARS ago.) Job duties are increasing and that is all fine and good but the logistical aspects and time demands are multiplying. I've worked some weekend time and in September I was putting in over 10 hours of overtime a week on average. So yes, the impacts to my running have been quite substantive in 2018. To end the year, I wound up staying really close to home doing 5ks. Not nearly as quick as I hoped but still fairly decent performances. The lack of stress doing that distance versus a marathon or ultra probably helped me manage to do them. In fact, work and/or anxiety knocked out 4 races I had been signed up for....Breakneck, Georgia Jewel, Bucks County Marathon (where I would have been attempting to win 5 in a row) and just this past weekend, Ancient Oaks (which worked out well because I went to Disney a day earlier and learned running Ancient Oaks would not have made Disney fun at all the day after).
Not all was bad. I managed to do the 50K distance at Batona (that Econolodge was certainly overpriced). And even more amazingly, I did an ultra in Ohio (Bigfoot) while out there for a week of work training (which itself brought on a lot of stress.)
I did also manage to run a nighttime 3 hour in Georgia on a quick getaway where I did a 5K in the morning. That trip also had lots of Waffle House. (One sitting was between finishing the 5K and the awards) Yum!
Probably would say the highlight of the year was racing on the West Highland Way in the Devil o the Highlands race. Sure, I took 2nd place but at one point I was in 7th. I moved up 5 places in the last 15 miles. I cut a 16 mile lead down to 8 in that span with 7 of that in the last 7 miles. Plus, it was the most beautiful landscape.
We'll see what 2019 holds but I'm going to take it as it comes. There are races I want to do but clearly with my changing landscape, I need to be a little fluid. If that means smaller events where I can show up day of....so be it. May the new year bring all the readers here great success in what they wise to achieve in whatever avenue of life.
