Talk about a drop off.....

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.

Oh look...it's the first post of 2018

In May. Nearly 5 months since my last entry. I've consciously made a decision to not blog so much. A number of factors played into this including but not limited to:

Not having a ton of notable races.
Getting sick with Bronchitis in January that added a number of unexpected weeks off.
Working on my anxiety.

Honestly, while I will continue to post entries to here, the intended frequency of the past will not be the same. Part of this is that one of my main drivers in creating this blog was in hopes of building some following or having it as a vehicle to getting and maintaining sponsors. For a few years I'd say there was a minor level of success with a shoe partnership (which ended in Dec 2016). However, I feel trying to produce results and content to entice sponsorship created a burden subconsciously that took away from my running. I really felt like I wanted/needed sponsorship to garner some justification for the hard work and effort in my ultrarunning. In working on my anxiety, I've made some determinations that I was no longer going to worry about contacting companies that might be good for a partnership of runner and brand. Also, I've adjusted to embrace a lighter travel schedule. Meaning my short races are REALLY close to home and try to minimize driving to other longer events. In turn this can help with recovery and having more beyond running.

Part of this could be seen as slowing life down a little. I find myself watching less TV and reading a lot more. Last year, I had a list of 27 books that I read. This year I've finished 20. Even had a couple of novels in there. (Most of the content is non-fiction.) Now, if I could find a way to feel comfy reading in bed. For some reason that is not as conducive.

Oddly, as part the shift, I've been listening to a lot more synthwave acts like Le Cassette, LeBrock and The Rain Within. Maybe it is because the metal that has come out this year is a whole lot of meh. But we did get a new Andrew WK rock album that has two of my favorite inspiring songs of the year in Ever Again and Music is Worth Living For.

While you're here, I reckon I should mention some running material.

On April 29th, after years of chasing, I broke 8 hours in a 100K. A 31 minute PR at Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug 100K in 7:30:51. I'm really proud of that time. Certainly, will tell you that 62 miles on the road is tough. I ached in ways I hadn't before. I took a couple of days off and will ease back into things for the next few days before my next challenges. If the mood hits, I might blog about 'em. I can say I look forward to more running and racing on trails in the year.

Don't take this as I don't like talking about running because I most certainly do but talking up what I have done is actually not the most natural thing for me. (I'd like to this those who have met me know this a little. I'm just another person.) But since I'm not going to chase sponsorship anymore (that is not to say I wouldn't love to be sponsored) I can cut out some of that stress.

More likely, I'll post notable results on my athlete FB page (which you might have gotten the link to this piece from.)

Well folks....that's all for now. See you at the races....