The past few weeks have gone pretty well as far as the running goes. Last weekend John and I ran Dude where's the trail 50k. It is one of my favorite events. This year there was more trail and markings to follow through the woods than before. Unfortunately the weather was very cold and windy which made for a long uncomfortable 6 hours but worth it none the less.


The previous weekend we ran the Nathaniels run 6hr in Olathe. Another cold night but we managed to get in another 30+ run there as well. It has been nice to start getting in longer runs on a regular basis.
Both the boys have been going to wrestling practice the past few weeks and will be wrestling in a tournament in Lathrop next weekend. They are both progressing and starting to pick up more each practice.

203 days until Western States,.,.,sounds like a long time but it will be here too quickly. I hope to get to a good level of fitness by February to allow for 3 months of good training. Lots of time and lots of miles.

So..,.,.now what??

It just seems like yesterday when we were starting out football practices , now they are done and the cold dark winter is beginning to set in, cheerful huh?

Tristan's football team won the Truman Bowl championship last Saturday. They were the first Kearney team to win this, so it was a pretty big deal for them. It was very cold and windy Saturday. I was on the sidelines helping out for the game and the biggest challenge was keeping the boys warm on the sidelines. Immediately after the game we had to drive 4 1/2 hrs to the University of Northern Iowa for another game Sunday. It was in a dome Stadium against a team from Chicago. We won that game 38-6 and then got to drive 4 1/2 hrs back home. It was a very busy weekend as always but I really enjoyed spending the weekend with his team since the rest of the season I was always at Corbin's stuff. Tristan had a blast in football this year and is going to be a very good offensive lineman especially if he keeps growing so fast.

Corbin had a rough time at the Championship game Saturday. He teared up a few times because he was so disappointed that his team was not playing for the championship also. He is so passionate about what he does it is scary, he has the heart of a champion. After talking to a few other coaches I am pretty sure he will move up 2 years next year and play with the older kids. I was hesitant but every coach I talked to said it it the best thing for him. Luckily for him we started wrestling practice last night so that will keep him busy for now. We are still hoping Tristan decides to give wrestling a shot since he isn't playing basketball this winter.
Ella has been running around the house cheering and dancing nonstop. We will have to figure out something for her to do soon. She likes to get us involved and repeat the cheers and clap along. The only word she knows how to spell is B-U-L-L-D-O-G-S.
I am hoping to get to the trails this weekend, I really, really, need to get in gear. I have missed running on the trails. The treadmill and roads are getting old I am having a very hard time with getting my calories down to a level to start losing weight. I am good until about 7:00pm then it usually falls apart. I am not going to decide on running Rocky 100 miler until the end of the year to see where I am at. There is no reason to run it if I am not focused and ready to do it 100%.

WS 100

So, Friday night I was checking my email and saw a posting on the Ultralist where someone said they received notice today that they had been of of the TTL's selected for Western States this year. Crap, I hadn't received anything so I guess I would be waiting at least another year.
I then went to read throught some more emails and realized I skipped the first page of the inbox. There it was, a message from the WSER Webmaster titled "TTL selection into the 2009 Run." Needless to say I was pretty excited. I screamed out a few times and Tiff yelled down to see what was wrong, she couldn't believe it either.
The day before I ran my first marathon a few years ago Rick brought over Running Madness and Running on the Sun for me to watch. After watching them a few times I knew someday I was going to run Western States and now I get my chance.
I have a reason to run again which is what I needed. Something to focus on and prepare for, to circle on the calendar and count down the days remaining.
Life is good!!

FInally Fall

Fall is finally here which means there gets t be a little more time for running (hopefully). For the past several months I have just been hanging around 50 miles a week but should be able to start ramping that up soon. Hopefully I can get rid of about 15 lbs before Feburary to give Rocky Raccoon another go.
Both the boys have been busy with fall baseball and pop warner football, so free time has been about non existent. Baseball is over this weekend and football still goes through Nov 8th. Both of the footbal teams are in first place and hopefully will make it through the playoffs to the Truman Bowl Championship. Tristan has been playing Offensive and Defensive tackle this year and seems to enjoy it a lot more than last year.


I coach Corbins team and he plays about every postion. He is fun to watch. he has about 700 yards rushing and over 70 tackles so far this season. It amazes me that a boy who just turned 7 can do what he does on the field. Hopefully he will always have such a love for it and still be playing on Saturdays in 12 years.


I should find out in a few days about Western States next year, most likely I will be pacing Rick but there is a slim chance I caould still get in...doubt it though.
I may head out to the BS 50/50 Sunday the 26th. Saturdays are still filled with football so Sundays are the only option.

Congrats to everyone who finished Heartland 100 last week My friend Mark Stovall completed his first 100 at Heartland last weekend under 24 hrs with no crew or pacer!! Awesome Job Mark!!!!

Back in the Saddle

Well I guess it is time to get my fat butt back in shape again. Baseball season is now over and hopefully another 100 miler will be coming up pretty soon. I am waiting to see how the football schedule comes together but I plan on getting in a 100 sometime in the fall so I had better get a goin.
We spent 8 days in California for WS100 which was cancelled and vacation. Unfortunately Rick didn't get to run the race he has been training for the last but hopefully it will carry over into even a better performance next year. I was looking forward to paceing those last 40 miles. We spent 3 days around Tahoe, 2 at Disneyland and 3 in Huntington beach. It was a blast but it is nice to be back home (kind of).
The past weekend was the Psycho Psummer 50k at Wyco. I signed up last minute after staying out too late on the 4th a having a bit too much fun I was hoping to be able and finish. I ended up runnning the first 20 miles or so with John and Stuart Johnson which made it pretty enjoyable and ended up coming in about 6 minutes faster that last year. Hopefully that is a good sign that I can do ok with around 65 miles a week. I am just going to focus on losing some weight over the next few months.
I am coaching Corbin's football team this year, that will take a lot of time but it is manageable. Oh, I got my first tattoo while on vacation. I made Tristan go with me to get it. I think he was a little creeped out in the tattoo parlor but he did watch it being done. Here is a pic of the tatoo, I know what it means but so far no one else has.

Free State

Last weekend we headed out to Clinton State Park several days of camping and the Free State 100k. Everything seemed really rushed with Tiffanie working all week and we had to wait until the last minute to get the camper home and packed for the trip.


Wednesday evening we got the camper home and I was out it the cold dark rain repacking the wheel bearing after hearing some strange noises while bringing the camper home. If you decide to try doing this, it is not hard, although I strongly recommend not doing it in the dark, in the rain and with a headlamp for the first time.
Thursday after we got home from work we headed straight out to Clinton Lake where John had already reserved sites for both of our campers. We got some nice spots close to the lake and trail. It was nice because we were all able to take the kids out on the trail and down to the water without much trouble.


Friday John and I went mushroom hunting and hit the mother load. We ended up with 90 or so morels but many of them were the size of a 20 oz coke bottle. We sounded like kids on Christmas morning when John spotted one from across a creek and then realizing we were surrounded by 1/2lb morels. Needless to say we ate very well that evening.



Saturday we got up and hopped over to the next campground for the start of the race at 7:00. It had rained a lot the prior weeks so we knew it was going to be a mud fest. I remembered how I had such a rough time last year on this course and was hoping to do a bit better this time around. 3 loops of approximately 20 miles were waiting to eat me up.

Everything started out well for about the first 5 miles and then... I just wanted to stop. It was pretty much the reoccurring theme of the entire day. It took everything I had to stay out there running. I felt completely dead and many people passed me on the next 10 miles back to the start/finish. Caleb and Stacy Amos tried to boost my spirits at their aid station but I was stuck in a really bad place.

I just kept wanting to quit, everything was a struggle, I really am not sure what the problem was. My wife and kids did a good job of keeping me going. Anyone who heard my wife talking to me probably thought, man, she is a b$@^#!! but I guess it worked.
At the thirty mile mark I was talking to Rick and my son Corbin, I asked Rick how John was doing and he said he was about 30 minutes ahead of me. Corbin said " Yep Dad, he's pretty much kickin your butt!" Kinda funny, but true.
Fast forward to the end of loop 2. I was still feeling crappy but my faithful sidekick Rick would hear none of that. He was planning on running with John or I on the last loop, depending on who needed the company the most and I was it. We were able to keep a decent pace and ended up passing several people and somehow came in around 11:44, over 2 hours faster than last year and below my goal of 12:00, although I should have done much better.



John finished about 15 minutes before me and I tackled him to the ground after crossing the finish in recognition of him beating me!! Seriously, he ran a great race and I am glad he finished ahead of me. After washing up and cooling down in the lake we headed back to the campers for some brats and burgers which our wives had cooked for us.


The race seemed to go off without a hitch this year. The course was wonderfully marked and the nerds and KUS did an awesome job at the aid station. Thanks Ben for putting on another stellar event.
I am very disappointed in how I did this year, maybe more so than ever in a race. Not because of my time or what place I finished in, just my mental strength that day. I was weak and could not get my head on straight. I was hoping to run well and build on the last few races which went pretty smoothly and with good results. I guess it just wasn't my day. Lucky for me I have people who care enough to help me through those bad times and still cross the finish.

Here are some pics from Liberty Nationals where Corbin placed 2nd and the State Championships where he took 4th.

Slackin

Man, I can't believe it has been 6 weeks since I took the time to post anything.
Everything has been good lately, just trying to get through the last few weeks of crappy weather hopefully.
John and I ran Brew2Brew last weekend. It went pretty smooth for me although my legs got really tight the last 10 miles or so from all of the pavement. I ended up finishing is 6:35 which is about 45 minutes faster than last year.


Rock Chalk Jayhawks!!! Finally, I have been a Jayhawk fan since '85 when Danny Manning was a freshman and it is about freakin time they bring home another championship. I almost turned off that last game with 2 minutes left, glad I didn't.


Both the boys have been practicing Baseball a lot. Tristans team has a tournament next week and then the regular season games start up for a few months.
Only 2 weeks till FreeState in Lawrence. I am planning on running the 100k and hope to get a little revenge on the course for what it did to me last year. We are planning on taking the camper out 2 days early for the race and enjoy a long weekend if the weather cooperates.
We have been spending a lot of time planning for our trip to Cali this summer. We will be in the High Sierras for 4 1/2 days for Western States and then drive town to LA/Disney/San Diego for 4 1/2 days to hit the beaches and Disneyland. It should be a blast.
Have a great weekend!!

Recovering Well

Two weeks after Rocky and I am feeling very good. I was back to running on Tuesday after the race and have gotten in a decent amount of miles the past 2 weeks since the race. It is nice to take a break mentally and not have anything upcoming soon.
I have never felt completely recovered so soon after a 100. Perhaps finishing quicker took less of a toll on my legs.


Last weekend I volunteered at our PsychoWyco Race. It was my first opportunity to volunteer at a 50k and I had a good time helping out. John and I spent most of the day refilling water supplies at the aid stations.

Rick put in an awesome race in typical Wycoish conditions. He came in 3rd overall with an amazing time of 5:03 something on a brutal course. We got out to cheer him on a few times and he put in a heck of a run that day.

It has been a struggle to keep the nutrition at the pre Rocky level. I have been eating more but trying to keep it reasonable. Everyone needs a break now and then right?

Today is Tristan's 9th Bday, we had his party Saturday for his friends. Corbin has been down with the Flu since Saturday and he had to miss all of Tristans Bday stuff which really sucked for him. Hopefully he can get over it by the weekend and be ready for his first National wrestling tournament.

Not much exciting lately, have a great week.

Rocky Report

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Last year Tiffanie and I had flown down to Huntsville so I could pace Rick Mayo the last 40 miles of the Rocky Raccoon 100. I decided this race was not a good option for me since it is a 5 loop course which meant passing by a very inviting start finish area to drop 4 times. Fast forward about 8 months, John King decided he wants to give Rocky Raccoon a shot for his first 100 after pacing me through a dreadful Arkansas Traveller 100 race and I figure what the heck, I may as well give it a shot too.

Friday morning Kyle and Stacy Amos, John and Stacy King, Tiffanie and myself flew to Dallas where we rented a car and drove from there to Huntsville. Once we arrived there we met up with fellow Kansas City Trail Nerds and Rocky 100 entrants Ben Holmes and his son Matt, Gary Henry, and Tony Clark from Wichita at the local Starbucks. They were all staying at the park in the official trail nerds shelter, while we had luxurious rooms at the Super 8.


After loading up with Caffiene we headed to to Walmart to pick up some last minute things and checked into the hotel. We got to Huntsville State Park and met up with the guys again at packet pickup and hung around the shelter for a while wondering what tomorrow's race was going to bring. I ran into Chris Corbin, a strong runner from Oklahoma who I have ran in a few races with. It was his first crack at 100 miles and we figured we would see each other out on the trail since he usually isn't too far ahead of me. I was many familiar faces including Brad Holzworth and his pacer Carey Smith.

Once the pre race meeting was over we weht to dinner and headed back to the hotel to get some rest. I slept very soundly all night and awoke a few minutes before my scheduled wakeup call to head over to the race site.


We parked at the nerd shelter and got ready for the start. I was a bit nervous before the race. I had changed up a lot of things since running my last 100 4 months earlier. My mileage had stayed lower, around 70/week. My diet had gotten more strict and I was 13 lbs lighter than Arkansas. I had added a very intense leg workout day in the weightroom and cut the upper body weights down to 1 light day/week. I also did a majority of my running on the treadmill and was only able to get on the trail 1 day a week for a long run. I wanted to get 22 hours and beat my Heartland PR of 22:11. All of this stuff was going through my head and I wondered what John must feel like. He was going into an uncharted distance for him, he had gotten lighter and faster the past few months, I knew he was going to do well plus he trains with the best;)


3-2-1 and we were off, I was looking around for Chris Corbin to hopefully run with him for a while but couldn't find him. I didn't want to start off with John, he needed to do his own thing and run his pace, especially at the beginning. Once we got to Highway Aid station a the 4.4 out mark you were able to see everyone else since it was a out and back turnaround. Kyle and Tony were about 15 minutes in front already, which I expected. John was about 6 minutes behind me followed by Chris Corbin, Ben and Gary. I yelled at Chris that I would be looking for him and to hurry up and catch up with me. I planned to run the first loop in 3:30-3:40, somehow I managed a 3:18. Kyle and Tony passed me heading out for the second loop as I was finishing the first and I could tell Kyle was suprised to see me so soon. I had to stop at the bathrooms and take care of some stuff so there were a few minutes wasted, I was out for the second loop at 3:21.


I was hoping to only fall off about 30 minutes from an expected 3:30 first loop so I had some extra time since I was ahead of pace. I started struggling a bit around 30 miles or so and started to get those bad thoughts going through my head. I had really been focusing on just setting a time goal for each aid station and only thinking about that. The whole 100 mile distance is just too overwhelming. Luckily at this point Chris caught up with me and pulled in front for a while. I decided to borrow his legs for a bit and let him pull me around the last 10 or so miles of the loop. He was feeling good and was going to run while he could. We pulled into the aid station with a 3:41 second loop. Carey was there with our Tiff and the others, they said to take it easy this loop since it was getting warm. We took about 3 minutes and were off again for the 3rd round.


We pretty much stayed together this loop. He was leading for the first half and I took the front most of the second half. It was starting to warm up to a very humid 72 and Tiff gave me an ice bandana to keep me cooled off for this stretch. She had been heading out to 2 aid stations from the lodge and start finish area to make sure I had what I needed. I was doing ok, so she was going to hang out at the lodge with the other Crew/Wives which was fine by me. I really started to realize how good of a run I was having at this point. I was over 50 miles in and felt like I had just started. I always hear people say that but it was weird to really feel it.


At one point we passed John on and out and back , he was only 36 minutes behind me, holy crap!!! I had better keep it going or he was going to toast my butt. I knew he was trying to keep up and I was trying to keep ahead. It was actually benefitting both of us. Chris and I pulled into the start/finish for the 3rd time with a 3:40 second loop, 1 minute faster than the 2nd loop. We were at 60 mile which meant we could pick up our pacers here. Mark Stovall had flown down to pace me with Rick, who was pacing John. It was his first time pacing and I knew he was a bit nervous. I didn't see him around though. Him and Rick had went to the previous aid station to see me there but I was already through there, so he was sprinting back to try to get to me before I left.


This was the scheduled long aid station stop. I had to change into dry clothes and get ready for the night run. I realized now that I seriously had a great shot and going under 20 hrs, which I never would have expected. Mark got there as I was getting ready to head out. I told him I hope he had on some good running shoes, he was going to need them. We headed out on the 4th loop with Chris also, his last minute pacer had not shown up yet so I told him he was welcomed to stay with us for as long as he could. I told Mark we needed a 4:20 and 4:40 loop to finish under 20hrs. He said that my sheet I gave him had a 4:50 estimate for this loop, well, that has all changed now.


About 2 miles in, Chris started to fall back a bit. I hated to leave him but I was determined to get this done. I also knew that Rick would be joining John soon and there is nothing more Rick likes to do than get a rabbit to run down, which was me. We put our noses down and hit it pretty hard. I would guess we passed about 15people on that 20 mile loop. Rick and John didn't fall off our pace too much, I guess they were about 40 minutes back. The biggest problem I was having was my toes. I was wearing road shoes and the roots were catching my toes a lot. They were getting very painful and swollen but other than that the feet were fine. I did a faceplant a few times on this loop and was starting to have some problems with my right knee. The up and downs were really painful so I had to sort of do a side step on those portions of the trail. We rolled in with a 4:01 4th loop.


Sarting out the last loop we decided to take it easier and just not to do anything silly to ruin this. Less than 2 miles in I stopped running and looked around. The trail seemed a lot softer than I remembered, we were lost. I wasn't even paying attention to where we were going, I was just following Marks feet, so I should have paid more attention to where we were at since I had already been on this trail 4 loops. We turned around and headed back to where we took a wrong turn. Luckily we only wasted about 10 minutes but now I had to work a little harder. We stayed pretty strong for the entire loop. The only time we saw John and Rick they were about 1 hour back and looking very strong. I saw Kyle and Tony on an out and back section again. Every time I would see them Kyle would say holy crap, you are doing awesome. I was only about 6 miles behind them, which suprised no one more than me.


We got to the last aid station and Mark called Tiff to let her know we were 3 miles out. I jogged up until the last mile or so. There was someone in front of me trying to run and not let me pass them with only 1 mile left. I took off and told Mark we need to get that thought out of his head really quick, which we did. I got to the road crossing just before the finish and got a huge adrenaline rush. I was screaming pretty loud that last stretch. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to finish so much faster than I thought possible. It was great having so many people at the finish line to cheer me in. I finished in 19:33 and some change.





Once we crossed the line I was able to sit down and try to take in the whole atmosphere. Matt grabbed me a beer and I changed into some warm, dry clothes. We sat around for a while and told our war stories until John rolled into the finish at 20:48 for an amazing first 100 finish time.




I had a blast at Rocky Raccoon this year and set a PR by 2 hours and 37 minutes. It was such a great experience to be able to run so well for so long and see friends on the course all day long. My wife, as usual did a stellar job crewing me and was even helping other people aid stations with their feet and blisters. This is a very tough sport to be involved in with a family and kids. It would not be possible without her support. Congrats to all the nerds who went to Rocky this year and thanks to my friend Mark Stovall who flew down to run 40 miles in the dark with me. I think he has gotten bit by the 100 mile bug now too.



Until the next one,.,.,.,.,,.

ROCKy and ROLL

So tomorrow we finally head for Texas. John, Kyle, myself and our wives will be flying out around 5am to Texas. I cannot believe the weather forcast!! A high temperature of 67 and a low of 53, absolutely perfect!!

Everything has been so busy lately that I haven't even got to pack everything up yet. I haven't been home before 8 for the last couple weeks with practices and stuff. I have never felt so good before a 100 miler before. Everything feels different this time. I guess the lack of high mileage buildup and drastic taper have kept everything normal. There are no aches and pains to worry about which is strange and I have been getting a lot more sleep since I have been substituting lunch runs for early morning runs.

My plan for Rocky is to just go with the flow. I just want to run at whatever pace feels comfortable and not get obsessed with the time. I am going to start out in my road shoes and see how they hold up. This will be the first time flying to a 100 miler so I had to greatly reduce the amount of stuff I usually take. Tiff is going to share a car with John's wife, Stacy, and try to get to both John and I while Kyle's wife is planning on using Ben's Nerdmobile.

Mark Stovall is flying down with Rick Saturday morning to pace me. It will be Marks first time at a 100 or pacing. He has done a 24hr run and a 50 miler as well as a few 50k's so he will be fine.

I hope to take my new mini HD camcorder with me on a few legs of the race if everything goes well and maybe have Mark take it out at night while pacing some. Tiff will be using it at some aid stations so hopefully we can get a few hours worth of footage.

Yesterday I had my bodyfat tesing and final weigh in before the race. My bodyfat was 6.1%. I weighed at 180 lbs after putting in a few slow miles on the treadmill. I was about 194 the week of Traveller, I am curious to see if losing 13 or so lbs will pay off over 100 miles. There is not much elso to lose so I am very happy with my weight loss and I really hope it pays off. John has dropped about 15 lbs and he has definitely improved a lot.

The trail nerds will be well represented at Rocky. Myself, John King, Kyle Amos, Ben Holmes abd Gary Henry are all running as well as a whole bunch of other people I know. I am looking forward to seeing those other crazies who like to do this stuff also.

As far as the kids go...Corbin has won 6 wrestling tournaments in a row, going undefeated since December 8th. Last weekend we travelled to Kirksville and spen the weekend there for a tournament. He got a nice 2ft trophy and we had a good time in the process. Tristans Basketball team is improving but they play in a very competitive league so they are still looking for their first win. We have been having Baseball tryouts for his team and will finalize our roster next week as well as getting everything tolling for COrbins baseball team too.

Have an awesome weekend, hopefully I will have some good news to report next week.

Swell

The last 2 weeks have been,,,.,,.,..well, swell I guess. I have been sticking to the faithful treadmill during the week and heading outdoors on the weekends. John and I went and played in the mud at Smithville on Saturday for several hours and I got in a nice solo run last Sunday morning, taking advantage of the great weather.

I ordered a pair of Saucony Triumph 5 the other day but shipped them back today for a size 13. I have never went above 12.5 on a road shoe but they felt snug around the toes. I plan on starting off in Roadies at Rocky Raccoon so I want to make sure they are big enough.


I have been hitting the diet pretty hard this week, luckily my OCD helps me to be able to eat the same thing every day and dinner is the only variety. I will wait another 10 days or so and then raise my calories the last week before Rocky. I can definitely tell by my sometimes low energy level that I am operating on a pretty hefty caloric deficit. i am at the lowest weight I have been since ohh,.,,7th grade.
I am still hitting the weights once a week and the legs are getting the brunt of the work there also. Monday I got in 5 sets of 50 with 175lbs on squats which left me sore for a few days.


I have been looking at the splits and trying to figure out a realistic goal to shoot for. I think I have on but we'll see after it's over how close I finish to my predicted time which I will keep to myself. It always looks so easy on paper. The one thing I remember clearly is the cold, damp night weather. I get chills just thinking about it.

Corbin won his wrestling tournament again last weekend. That makes 3 tourneys in a row undefeated. He is still getting very nervous and is in tears before every match. It is mostly from his intense desire to win. We have been talking a lot about just competing and trying your best, how the only real losers are the ones that don't try. It is a very very fine balance at such a young age. He wanted to quit before his second match last weekend but I made him stay even though he was an emotional wreck. After he got his first place medal he gave me a " thanks for not letting me quit Dad, you were right."

I will be stuck inside at another tournament Saturday and Tristan has his first Basketball game that day as well. Sunday I plan to get in a long run at Wyco with Rick and John and then out for some good old Mexican food afterwards!

Have a great weekend!!

FrozenAss FatAss

Yesterday was possibly the most unpleasant time I have ever had running. Several of us headed up to Wallace State Park for the Cameron Fatt Ass on New Years Day. The race temps were about 13 degrees and there was a nice 20 mph breeze to keep us cool as we plowed through the 6 or so inches of snow for 31 miles. It is a 5 loop course so we had to run by the warm cabin and our cars 4 times which was punishment enough.

I actually called it quits after the 3rd loop and started up Johns truck and enjoyed the heated seats for a while. After getting out of the frozen wet clothes and into some warm dry ones I decided to head back out rather that sit around waiting for him to finish.

I ended up finishing in a snail like 6:45. It was my slowest 50k ever but the most difficult also. I will be losing a few toenails from this one and all of the sliding on the snow. I think there were only 8 finishers of about 30 starters so I am just happy to be one of them. This was also our 2nd 50k in 10 days in the freezing cold and snow, but this one was far worse than last weeks at Wyco. I will post some pics later.

I found this pic the other day of me. This was in June of 04 about 6 months before deciding to try and lose some weight. Notice the large chew in my mouth and the beer in my hand, two staples of my past diet.


I hope everyone had a great New Years. A few of us got together at Johns New Years Eve and just hung out and ate a bunch of food and played some games although I did have a few beers also. Today the gym was loaded up with the New Years resolution crowd, in a few weeks it will be back to normal again I am sure. I am not real big on New Years resolutions although I hope to have more patience, be a bit less selfish(except for running) and be a better father and husband too.

Only 31 days until Rocky Raccoon and another 100 mile adventure. Hopefully It will be decent weather and I Can avoid the mental pitfalls of the 5 loop course. I do not like loop courses. It is just too convenient to quit.