Quick note… I have a special announcement coming about the #RunningforRefugees that will give you and your friends a little extra motivation to contribute… Stay tuned for more.
In the mean time, if you’d like to donate or know a friend that would like to support the cause, here’s the link to the campaign page on the Mercy Corps website.
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All my best ideas come from Lena. She came home from work last week asking me if Tara got in touch with me.
“No, why?”
“She’s looking for a pacer for 100 she’s doing.”
“Which one?”
“Not sure, but it’s at the end of October.”
After exchanging a few emails and finding a reasonable flight to Phoenix, I’m now booked as Tara’s pacer to pull her home over the last 40 miles. This is how these things go…
The Javelina 100 is a Western States Qualifier, 4-point qualifier for the UMTB and an entry race for the Patagonia Run in Argentina. Lots of leverage for one race. But… seeing how far Arizona is from here, Tara was finding a dearth of pacers available.
It’s been less than six week since the Tahoe 200, and it’s already starting to feel like it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
My recovery time was remarkably short. Aside from swollen ankles and a mild case of plantar fasciitas, I was back to normal in just a few days. Muscularly I felt really strong with no soreness or injury.
As is the norm, I took a few days to gorge on Peanut M&Ms, pizza, and pretty much whatever food I felt inclined to consume, but most of all, I was back doing light workouts right away and I started running about a week later.
The post-race glow had me thinking about knocking out a 100-miler this year. More so, I got in my mind that now that I’ve knocked out a trail marathon, 50k, 60k and 200-miler since May this year, why not knock out a 50-miler, 100k and 100-miler between now and next May to complete the full compliment of ultras in a calendar year?
Finding a race before the end of 2017 proved tough. The races left don’t work well with my schedule – they all fall on weekends after weeks when I’m traveling, or on weekends when we have other family plans, or they’re just a little too far away to knock out in a day trip. I don’t want to force races into my calendar. Every race should be a fun event. I even got accepted from the wait-list for Rio Del Lago, but logic got the best of me and I declined the invitation.
Javelina 100 is October 28-29. I arrive on Friday, and I’ll be pacing Tara through the night hours and I gotta say, I’m pretty damn excited to view the sun set over the desert, run under the night sky and then watch the sunrise the on Sunday morning. The last time I watched the sunrise over the desert was in the Mojave Desert during Uberman.
Most of all, it’s a chance to pay it back to the people that have helped me over the years – my crews, pacers and the innumerable volunteers that helped me along the way in every race, from local 10-milers and sprint triathlons to my three Ironmans to the recent Tahoe 200.
Of course, it’s not exactly torture to be out there running. It brings me joy to experience these races, and the planning and discipline to train and prepare is something I’ve learned is a necessary in my life.
So here I go, ramping up my training regimen. Two weeks ago, I had to break entirely from training for five straight days because of a stomach bug that left me with low-grade nausea every day for two weeks and an insane, self-inflicted work schedule.
That is all behind me and last week kickstarted a more serious training schedule. This week has been even better with a strong run on Tuesday, a rigorous lifting and Cross-Fit workout yesterday, followed by my plan of run-lift-run-run over the next four days through Sunday, all designed to sharpen me up and get back my racing edge.
And finally, it’s a chance to resurface my #RunningforRefugees Campaign!
With your help, we’ve raised close to $3000 so far, and I’m keeping the campaign going until we reach the original target of $20,550 that I set before the Tahoe 200.
If you’d like to donate, or know a friend that would like to help, here’s the link to the campaign page on the Mercy Corps website.
Remember… I have a special announcement coming about the #RunningforRefugees that will give you and your friends a little extra motivation to contribute… Stay tuned for more.