The Season Unfolds

I have been slow to formulate my 2009 season for a number of reasons but probably the biggest reason is that I don’t want to rush headlong into too much this year like I have the past couple years. I would rather spend a lot of time this year gearing up for specific events and only use other "extra" races as specific training efforts. In the past I have been really bad about throwing in “junk races” just things to break up the monotony of training and get out to see some friends. I know I can’t really afford to do that if I am going to meet some of the pretty significant challenges that I have placed on my dance card.

As of this evening I have mostly planned out the first half of my 2009 season. My early season A race will be Rocky Raccoon and the supporting training race for it was the Bandera 100K. After Bandera I found myself with renewed confidence and a renewed craving for running long, long distances. I feel good about Rocky Raccoon and think that I will be able to get in a fair volume of training this month and will be ready to go come race day and with luck and determination I will walk away with this uber-cool belt buckle. Actually the one I plan on getting will not have the colors or say “sub-24” but I guess you can never tell, I just might leave with a sub-24. I think I have it in me and Rocky Raccoon is one race where it just might be possible.

The decision I made today about the middle part of my season was based on a couple different things. This weekend while I was volunteering at the Ghost Town 38.5 I had the opportunity to talk to several other ultrarunners about the various races I was considering, which helped narrow things considerably. The other factor was an e-mail conversation I had with a certain Californian we all know and love. I asked her about an offer she had made earlier and when her response came back affirmative and enthusiastic the deal was sealed.

My mid-season A race will be the Tahoe Rim Trail 100! The race’s motto is “A Glimpse of Heaven and a Taste of Hell.” First off, who could possibly resist such a promise! Secondly, Lake Tahoe is one of my all time favorite places in the world and ever since I discovered this race I have known that some day I would be on it’s trails. However, the Tahoe Rim Trail has a fairly low finisher rate, about 60%, and it has a 36 hour time limit, which means that they deliver on the “Taste of Hell” part. An undertaking like that would be much more difficult without the support of a good crew and good crew I will have!

The GeekGrl is registered for the 50K so she will get to experience the joy of the trails as well and then maybe help out with my crew if only to document my gradual loos of brain power as she did so well during Lean Horse.

So, my plan in brief is to finish Rocky and get a bit more experience at the 100-mile distance, lose about 20 pounds, start hitting some weights and start running my mountains often as possible. I will also probably do the 50-miler at the Jemez Mountain Run as a tune-up race and by mid-July I should be ready to earn this bad boy.