I took quite a bit of time off of training to make sure my calf is completely healed. Over the last two weeks I have had several runs of 5 to 8 miles and everything is feeling great. Starting this week I will get more consistent and stick to a schedule building up to the Spring, Summer and Fall races with the end objective to complete a 100 mile race in September.
I did get into the Squaw Peak 50 mile race scheduled on June 2nd. That should be a good run and one I need to complete if I end up entering the Bear 100. The Bear 100 requires that you complete a 50 mile race in under 16 hours, which is not at all difficult but you do have to "check the box" in order to gain entry. Next week I will put into the lottery for the Wasatch 100 mile race but with the lottery for that race being about a 50/50 chance with only one draw (my 1st year putting in) I need to have a back up race. Depending on how things go I also intend to run the Speedgoat 50K again. I think with the course knowledge I now have and training a little differently this summer, I will be able to make a significant improvement on my time from last year. Depending on how my training goes over he next few months I will probably also run one of the Antelope Island Buffalo run events. Either the 50K or the 50 Miler depending on where I am at with training at the end of March.
Work has been very rough over the last few months and I don't know if it will get better in the next 3 to 4 months. I think once we get past the 1st quarter things should start to slowly improve. I bring this up as it has been a serious mental drain on me. I try to not let it affect my training but sometimes it completely takes over my brain and unfortunately my life. Running generally has let me escape some of that stress, but at times I find that during my entire run all I did was think about work. Not a good thing!
I also have my first grandchild due the 3rd week of January. That will be awesome but with my daughter and her husband living with us while he is in school, it will be somewhat of a distraction, albeit a joyful one and I wouldn't trade it for anything. My wife is extremely excited to have our new granddaughter staying with us for a while.
We are now just one week away from Christmas and with my training and diet not being what I would have liked, I have put on a few pounds. Now that I will be training more seriously and watching my diet I hope to get my weight back in line once the holidays have passed. I just cannot pass up good food that is so abundant this time of year.
I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
