Winding Up To Wind Down

   This is only my second year as an ultra runner. I mean, I've been running for about 10 years or so, a few marathons, a couple ultras but primarily a cyclist doing about 40-45 races a year with just running as a side project from time to time. Usually an injury told me when the "side project" was done.

    A couple years ago I started running back and forth to work as my commute during the winter, 4.5 miles each way. I was on a pretty strict diet at the time and between that and the "doubles" I was losing weight, getting faster and feeling like a superhero. I held on to this to do a 25k trail race early in the season then put away the running to focus on cycling. I had an amazing cycling season that year. A lot of things really fell into place and I rode it out. Until I burned out. I was training for a stage race and in ten weeks I had eight 250+ mile weeks. Six of those weeks I would do 3-4 races in a row to get my mind and body used to the idea of racing while worn out. It worked. I went to the stage race at the end of all this, and had good results. A couple weeks later I did a 16 mile UPHILL time trial with a nice result. Two weeks after that, I did another uphill time trial and about 100 yards from the finish all I wanted to do was get off my bike. I finished but something had cracked.

    It was early august and I took a vacation. A "staycation." I was still trying to hang on to the strength and stamina I had built up over that last big training/ racing push but I was falling apart. Then one day I put on my running shoes, shorts (no shirt), my ipod and headed out for a run on a 100 degree day with just a water bottle. The water ran out pretty early but I just kept running. I ran until I wasn't sure if I could run any longer, then I turned around. By the time I got home I was dehydrated, sunburned, hallucinating and had covered over 22 miles. That was done with basically no running in around six months. 

    I managed to "half-ass" it through a few cyclocross races before hanging it all up for the winter. I spent the winter holed up in the guest room of my now former house drinking espresso, eating candy bars, listening to norwegian death metal and painting landscapes and animal skulls. I came out of this divorced, about 15lbs heavier and living in a studio apartment on the other side of town.

    Because of my small apartment, I had to keep my bikes (all seven of them) in a storage room a couple blocks away. This made it a little inconvenient to ride at a moment's notice and it was winter anyway. Besides, I only lived a short distance to the a park with about a hundred or so miles of trails so to the woods I went. 

   Running was keeping me sane. It gave me a chance to think, to NOT think and to start shedding myself of all these little (and not so little) attachments that I had acquired and built up over the last several years. I won't get into the more personal stuff but as far as cycling goes, there's always a lot of attachment to gear, training, tradition and all these other ideas that I needed to let go of for a variety of reasons. Running, especially marathon running can have that sort of thing to but I wasn't really about any of that. I just wanted to go run in the woods, mountains and desert until I felt something happen. Running ultras was the obvious decision.
    I spent most of 2013 doing trail runs anywhere between 15 and 50 miles. I found new depths of pain tolerance (and pain addiction), moving meditation, zen like mindlessness and just a general comfort in moving through nature. 2014 has been a different story.
    Where I usually take December off every year from any sort of training or workouts, I just kept going through December 2013. I knew I was tired but A close friend had signed up for their first big trail race and I wanted to help them train. That might not have been such a big deal but I started trying some new training techniques like doing hill repeats with 10lbs of rice in a backpack, doing back to back 15-18 milers and all this coupled with some stressful life stuff going on. something had to give. Like my back, feet, calf, hamstring....mind. The list goes on.
    If you've read any of my other posts You've heard me talk about my times getting longer and longer while I chase cut-off times and deal with injuries and sketchy to almost nonexistent training to get through these races through some beautiful trails and scenery. Well I've got one more, the "Volcanic 50k." A circumnavigation around Mt. St. Helens next weekend. I would probably back out of it if it weren't such an amazing opportunity. I mean, how often do you get a chance to run around a volcano with tables of M&M's and boiled potatoes every few miles?
    It's gonna be slow and painful but I'm going to enjoy every mile of it. Not only for where I'll be but because after sharing that beautiful place with a bunch of inspiring people, it'll be a very fitting closing to a season that's brought a lot of lessons to me. After that day I'll be looking forward to some much needed recovery and getting my body (and mind) back in balance. Focusing on some good food for both fuel AND medicine, making some big life changes, getting back to painting landscapes and animal skulls, getting some other writing projects taken care of and possibly even getting on the bike a couple times.
    There's already some goals and ideas for 2015 creeping up on me but for now Mt. St. Helens! One thing I DO have planned, re-reading "Born To Run" the first week of 2015. Perfect kindling for an ultra-running bonfire.