So Long, 2013

At the start of 2013 I was trail running and training for the Phunt 50K ---seems like forever ago!  Well, without a doubt, completing my first 50 mile ultra was the highlight of my year.  

Can Lake was an epic 14 hour day that I will never forget. No, I didn't make the 13 hour cutoff, but just being able to go the distance was a nice surprise. It's a beautiful place, and I will be back in 2014 for the 50K. It'll be nice to finish while the sun is still shining!

 

2013 was also the year I DNF'd the Bay Swim. No worries, I'll be back for redemption in 2014!

 

Hoping Team Rabbit gets in this year!

So farewell, 2013. It's been fun, but there are even better days ahead in 2014. Let the endless lap swimming begin!

What's Next?

The weeks following Can Lake have followed the typical pattern of post-big-race mania: I spend my days surfing the internet for my next big race -- like, maybe there's a marathon I could knock out in December? Or how about a 50K trail run?  So predictable, I know.  But why let this year of epic training go to waste? 

So, I cave to the mania and engage in a full-on flurry of  breathless email exchanges with peeps that usually begin this way:  "Check it out! What about this one?!! Maybe I'll do the 50.....and there's bling!!"  As the frenzy kicks into overdrive, the insanity level keeps jacking up a notch-or five- until pretty soon I'm talking myself into driving hither and yon in the next week or two for anything that looks interesting. 

Of course, reality soon intrudes (to save me from myself) and a foot tendon issue brings me crashing back to Earth. Okay, fine. Maybe a two week recovery period after a 50 miler is being a bit optimistic. Maybe I'll have to actually....slow down a bit. Ugh. I hate how that sounds.

I rarely get injured (knock on wood), so having to take it easy for a while is new territory for me. But look at it this way,  this is perfect timing!  If you have to be sidelined I suppose winter is the best time for it.  Could be the Universe telling me to start swimming again.

Which brings me to next year. The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim will, once again, be my first big "A" race of the year. Can Lake is also a "must do" for 2014. So what about the rest of my race calendar? Here's how it's shaping up, so far:

March:  Two Rivers Marathon
April:    ?
May:    Nanticoke 3 Mile Swim
June:   Great Chesapeake Bay Swim
July:    Mad Marathon, VT & Colonial Sprint
August: ?
September:  Woodstock 50K
October:  Can Lake 50K 

Still surfing...