Looking Forward

After two less than stellar weeks and a really tough workout last Saturday, I think I may have turned a bit of a page. I'd been feeling pretty unmotivated and glum about things since Cheyenne Mountain, mostly because I hadn't had a good race and I was really busy with other things in my life. However, this past Sunday helped give me some good perspective on things. We had a nice, low-key mother's day at the nursery buying a rose bush and then lounging on the back porch in the kiddie pool when I realized (again) that these are the things that are truly important.

Whether or not I raced to my potential or had a good workout leave little changed in my place as a father/husband and relishing the time I spend with Rachel and Xavier is the rub. We've been talking a bit about the summer and just bought Xavier his first sleeping bag. After Big Horn, Leadville will be calling and I aim to answer the call. I have lots of fun workouts planned for solo runs, runs with others, and runs with Xavier in the Jog stroller. One of the beautiful things about Leadville is the option for running dirt roads, something that lends itself to the stroller.


Photo: Nick Lee

For the past few weeks I've had the above photo on my work desktop as the background, dreaming about getting there and looking out at the final destination. Roughly 55 miles down and 45 to go. I try to imagine the pain and jubilation of having tackled Hope and then the inevitable lull of the remaining work to be done. Train the mind and the body will follow (hopefully).

More in regards to Leadville, you can meet some of the folks I've started to assemble to hang out while I run. I'm not much for "crewing" and I don't plan to have a lot for them to do to get ready for me, but I intend for them to be a rolling party because when amidst the struggles of running for 100 miles, I'm sure seeing friendly happy faces will be a nice sight. The "crew" has a primary responsibility of consuming tasty adult beverages and pizza, secondary agenda may include a jacket, my headlamp, and some gels. And no, they're not going to Winfield.

The only thing I'm sure of right now is that I'll use a pacer from Fish in. Gunner, my best friend, college roommate, and best man at my wedding will be guiding me over Powerline, around the lake, and up the boulevard (bottom left of the last photo). In what can be the most negative part of the race (powerline false summits) it will pay to have the most positive man in the planet on my side. Possible conversation points: me- this sucks, everything hurts, I just puked, and I can't see the trail it's so dark. gunner- yeah, maybe, but look at the stars man, they're so bright!

The man in charge of the rolling party?



Keith Ives. Former Marine, disaster response expert, humanitarian, mountain enthusiast, and logistics magician. He may need to call on all of those, and perhaps his disaster response expertise will come in handy :)

The remainder of the "crew" will consist of a smattering of the below folks and perhaps a few others.



For now, I'm gearing up for the Forest Park 50K in Portland 2 weeks from this Sunday. I'll be staying and hanging out with some of my favorite peeps ever, the Dettmers (the couple sitting next to Rachel and I above). I'm really excited to see them and their home. I hear Portland has great beer...