A Little Too Fast-DNF

 Sulphur Springs 100 this year I was ready to go. I was in good shape going in with no real issues and in the back of my mind was sure if everything came together on race day there was a good possibility of beating my course record from last year.

 

 

Unfortunately that was not the way things unfolded on race day.  Out of bed the temperature was noticeably warmer than last year I had done almost no warm weather running yet this year but chose to ignore this warning sign anyway,mistake #1. At the start line I had plans to match last years first loop time of 1.38 instead I went off like a 25k runner and turned in a first loop time of 1.32, mistake #2 and I'm sure the undoing of the rest of the day. Had I played it smart at this point and backed way off I might have recovered from this but the all or nothing plan was in place and I was sticking to it. I could go on with the gory details of how things fell apart from here but the long and short is I suffered severe leg cramping and decided after walk/running my fifth loop it was time to realize that further pushing was going to ruin my plans for the other races this summer. I made the hardest decision to make in a race and after sitting in the aid station for 30 minutes considering I pulled from the race. The support of my fellow runners was amazing, it was difficult to do this after such an amazing race last year but with every ones support I was positive I was making the right decision. We had an amazing afternoon, re-hydrating and watching other racers charge to their goals, some completed some didn't but the spirit shown during races like these is an amazing thing to witness.

 

I guess to sum it all up I'm glad I took the chance, mistakes happen but without failure you never know what the possibilities really are. I will continue to race as fast as I possibly can and try to learn from the errors along the way. Thank-you to all my friends and sponsors for your support.

 

 

 

 

Cascadia 9 and Almost Sulphur Time

    Now that the trails are ice free and training has hit its peak for Sulphur Springs 100 I've had a good chance to test out the updates to the Brooks Cascadia 9. The subtle changes made to the shoe for this year have made a huge difference in fit and performance.  I  loved the shoe last year but always felt the toe box was a little restrictive but thought it had to be this way to prevent my toes from getting destroyed on the downhills.Somehow they managed to tweak the design to not only firmly lock the foot in place but allow for some give in the toe box to really up the overall comfort of the shoe,I think this  comes partly from the seam free bonded upper. That coupled with a slight drop in the heel have really made a great shoe awesome I couldn't be happier with the update,as runners we always get nervous when the new model of an old favorite comes out but this time they made a perfect shoe.

On a completely different note training has gone fairly well this winter, with Sulphur right around the corner  things a right where they should be for early May,I'm a little cranky, sore and over trained just like I normally am this time of year. I'm trying something new and seeing a RMT to help work out the aches and pains and will update on how that goes in the future. My beautiful and somehow understanding wife is looking forward to my taper so a few things get done around the house(I thought I was doing pretty good getting the Christmas lights down for Easter) and I'm excited to see how the training has worked out. I chose to largely mimic last years plan and so far it seems to be going fairly well. It never fails though when you look back at your training logs you feel like you could have done just a little more.  Oh well time to trust to the process and begin the taper in just a couple more days, unlike my high school English exam there is no cramming for an ultra if you want good results.Looking forward to seeing all my running friends at the race and enjoying some trails together.