Back from hiatus

So, hey, yeah nothing much happened since March...moving on... Ok, I won't ignore the elephant in the blogosphere, I haven't written in a long time. No race updates, no legislative updates nothing. Shit happens, you get busy, and I forget to write. But I am starting anew and will hopefully keep things more up to date for the three people who may read this periodically. In general here are some updates:

Work - as of the middle of May I've been without a job. Which is good/bad. I'm collecting unemployment so that is allowing me to look for a job I really want as opposed to a job to just keep tofu on the table. I've had some interviews, but no job offers yet. I'm holding out that after the election people will remember they want to hire people beyond campaign canvassers.

Ultimate - Molly Brown is amazing. (Here's our website: Molly Brown ) We went to Nationals and got 5th. USA ultimate is doing a new format next year so by placing in the top 8 we are now in the Pro Flight (the top flight). You may be asking yourself "doesn't being a Pro fix the whole unemployed piece?" Great question, and yes it would if being Pro actually meant we got paid. But we don't. It just means we get to go to the Pro tournaments and play against the other top 8 teams. According to USA ultimate it is supposed to build a stronger tie between the community in the teams. Which may in turn mean we'll have fans, so we can charge money for people to watch us, and maybe get paid? I think the paying part will happen long after my knees give out.

Running - Running? What's running? No joke, during ultimate season I take time off from doing much distance running. It is just to hard for my body to accommodate sprint workouts, cleats, and distance running. Ideally I'd be able to mix the two, but I have yet to figure it out without the fear of injury. But this blog is supposed to include a lot about running and my journey towards Leadville so I'll focus a bit more on that now that ultimate season is in the off season. Since I last wrote I ran a couple races.  

Moab Half Marathon (March) Time: 2:01:04 This is always a fun race. You run through the canyon into town and for most of the race you're surrounded by beautiful canyon walls with the sun just coming through and the Colorado River rushing past. Then you get to run down a highway with cars choking exhaust at you and a head wind enough to blow your contacts out. It was not my best half marathon and I sort of bonked when I hit the road. It seems that bonking is becoming a more popular thing for me and roads. I'll probably put my name in for the lottery again. Goal time for 2013: 1:55  

Salida Run Through time Half Marathon
Race Website
Time: 2:35:15
I love this race. Seriously, if you want to get into trail racing, this is a great place to start. It is challenging enough that you need to work on trail racing, but not so challenging that you won't have fun. We've been blessed with wonderful weather the last two years so I'm sure next year we'll be running through feets of snow. But I'll still run it. Actually I'm going to do the full marathon. I felt pretty good the whole race, but couldn't quite give it enough juice to finish in under 2 1/2 hours which was my goal. I did shave 3min off my time.
Goal time for 2013 marathon: 5hrs  

Quad Rock 25miler
Race Website
Location: Fort Collins Colorado
Time: 6:23:19
This was the first year for this race. There was a 25miler and a 50miler. I opted for the 25er and was on the wait list for awhile before being bumped up. This was a super challenging race. It had 5500ft of elevation gain which was broken into about 3 big climbs throughout the race. I had no idea what my time could be so I set out to break 7 hours. I was so psyched when I was coming down the last 3 miles well under that time. It was a great race and there were awesome people all along the race course (runners and volunteers). I never once felt like I could get lost and the fellowship between the 25milers and 50milers was awesome. I am definitely going to do this race again, but I think I'm still a year off from taking on the 50miler.
Goal time for 2013: 6:15  

Grandma's Marathon
Race Website
Location: Duluth, Minnesota
Time: 4:06:17
I had high hopes for this race. This would be my 4th time running it and I was dead set on breaking 4 hours. And I was well on my way to break 4 hours until about mile 20 where I bonked. My body literally felt like it had shut down. Here's what my brain said "Only 6.2 miles left to go, it's like a 10K and you're golden, just stick with the pacer". Here's what my body said "Go ahead, but I'm just going to make your legs stop working". I knew I couldn't change what my legs would do so I took a moment to feel bummed that I wasn't going to make my goal time. Then I decided that I was going to have fun the last 6 miles. I ate candy that was being passed out, I waved, I encouraged other runners, I drank a beer offered by some college kids. I finished at about the same time I finished last year, but had a lot more fun doing it which gives me hope for future races. I'm not sure if I'll sign up again or not, my sister might sign up and if she does then I am definitely in.
Goal time for 2013: 3:59:59

In addition to the above races I've signed up for a snow shoe race in January in Nederland. It's 11.4 miles and it will kick my butt. I'm hoping to finish it in 4 hours. 4 hours would put me at the winning time for the 30K. Winning times last year for the 11.4miles were around 2hours. I think I'm going to look for a 50K. It sort of depends on how early in the season it is and if I do Grandma's marathon. I want to start upping the mileage on races I do so I can still meet my goal of running Leadville by 2016.

 I'll end this post on a quote I dug out from my box of randomness. It's from Dave Eggers "You Shall Know our Velocity". In addition to the work struggles, I still feel struggles as an athlete wanting to go faster and farther. My family also recently lost someone suddenly so I feel like this quote encompasses what we all feel as we move through life. It may help put life's challenges into perspective:  
"The density is desirable. Apparently they see the soul the opposite as we do, where it's the lightest thing. This wispy ghost thing. They think of it like a mountain. Like a mountain each of us carries around, and you want your mountain strong and dense because that means your family has lived lives of great experience. But the trick I guess is to find a way to move around"