Wow.....It's so surreal when I reflect on 2013. My first event of the year was a 50 miler in beautiful St Croix Virgin Island....what a way to start the year!! I got to visit a friend whom was a couple years older then me in high school and hadnt seen her in 30 years. She lives in St Croix so she was awesome in helping make this trip so memorial. I look back at the numbers and at times it really makes me wanna send all the Doctors that told me after knee surgery from 2010 thru the middle of 2011 not to run again or I'd need a new knee a listing of what I did last year and the year before!! But this repost is looking back at 2013. I finished 21 marathons 4 50k's 3 50 milers and my first 100 miler. I met the most amazing people who I believe will remain life time friends. When I look at the relationship I have with so many of them it's hard to comprehend that we have known each other less then a year and it feels like a lifetime already! I think the most memorial running event would have to be the Center of the Nations series.....started day one as mostly strangers and by day 5 most of us felt like family and stay in touch to this day. The 100 miler was the most painful experience I have ever experienced, the nighttime after effects mostly....just the throbbing in the feet and legs, the blisters and restless leg and body unable to rest as any movement was dreadful. I was ready to find my next 100 within a couple days after though and signed up for Zion 100 which will be this April in Zion National Park Virgin, UT. Currently there is myself along with 4 other friends and several others have also expressed they are thinking about it! I did 3 double marathons which is a marathon a day or 2 consecutive days, I did the Center of the nations which was 5 marathons in 5 states in 5 days and also did the Day of the Dead series which for me was 3 marathons in 3 days in 3 states and day 4 I did the 5K to finish the series due to the knee really swelling up. I find myself shaking my head in disbelief when I finish some of these events that I feel like I did when I first started trying to run and would be lucky to get 3 miles done! I'm not fast and I'm not a snail either and when I finish a marathon or one a day for a couple days in a row and am walking around just fine afterwards I just find myself giggling at times and asking myself who the hell does this shit and how???? Then I answer myself if I can do it anyone can do it! It's just getting them step one the true desire and then step 2 helping them to believe they can!
On the family level my son finished his first year at the University of Cincinnati...where did the time go??? We had a blast when he came with me for the double weekend out in Utah and Idaho exploring the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and getting to visit a super friend from high school!
My father turned 70 years young on Thanksgiving day and as a surprise we had his brother, sister and their families all to my folks house for Thanksgiving/bday dinner! It was awesome! Typically a Thanksgiving at our place is my mom, dad, son, brother his wife and 2 girls,,,this year we had 31 people.
On a business level I find it hard to believe my gym has now been open for over 4 years which also means I have been out of the retail business for over 4 years! 17 years of that was plenty for me. I also got certified as a Adult Running Coach with Road Runners Club of America.
Goals for the year are to finish my 2nd 100 mile run and start concentrating on getting the 50 states plus DC done. If all goes as planned I will be finished in June of 2015 with Hawaii. June will be a hot month but I want my son and family to be able to celebrate this with me and this is the only Hawaii marathon or ultra that takes place when he is not in school. I decided to try to concentrate more on the states since I really am getting close and my knee gave me a few more frequent issues this year then last so another goal became to finish my 2nd 100 and all 50 states plus DC on my original knee....then after I finish those I can re evaluate my condition and decide how much more I can withstand....I think in a sick sort of way it would be fun to do all 50 states and DC on my original knee and then again on my new one :)
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