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I'm going to beat everyone to writing the 2015 recap blog post.

I've never actually written a year end recap post because I'm usually writing about stuff all year long so why be redundant. THIS year, however, I've been such a slacker at writing and racing that this will be brand new information. If anyone is still here.

I had a kick ass 50k in March followed up with a crappy attempt at my second ever 50 miler in April, and that's pretty much where we left off. Let's address that and get it out of the way. Here's what my Lake Sonoma race report should have said: I can come up with excuses that sound reasonable as to why I dropped, but in reality my head wasn't in it. When I needed mental strength to push through, it wasn't there. That's it. I moped the rest of the spring and spent most of the summer trying to shake it off. 

ANYWAY...on to summer. Summer was great.

My birthday is in July, and somehow my birthday celebration has gone from the actual day, to a week, to a month to...well it started in June this year and didn't let up until August. We did everything this summer. In May we had a blast at Bay to Breakers with Staci and Jim. June featured Judy Blume, Molly Ringwald, dive bars in San Francisco, country music legends, and then a few days in LA at the beach. July kicked off in Vegas. More music, then back to Hermosa with my sister and family to close out the month.

I got some great runs in, and a lot of them included some sort of pause to think/meditate/pray/whateveryouwanttocallit. I was enjoying just being out there with no pressure of what's coming up next.

Slacker Ridge

Birthday early morning run down the Las Vegas Strip
As the summer of dreams came to a close I felt like my stars were realigned, like I got exactly what I needed between the traveling, the adventures and the quiet moments.

The end of August brought my eleven year anniversary with Starbucks, in September GeNene and I celebrated our seven year anniversary, and fall brought my second year coaching cross country. Also, I ran a race. Fall was good. 

Meg said she was planning on driving up from LA for Ann Trason's race in Auburn, and I put it on my radar. I could probably gut out a 30k. My lack of training was overshadowed by just wanting to get back out there and stand on a starting line. 
And here is Ann Trason drawing that starting line 
The first few miles flew by because Meg and I were chatting plus it was all downhill and it wasn't until I glanced at my Garmin that I realized, shit, we're running fast. We cruised to the river crossing at Poverty Bar, mile sevenish, where the water was running swiftly at about knee level.
Race photos by Joe McCaddle
After the river I relaxed into an easy pace and started to feel the lack of training in my legs. But it was a beautiful day, and the volunteers were amazing, and the American River was breathtaking.
Plus, you know, we're running Western States trail...
So, we're all caught up. It's November, and I have no racing plans before the end of the year. It was a weird year in racing, but a pretty awesome year otherwise. That's my 2015. 

What's next?

I'm running the LA marathon in February 2016. 
And I plan to race it with this much joy. 





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  1. notthatlucasNovember 18, 2015 at 5:36 PM

    I was thrilled when my RSS reader showed that you had posted something, and laughed when I read the title. Congrats on getting back in the deep end with the 30K. And on having such a great summer. (The number of bibs taped to the wall doesn't actually define how well things are going - I'm glad you were able to step away and come back with new enthusiasm!) Enjoy the LA Marathon!

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