Running wise 2013 has been a strange year. At first, early in the year, I felt all the luck in the world was on my side with an incredible line up of summer racing to train for- Western, Hardrock, UTMB. Then I got sick- blah, blah, blah- and *boom* all of a sudden I was 0-3 on list of planned 100 mile races. Fast forward to now and Grindstone was my plan. I'm fired up and ready to run and *pow* Grindstone is postponed, thanks to the Government shutdown. If our elected officials somehow manage to come together and re-open Government by next Wednesday evening we will still have a Grindstone event next weekend. (Fingers crossed!) Otherwise, it's bye-bye Grindstone for 2013, and I'll be 0-4. Fast forward to November and as it turns out Pinhoti is a no-go for me this year unfortunately. 0-5.
What luck... Come this time next month I won't even have a qualifier under my belt for the Western States lottery. What to do... What to do...
If Grindstone doesn't happen next weekend there is always Hot TWOT. One loop, two loops, three loops, four. Pick your poison. 27 miles, 54, 81 or 108. For me, it would be either all or next to nothing. So, either one really fast loop or four not-so-fast loops. The silver lining on the year is that Gaby and I are both registered for The North Face 50 in San Francisco in December so getting the legs turning over this fall is a must. The opportunity to run Grindstone next weekend would still trump everything, of course. In lieu of that, should it be four TWOT loops or only one? One loop is an easy recovery, then it would be off to the road and track to find some speed. Four loops might help solidify my name in the annals of [crazy] Virginia ultra running lore, but it would definitely require a bit of recovery, taking much needed time away from speed work. What to do... What to do...
