September

As I was running up Thaynes Canyon Trail of few weeks ago, my mind was chewing over the same old territory, I was thinking about my race plan for Wasatch this year. Then I came to the same conclusion I always do, why do I bother thinking about race plans? The race will take its own course, I will do the best I can, I will deal with whatever the day brings. I mean really, what else can you do? This got me to thinking of how I spend all summer waiting for September to come only to have it blow by and feel as if I never got my arms around it. Of course last year was my first 100 so I spent the last weeks of August spending wasteful hours looking at maps and pace charts, getting drop bags ready a week before the race even started. I will never forgot the look my wife gave me when I handed her my colored laminated pace chart, all she said was” that’s great honey I can’t even make notes on this.” Needless to say I was a little wound up. It seemed after finishing Wasatch I felt a little like I missed something. I think I was so wound up in the race I never stopped to look around a bit. My mind was always ahead to the next aid station.

I continued up Thaynes Canyon and my thoughts turned and I started thinking about the training runs and races my running partners and I have done over the year. The early February snow runs, watching Christian go faster backwards than forwards trying to negotiate ice on Signal Peak, the Crown Burgers after a tough 20+ mile run on Antelope Island. We have dogded police on the shoreline trial, ran 50 mile races with miles of snow and mud, forgotten to put fresh batteries in or headlamps before a night race but continued anyway, some of us have even been attacked by a Aspen tree. We ran new races on both sides of the country. It has been a great year of running.

As the weather starts to cool and the wildflowers are finally fading some of us are getting ready to do their first 100 miler, or first 50 or their 7th Wasatch. A few are still pounding out those last 4-5 hour training runs getting ready for the Bear. It is going to be a great end to an already great summer of running, I am going to try to slow down and take in as much as possible. Not matter what happens in these big races I am going to remember what Peter said more or less to Christian and myself when we were on an early morning training run. It’s not about the races, races are fun but this is what it’s all about what were dong right now. Enough said.