Making It Through: 2017 Racing Year in Review

The Stats:

Miles: Running 2317.86 (45.57 miles/week; 6.35 miles/day), Bike 533, Swim 1.

Races (24): (9) 10Ks (6 trail), (1) 10 miler, (3) half marathons, (1) 20 miler, (4) marathons, (3) 50Ks, (1) 40 miler (100K dnf), (1) 100K, (1) 75 miler (100 miler dnf).

Lowlight: Canyons 100K.

Highlight: Boston Marathon, running for my Dad. (With CIM being a close second, feeling home.)

Hardest racing moment: Dropping from Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler (sitting on a rock at mile 70, knowing my asthma had the better of me that day).

Proudest racing moment: Cuyamaca 100K, having a solid race despite the heat and getting that 5^th Western States qualifier after a tough year on the ultra front.

Best salvage: Finishing CIM decently despite my first road race fall in 28 marathons and 10 years of racing.

Best racing while sick: Way Too Cool 50K (5 days after a pneumonia diagnosis).

Best racing decision: drinking that beer while going up Heartbreak Hill on a warm day in Boston.

Best trip for racing: D.C. (Marine Corps).

                2017 might have just been about survival on my racing front. I couldn’t have fathomed having a rougher racing year than 2016. 2016 was about overscheduling, blowing up, and overheating. I pulled back on the racing front for 2017 (yeah, I know, it’s hard to tell), ditching the return to triathlon plans to try to manage some running success. But, alas, my body had other ideas. I started the year with bronchitis in January, then continued with fulminant outbreaks of poison oak from February through May, pneumonia in February, a clogged ear with hearing challenges (allergy related) from April through June, intermittent exacerbations of asthma, on and off hemorrhaging , and bouts of leg numbness and cramping. I worked hard to try to keep my running heart in the right place, but all of the physical ailments tested me, especially as I wasn’t “injured” in any traditional sense. Ultimately, that required a lot of shift in expectations and an acceptance of my limitations.

The finish line at Redding Marathon.

                I kicked off the year with the Redding Marathon- a beautiful but tough course, somehow eeking out an AG win and my only BQ of the year  (and a squeaker at that). I then stumbled through my poison oak and asthma/pneumonia days. I walked in to Way Too Cool 50K prepped to take a DNF if my lungs could not manage the course. Instead, I walked away minutes off my goal and with my soul fed from a fun and fast race. I would do what I could over the following six weeks to prep for Boston, with fits and starts, struggling to breathe some days, while sailing along others.

Pneumonia filled happiness at Way Too Cool.

                When Boston 2017 dished out another heat race, I shifted to enjoying the experience. This one was for my Dad, as I was only able to return in 2017 (after qualifying and missing the cut off) via a charity bib, raising money for Project Purple in the fight against pancreatic cancer. Running for charity might have been the greatest single running gift 2017 provided me. It allowed me to run for something beyond myself and allowed connections in the process I could not have envisioned. I remain grateful for that opportunity and for the people that came in to my life as a result, as well as those I came to know better in the process. I celebrated Boston as only Boston can be celebrated!

Cheers to you Heartbreak and Boston!

                Following Boston was a quick transition back to trail and ultra racing. This provided my lowest race point of the year at Canyons 100K. I was sick before I started and the canyons wrecked nothing but pain on my ears, leading to an eventual drop 40 miles in. But I worried as I felt I lost my drive for ultra racing, unsure whether the Western States quest remained a goal I still should strive for. In the meantime, I was enjoying a 10K trail race series in Folsom and managed to regroup to train for Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler.

Mile 6 of Canyons with my dear friend Lorena.

                Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler in July would prove to be the prettiest course (road or trail) I have ever run. It is also amazingly tough. I survived the heat of the day, but my lungs and the altitude left me breathless. I would pull the plug on the race after 75 miles. I’ve never been as sad about racing as I was following Tahoe. The frustration I felt for so much of the year culminated with a blue abyss of emotions at Tahoe. My body had and was failing me, again and again. Was is my age? Too many years of racing? Crap luck?

Mile 31 of TRT part-way up Diamond Peak, before the lungs gave out.

                My original plans for the back half of 2017 were to try once more for a marathon PR. But the DNF at Tahoe and a need for one last chance at my 5^th year of Western States qualifiers would force an altering of my schedule. I found myself training for Marine Corps and CIM with my core Boston training group with Charlie, while being back on the trails as I trained for Cuyamaca 100K. A blazing hot race on Mt Diablo in August gave me this concept I once knew as confidence back. It parlayed into a patient and comfortable Cuyamaca 100K on another overly warm day outside of San Diego. I exercised every bit of patience I could muster during that race and found my heart filled again with the gratitude and nourishing emotions that bring me to the trails. Not from a time standpoint, but rather from a heart standpoint, it is the best ultra I have had since my first 100 miler in 2014.

I'm back! Cuyamaca joy!

              Marine Corps Marathon 2 weeks after Cuyamaca was respectable, given another warm day, but was more enjoyable in terms of the travel standpoint. I struggled again after MCM, being sick upon my return home, then having a hard time recovering after a pacing gig at Rio Del Lago. My body was back fighting me with random bouts of extreme fatigue, interspersed with some rather impressive runs. I extended my rest periods, but knew CIM would just be about making it through.

      Then something rather magical happened on December 2, 2017. After 5 years in the lottery and with a 30% chance of getting picked, my name was drawn (250 out of 261) in the Western States 2018 lottery.  After the challenge that was 2017 (and really 2016), so many of the reasons for persevering and being patient came to fruition. I have been filled with such joy since that day. I again feel content with running and with why I am doing this. My heart is steadfastly on this journey.

                My racing year would close out with CIM the following day. I just floated through that race. Well, I ran decently but knew I would only have a squeaker BQ in me for the day. That goal fell apart after a fall at mile 22, though just by 23 seconds.  Regardless of time, my day was filled with so many friends both on and off course, so much that makes me feel home in this town and in this race. It is this what grounds me in my running and what will take me through to 2018 and the years beyond.