New Beginnings and a nice memory

The week started out great. I received an email from a climbing friend from work who spotted my name in the March issue of Ultrarunning magazine. I thought this was odd at first, since I haven't run a race since November...but this was the annual 2008 year in review issue. It turns out that my VT100 time was the 38th fastest 100 miler in the nation last year, and they recognize the top 100. I think there are over 50 100 mile races in the country, so that's something. I feel quite lucky to be listed among the top dogs in the game. I know I could not run that time now if my life depended on it :-). In ultrarunning every 100 mile course is very different, so you have to consider the difficulty factor. For example, Rocky Raccoon and VT100 had quite a few finishers in the top 100 times whereas Hardrock 100 didn't have any make the list, so it's not exactly comparing apples to apples. They make an attempt to do a weighting factor for each course, and list the top 20 weighted finishes. Needless to say, I didn't make that list. Anyway, it was cool to see my name listed, and it's something I'll cherish for some time.

It's been one of the busiest weeks of my life, but also a great one. I'm transitioning into my new job, so have been working mornings in the old job and afternoon (into evenings) on the new one. I'm hoping it gets better when I completely shed the old job, but I think this is wishful thinking on my part. The good news is that I managed to squeeze in a couple early morning treadmill workouts and the regular 8 miler with Goat on Saturday morning. I also managed to squeeze in a few rock climbs this afternoon, so all is not lost.

Another great note is that one of my new team members is a 3:10 marathoner and Ironman finisher. Finally, somebody on my team that won't think I'm crazy. I'm hoping we can get out for a run sometime in the future.

All in all, I love the new job. I haven't worked this hard in a long time, but I haven't enjoyed my work this much in quite some time either.

As far as running, I've been focusing on shorter, but more intense runs. I find that it allows me to maintain a high level of fitness despite having minimal time to train. I also find that it helps me maintain muscle and not allow my body to tear itself down. I'd still like to take another crack at getting under 3 hours for the marathon...that 59 seconds is still hanging over me.

Hmmm...maybe this Fall ;-)

Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the good weather this weekend.

Have a great week everyone!

Steve