Most of us are running the race. For some it’s an actual competition against others, and for some its a race to better themselves. I feel blessed to get to experience both. I’ve learned a lot from competing in trail and mountain races that can be applied to the race I run every day. For instance, it takes faith and hope that your preparations and efforts will produce fruit and carry you to a good result when the big day comes; regardless of what race you are running. You never know for sure whether you will win the race, but you prepare yourself the best you can and then have faith that you will perform on race day.
To try to win a race you have to go into strict training. You beat your body all the way down right before its breaking point, and then let it recover. You train with purpose and discipline. You listen to your body and rest when it tells you that you can’t keep pushing. Then you pray and hope that you’ve done it all with wisdom and with knowledge so that the strength and power is there on the day of the competition.
In Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul talks about running a race and getting the prize. He says he does not want to run aimlessly and that he is running for a crown that lasts forever. This season I’ve really gotten to enjoy reflecting on why I run and what I am running after. Pushing my bodies limits is fun, winning races is exciting, competing against others is thrilling, and the recognition can be quite nice. But none of that is constant. None of that lasts forever. It brings happiness but not constant joy. All it takes is a bad race or an injury and you are back to being unfulfilled and waiting anxiously to perform better the next time.
The last 9 months without posting any blogs have been spent reflecting on why I want to run and compete and whether i’m chasing the crown that lasts forever. I guess I wanted to know where my motives were behind all the strict discipline, training, and all out race efforts. A part of me even questioned whether it was worth so much effort. During this time of reflecting I actually had my best and most consistent season yet. Most importantly, I found that I love running, the mountains I get to climb, the trails I see, the awesome people I get to meet. All of that is constant because its in my heart and it does not depend on a result. I found that if I focus on the things that are in my heart then I don’t put the pressure on myself to perform well. If I focus on the pureness of the sport and the excitement of competing to see who is faster, I can run a race with the heart, and not in my mind. I also found that I can glorify God through running, and that I should not feel guilty for enjoying it because this is where he wants me right now.
After the Gorge Waterfalls 50k I did not race on trails until June. I struggled with a few calf strains and then decided to do a track race for fun. Once I switched back to the trails I started off with some local half marathons here in Bend. First was the Dirty Half Marathon (1st) and then the Haulin Aspen Half Marathon (1st). Then I headed off to Squamish B.C. for the Squamish 23k. It was my first time in Squamish and did not realize how awesome this trip would be. It was the most beautiful place i’ve ever seen. They have the ocean, huge mountains, snow-capped peaks, rivers, water, lakes, lush green, all kinds of trees, and trails everywhere. Pretty much everything I love in nature in one place. If it wasn’t for the winters i’m pretty sure i’d move here!
Fortunately, the race went really well too. I was quite nervous about the technical downhills. A lot of the U.S. guys struggled in the 50 mile and 50k because of the grueling terrain and I heard some predictions that i was going to get slaughtered on the downhills. I decided to start out conservative and let the Canadian guys make the first moves. I stayed right behind them on the first 3 mile climb and then decided to push to the front after 4 miles. I opened up about a 30 second lead by 5 miles and then started a 2 mile technical downhill section. At the end of the downhill I still had the same lead so my confidence was up. From then on I just kept putting more distance on the uphills and then maintaining on the downhills. Finished the race with a win and a 3 minute lead and a new course record.
Next up was the 10k Trail Championships in NC. I was hoping to defend my title here but got sick the week leading up to the race and had some stiff competition from my Nike Teammate David Roche. Was happy to pull of 2nd here and then took 2nd again at the Xterra Trail National Champs.
My next race was the hardest race I think i’ll ever do :). I decided to run the Sky Running Championships in Flagstaff thinking it was only 24 miles so it shouldn’t be that bad. The race started off at 7,000 feet and went straight up to 9,000. We ran a lot of technical and rocky terrain for miles and miles before climbing up to Humphreys Peak which sits at 12,000 feet elevation. The climbing wasn’t even the toughest part of the race, it was the terrain. So much of the terrain was on rocky and uneven surfaces. When we started the 4,000 foot climb we went straight up ski slopes through long thick grass. It was awesome! After getting lost early in the race I sat it 4th at mile 6. I knew it was still early so I stayed patient and slowly moved my way into 3rd and then 2nd. 1st place was pretty far ahead but I knew I was closing in on him. At mile 16 I heard I was only 2 minutes behind and then only 1 minute at mile 18. I kept praying that I would see him because I knew if I had him in sight I would win this race. Right at mile 20 I saw him on a big climb and then ran into the last aid station with him. As soon as we started the last big climb the race was over. I was quickly putting time on him and ended up winning by 14 minutes. Sounds like a lot of time but if you could see the terrain we ran on its really not that much……It took me 4 hours and 10 minutes to run only 24 miles. Haha!
With only two weeks recovery from this brutal race, I decided to go back down to the half marathon distance and run the Half Marathon Trail National Champs in Bellingham. I could not miss out on the competition that Al and Tad had put together and on the awesome trail scene in Bellingham. To be honest, I was expecting to place maybe top 5 at best here. This was a really stacked race and I still did not feel recovered from the sky running race. I took the first couple of miles easy and just sat in a pack of 7 guys. Then quickly realized I felt better than I expected and that my climbing legs were back. I started pushing the pace and found myself in 3rd at mile 4.
By mile 8, Patrick Smyth had 1st locked in but I had my eyes on 2nd place and taking 1-2 for the Team. I stayed patient and kept cutting down the lead. At mile 10 I caught 2nd place and then put a gap on him before the last couple of miles. I was very stoked to get 2nd here. I was not expecting it and felt blessed that I had a good day out on the trails 🙂
This season was all about the championship races and facing the best competition. I decided to finish the season with the Moab Trail Marathon National Championships. I had been 2nd at 3 national championships already and was hoping maybe I could win one haha. I heard this race was hard, but did not realize how hard the obstacles really were until I was in the race. I had to run up ladders, jump boulders, use a rope to get over a cliff, crawl, and climb mountains. I will admit, I think this race should be considered more of an obstacle course. Its a lot different than running. On the trail sections that were runnable I kept finding myself in 1st and telling myself to be patient because we still had a lot of racing to do. But once we got to the real obstacle courses and a brutal technical climb, Dakota Jones took the lead and I never closed in again. He was a better obstacle course runner than I was and hats off because he ended up kicking my butt by 4 minutes. I finished the race in a strong 2nd after getting lost a few times and struggling on the obstacles. I was very happy with 2nd and very happy to finish this tough course. Hats off to Justin Ricks who ran a great and tough race with me. He put up a great fight and I really enjoyed running with him.
After Moab I seriously considered running TNF 50 in Dec and finish the season there. But I bruised my heal after hitting a rock with it in Moab. This time it was not as bad as before but putting in the training and the miles was still painful and I did not want to run my first 50 and DNF. I decided to call it a season and be happy about how it went. Here is a summary of the whole 2014 year on trails:
Gorge Waterfalls 50k 1st
Dirty Half Marathon 1st
Haulin Aspen Half 1st
Squamish 23k 1st
USA 10k Trail National Champs 2nd
XTERRA Trail National Championships 2nd
Flagstaff 35k Skyrunning 1st
USA Trail Half Marathon National Champs 2nd
USA Trail Marathon National Champs 2nd
It was an awesome year and I thank God for it. I also thank my loved ones, family, friends, and sponsors for supporting me. I’m so honored to be part of the Nike Trail Team and grateful for the support they continue to give. Thank you to Focus Physical Therapy and Recharge for keeping me healthy, to Powerbar for my nutrition, and my job at Foliotek for giving me flexibility.
I pray that all of you are blessed with a great year full of love, friendships, mountains, trails, health, and lots and lots of running. If you’d like to hear more about anything, please let me know. I will be better about blogging in 2015!