One Month, Three Races, and Jay-Z

I ran six races last year and by August, I was feeling the burn out.  So, I decided to take it easy this year and register for four, including two I'd never run.  What I didn't realize at the time was that three of the four happened in a one month timespan. 

This year's winter was the hardest I'd been through in the years I've lived in Missoula.  It snowed every single day in February and there was an avalanche in town that took the life of a Missoula resident.  It was a difficult time.

By the time March rolled around, I had been hermiting indoors for weeks.  I nixed Run for the Luck of It that month because I knew I wouldn't run well and that it would just depress me.  Instead, I ran the YMCA Riverbank Run in mid-May.  I wasn't sick (like I was last year), so that was a plus.  I ran it faster than my fastest 5K last year, which meant things were moving in the right direction.

YMCA Riverbank Run 2014

One week later, I ran 11 Miles to Paradise and faced that whole getting lost in the woods issue I have.  I started (after four nervous pees and VERY reluctantly taking off my jacket) in the second wave of runners.  We ran the first mile on a fire road before making a sharp left onto the trail.  This is what I've been waiting for, I thought to myself.

Quinn's Hot Springs, home of 11 Miles to Paradise

The announcer told us before we started, "Stay on the trail.  If you step left, you'll fall down the mountain and into the river.  If you go right, you'll be scrambling up the mountain."  Solid advice.

I ran that race for the enjoyment of it.  I had embarrassing thoughts about bounding around the forest like a deer and being one with nature.  I'd never run a race so happy.  I hiked up steep inclines and hopped over rocks, listened to the river below me and the sound of my own breathing.  It was a kind of solitude I'd never felt in a road race.

And then I heard it...

"We doin', big pimpin', we spendin' G's
Check 'em out now, big pimpin', on B L A D's"

Another racer's motivational music.  Solitude is overrated anyway.

The last turn in the race was under water because of flooding, so I scrambled over and around some rocks to get to the finish line.

I knew, right then and there, that I'd be running this race again.  Jay-Z or no Jay-Z.

11 Miles to Paradise 2014

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Next up is the race that made me want to run trail races, the Pengelly Single Dip. 

Forward Movement

When I started running, I had no base times and no idea what I was doing.  I ran because it was free and I already had the shoes.  I ran for the freedom of it and after disappointing race times in 2013, it may be time to get back to that idea.  So, my running shoes and I are forging ahead into new races and my first full marathon.

First up is Run for the Luck of It, a St. Patrick's Day themed 5K that I've done for the last three years.  You can read about my experience with that here.  It's my primer race for a long few months of spring training.  Also, costumes and free beer.

Run for the Luck of It 2013

Next is a race that's completely new to me, 11 Miles to Paradise.  It runs through Lolo National Forest near Paradise, MT.  It will be my first technical trail run, so I'll be facing that old fear of getting lost head on here.  In a national forest.

In June, assuming I make it out of the woods, I'll be doing the Pengelly Single Dip which I ran for the first time in 2013.  You can read more about that here.  It's my current favorite and the reason why I wanted to give trail racing a try.

Pengelly Single Dip 2013, done!

Last is the Missoula Marathon in July.  What I like best about this race is that I've never done it before.  I have no base time and my only goal is to finish.  The time doesn't matter because whatever it is, it'll be the fastest I've ever run a marathon.

The goal for all these races is to run them with heart.  It's what I learned before I ever completed a race and it's the only lesson that really matters.

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To learn more about these and other Missoula races, you can visit my links page up top.