Time for Something New...

I can't ever recall really enjoying the few days before a race.  I usually seem to find myself with a little extra time on my hands, anxious to just hit the trail, always a part of me a bit nervous, and the mind somewhat distracted.  So now two days before the Voyageur 50, after five or six days of forcing myself not to run much, maybe a few too many episodes of Lost, and a bit too much pent up energy, I have decided it is time for something new.  I am joining the growing and always-interesting group of running bloggers!

Now for a guy who's stuck in a routine and doesn't usually stay up much past 10, this is already maybe too much excitement!  Seriously though, I'm not sure how well I will be able to keep up with it all, but I'm hoping this will be a place to capture some memories and share some stories of road trips, races and running adventures with friends, training, goals, or maybe the occasional random stories about life.  Hopefully I will be interesting enough to keep the handful of you entertained...

Other than starting blogs, another thing a few days before a long race does is put me into sort of a reflective state.  It's coming up on two years now since I ran my first ultra in the Superior 50 mile.  In a little over 10 hours of stumbling up and down that trail, I got hooked.  In thinking back on the time since then, I've found it absolutely amazing how tight-knit a community trail runners are.  It's a sport where if you run a few races and keep showing up, you can't help but become part of that community - and more often than not it will hook you into just running more.  It's also a sport where if you hang around, and especially if you are young enough to be nicknamed by your running friends "The Younger", you will most likely receive an abundance of really good advice.  

While I know advice only goes so far, the two things I have found myself hanging onto the most during races as of late is "enjoy it" and "keep it steady".  Sounds simple I know, but on Saturday when 50 miles is feeling like a really really long ways, those five words will come in pretty handy.  

So there's my no-longer-top-secret race strategy for Voyageur.  I'm going to enjoy it, keep it steady, have fun out there, hopefully run my own race, and learn a lot.  It should be a good time for sure and hope to come out of it feeling ready for the last month of training before my first 100 miler at Superior Sawtooth!